In Hinduism there is a spiritual path known as bhakti yoga. It was invented by a poet. He was passionately devoted to his wife, and his wife told him that if he loved God with the same intensity with which he loved her, he would become enlightened. The result was a devotional path in which the person centers his feelings upon God, and by loving God he comes closer to God.
I think that the same can be done through love. In beholding the beloved, one beholds the proudest creation of God. E. E. Cummings said that the final secret is man, but I say that the final secret is the woman. As a joke goes, “God creates Adam and says ‘ugh.’ Then he creates Eve and says, ‘Practice makes perfect.’”
Some say that you need to love yourself in order to love another. In fact it works the other way around. One loves another for traits that one finds lovable – that, as such, speak to his soul. In seeing these qualities expressed successfully by another, one then knows what he needs to work on within himself in order to be lovable in his own eyes.
Love can therefore be a spiritual path and a path toward self-improvement. One beholds a masterpiece of God, and then one comes closer to understanding God. And seeing qualities that speak to his soul, one knows what he needs to do in order to actualize his soul.
When I was 19, I loved a woman named Michelle. What I most loved about her the most was her wisdom, kindness and compassion. I did not have these traits in myself at that time; I have more of them now. I’ve learned from her. I saw her virtues and made it my project to cultivate the same virtues within myself. And I like myself a lot better now than I did at the time.
In focusing on the beloved, one creates a bridge between himself and the beloved in which he is influenced and improved by her.
John Nash, a great mathematician, said that the highest truth can be found in the equations of love. Here was somebody who excelled at reasoning; but he did not see love as irrational. Rather he recognized that there is a logic in love that is of the highest order, and that surpassed much of what passes for logic. Love is neither irrational nor unrealistic. It is in itself a very profound reality.
A bhakti yoga that focuses on the masterpiece of creation and a being that expresses his soul’s striving is therefore a valid path both for spiritual growth and personal development. As such it merits respect and honest attention from people interested in such things.