"Ancient India's 5 Words for Love (And Why Knowing Them Can Heighten Your Happiness)"

September 14, 2014 - Huffington Post - Love Matters

"So how do we keep the life-giving flame of love alive? The ancient thinkers of India, who devoted a great deal of attention to this problem, recognized and honored the power of sex and romance to jump-start our flagging emotions. But the important question for them was, where do we go from there? How do we harness the intoxicating power of falling in love to create a happiness that endures even after the initial flame dies away?"

"They taught that love consists of a series of stages through which an individual can climb. The lower stages on love's journey aren't necessarily supposed to go away as one gets more enlightened--however, remaining stuck at the lowest rung can cause a lot of frustration and sadness.

The important thing is that we keep climbing love's ladder. As the 19th century Hindu apostle to America, Swami Vivekananda, put it, 'If one would expand, he must love, and when he ceases to love he dies.'"