There are many forms of love. Or many (non)things a thought can call love.
We can say that love is equal to what we are. What we are already are allows whatever experience is here, and that can be seen as a form of love. This allows any experience, and is not a feeling at all or dependent on any feelings.
When we recognize what we are, to some extent, we tend to live (more) from love since all is recognized as a seamless whole, and it’s all awareness, or Spirit. This is a love that’s not a feeling or dependent on a feeling, but a consequence of recognizing all as Spirit, or all as happening within and as what we are.
There is also the unconditional love that is a feeling, that seems connected with the heart, and can be invited through different heart centered practices. It’s a love for my whole world, for any content of experience, including (what a thought may call) myself, parts of me, others, situations, life, Existence, God.
And there is the more conventional love, perhaps for a person or animal, which is also a feeling. (And no less beautiful or important than the previous ones we can call love.) This can be the love for a friend, children, parents, a pet, a lover. This love can be mixed up with identifications and neediness, which can filter the expression of this form of love, and really any of the forms of love described here.
I don’t often use the word unconditional, because it can mean different things. I’ll still explore it a bit here.
The three first forms of love are often called unconditional. The first one is inherent in existence, so that one is unconditional in that sense. The second is unconditional in some ways, and also conditioned on – and a consequence of – the recognition. The third is also unconditional in what it embraces or meets, and also conditioned in that it’s dependent on a state or a feeling or certain practices. The fourth oftenseems a mix of the love we are, and of really liking someone, which is dependent on certain characteristics of that person or being.
As mentioned earlier, the recognition of any of these forms of love can be obscured by our identifications, when we get caught in them. And the expression of the last three can also be colored by and filtered (some will say distorted) through identifications, when these are activated.
We may recognize all as Spirit, or all as happening within and as what we are, and this may get filtered and somewhat obscured when I get caught in neediness, or reactiveness, or a certain exclusive identity, or any other form of identification.
That’s part of life. It’s not a “goal” really to “get rid of” all identifications. That may not even be possible. What I can do is become more aware of it, and acknowledge it.