How To Love Yourself

 "Do you love yourself?"

If we are honest, the overwhelming majority of us would probably have to answer negatively. Whether we have been brought up to believe that we are marred by something called 'original sin', or we have been so conditioned by our culture that we feel we just don't measure up, most people really have no idea what it means to love oneself, much less how to do it.

"So tell us, oh Wise One; how DO we love ourselves?!"

Well, first of all; when it comes to loving oneself, I make no claims about being a Wise One or a guru: quite the opposite, in fact! I kinda suck at it, especially lately. Taking at face value the accepted notion of loving yourself, as in, "if you don't love yourself; how can you ( really ) love anybody else?"; what does it actually mean to love yourself? So, working our way in reverse, let's consider; if loving another means to care for them, whether that involves romantic ( ? ) feelings or not, respecting them & their needs, in essence, treating them as you yourself would like to be treated, then would that not suffice as an acceptable meaning? Actually, to those who have dared to ask this most important of questions, that probably would serve as a very acceptable, though maybe not the most concise answer. May we take this question at face value though? THAT is the question!

From a purely human standpoint; yes, one might well note that loving oneself involves respecting yourself to the point that, as don Miguel Ruiz suggests in the first of his Four Agreements, "Be impeccable with your word". Primarily of course, that would mean especially your word to yourself; IE, stop putting yourself down as you've been taught to do. Rather, remind yourself that you are worthy, you are perfect just the way you are, you ARE where you're supposed to be, blah, blah, blah..... Also, in that scenario, loving yourself might mean distancing yourself from certain people that you had previously, for whatever reason, counted as friends. "We just don't vibe anymore", "we're on different frequencies", "they're too negative for me", etc, etc, etc........... On the basis of being human, yes, all these suggestions have value, but are we not more than human?

We've discussed in this blog before how We ARE Love Itself, but what DOES that mean?! "The Bible says that God is Love, right?!" Again, "What does THAT mean?!" Does that even come close to the short list we read earlier in this post? "Do you mean to say that God is capable of human emotions?" No, Love, as we've discussed previously, is NOT an emotion! Sure, it is often, if not usually expressed, or manifested THROUGH the emotions, but It is not Itself an emotion. Humanly speaking, in the verbal sense, Love is an action. It is a choice we make, for instance, to treat others as we would ourselves like to be treated. 'Is THAT what Love is?" When we try to describe it from a merely human standpoint, It honestly seems to fall rather flat, like, "If there were no humans to manifest It, would Love even exist?" Stupid question, right? Sounds kinda like, "If a tree falls in the forest & there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

It has been suggested that Love, like Light, is simply Energy. So, if Love is Energy & Everything is Energy, wouldn't that mean that Everything is........................ "Wait, even Rocks?!" Actually, that's not what I'm saying.............but, interesting thought! It's really not quite THAT simple, is it? Love is Energy, yes, but does that necessarily mean that Energy is Love?! Hmmmmm! "It's getting deep in here!" So maybe here is where we get into Frequencies. If Love is just a higher frequency of Energy.......... Maybe then, animals ARE capable of Love! Or are we so vain as to think human beings are the only species that have evolved that far? For that matter, how ABOUT Rocks?! Does not the Bible itself say "even the rocks will cry out" ( Luke 19:40b )? 

But, I digress.............. "Is Love simply Energy?" As above, so below; no, it's not that simple! Love is Energy, yes, but it is not just mindless protons & neutrons doing the dance of Life; or ARE they?! Hmmmmmmmmmm! I'm going to suggest that Love is an Intelligent Energy! Now, is It intelligent because of its higher frequency? "This just keeps getting deeper & deeper!" So, before we completely fall down the rabbit-hole...

It must be understood that We ARE More than human. As someone once said, "we are spiritual beings having a human experience".  "We just can't seem to stay away from that rabbit-hole, now can we?!" What IS a 'spiritual being? Why, a Being of pure Spirit, of course, right? What is 'Spirit'? "Might as well ask what Love is!' Oh, wait................. Okay, so Everything is Energy, right?! That would include Spirit, yes!? So, lets say that Spirit is Energy that resonates at that higher frequency, like Love! That would make sense then, when the Bible says "God is Love". In that case then, a 'Spiritual Being' would simply be a Being that vibrates at a higher frequency, the Frequency of Love!

Speaking of protons & neutrons ( ? ); I'm obviously not a scientist, but I've heard something to the effect that atoms, which are apparently made up of the protons & neutrons, vibrate at such intensity that they become more or less dense, as a 'matter' of fact! Whatever the case may be then, these vehicles, which we call the human body, are not just 'a prison for the soul', as we ( Gnostics ) have been accused of teaching, but are actually part & parcel with our very Being. So, technically, the phrase ( which I have often myself used ), 'we are not our bodies' would be better phrased, 'we are not JUST our bodies'. "These physical husks will perish", I have taught, "but the Spirit remains". This, however, is not quite the Truth! As a wise man once said, in other words, "Energy never dies; it is simply transformed". In fact, then, these physical husks do NOT perish, though they may be unrecognizable as such; they are simply transformed, alchemized if you will. "Are we our physical bodies?" Yes & No. "We are More than these bodies, these vehicles, yes, but our True Identities are not bound up in them. Our True Identities are Spiritual, which means they vibrate at such a high frequency that they are rather insubstantial. "Another rabbit-hole?!" No, not really: read on for the startling conclusion!

Though we have come dangerously close to following the White Rabbit & falling down the rabbit-hole, we're still on track, trying to remember how to love ourselves. One doesn't need to have come from a Christian background to be familiar with the concept of treating these vessels as a temple; however, coming from the Christian background I do, it is very familiar to me that "we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit" ( I Corinthians 6:19 ). Though I know that we are the Spirit that is housed by this Body, or Temple, I hold this, as much of the Greek & Hebrew Scriptures, to be Truth, though often esoterically so. As such then, we owe it to these Vehicles, 'husks' though they may be, to venerate & respect them as the Temples they are! At the same time, though, we must be careful not to make the same mistake the original audience of those Greek & Hebrew Scriptures made! This Temple is, in this sense, merely transient; it is the Spirit Within that is Eternal!

In conclusion, then & to answer our original query; "How DO we love ourselves?" One might note the Answer to be two-fold, though closely related: as far as this Temple goes; "treat it with the respect it deserves, being formed of the same Energy as our Spiritual Being, our True Nature, one might say". Be impeccable with your Word, first, to yourself, then to others. Respect for your Temple means not letting others disrespect your Temple either. There is something to distancing oneself from those who vibe differently, bring in an aura of negativity, etc, etc.  I say this, not that we are better than them, but sometimes it is necessary to heal ourselves first in order to teach them how to heal themselves. ( I'm tearing up as I pen these Words ). 

Finally & most importantly ( Supremely so ); "We ARE Love"! This is our True Nature. Yes, primarily our Spirit, our Higher Self, which vibrates at such frequency that It is not visible to the physical senses, is that which is in the spotlight here, but, "as Above, so Below", the physical manifestation of our Spirit, marred though it may have been by eons of fear & ignorance, is no less worthy of our love & respect. 

In Essence, then, to Love Oneself means, first of all, to realize Who & What We are, that We ARE Love! For that matter, our Vehicles, these physical 'husks' are 'made' out of Love! Knowing these two startling truths, it is only natural that, when we begin to offer ourselves the worship WE deserve, the world that John Lennon 'Imagined' will begin to unfold before us ( I'm crying again )! In the immortal words of another famous Artist; "May it Be!"

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles