What is the difference between the expression of unconditional love within creation and true unconditional love?  

In a way the answer to this question lies within the question itself. On the one hand we have “the expression of unconditional love” and on the other “true unconditional love”.

I think we are all agreed that love is only really unconditional when there are literally no conditions to it, and we all know that everything within creation has conditions attached to it. In fact, creation can’t exist without those conditions.

Love in it’s true sense isn’t “expressed” as such as there is nothing outside of itself to express itself too. Love ‘Just “is”. However, love is not “outside” of creation, as creation is dependent on it for its existence.

The true nature of love is imperfectly reflected within creation in a number of different ways. These reflections are analogies of true, unconditional love: “love with attributes” if you like! Sometimes this reflection is nearer to the “truth” than others, but the reflection never is the truth.

It’s easy to think of “conditional love” as purely a human expression. However, as the whole of creation owes its existence to love, we could equally well say that every cycle of form is a reflection of unconditional love ‑ but now it has conditions to it. For example the tree gives freely of its pollen ‑ but in order to perpetuate itself. The clouds allow their rain to fall ‑ but only as part of the bigger cycle of dryness and wetness.

When we come to human beings, we have the complication of sense perception and emotions ‑ both of which owe their natures to the astral body. The animal kingdom does of course have senses ‑ and we like to think they have emotions ‑ but this is nothing compared to the complexity of the human being. It is this human aspect.’ with the potential to become true unconditional love, which provides us with such a complex set of subtle bodies, and so allows us to feel emotional love.

Human Beings have the ability to transcend creation and become the cause. They also have the capacity to wallow in creation and ignore any inkling of spirituality. Until initiation all our actions are for self‑perpetuation, just as the pollen and the rainfall are. Even after initiation, the majority of our actions are for self‑perpetuation.

Despite this though the Human Being, whether initiated or not, has the remarkable ability to put the needs of others before its own. To me this is the essence of love at play within creation. Even then though, we display selfishness, mi that we only love “because it pleases us to do so” (a quote from Maharishi ‑ probably the only sensible thing I ever heard him say!). If we didn’t enjoy the pleasure we get from loving people. we wouldn’t do it. The term “making love” is very apt from this point of view, as when two people love each other, love blossoms and grows and there does seem to be “more love”. Of course this is simply a chemical and physical reaction brought about by kissing and caressing, but that’s what love is on a physical level.

The expression of love within creation then is a very positive thing ‑ but, again as we are all agreed, it really has nothing to do with absolute love, they are as dissimilar as chalk and cheese- but are united within the initiated human being, who has the ability to become one and experience the other.

Is there any expression of unconditional love within creation? In its purest sense no. However, if to give without expectation of reward counts as being unconditional in the expression of love, then we could consider that Grace comes pretty close to unconditional. This is because the light and sound, although it is a phenomenon of creation, reaps no reward as a result of initiation, or the fact that initiates become increasingly aware of its presence. Similarly, the rewards to the physical aspect of the light and sound, The Perfect Master, are very poor compared to the greatness of the gift of the Light and Sound. This equation is definitely out of kilter, and to me comes as close as unconditional love within creation as it is possible to get.

---