In Search of Love and the Ideal: How an Objective Viewpoint Is the Center for the Union of Man and Woman
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A decision in regards to marriage is not something one takes lightly, which means that ultimately it should not be considered from one's own perspective. Not only is the choice of an object partner too essential to be left to what one happens to feel for someone walking down the street, the ideal of love cannot be actualized when centered on on
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In Search of Love and the Ideal - Magnus Larsson
Introduction
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Then, what is a life of true love? True love is the spirit of public service. It brings the peace that is at the root of happiness. Selfish love is a mask for the desire to have one’s partner exist for one’s own sake; true love is free of that corruption. Rather, its essence is to give, and to live for the sake of others and for the sake of the whole. True love gives, forgets that it has given, and continues to give without ceasing.
[1]
A decision in regards to marriage is not something one takes lightly, which means that ultimately it should not be considered from one’s own perspective. Not only is the choice of a partner too essential to be left to what one happens to feel for someone walking down the street, the ideal of love cannot be actualized when centered on oneself. To bring oneself to the point of making a decision in accordance with the ideal of love rather than by giving in to pre-held notions is one of the most challenging as well as rewarding milestones in one’s life.
Emotions change, but true love is unchanging. The centrality of truth as the standard upon which to actualize the ideals of love has to be more important than one’s preferences and even more important than marriage itself. When truth becomes more important than holding on to one’s own viewpoint, love can flow freely. If a man is to perfect his love for a woman, and vice versa, without a shared purpose, each party relates to the other from within the limitations of their own perspective. An ideal partner is, therefore, not according to what I
want, but what is considered to be ideal from an objective point of view.
Because of the differences between men and women in their understanding of love, it becomes especially significant to be able to form a common base upon which to create unity and harmony through a relationship of mutual understanding. A common base that can bring unity on all three levels of the spiritual, mental and physical is not created or agreed upon. By attaining an objective state of mind, not limited by preconceived notions, such an understanding of truth and love will ensue.
The notion of an ideal and one’s commitment to actualize it, is what one brings into the relationship. The image of the ideal is owned by the individual and realized in the relationship with a partner, in that order. This makes the search for an ideal marriage inseparable from the fulfillment of an individual portion of responsibility.
Where one lacks the desire of being in truth, one will find that one must be lacking in love as well. The reason that it is difficult to attain an objective understanding is because detachment is often lacking to a large degree. To seek an independent and objective point of view always requires an amount of effort. It is easier to blame one’s circumstances and give in to the force of infatuation. When conjugal love is consummated prematurely, it causes a reversal of order between the pure consciousness and the natural consciousness, which makes one perceive a life of value more or less exclusively centered on oneself, which introduces a new set of issues. A self-centered mindset is not conducive of an objective point of view due to one’s unwillingness to loosen one’s grip on one’s pre-held notions, some formed as far back as childhood and suppressed in the subconscious, which impact one’s perception. One is alienated from the real self due to insistence on remaining at the periphery and seeking a solution from there.
To the extent one is conditioning one’s involvement in a relationship on what one stands to receive in return, putting oneself in the center as it were—self-centered—one is not in privity of an objective understanding. An objective point of view cannot exist when one hopes for one’s counterpart, an outer authority, to make one’s life meaningful. Without a self-transcendent purpose for which one enters into a relationship, one’s partner is perceived as the source of love. Without upholding the vertical order of consciousness, one is prone to give in to the external and resultant phenomenon of love at the expense of the internal and source of love.
The search for an ideal marriage shares the path of what is considered to be true and objective. While love and ideal are often considered utopian, the question of what is considered to be true and objective has long been grappled with by the school of science. In this study we will apply a technique called phenomenological reduction or bracketing
to create the frame of mind through which an objective understanding can ensue. An objective point of view is an honest, open approach that makes room for an understanding not yet experienced. To consider alternatives to one’s pre-held notions is a humble attitude. In the point of objectivity, love is truth, and truth is love. A holistic study to attain an objective understanding deals with this point, in one way or another.
When the desire to experience love in the relationship with a partner usurps itself over one’s alignment with the higher dimension, one is deviating from the path of the ideal, which must, in every case, be fraught with fear and regret. No ideal marriage can be built on the foundation of self-centered motives, no matter how good the actions. The higher dimension can be described as the one best aim to aspire to as an individual in search of meaning, as well as for a man and a woman to form an ideal relationship as one united in mind and body. In scientific terms, the viewpoint of the higher dimension would be the viewpoint of objectivity. The higher dimension is over-encompassing the individual’s spiritual, mental and physical characteristics, as well as the masculine and feminine attributes of men and women. It is the common base for the unity of mind and body and the unity of husband and wife.
