Years ago I came across the document below somewhere on the web; I wish I could remember where, but I do not:

The following is a kind of logical poem inspired by the Sufi notion that a fifth level saint sees God whenever he wishes, while a sixth level saint sees God all the time. The remaining points of inspiration are aphorisms 7 and 8 from the "Aphorisms of Patanjali" Book II which are paraphrased in the definitions of desire and aversion which follow:

Aphorisms on Seeing God

(in the style of Patanjali)

Dwelling is the focusing of creative energy in the manifest universe through selective attention of the mind.
Dwelling may be spontaneous or willed.
Meditation brings dwelling under the control of will.
Desire is dwelling on pleasure.
Aversion is dwelling on pain.
Irritation is the spontaneous dwelling on imperfection.
Dwelling on perfection (God) contributes to releasing the emerging perfection in the manifest universe.
Dwelling on perfection in others contributes to releasing the emerging divinity in both the observed and the observer.
This form of blessing has special power in the case of saints whose vision is unclouded.
Love is the spontaneous dwelling on perfection (God) in the beloved.

What does this really mean? To me, it offers a possibility for understanding the nature of love. The first 6 aphorisms merely define and then exemplify what dwelling is. They are very significant because they invite the reader to consciously meditate on his or her internal emotional processes (how emotions such as desire, aversion, irritation come to be), but in the context of what I want to focus on, they are secondary. Of these six I retain the second one for later use: "Dwelling may be spontaneous or willed."

The last four statements deal with what I would normally label as being 'love', a labeling which is open to revision. Let's jump to the last one: "...dwelling on perfection (God) in the beloved." It makes sense that this should be what we ordinarily call love, because it makes sense that we should love someone whose perfection we can see/perceive (even if not all of the time, because it's spontaneous and not willed). Of course, how this happens is a bit of mystery. One just knows that it happens, in relation to a particular person. We are naturally drawn to this perfection that we witness. This is because in being spontaneous, it simply takes place--outside of our control. It takes place more or less un-consciously, unwillingly (it is not willed because I don't yet know how to 'will' it; and note that 'wishing' is certainly not the same thing!).

We sometimes experience (see) the perfection of others too, not just the one 'beloved' (or the one). This is natural and beautiful, but often confusing because it goes against social norms and expectations. This seems a particularly thorny problem when "dwelling on perfection in others" raises energy levels (which is a natural thing) but then also takes me into the realms of desire and sexuality. Upon coming down from the relative 'high' of seeing the other, I end up desiring the other's perfection, since I am left with a residual memory of what I have briefly experienced; needs come into play. This is perhaps a flaw, but one that must be taken into account and that cannot easily be disposed of.

What if I learned to will this kind of dwelling, somehow? The answer might be that then I would be capable of a more evolved form of love, love which I would find more easily, in more places, simultaneously. Would this be subjected to the problem mentioned in the preceding paragraph? Probably; but there are good (and bad) ways of dealing with it.

I find that, in time, by allowing the heart and mind to be free from constraints such as social norms, mindsets and preconceived ideas, this willed dwelling can be achieved more easily and that its quality improves with the evolution of such a mental exercise in freedom. But beyond the basic question of how it can be achieved lies the greater question of how these things fit together. Beyond the complications or imperfections described above, something greater is at work.

It seems there's an altogether different image of love that's being construed here: spontaneous love (or spontaneously dwelling on a beloved's perfection--i.e., falling in love) takes place quite naturally, even within a constrained mind. Yet, the more that the mind is free, the more it will be able to bring will into play. The more will-power is available in this area, the more dwelling will come under the control of will, as per aphorism number 3. Hence, the more that the mind is free, the more clearly I am able to sense the 'emerging perfection' that surrounds me, whether realized or potential.

If we can call falling in love the spontaneous dwelling on a beloved's perfection, then I propose to define love simply as dwelling on perfection.

I am not trying to prove anything along these lines; rather, what is significant is where I started and where I got to: Love as the spontaneous dwelling on another's perfection seems to be but a glimpse of a greater love, on a 'divine' or 'cosmic' scale. The means from one to another lie within my grasp, but the path goes over difficult terrain: for starters, dropping conditioning and external limitations is a tough challenge!

...Because it all lies at the border of subjective experience and objective truth, and because at this point I can't go much further than I have done in terms of becoming more objective in my presentation, maybe this is all gibberish to you! Yet I don't believe any of these things blindly or second-hand. On the contrary, in the above I have tried to translate into a more general language some of my own, inner experience (inherently very subjective). Like all those who know little, I have written much more than the original author, and said a lot less.

I therefore invite you to go back to the beginning, and to very slowly go through the ten aphorisms. See what they mean to you at this point. Then maybe, if you have anything you want to share, drop me a line or leave a note in my guestbook.