To love is to recognize yourself in another. The other’s “otherness” then stands revealed as an illusion pertaining to the purely human realm, the realm of form.

In order to truly love others, you must be free of them. That means free of needing them to love you back, favor you, see you, understand you, agree with you, validate you, or have favorable opinions of you. Love is free and freeing. Real love does not expect anything in return, though attachments do.