Love

Ancient Greek has four distinct words for the  modern English word love: They are agape, eros, philia and storga.

 

Agape (ἀγάπη, agape) means "love".The early Christians used the word to express the unconditional love of God for his children. This type of love was further explained as the love of God for man and of man for God". Agape was also used to refer to a love feast.

 Eros (ἔρως, eros) means "love, especially sexual passion".The Modern Greek word "erotas" means "intimate love". Although eros is initially felt for a person, it can become an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even an appreciation of beauty itself. Plato suggess that even sensually based love can be applied to the non-corporeal, spiritual plane of existence.

 Philia (φιλία, philia) means "affectionate regard, friendship", usually between equals. It is a dispassionate non-physical love.  Philia is expressed variously by  Aristotle as loyalty to friends (i.e."brotherly love"), family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. Furthermore, in the same text. philos is also the root of philautia denoting self-love and arising from it, a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers.

Storge (στοργή, storga) means "love, affection" and "especially of parents and children" It is the common or natural empathy, like that felt by parents for offspring. Rarely used in ancient works, and then almost exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family. It is also known to express mere acceptance or putting up with situations, as in "loving" the tyrant. This is also used when referencing the love for one's country or a favorite sports team.

    Romantic love is the product of the natural drugs we know as lust, and finding someone you think is completing you. Romantic love is an illusion. Most of us discover this truth at the end of a love affair or else when the sweet emotions of love lead us into marriage and then turn down their flames.  — W. Somerset Maughn

 

    If you're searching for Mr/Ms Right, you're looking in the wrong direction. Instead, you must do the inner work and become Ms/Mr Right yourself. Until you take setps to make yourself whole, you will not be able to experience true love.

     The only way love lasts is if it continues to grow into something deeper. Gary says that true love has to do with giving, and caring for someone else. He defines Spiritual Partnership as a partnership between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth. It's not possible to have a spiritual partnership with someone you think will "complete you".

      Women are lied to and deceived by the many lies and fantasies that have been created by individuals and groups trying to explain the nature of Romantic Love — not realizing it is just an aspect of lust

      A woman is lead to want a fairytale love story — the knight in shining armor to sweep her off her feet. A suitor succeeds in gaining her love and marries her. The marriage ends. She thinks she has found another knight and marries him. This relationships fails, too. Now, years into her third marriage, she again feels like the romance is fading. Not knowing that romance is just another name for fantasy and lust, she worries that the loss of passion means her husband doesn't love her anymore. She sees what she's looking for in romance novels and romantic movies, and believes she can have that, too. When she plans romantic trips and they don't turn out like the fantasy she imagined she ends up feeling sad and disappointed. Her husband says he would do anything for her, but thinks her problem is that she's not happy with herself. She says she no longer feels attractive, and is beginning to connect that she seeks romance to make her feel better about herself.

      This woman has made a mistake in connecting her craving for romance with her unhappiness. Looking for romantic love is an addiction — it produces a good feeling, but never lasts very long. When the relationship and romance don't last, it is a painful experience that becomes even more painful every time it is repeated. Each time the lesson is ignored, it returns with more force, until the woman’s attention is completely focused on the pain of caused by the illusion.

At this point, the woman must choose whether to go back and repeat the pattern, or begin to look within herself for the answers.

Romantic love is a mixture of fantasy and Lust and has little to do with love. Romantic love has to do with what missing in yourself and are seeking desperately to find in someone else. Until we make ourselves whole, we are not really allowing ourselves to experience real love.

      A spiritual partnership is one between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth. When you look at the person you're with as someone who can complete you, you are not equals, because you believe that person has more power than you do.