“Love your Neighbor as yourself”…Literally

I am not very well versed in the Bible…yeah, those nine years at the Episcopal school didn’t really focus on religious studies much…but I am pretty familiar with the saying “love your neighbor as yourself”. 

This is a saying that is tossed out and interpreted a lot of different ways. I know, personally, I have thought it could mean a variety of different things over the years.

It could mean simply, be nice to other people.

It could mean, love yourself as you love other people because you are wonderful too.

Recently, however, I have taken a more literal and metaphysical interpretation of this saying and it has really stuck with me so I thought I would share it out into the interwebs to all you unsuspecting peeps out there.

I see this as a literal saying. As in, love your neighbor because they are you. Like, you are legit the same person. As in, you are both of and from the same. 

Metaphysics 101 tells us that we are all made from the same source, whatever you deem to call it – God, Love, Source energy – whatever the term we are of it. So, when you are said to “love your neighbor”, it is not because you should be a good person and be nice to others, but because your neighbor and you are literally one. 

A Course in Miracles teaches us that it is the thought of separation that makes us believe that we are different from those around us, but in truth, we are the same as them. Rosicrucian philosophy states that when we say “I” we are separating ourselves from others when, in reality, we are the same.

So, on a practical level, because you know I am all about making the metaphysical practical, what does this mean, especially in this highly divisive time we live in?

I see this as meaning we should love our neighbors, you know those ones we deem annoying because they are for a different political party, and we should love them because they are just a different aspect and projection of who we are, not because we are “supposed to” love them to be a good person, but because they are us and we are them.

This also means…we should love that other political party candidate that we have philosophical, ethical, and moral opposition to. 

So, while the whole world gets heated up, remember, your neighbor is the same as you. We are all one. Love your neighbor as yourself.