Moon explains that behind each relationship between material substances and behind each give and take relationship between individual beings there is a pre-existing vertical order of a higher dimension that endows these individual substances with a common motivational drive and purpose. Just as absolute standards and laws are governing the solar system of planets circling the sun and the electrons orbiting around the nucleus forming an atom, principles and norms are making up the moral, ethical and social order of human beings. A relationship of harmony between subject and object partners, man and woman, likewise adheres to laws and standards. Love and the ideal would not be able to flow and to be substantialized outside these parameters. [2]
One’s alignment and relationship with the higher dimension can be referred to as vertical self-transcendence. To take an objective point of view means to be aligned with the higher dimension as one’s vertical subject partner, as opposed to centered on oneself and one’s pre-held notions. The dynamic between individuals can be referred to as horizontal self-transcendence. Where the vertical and horizontal self-transcendence intersect, the ideal in essence is actualized. It is the point where the image of the ideal of the higher dimension is substantialized in a perfected individual and in an ideal marriage. The 90-degree angle where the vertical dimension intersects with the horizontal dimension we refer to as the foundation for an ideal marriage. When the foundation for an ideal marriage is laid, the individual is united in mind and body, and the husband and wife are united with each other centered on truth and love.
What I have documented on these pages originates in my experience, either directly or indirectly through observation. While the search for an ideal marriage is unique for everyone, the principles governing love and ideal are universal. How to maintain an objective state of mind in relation to an object of love—the foundation for an ideal marriage—is applied in three settings: Being single and in search for an object of love, the study of the feasibility of an existing relationship, and starting over.
For more about an in-depth study of the functions of the mind in regards to the search for meaning is presented in my book Meaning beyond Reason – How Self-Transcendence Precedes Self-Actualization in Man’s Search for Meaning.
______________________________
[1] Moon, Sun Myung, God’s Ideal Family—the Model for World Peace,
Inaugural Convocation of the Universal Peace Federation, Lincoln Center, New York, New York, September 12, 2005.
[2] Moon, Sun Myung, Absolute Values and the Reassessment of the Contemporary World,
Founder’s Address, Eighteenth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, Seoul, Korea, August 23, 1991.
1. Building Blocks
Two Levels of Consciousness
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The Anatomy of Consciousness
For our purposes, the mind is modeled after two parts according to two kinds of perceptions: The natural consciousness is the default state of mind when no effort is made. Inherently subjective, it perceives reality as it must be
according to pre-held notions rather than how it actually is.
The other part of the mind, free from subjective preferences, is referred to as the pure consciousness. The pure consciousness encompasses the natural consciousness while also being open to a higher dimension. [1]
One is unaware of the pure consciousness and what is self-transcendent because naturally, one’s inner gaze is pointing in another direction. But the moment one changes the direction of one’s view, it becomes conscious. It is very much there and very much present. An objective understanding is possible when the pure consciousness is given the right of way to precede the natural consciousness by temporarily bracketing
the natural consciousness.
An objective understanding is first a holistic experience in the pure consciousness followed by an analytical understanding of the experience—a fuller and more complete perception than what reason and a linear way of thinking alone would be capable of. Through the harmonious unity of the two levels of consciousness, one can perceive what is true, along with a clear understanding of one’s pre-held notions.
In the lower dimensions, no differentiation is made between self and the self-transcendent: The center is the self and the periphery a projection of self. The natural consciousness is a closed system centered on oneself, in which reason is the most trusted source of understanding.
The higher the dimension, the broader and more inclusive the scope of self-transcendence. The physical and mental aspects are harmoniously united in one humanness on the level of the spirit. The higher dimension is profoundly intelligent. It does not differentiate between important or unimportant, big and small issues. It pervades everything when it is allowed to do so. One of its most striking aspects is that there is no conflict contained in it. This vast intelligence manifests as inspiration and intuition translatable into daily living. It reconciles the apparent opposites characterized on the dualistic plane of the natural consciousness.
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The Pure Consciousness
The pure consciousness seeks value by having a meaning to fulfill, and it is the window to the higher dimension. The pure consciousness is better equipped to detect and understand meaning than the natural consciousness. The pure consciousness is in the object position to the higher dimension, and in the subject position to the natural consciousness. Another way of looking at it, the pure consciousness is the inner mind, and the natural consciousness is the outer mind. The pure consciousness is inclusive and transcendent of the natural consciousness, whereas the natural consciousness is ignorant of the pure consciousness.
The pure consciousness perceives reality holistically through experience. Through its spiritual apperception, it perceives reality from a self-transcendent perspective and the perspective of the higher dimension. It does not make much difference whether the answer comes from the higher dimension or the pure consciousness. Both want the same thing. The point is interesting only in a technical sense.
Transcending the