The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself. When you are able to love yourself unconditionally, you are able to love others in the same way. You are the master of your own happiness. No one else can give it to you.
Don Miguel Ruiz
“The Mastery of Love” is a book written by Don Miguel Ruiz, published in 1997. The book explores the concept of love and how it relates to human relationships. It is a guide on how to develop healthy relationships and cultivate self-love.
- Be like Child : When a human is born, the emotional mind, the emotional body, is completely healthy. Maybe around three or four years of age, the first wounds in the emotional body start to appear and get infected with emotional poison. But if you observe children who are two or three years old, if you see how they behave, they are playing all the time. When something is wrong they react and defend themselves, but then they just let go and turn their attention to the moment again, to play again, to explore and have fun again. They are living in the moment. They are not ashamed of the past; they are not worried about the future. Little children express what they feel, and they are not afraid to love.
The happiest moments in our lives are when we are playing just like children, when we are singing and dancing, when we are exploring and creating just for fun. As children, we are innocent and it is natural for us to express love. - Domestication of Humans: Author argues that humans are domesticated by society and culture to behave in certain ways. This domestication process can lead to self-judgment and self-rejection, which create difficulties in relationships. According to Ruiz, we must unlearn these domesticated behaviors and return to our authentic selves to cultivate healthy relationships.
- Cultivate Self-Love: The author suggests that the key to developing healthy relationships is to cultivate self-love. He argues that we cannot give love to others unless we first love ourselves. The author explains that self-love involves accepting ourselves as we are, letting go of self-judgment and self-criticism, and embracing our true selves. With your self-love, you transform your personal dream from fear to love, from suffering to happiness. Then just like the sun, you are giving light and giving love all the time, with no conditions. When you love with no conditions, you the human, and you the God, align with the Spirit of Life moving through you. Your life becomes the expression of the beauty of the Spirit.
- Power of Forgiveness: The author stressed that forgiveness is essential for healing past wounds and for creating healthy relationships. He explains that forgiveness is not about forgetting the past but rather about letting go of anger, resentment, and blame. When we forgive others, we release negative emotions and allow ourselves to move forward with love and compassion.
- Prayer of Happiness: The author has mentioned a few prayers for awareness, happiness, and self-love. I am mentioning one of my favorite prayers among them:
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CLOSE YOUR EYES…
OPEN your heart, and feel all the love that is coming from your heart. I want you to join me in a special prayer to experience a communion with our Creator. Focus your attention on your lungs, as if only your lungs existed. Feel the pleasure when your lungs expand to fulfill the biggest need of the human body: to breathe. Take a deep breath and feel the air as it fills your lungs. Feel how the air is made of love. Notice the connection between the air and the lungs, a connection of love. Expand your lungs with air until your body has the need to expel that air. Then exhale, and feel the pleasure again. When we fulfill any need of the human body, it gives us pleasure. To breathe gives us pleasure. Just to breathe is enough for us to always be happy, to enjoy life. Just to be alive is enough. Feel the pleasure of being alive, the pleasure of the feeling of love…
Overall, “The Mastery of Love” provides insights and advice on how to overcome the conditioning that inhibits our ability to love ourselves and others. The book offers a unique perspective on love that emphasizes respect, understanding, and acceptance, rather than possession and control.
To get the free ebook of this wonderful book, you can drop your request in the comment section.
Stay blessed and Keep rocking!
