Allophilia

Allophilia is defined in wikipedia as positive attitudes for a group that is not one's own -- is a term derived from Greek words meaning "liking or love of the other". Read about this in a post in Cuckoo's call. It immediately struck a chord in me. Its about something that I am very passionate about. The economist carried an article on this recently and suggests that we could do with more study on this topic. I absolutely agree. In fact I would say that we could do with more practical adoption of the same.

Love is a theme that occurs with unerring regularity in almost all sacred scriptures that I have read. Some examples from sacred scriptures in my native tongue Tamil would be

Thirukural - 72
அன்பிலார் எல்லாம் தமக்குரியர் அன்புடையார்
என்பும் உரியர் பிறர்கு
Meaning: Person bereft of love wants to own everything whilst a person filled with love does not consider his bone his own

Thirumandiram - 270
அன்பு சிவம் இரண்டு என்பர் அறிவிலார்
அன்பே சிவமாவது ஆரும் அறிகிலார்
அன்பே சிவமாவது ஆரும் அறிந்தபின்
அன்பே சிவமாய் அம்ர்ந்திருந் தாரே
Meaning (paraphrased): Love is god

Thiruvasagam - 518
வன்புலால் வேலும் அஞ்சேன் வளைக்கையார் கடைக்கண் அஞ்சேன்
என்பெலாம் உருக நோக்கீ அம்பலத் தாடுகின்ற
என்பொலா மணியை ஏத்தீ இனிதருல் பருக மாட்டா
அன்பிலா தவரைக் கண்டால் அம்மநாம் அஞ்சு மாறே
Meaning (paraphrased): I am mortally scared of loveless people though I dont fear any other gory thing.

The world would be a far better place if a lot of us could actually practice 'loving others' in our lives. By no means easy, but by all means the right thing to do. Others here refers not just to other groups. It refers to every form of life around us, every form of matter around us, every form of energy around us etc... This realization should proceed up to the point where one finds no difference between oneself and the rest. That is when, I feel, one will realize that 'me' does not stop at the boundary defined by the skin. This will ultimately lead to the realization that all matter are not just equal but they are actually same.