The word unconditional is used a lot but what does it really mean. And how open is the mind to actually allow the conditional to transform into unconditional. It takes some time to even be aware that there actually is a difference. Until a certain level of consciousness is allowed it is impossible to even perceive the difference. Initially, the unconditional is quite uncomfortable for the human self. There is a lot of resistance. A resistance to unconditional happiness, love, acceptance ... They all work on similar principles.
Lets take happiness for example. Majority of people work on conditional happiness ... the premise that first some condition has to be fulfilled and then one can be 'happy'. There are so many conditions attached to this as we all know. I will be happy when the following is condition is fulfilled: the weather is sunny, I get married, I get divorced, I have children, I get a job, I retire, I loose weight, I look younger, I get fitter, I go to the jim, I buy a particular house, I get a boat, a new boat, I get a new car, I become successful, I become a manager, I achieve this or that, there is no more hunger in the world, no more wars ... etc ... etc ...
All these experiences are absolutely valid. And when the human experiences them, there are many levels of wonder, joy, happiness, thriving, feeling of accomplishments and all sorts of other things that go with that.
At the same time, none of these conditions are required for the unconditional happiness. I can be happy right now. Without any of the conditions being achieved first. I can allow happiness about myself and my life right now. I can choose and allow myself to feel happy. Regardless of what the world around me appears to be like. This is what unconditional means.
And there is a lot of resistance to feeling this way, the mind does not like this. The mind likes to work hard first, likes to suffer first, likes many conditions to be fulfilled first. The mind likes to put that elusive happiness somewhere in the future and always somewhat out of reach. Most of us are aware of that feeling when we have achieved something long desired, and then there is emptiness of the conditional. We can even feel disappointed that the dream did not bring us happiness we thought it would. A typical example could be a famous person, who privately destroys themselves through drugs, alcohol etc and yet they are supposedly 'living the life' ... having everything that should give them happiness.
The unconditional is carried by the soul part of self. The unconditional love. And the mind says ... do you mean that I have to love myself without sorting myself out first? Do you really mean I have to love strangers just as much as my friends, my loved ones ... this is the resistance to unconditional.
The soul does not impose any condition upon love. We just experience love when we allow. Without any complications. Without any conditions.
So allow yourself to play with this, to notice your resistances, to allow the new feelings. To allow the satisfaction with your own self to be you, to feel happy regardless of the circumstances. And see what happens.
Michael~
As Alexis, the human self, my understanding of 'unconditional' has changed a lot in the last few years. I recognise that 'the unconditional' is an essential part of sovereignty, part of freedom.
The understanding that I was responsible for claiming, creating and expanding a space of sovereignty within me was a huge step. I had to be willing to claim this for myself as no outside 'authority' was going to give me this permission. This space within me where there is no 'other'. There is no outside authority or boss or other god. Within this space I am the Queen and the King. Within this space, I make all the choices, decisions, value judgments. I choose what is real and what is not. Within this space I choose what is important to me and what is not. Here I have space to ponder on things, to feel things, to test them out, to play with ideas, imagine, fly.
There is a special exhilaration that exists in this space, the exhilaration of allowing oneself to be ... well ... just me. How precious and rare this kind of experience used to be.
The unconditional is essential within this space, it is part of owning my sovereignty. The unconditional allows the freedom to feel all sides of any issue without attaching emotional overlays that cloud. It allows objectivity. It enables clarity.
In this space, this precious space, I can dunk anything into the fresh waters of the unconditional, and wash all the previous attachments that were stuck to a particular parameter. Give it a new meaning, my own unique meaning and test it out. In this precious space, I have freedom to allow myself 'mistakes', testings, trials, letting go of what does not work, going deeper with things. Feels somewhat like a gigantic legoland.
What happens to things when they go through the washing cycle of the unconditional? What new meanings can I give to things like relationships, priorities, family, work, home ... Everyone of these come into our lives loaded with attached meanings that the authorities, previous generations, religions ... have given it. They come heavy and non-flexible, un-malleable, unbending. They come loaded with the heaviness of history, old structures. And some people wonder why they don't work any more in these times of great change. Because when things are changing, you need different kind of tools.
In this precious space of my own sovereignty, the space that I allowed and grow inside of me ... I can dip any of these parameters into the unconditional. So it gets washed and softened. To become a new slate, one that can be molded to the new, one that is flexible and light without any history and heaviness attached. All things need to go through the cleansing waters of the unconditional and be washed of what was and what is, so that it can be fresh and new.
The only place this can happen is within you, within each and every one of us. And then it spills out into life. Fresh, cleansed, renewed through the waters of unconditional ... every single one of the parameters that we have lived by.