Love

Love is another word of convenience that uses one word to encompass many distinct concepts. Generally, "love" refers to any sort of powerful, generally positive emotion. Various cultures, however, have created more specific words that distinguish different kinds of "love."

For example, Christians are often familiar with Greek terms for love that are differentiated by their target and nature.

• Eros is sexual love (e.g. the sexual desire you feel when seeing someone you are attracted to)
• Storge is familiar love (e.g. the bonds you feel with your family members)
• Philia is friendly love (e.g. the fondness you feel for your friends)
• Agape is unconditional love (a love that requires nothing in return; usually used in Christianity to describe God's love - despite clear conditions being given, and horrific punishments dealt at a whim)

(Various vices can also be considered types of love: e.g. greed (love of money) or gluttony (love of food); in Greek, philautia is a word for self-love. Here, however, we focus on types of love towards other people.)

Buddhism has different terms for love that are differentiated by mode of action.

• Karuna is compassion or "passive" love (e.g. the feeling of sympathy when seeing another person in pain)
• Metta is loving-kindness or "active" love (e.g. a kind of love that emanates from persons, not as a response to something)

The ancient Chinese also defined different contrasting types of love.

• Ren or "love within society" from Confucianism is a kind of proper compassion within social interactions.
• Ci or "emanating love" from Daoism is similar to Metta and like the emanating love of a mother to her child.

We are often taught that love is a virtue to cultivate - but what kind of love?

When seeking a life partner, it is ideal to find a partner for whom you mutually feel the full range of love types (eros, storgi, philia, and agape). It is also good to cultivate both passive and active love (karuna and metta) with that partner. That love should be both within interaction and without (ren and ci).

When Jesus Christ spoke of love, which love did he mean? "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Today we often call this compassion - a type of love where we empathize, aid, and do not harm. If only we have this type of love, humankind could avoid wars and killing each other.

We can learn a lot about love from the wisdom of the ancients from the many cultures of the world.