We Are Made for Love: What Ancient Teachings Say About Love and Why It Still Matters
Love Is Leading the Way
I've been writing in my journal almost daily for the last couple of months. It’s a practice that I really love, even though I don’t always do it consistently. One particular morning this week, something stirred deeply inside me, and I felt incredibly inspired to write about love.
Here’s what I wrote:
"No matter what is happening in our lives, love is leading the way. Love heals. Love is our Higher Selves. Love is God. Love is Jesus. Love is all around us. Love is what we need to heal ourselves—physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. What if everyone on this planet felt more love for themselves? The world would be a different place. People wouldn’t reach outside of themselves for love, and instead realize it’s on the inside. Love is not judgmental. Love is real. Love is honest and always patiently waiting for us to return to it."
This reflection left me wondering: Is this just a hopeful musing of a yoga-loving heart, or is there something deeper and ancient in this truth? Do spiritual traditions across the world actually say that we are made for love?
The more I dug into this question, the more I found that the answer is yes. Across thousands of years and cultures, love has been the central message. Not just romantic love, but love as a spiritual force, a guiding light, a birthright, and a path home to ourselves.
Let’s take a journey through some of these ancient teachings.
What Ancient Texts Teach About Love
In the Hindu tradition, especially through the lens of yoga philosophy, love is both the nature of the Divine and the means by which we unite with it. The Bhagavad Gita teaches bhakti yoga — the yoga of devotion. It is a path of love, where we align our heart with something greater than ourselves.
“Fill your mind with Me, love Me, serve Me, worship Me always. Seeking Me in your heart, you will at last be united with Me.” — Bhagavad Gita 9:34
This kind of love transcends ego and personal desire. It opens the heart to unconditional connection, grace, and transformation. In the Upanishads, the soul (Atman) is described as pure joy and consciousness, inseparable from Brahman — the universal, divine presence. Brahman is often described as Sat-Chit-Ananda (truth, consciousness, bliss).
And what is bliss, if not love?
Christianity: God Is Love
One of the most powerful declarations of love comes from the Christian tradition:
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." — 1 John 4:16
Not God has love. Not God gives love. But God is love.
That changes everything.
Jesus taught that love is not optional; it is the foundation. When asked to name the greatest commandment, he replied:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... and love your neighbor as yourself.”
This message isn’t about religious labels—it’s about returning to love as the compass and core of who we are.
Buddhism: Loving-Kindness as Liberation
The Buddha taught that cultivating Metta (loving-kindness) leads to peace, wisdom, and freedom. Alongside compassion (Karuna), joy (Mudita), and equanimity (Upekkha), loving-kindness forms the Four Immeasurables.
"Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love toward all beings." — Metta Sutta
This is not love based on attachment or condition. It is expansive, fierce, and pure. In Buddhism, love isn’t about clinging; it’s about letting go into the truth of our interconnectedness.
Sufism: Love as the Essence of the Divine
In the mystical branch of Islam called Sufism, love is seen as the fire that calls us back to the Beloved. The great poet Rumi said:
“You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”
“I have no companion but Love, no beginning, no end, no dawn. The soul calls from within me: 'You, ignorant of the way of Love, set Me free.'"
For Sufis, the spiritual path is a love affair with God. Longing itself is sacred, a sign that we have tasted divine love and want more.
Indigenous Teachings: Love as Kinship and Harmony
Many Indigenous cultures teach that everything is interconnected, and love is the thread that holds the web of life together. The Lakota phrase Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ means "All my relations," a reminder that all beings are our relatives.
This worldview is rooted in love—for the land, the animals, the people, and the ancestors. Living in balance is an act of love.
Ancient Greek Philosophy: Many Faces of Love
The Greeks had many words for love:
Agape: Selfless, divine love
Philia: Affectionate friendship
Eros: Passion and desire
Storge: Familial love
Plato described love as a force that elevates the soul. In The Symposium, love begins with physical attraction but evolves into a pursuit of truth and divine beauty. Love pulls us toward our higher self.
Love Is Not Sentimental. It’s Transformational.
When we talk about love in this way, we're not talking about greeting card fluff. This isn’t just about romance or sweetness. Ancient texts speak of love as a transformational power—one that dismantles ego, heals the heart, and unites us with the eternal.
And when you sit with that truth, it brings up a powerful question:
What if we all embraced the love that we are?
Imagine a world where people didn’t seek love as something external to earn or chase, but as a presence within.
We wouldn't:
Seek validation through social media
Fight wars over imagined separateness
Use success or appearance as a measure of worth
Instead, we would:
Trust our inner voice
Connect with others in kindness
Heal trauma and emotional wounds
Live in greater peace with ourselves and the world
Love is already inside us. And it’s waiting, patiently, for us to return.
How to Return to the Love That You Are
So, how do we do it? How do we live from love in a world that often feels the opposite?
Here are a few ways to start:
1. Daily Reflection or Journaling
Just like I experienced, writing can be a sacred container for rediscovering what matters. Ask yourself:
Where did I see love today?
Where did I offer love?
What blocks me from love, and what helps me return?
2. Practice Loving-Kindness Meditation
Sit quietly and send love first to yourself, then to others:
"May I be safe. May I be healthy. May I be happy. May I live with ease." Then extend it to a friend, a stranger, and even someone difficult. You will feel your heart expand.
3. Offer Acts of Love Without Expectation
It could be a kind word, a genuine compliment, or making someone feel seen. These small gestures ripple outward.
4. Connect with Spiritual Texts
Revisit the Bhagavad Gita, the Gospels, the Dhammapada, Rumi, or Indigenous prayers. Let their words be a mirror that reflects the truth you already carry.
5. Remind Yourself Daily: I Am Love
Try saying it aloud:
"I am love. I was created by love. I am returning to love."
These aren't affirmations to escape reality—they're anchors to your essence.
Love Is Leading. Will You Follow?
The world doesn’t need more perfection. It doesn’t need more judgment. It needs more love.
And the ancient teachings aren’t just pointing us toward it. They’re calling us back to it. Back to the source. Back to the divine within. Back to each other.
So I’ll leave you with this:
What would your life look like if you trusted that love was leading the way?
What would change if you believed that love was your truest nature?
Take a breath. Close your eyes. And ask love to show you.
It always will.