Wisdom

The Right Love Equation

Did you know there is a cheat code for it?

How do you love? How do you do it right? (Credit: )

To love is to be human. You are not allowed to have intimate sexual relationships in the monastic life because you are committed to celibacy. How do you handle the feeling of love then?

That question was given to the Brothers and Sisters from Thai Plum Village in a Day of Mindfulness in South Tangerang, Indonesia. A mundane but interesting question, I must say.

Maybe because the question reminded me that beneath their robes the monks and nuns are also people; the enlightenment we seek through mindful practices is not so otherworldly.

Or maybe because I’d never heard someone ask how monks and nuns handle their problems before then. We usually come before them bringing our problems and asking for solutions, never the other way around.

A Sister, whose name I regrettably couldn’t catch due to my nonexistence skills in Thai, volunteered to share her experiences.

She first admitted that the common misconception about celibacy is that you cut off your feelings completely, seek to not entertain yourself with any worldly attachment including love.

In the Sister’s experience, being a nun is instead to embrace love wholly and fully. The love involved here…