Love, from the word also we can define it’s meaning as well as it’s importance in our whole life. It has its own importance, belief, source, and definition from culture to culture and from religion to religion but the theme of love is the same. Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.
In English, love refers to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from pleasure to interpersonal attraction. ‘Love’ may refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love of eros, to the emotional closeness of familial love, or the platonic love that defines friendship, to the deep unity or devotion of religious love.
The word ‘love’ can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. When it is discussed in the abstract, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience felt by a person for another person.
1. Hinduism
In Hinduism, kama is pleasurable, sexual love, personified by the god Kamadeva. For many Hindu schools, it is the third end (artha) in life. In Hinduism, Kamadeva is often pictured holding a bow of sugar cane and an arrow of flowers; he may ride upon a great parrot. He is usually accompanied by his consort Ratiand his companion Vasanta, lord of the spring season. Stone images of Kamadeva and Rati can be seen on the door of the Chennakeshava temple at Belur, in Karnataka, India. Maara is another name for kama.
2. Buddhism
In Buddhism, Kama is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment since it is selfish. Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom and is necessary for enlightenment. Adveṣa and mettā are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex and which rarely occurs without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism, it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others’ welfare.
3. Islam
In the Islamic view, love encompasses life as universal brotherhood that applies to all who hold faith. Amongst the 99 names of God (Allah), there is the name Al-Wadud, or “the Loving One,” which is found in Surah as well as Surah. God is also referenced at the beginning of every chapter in the Qur’an as Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, or the “Most Compassionate” and the “Most Merciful”, indicating that nobody is more loving, compassionate and benevolent than God. The Qur’an refers to God as being “full of loving-kindness.”
4. Christianity
The Christian understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman—eros in Greek—and the unselfish love of others (agape), are often contrasted as “ascending” and “descending” love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing. In Christianity the practical definition of love is best summarised by St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as “to will the good of another,” or to desire for another to succeed. This is the explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. As Thomas Aquinas explains, Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people.
5. Judaism
In Hebrew, Ahava is the most commonly used term for both interpersonal love and love between God and God’s creations. Chesed, commonly translated as loving-kindness, is used to describe many forms of love between human beings. The commandment to love other people is given in the Torah, which states, “Love your neighbor like yourself”.
What does love mean to you?
