By Bal Krishna Parajuli

Love is one of the greatest teachings of all the major religions of the world. One way or another, it is love that gives life to everything.

In the world of existence, there is indeed no greater power than the power of love. When the heart of man is powered by love, he is ready to sacrifice all. If love were extinguished, the power of attraction would dissolve; the relationships of human hearts would be destroyed; the phenomena of human life would disappear. Love lights the flame in the heart that is cold. Love brings hope to the hopeless and uplifts the hearts of the sorrowful.

Dark is the absence of light, and likewise hate is the absence of love. The best way to remove hate is to have a strong feeling of love in the heart. The more the love is enshrined in the heart, the faster the hate vanishes.

Since love is a virtue of God, it certainly has a stronger power to prevail. The thoughts of love are constructive to brotherhood, peace, friendship and happiness. If the world were full of hate, the world would not exist. It is love that has made the world a perfect place to live.

To go even further, love is greater than peace. Peace is founded upon love. Peace is an outcome of love. Until love is attained, peace can’t be attained. The love which is from God is fundamental. This love is the essence of all human attainments.

Bahá’u’lláh said, "Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." First of all, we need to create a love for others—in ourselves—to be a part of the unification of mankind. We need to learn to associate with all the peoples of the world with joy and friendliness.

Love is truth and it never leads a man to a wrong path. It is endowed with divine virtue, which makes the solid foundation for the unity of mankind. Sooner or later the world will be regarded as one country, and the diverse peoples of mankind will be as flowers of one garden.

There is a saying that the wrong in the world continues to exist because people do not listen to the words of God. Even if they listen, they do not put it into practice. Love hasn’t taken root to eliminate the shortcomings of mankind. It is love that can help us to stop seeing the mistakes of others, and guide others to grow. Love leads to progress.

According to the Bahá'í writings, there are four kinds of love. The first love is the love that flows from God to humans. Through this love, the world of being receives life, and humans are endowed with physical existence. This love is the origin of all the love in the world of creation.

The second kind of love flows from humans to God. This is faith, attraction to the divine, enkindlement, progress, entrance into the kingdom of God, and receiving the bounties of God. This love is the origin of all philanthropic deeds and this love causes our hearts to reflect the virtues of God.

The third kind of love is that of God towards the Self, or identity of God. This is the transfiguration of His beauty, the reflection of Himself in the mirror of His creation. This is the reality of love, the ancient love, eternal love. Through one ray of this love, all other kinds of love exist.

The fourth kind of love is among humans. This love is promoted by the ideal of the unity of spirits, and is attained through the knowledge of God, so that we see divine Love reflected in the hearts. Each sees in other the beauty of God reflected in the soul, and finding this point of similarity, they are attracted to one another in love. This love will make all humans the waves of one sea; this love will make them stars of one heaven and fruits of one tree. This love will bring the realization of true accord, the foundation of real unity.

At its most earthly level, love is sexual attraction. The biggest problem with sexual love is that it doesn't last. As we mature, we can begin to experience the love that exists beyond sexuality. Love is based in freedom, not expectation or need. The lowest love is sex— it is physical. The highest refinement of love is compassion.

Love that exists between friends might not be true. It can change; this is merely an attraction. This kind of love is created by symmetrical situations in life. This is not love; it is just a relationship. Today we can see two souls apparently in close friendship; tomorrow all this may be changed. Yesterday they were ready to die for one another; today they can even shun each other’s surroundings. True love comes when a person loves his fellows for the sake of God without being attached. This love goes eternal. Even if one sees that the moment has come to part because paths separate at a crossroad, he says goodbye with great gratitude for the other.

Every human being is God’s creation. Each person is special and unique. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said, "Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation."