“You have talked a lot about truth and doing the right thing,” said the fourteenth disciple, “but you haven’t said much about love. What is love? What do you think it is and how is it relevant to those who go to the next level?”

“The first thing love is is a feeling,” replied The Enlightened One. “You all know that it is a human emotion based on Evolution. But love is also a concept. By this I mean it is an idea about how we react to and treat other people and creatures.

“Human love tends to be biased: it tends to favor the individual and their close associates and groups. The love of those trying to go beyond is more balanced: it puts the individual and their groups into proportion, as if seen from a kind of ‘God’s-eye view.’ It is like an extension of the emotions created by nature so they apply not just to further the interests of the individual human or their family and groups, but also to further the fair and balanced interests of all beings. It is a charming and admirable kind of love.

“Apart from the love of other beings there is also a kind of love of truth. This love of truth is a characteristic of people who are going to the next level, as they are seekers of higher wisdom. Anyone who wants to be wise must also be a seeker of truth: this is an essential type of love for them.

“Finally, when you put this fairness for others and love of truth together you get a more advanced kind of love that doesn’t only want to feel good about being with others but also wants to help them in very real ways to have better lives.”

“That is illuminating,” said the fourteenth disciple, “but some people don’t want to be helped. It offends them and they resist it.”

“That is very true,” agreed The Enlightened One. “Plenty of people don’t want to be helped and do resist the truth, for the obvious reason that it goes against their primitive human feelings and limited thoughts, as it must naturally do.

“Since the purpose of the human emotions is to further the interests of the individual human or their family and groups, it follows that being confronted with the true state of affairs must inevitably trigger negative emotions in the person. The true state of affairs puts the person’s position clearly into perspective, which contradicts the desire of the primitive human emotions to put the individual and their groups first. Also, the truth says that a human being is primitive and inferior in some way, which must immediately trigger their status-related feelings. We are telling them that they are inferior, and it is natural that they will be pushed by their feelings to fight against this in some way. How can we make progress against all that?

“The obvious answer is to be diplomatic when presenting the truth, taking into account the natural human nature of the people you are dealing with. Yet even that does not seem to make much progress with most people. It is a mystery that wise people have not been able to solve yet.”

“That is sad,” sighed the disciple.

“Yes, it is,” agreed The Enlightened One. “If any of you come up with the answer I would be glad to hear it!”

The remaining disciples looked at him with surprise.

“Finding that answer would be one of the truly loving things you could do,” observed the fourteenth disciple. “If we could find a way to help others to overcome their natural human nature then the world would be a better place for all.”

“How true,” agreed The Enlightened One.

“I know you have not been able to work that out,” said the fourteenth disciple, “and I know I am just a beginner, but I would like to spend some time thinking about what might help others overcome their human nature even when they don’t want to, or find it difficult.”

“Good luck to you,” said The Enlightened One. “I wish you every success in your endeavor.”