In my view, there is such a thing as unconditional love*. However, so far as I know it is:
It's nature makes it difficult to research scientifically, but I suspect it has a neurological basis, and that it is closely related in physiology to the mystical experience of oneness.
But what's your own take on unconditional love?
*Selfless love that is given freely, without demanding that the beloved comply with any requirements as a condition of being loved. Not to be confused with love that is merely self-sacrificing. That is, selfless love does not entail self-sacrifice. The "beloved" here can be a person, place, thing, or -- perhaps most often -- an entire perceptual field.
EDIT: I should have written here that the "beloved" -- or object of one's unconditional love -- is almost certain to be the contents of one's entire perceptual field. Thus it is most likely to include everything one is perceiving during the experience of unconditional love.
- relatively rare (doesn't happen to everyone, and infrequently happens to anyone),
- usually extremely brief (typically lasting only moments),
- is as much (or even more so) a perspective or way of perceiving as it is an emotion,
- cannot be forced to come about (there is no guaranteed path to it, or means of bringing it about),
- is typically life-transforming.
It's nature makes it difficult to research scientifically, but I suspect it has a neurological basis, and that it is closely related in physiology to the mystical experience of oneness.
But what's your own take on unconditional love?
*Selfless love that is given freely, without demanding that the beloved comply with any requirements as a condition of being loved. Not to be confused with love that is merely self-sacrificing. That is, selfless love does not entail self-sacrifice. The "beloved" here can be a person, place, thing, or -- perhaps most often -- an entire perceptual field.
EDIT: I should have written here that the "beloved" -- or object of one's unconditional love -- is almost certain to be the contents of one's entire perceptual field. Thus it is most likely to include everything one is perceiving during the experience of unconditional love.