People often talk of unconditional love, but they implicitly mean unconditional love for or towards someone or something, like a child, parent, or spouse. But this kind of love is by definition conditional because it is love conditioned on the target being identified as a particular thing within the lover’s ontology.
True unconditional love is without condition, and it cannot be directed because to direct is to condition and choose. Unconditional love is love of all, of everything and all of reality even when not understood as a thing.
Such love is rare, so it seems worth pursuing the arduous cultivation of it.
“love” is poorly-defined enough that it always depends on context. Often, “unconditional love” _is_ expected to be conditional on identity, and really should be called “precommitment against abandonment” or “unconditional support”. But neither of those signal the strength of the intent and safety conferred by the relationship very well.
I _really_ like your expansion into non-identity, though. Love for the real state of the universe, and the simultaneous desire to pick better futures and acceptance of whichever future actually obtains is a mindset I strive for.
People often talk of unconditional love, but they implicitly mean unconditional love for or towards someone or something, like a child, parent, or spouse. But this kind of love is by definition conditional because it is love conditioned on the target being identified as a particular thing within the lover’s ontology.
True unconditional love is without condition, and it cannot be directed because to direct is to condition and choose. Unconditional love is love of all, of everything and all of reality even when not understood as a thing.
Such love is rare, so it seems worth pursuing the arduous cultivation of it.
“love” is poorly-defined enough that it always depends on context. Often, “unconditional love” _is_ expected to be conditional on identity, and really should be called “precommitment against abandonment” or “unconditional support”. But neither of those signal the strength of the intent and safety conferred by the relationship very well.
I _really_ like your expansion into non-identity, though. Love for the real state of the universe, and the simultaneous desire to pick better futures and acceptance of whichever future actually obtains is a mindset I strive for.
This is the hidden half of what got me thinking about this: my growing being with the world as it is rather than as I understand it.
I have a blog post upcoming called ‘Unconditional Love Integration Test: Hitler’