I don't have the answers yet, but I have learned enough to be dangerous, and ask better questions..

I read in a very controversial book once that there are really only two emotions in the world - love and fear. Most people would rewrite that to say not love and fear, but love and hate, but hate is not actually the opposite of love. There is still emotional charge in hate, still a chance to convert it to love, so hate is not enough by itself to overcome love. Look at a fighting couple - they are still engaged in the relationship, even if hate or anger is the ruling emotion of the day.

So what is the killer of love?

Indifference.

When I am indifferent, I neither hate nor love. I can no longer be reached emotionally.

When indifference enters the arena of relationship, see how expedient is the death of love.

But what of fear? I started this by saying the only two emotions in the world really are love and fear. If you ever loved a child, or something innocent, you know this is the truth. Love is the only emotion present in the relationship. You fear no attack from a child, nor do you fear hurt. You will love them no matter what they do because love is the basis of the relationship, and always will be.

Fear also can be at the basis of the relationship, and usually is in the majority of the world. If you are not small and helpless, I might have reason to fear you. Every war can be traced not to hate but to fear. They are different from us - we fear them. They might want our valuables - we fear them. They are getting stronger than us - we fear them. They are amassing weapons of some sort - we don't know why, but it must surely have to do with being afraid of us, so now we fear them. And if we fear them, we must attack them, to keep them from attacking us.

See how quickly this escalates???

The more I think about this, the more I see the truth in what at first appeared to be a nonsense statement. If I don't love, then it must be fear that is running me. On a global and personal level.

I think of all the sages, gurus, saints, holy peoples and bodhisattvas in history, or herstory, who decided to delay their own nirvana or enlightenment so that the rest of the world might come out of the shroud of darkness by their efforts.

Surely this is the greatest love of all?

But how does this translate to the love, or the fear, between individual people? I have to save that for another blog since I am quickly running out of time here.

Or, better, you can write in the answer.