Practical Applications of Love

Forgiveness comes from understanding where the other person is coming from. Having done this myself with any number of former enemies, I recommend it to other people.

I used to see the ideas such as that love is more powerful than hatred as mumbo-jumbo. However I have come to understanding the true meaning of this. If you understand the next person you are more effective in dealing with them than if you don't; and in most cases understanding builds compassion and even love.

This has been the case, for example, with 90s feminists. For a long time I hated those people; then while working through my own experiences of school bullying I came to realize that these people were not much different from me. They were brainy, unattractive women who came from the standpoint of being treated badly in school, and in feminism they found identity, power and meaning. We of course see the same thing with gangsters. These people get treated like trash, and they think that in gangs they will find power. Neither group is doing the right thing; but it is important to understand where they come from in order to steer them to better directions.

The brainy, unattractive women who become feminists would probably do better by becoming engineers, scientists or software professionals. And the gangsters would probably do better by joining the military. In the first case, the women will have financial and personal independence that they seek while being in a respectable, profitable field. And in the second case, the men who want to be strong and brave will be in a pursuit that cultivates strength and courage and disciplines it to create a highly effective person.

This then becomes a practical application of love. It becomes possible to relate to the next person and guide them to better places. This is good for them; it is also good for society. The people who otherwise would be destructive are guided toward better pursuits. Love does not have to be impractical; it can be highly practical, and the more this is done the better the world.

I have found that this beats hatred any day. And I fully recommend it for others.