AGAPÉ

Agapé is an ancient Greek word for all-encompassing Love of all
of reality, including loving self, others, animals, things, energy,
thoughts, feelings, etc. – the unconditional loving of Everything!
The early Greeks, including Plato, believed in three forms of love:
Eros, affection of a sexual nature; Philia, non-sexual affection
for a friend, neighbour or colleague and; Agapé, affection for or
attachment to a soul-mate, spouse, family member or Spiritual
belief or tradition, etc.

There are numerous synonyms for agapé used by Spiritual
groups, societies and cultures throughout the world.
Some examples are: psyche, metta, namaste, aloha, luminosity,
chesed (Hebrew for loving-kindness), etc. In recent years many
teachers have talked about “going inside” themselves as if it is
the opposite of the practice of previous generations who seemed
preoccupied with “going outside” of themselves. When I am with
Partners in Healing (clients), one of my top themes is:
“What inside! What outside! Consider the Whole…”. I remind
them that they are not detached as if by a “cookie cutter” from
their surroundings. Our bodies, minds, Spirits and environments
are inextricably and holographically interconnected.

There are many disciplines and practices for attaining this
Oneness or Awakening. One that I highly recommend to my
Partners in Healing (clients) is the floatation tank. I have just
returned from a trip to Montreal and the Ovarium Float Centre
(www.Ovarium.com). I have floated at least twenty times
and each time I have completely connected with the whole of
existence. I have experienced my own re-birth and
re-conception on a number of occasions in a float tank.
Other modalities in which I have experienced Oneness are:
Kundalini Yoga, Grofian Holotropic Breathwork and Ericksonian
Hypnosis. All of these practices have a common thread. They
enable a person to become “Heart-connected” and stay in a state
of bliss or agapé. They are all good ways of “re-charging” our
Soul battery and learning how to STAY fully charged.

Recently CBC Radio featured a program in which a speech by
Dr. Martin Luther King was rebroadcast. He spoke at great
length about agapé and how it had influenced him and his
followers in their quest for racial equality in the United States.
He contrasted “like” and ”love” by stressing that he had no liking
for hate-filled, white bigots and, at the same time, he maintained
his brotherly love for them regardless of their ignorance and
hatred. He said that the last thing he wanted to become was
a violent, hate-filled person like them! Dr. King adhered to
the same principles of non-reactivity and non-attachment that
Mahatma Ghandi exemplified in his courageous demonstrations
to free India from English colonial government.

For a couple to experience agapé is infinitely more challenging
than for an individual. Sometimes one of the partners is in
agapé and the other is in philia or eros. Sufi Jalaluddin Rumi
says it very well in his poem, “If the Beloved is everywhere,
the lover is a veil, But when living itself becomes the friend,
lovers disappear.” It is the response-ability of each person in
the couple to evolve their own Self-loving capacity to attain self-
actualization and then, AND ONLY THEN, can the two partners
“ratchet” their way up together to agapé in an inter-active
process of emotional and Spiritual growth.
I truly wish and hope that you experience this wonderful state
before you leave this planet! Namaste…………