Wisdom and Love - Love and Self-love Quotes

Love is the foundation for wisdom

Buddhism perceives love and compassion as going hand in hand with wisdom, as if they were the two wings of a bird. 

Wisdom in this context refers to the realization of the truth of life that sets the mind free of its obsessions, fixations and mental negativities. Ultimately the truth is revealed in a profound understanding that our ego-consciousness, along with its sensory functions, is in a state of separation from the true Self, experienced as one with the unconditioned, non-dual Ultimate Reality, or the great cosmic Mind as trans-personal psychology prefers to call it. At that realization, the dualistic ego is instantly dissolved into the egoless true Self, the great Mind, that embraces all beings in love and compassion. 

Paradoxically we cannot hope to attain that wisdom if we do not have a loving and compassionate heart to start with.

At this point, an analogy may be helpful: A fertile land with propitious climatic conditions can yield a good crop of corn, but without healthy corn seeds to start with, how can a good harvest be possible? This means that wisdom and love and compassion come in an interactive circle. 

The practice of loving-kindness (metta practice), which includes first and foremost the practice of forgiveness, tolerance and sympathetic understanding as mentioned above, is thus of vital importance to attain spiritual enlightenment.

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"Wisdom tells me I am nothing; love tells me I am everything. Between the two my life flows."
Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Loving ourselves is the foundation of love and compassion for others.

As the Buddha observes, "You can travel around the world to search for someone more lovable than yourself, and yet that person is never to be found."

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Self-love, however, should not be confused with narcissism and ego-centeredness.

It comes from a process of healthy personal growth in which the actualization of our personal potentials, especially in the service of others, brings us joy and happiness, and enhances our self-worth rather than self-conceit.

To love ourselves is to be continuously in touch with this source of joy and happiness, and to learn to appreciate the goodness we have in us.

Self-love in this sense is eroded by all egoist and narcissistic tendencies, including self-aggrandizement and self-abasement.

Conversely it is enriched by our willingness to open our hearts and minds to accept all situations and all people, to touch our pain and sorrow with tenderness, and to reach out to others in need of help. Out of self-love the power of love and compassion grows. It is a power so warm as to heal, so strong as to overcome, and so radiant as to illuminate. The potentials of that power are indeed within all of us - a precious inner resource that we all can and should learn to develop, and to benefit from.


from The Buddha on Compassion - An Existential Approach, By Chen Yu-Hsi
Read the full text here.