Love has gotten a bad name, but this is only because it has been conflated with mere sentimentality and weakness, both by the proponents of such a false kind of love and their enemies. And as surely as the sun rises, and the devil does his mind-bending, another unholy dialectic has played itself out: by lashing out against the twisted idea of love, its critics have often stuffed the real deal into the sack alongside it, and beaten the whole package to a pulp.
When love is gone, what does this leave us with? Hate? No, the opposite of love isn’t hate, because hate can be an expression of love. Not blind hate, mind you — but it’s the “blind” part that is at fault here, not the “hate” part. If hate is justified and informs action based on true perception, its fuel can be harnessed positively. God may ultimately be entirely free of hate for all we know; alas, we are not God, and from our perspective, hate can be the appropriate response to evil, lies and injustice.
When love is gone, everything is gone, because love is what powers creation. Therefore, the opposite of love isn’t hate, but anti-love: the destructive impulse, the urge to tear everything down, but especially that which is lovely, lovable and loving; uplifting, admirable and strong; perceptive, truthful, well-made; well-put-together, touching, expanding; deep, superior, knowing.
If love is the force of creation, anti-love is its necessary shadow: dependent on love but hating itself for it, forever doomed to chasing love even while it despises and seeks freedom from it. The impulse to liberate yourself from love, so apparent in certain people and philosophies, is to wish for all-out destruction, is the wish to escape life and creation itself.
Escaping life and creation is an impossibility, hence attempting to do so sets one up on a path of ever-escalating lies and delusion, patched up with ever-greater narcissism. Until one “ascends” to the level of demon, or implodes into a black hole of nothingness; a fate that eventually awaits even the demon.
See also Love Rides on a Ray of Truth
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Interesting post. It reminds me of something I was told when I was younger in the context of relationships: "The opposite of love is not hate but indifference." If you see a former flame out with someone else and you feel not longing, not regret, not hatred at the guy she's with or that she's not with you, but nothing -- that's all that really needs to be said. It also relates, I think, to Oscar Wilde's quote: "The best revenge is to live well."