Love and Hate: Two Sides of a Fateful Coin!

We have often heard the phrase “Love others for who they are, not for what you can gain from them.” It is a beautiful and intellectual statement that seems to be ethical and spiritual. The only problem is that it is not realistic. In practice, few people can set aside their own interests to love someone romantically, unexpectedly, and under any conditions. We are normally faithful to our love for others as long as we are not ignored, our interests are not jeopardized, we are not treated unkindly, and our goodness is not returned with evil. As soon as we feel that others do not appreciate our love, we give up on the friendship and end the relationship. This is because we have self-love and love ourselves more than anything or anybody else in the world. Our experience of falling in love is often driven by the pleasure it brings us. If loving and caring for others did not bring us joy, it is unlikely that we would fall in love at all!

There is no doubt that loving others for personal reasons and desires is a trait of unworthy people, but love for the sake of the other person never has enough power to keep us in the relationship. This is because the love that is not connected to a solid foundation quickly falls victim to our egotism and selfishness and turns into hatred. We must seek a more logical and powerful reason for our likes and dislikes as well as our love and hate, a reason that is consistent with the purpose of our creation and can save us and our relationships from the maleficence and selfishness that stems from the animal dimension of our being. But what reason can be so powerful?

I Love You Just for the Love of God!

In order to find a powerful reason that can regulate our relationships with others in a principled way, we must once again refer to the structure of the human soul, which you have a good understanding of after reading these articles. We stated that our existence has different levels and dimensions, starting from the inanimate dimension and progressing to the spiritual dimension. We also stated that these dimensions affect all aspects of our lives, from eating and sleeping to big issues of life.

Different dimensions of our existence can have a significant impact on our love and hate for the affairs and people around us and influence them. But we are only a human being and worthy of the title of the “noblest creation” if our love and hate, and likes and dislikes are based on the supra-rational dimension, which is the main dimension of our existence. In other words, it is our true self that must determine what and who we love, as well as what and who we hate. But what is the importance of this?

This issue is important because it addresses divine guardianship and the ultimate purpose of our creation. We can like or dislike something or someone for any reason and with any logic. No one forces us to love and hate people in this regard. However, the truth is that many of our reasons for love and hate towards others, which appear to be good and logical to us are motivated by the selfishness of the animal dimension. As a result, they remove us from God’s guardianship and put us in Satan’s group. Guardianship refers to being under someone’s management and accepting him as one’s guardian and authority. The truth of guardianship is that a person connects with someone of his own free will and entrusts himself to his guardian for training and moving in the path of life.

There are only two types of guardianship in the world: the guardianship of God and the guardianship of Satan. Every relationship with the world around us is developed under one of these two forms of guardianship, and there is no other option. It is clear that humans were not created to live under Satan’s control and fall into the abyss of Hell. The ultimate purpose of our creation is to live under God’s protection and guardianship. However, attaining God’s guardianship requires an important condition: organizing our hierarchy of love as well as our love and hate in accordance with God’s will and satisfaction. If someone truly wants to be under God’s management and guidance and follow the straight path, he must regulate his likes and dislikes as well as his love and hate based on God’s satisfaction rather than his own egos and desires. A powerful believer is someone who loves whatever God loves and hates whatever God hates, even if it is detriment in terms of worldly interests, or if he is forced to put aside his pride and selfishness in order to conform to divine criteria.

Breaking Free from Constraints: Organizing the Hierarchy of Love

Regulating love and hate on the axis of God’s satisfaction affects all parts of our life and frees us from spiritual contractions, resentments, and going astray. A person who lives this way becomes free and his circle of friendship with other believers expands. He tolerates opposing beliefs and gets along with different cultures and manners. He easily accepts his differences with his spouse, children, colleagues, neighbors, and other believers and does not try to impose his desires on others. If someone reminds him of something or criticizes his behavior for God’s sake, he does not become angry, and he welcomes criticism with an open mind. If a believer wrongs him, he forgives and forgets.

Of course, organizing the hierarchy of love based on God’s satisfaction is not limited to love. Hatred and resentment towards the enemies of God are the other side of the coin, and in fact, declaration of hatred towards His enemies precedes loving friends. Before we welcome a special guest into our home, we clean it well. The house of the heart is the same. Until our hearts are cleansed of the love of God’s enemies, the love of His friends will not enter it. The precedence of Tabarra (hate) over Tawalla (love) is a rational and conventional rule that cannot be opposed or broken.

In conclusion, we become like whoever we take as our guardian and manager, with his names and attributes being manifested in us as well. The one who chooses the guardianship of God becomes patient, kind, forgiving, and merciful like Him. On the other hand, one who accepts the guardianship of Satan becomes malicious, self-absorbed, arrogant, and jealous like Satan. Choosing our trainer and the planner of our affairs is of paramount importance as it is directly related to our destiny in this world and the hereafter. This is because our level of happiness and peace in this world and whether we go to Heaven or Hell in the hereafter is dependent on the names and attributes that we acquire during our earthly lives. We already covered this in detail in the second class of the advanced course.