{"id":10099,"date":"2011-09-20T18:37:57","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T10:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/?p=10099"},"modified":"2011-09-20T18:38:41","modified_gmt":"2011-09-20T10:38:41","slug":"socrates-on-love-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/2011\/09\/socrates-on-love-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Socrates on Love & Marriage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Read the two below stories online… Following them are my comments…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is Love?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One day, Plato asked his teacher, “What is love? How\u00a0can I find it?” His teacher answered, “There is a vast\u00a0wheat field in front. Walk forward without turning\u00a0back, and pick only one stalk.\u00a0If you find the most\u00a0magnificent stalk, then you have found love.” Plato walked forward, and before long, he returned with\u00a0empty hands, having picked nothing.His teacher asked,\u00a0“Why did you not pick any stalk?” Plato answered,\u00a0“Because I could only pick once, and yet I could not turn back. I did find the most magnificent\u00a0stalk, but did not know if there were any better ones\u00a0ahead, so I did not pick it. As I walked further, the\u00a0stalks that I saw were not as good as the earlier one,\u00a0so I did not pick any in the end. His teacher then\u00a0said, “And that is love.”<\/p>\n

What is Marriage?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

On another day, Plato asked his teacher, “What is\u00a0marriage? How can I find it?” His teacher answered,\u00a0“There is a thriving forest in front. Walk forward without turning back, and chop down only one\u00a0tree. If you find the tallest tree, then you have\u00a0found marriage.” Plato walked forward, and before\u00a0long,\u00a0he returned with a tree. The tree was not thriving, and it was not tall either. It was only an\u00a0ordinary tree. His teacher asked, “Why did you chop\u00a0down such an ordinary tree?” Plato answered, “Because\u00a0of my previous experience. I walked halfway through\u00a0the forest. This time,\u00a0I saw this tree, and I felt that it was not bad, so I\u00a0chopped it down and brought it back. I did not want to\u00a0miss the opportunity.” His teacher then said,\u00a0“And that is marriage.”<\/p>\n

Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the stories are true, what did Plato’s teacher (Socrates) mean? That true love is unattainable, that marriage is simply settling with who might not be the best? (Incidentally, Socrates did not have a happy marriage.) The truth is, most, who had the power of choice, who are married, did indeed try to settle with someone who is the best available. For some, their life partners are really the best, even upon hindsight years down the road. Good karma! For some others, it might be a gamble to some extent – which is why some are unhappily married and even get divorced. But is true love unattainable? Love is true only when it is unconditional and for all. There is no need to pick a stalk when the whole field can be loved. Sounds unattainable? This is where spiritual practice comes in – to expand our love to be ever more universal, all pervading and equanimous – like the Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the two below stories online… Following them are my comments… What is Love?\u00a0 One day, Plato asked his teacher,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[129,115,274],"class_list":["post-10099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-relationships","tag-equanimity","tag-marriage","tag-true-love","wpcat-79-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10099\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}