Love as Presence
In the teachings of both Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, love is not something we need to create. It is not dependent on relationship, emotion, or circumstance. It is not something we feel toward someone or something.
Love is what remains when everything unnecessary falls away — when we stop trying to become, to please, to fix, or to defend. It is the quiet radiance of awareness itself, shining through the simplicity of being.
When the Buddha said, “In the seen there is only the seen,” he was pointing toward a perception unclouded by desire or aversion — a seeing free from self-reference. In that clarity, the division between subject and object collapses. There is no longer “me seeing you,” but simply seeing itself. And from that undivided presence, a natural tenderness arises — not as a reaction or emotion, but as the inherent warmth of awareness when it is free from clinging.
This tenderness is Metta — loving-kindness attitude that asks for nothing. It does not discriminate, does not prefer. Like sunlight, it touches everything equally, illuminating without choosing. In this sense, love is not something we give, but something that flows effortlessly when the heart is unguarded.
Advaita Vedanta expresses this same realization in another language. It tells us that our true nature is pure consciousness — sat-chit-ananda: being, awareness, bliss. When the mind turns inward and rests in the Heart, all distinctions dissolve. What we call love and what we call awareness are no longer two.
As Ramana Maharshi said, “When the mind rests in the Heart, love and knowledge are one.”
In that resting, there is no need to reach outward for connection. Connection is inherent. The very fact of existence is an act of love — the constant giving of life to itself, breath to breath.
When we hear “love,” our minds often jump to romantic love, friendship, family ties, or the affection we feel for pets and possessions. These are all valid and beautiful, yet they remain within the domain of subject-object, of reaching and response. The love I am pointing to here is not conditioned, not transactional, not dependent on something or someone. It is the ground in which all conditioned loves live. It is the “open space of being, prior to the story of “I love you.”
What does “presence” mean in this context? It means in-this–moment-ness, free from preoccupation with what was or what will be. Presence is not something you manufacture; it arises when the mind rests in its natural state, when the layers of thinking, doing, and becoming relax. In that presence there is no “other,” no split between lover and beloved. The beloved is simply the belovedness of being itself.
When we live from presence, we don’t have to posture, prove, perform, or protect. We relax into what is, and from that openness the wisdom of love reveals itself.
In everyday life, we might say we love someone when they make us feel good, when they meet our expectations. But what about when they disappoint us? When they suffer? When they leave? The conditioned kind of love wavers, fades, or even turns away.
True love stays. The love that is presence is different. It doesn’t depend on the surface. It doesn’t need recognition or reciprocity. It is the steadfast openness of the heart. Because it flows from the timeless place of awareness, it isn’t subject to conditions.
Love on Yoga Mat
On the mat, this can be felt in the most simple way. Each inhale offers life. Each exhale releases control. Each posture becomes less about achieving and more about attuning — to the hum of aliveness that is always present.
When practice stops being a performance and becomes a listening, we rediscover that love is not an emotion that comes and goes, but the field in which everything arises.
To practice yoga with presence is to practice love. To live from the heart is to live from awareness. And to recognize awareness as our very nature is to find that love was never missing — it was only overlooked in the noise of becoming.
As Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “Love says: I am everything. Wisdom says: I am nothing. Between the two, my life flows.”
Yoga and meditation provide practical ways to step into this presence. On the yoga mat, we follow the breath, feel the body, allow it to soften. In meditation, we observe the mind, notice the patterns, and gradually see that beneath the thoughts is a clear, unshakable knowing.
By aligning with awareness, we awaken to the fact that our true identity isn’t the body, the story, or the personality. It is the awareness in which all forms arise and dissolve. And when we abide as that awareness, love is not added in — it is revealed.
May our practice remind us of this simple truth: presence is love, and love is the natural fragrance of being awake.
The Invitation
The InvitationThis is an invitation — one that invites no-one in particular because it is already open. If you feel drawn to this way of being, treat your practice as the doorway. Yet the yoga mat, the cushion, the everyday moments become your portal. Stop trying to get love. Start noticing what you already are. And then watch: love will not come to you. It will simply be what you are.
May my life and your life, moment by moment, become an offering of love in its purest, simplest form. It is difficult sometime, I know. That’s the way.
Thank you for reading.
With love,
Sasy
