John Vervaeke - Why does Love Matter to the Meaning of Life? - Mind Matters 3

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John Vervaeke shares his thoughts on how agapic love matters to living a meaningful life. Please subscribe by clicking the button above for more mind-opening videos.

The original title for this talk is, "Eros into Agape, and the Core of Buddhist training".

Abstract:
In his essay The Basis of Buddhist Philosophy D. T. Suzuki states "Buddhist training consists in transforming tisna (tanha) into karuna, ego-centered love into something universal, eros into agape." In a similar vein Ajahan Sucitto in Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching, argues that "you could summarize Dhamma training as the transformation of taṇhā into chanda," and that we are not trying to get rid of desire but "trying to transmute it, take it out of the shadow of gratification and need, and use its aspiration and vigor to bring us into light and clarity." The concept of transformation of eros into agape draws from the neoplatonic Christian tradition of anagoge (the spiritual ascent to enlightenment) that Suzuki is discussing in his essay, and Sucitto moves towards a similar theme when he speaks of the transmutation of craving into an aspiration that moves into the light. So Suzuki's Zen tradition, the neoplatonic Christian tradition, and Sucitto's Theravadan tradition seem to be converging on a claim that is regarded as central to the traditions. How can we understand this process of transformation and transmutation? This talk will argue that the cognitive science of relevance realization and wisdom cultivation can be integrated with philosophical and psychological work on meaning in life in order to clarify this process of transmuting eros into agape.

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