what is the secret to loving your enemy?

According to the Jewish tree of life, love includes logic and is infallible. The common understanding is a complete blasphemy. Worldly love and the false doctrine called positivism have become one unholy beast. People then started to equate the word 'love' to the abomination they set up in their hearts. They make their version of love filled with ignorance and they see it fail on all levels and then say that love is stupid and terrible things like that, but they really never knew love; they knew positivism. No, love is a very logical thing, so first understand what love is and they you'll clearly see what loving your enemy is. The statement is an affirmation for one to reduce anxiety; love cannot be commanded; only engendered. I suppose the writers of the original text knew that. The love commands were never meant to be commands, but rather, engenderings. Try understanding the verse in this way: 'Try feeling love for your enemy instead of anxiety; know that he or she only acts out of misunderstanding and can only be corrected by understanding' or something -- it's difficult to translate.

The secret is probably in defining what the enemy is or represents. It could be fear, or doubt or maybe even shame. One of those three is probably at the root of why you perceive you have an enemy. It all begins with you. Nothing and nobody outside of yourself created an enemy. You chose to experience a condition where the idea of an enemy was necessary for spiritual growth.

The type of love you choose to heal the rift with, is most likely going to be the same kind of love that created it in the first place.

Willrogers has impressed me very much with his answer. Very enlightening.

I'll add more later.

Wishing you all the best always and in always.

Peace.

Edit: Ratia: Interesting song choice.

This one would be suitable also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qswm7lHp7oY

Love.

No need to split hairs.

I have heard it put this way: there are two emotions. One feels good and the other feels bad.

Either can become habitual. The negative one leads to disease. If one habitually feels good about oneself, feeling bad about anything or anyone else will by contrast be shocking. The brain not knowing anything about time or about imagination reacts to shocks to its programs by making efforts to correct the situations. These we call symptoms. To love one's enemy means to eliminate negative emotions as soon as possible due to the harmfull effects of not doing so. The best way to do this is to visualize or imagine that the wanted state of mind already exists, enjoy the ensuing positive emotions or feelings and allow those to become habitual. The resistance disappears and health returns. Cheers.

For me, storge, sunesis and then phronesis.

Edit: No, not storge, agape (unconditional acceptance, a faithful love), then sunesis (the merging and interrelation of our "opposing" perspectives into a more complete view of the relationship) and then phronesis (practical action coordinated through the synthesis of the information obtained through the first two phases.

Paolo Coelho says that we should keep fighting our enemies out of respect for them. if we don't fight them, they will lose their purpose of existence, which will make them very unhappy indeed.;)

Warriors usually operate under a moral code. (At least all legendary warriors do.) It's about honor, loyalty, honesty, and fillial piety. And because of this, all old value warriors usually group together as one and fight those who do not keep the code. This is how they pick out sides.

Since warriors fight their enemies with honor and respect, I am going with Philia.

- The psychology of ignorance. -

Enemies will no longer be found, when and where ignorance is no longer present.

Enemies are found within the state of ignorance.

The state of ignorance occurs and remains within man as long as man's mind is allowed to remain clouded.

One must eventually remove ones own ignorance.

* If one can remove ones own ignorance, one will no longer be ones own worst enemy.

As long as one remains ones own worst enemy, mental torpor will be present.

Mental torpor is caused through ones own ignorance.

Enemies can be constantly observed if ones mind is allowed to remain clouded.

If the clouds found within the mind are removed there will no longer be no place for ignorance to hide.

One will then no longer observe an illusory enemy or enemies.

"Unconditional love" observes no such a thing as an 'enemy'.

Enemies are always found living in a state of ignorance.

The false wisdom harbored within man, has created the illusions that man has come to perceive as enemy or enemies.

If one were to understand the nature of illusion, one would no longer remain ones own worst enemy.

Man must learn the beauty found within "unconditional friendship".

That would indeed be a good thing.

That might even be called, a modern day miracle.

May Peace be always within you.

That is where True Peace is found, would you not agree?

Salaams,

the secret to loving your enemy is having a healthy self-esteem.

Loving your enemy takes away all of their power over you.

It sometimes takes many years, and much maturity to get to this point. I know it did for me in my own journey through life!

Agape. I think it comes from seeing yourself in your enemies position, finding that in yourself that responds to him and wants to be like him. Only when you see that he is you and you despise what he does can you kill with love and forgiveness.

You know how you want to be treated treat others the same way. Defend yourself if your life is threatened by whatever means necessary. That mass of text above seems to me to just be some kind of procrastination.

you should love everybody, hate is futile, because we dont choose who we are, cause and effects lead them to be the way you, me and them are.

thats not an excuse to free every criminals (because they are a danger to others or even themselves)

thats an argument to be a more humanist person