On Language and Transcendence

This is just a quick post, but is a snapshot of a massive thought I've been pushing into.

I've talked a lot lately about love - the kind of love that Jesus described when he said "Love your neighbor as yourself."  I often say that it means caring for another person the same way that you care for yourself.  I say that it's the foundational virtue, that it's the greatest commandment, that God is love.

I'm always thinking of new ways to describe it because I build understanding through description.  The other day I was describing what I meant by love and found myself using the term "transcendent."  Love, I said, is transcendent; its goal is for someone to transcend himself so as to see himself and others in their natural equality.  And having said it, I was a little taken aback at how 'eastern' I sounded.

Transcending the self is of prime importance in Hindu and Buddhist traditions.  In my understanding, "Nirvana" can be passably defined as transcending the self.  And here I was describing Jesus' teachings in the same terms, and being very impressed by well how those terms embraced his message.

In fact, my current favorite description of love is: the transcendent virtue.  To love is to act upon the observation that those around you deserve your care as much as you do.  Love is transcendence.

If transcendence, the means and ends of much eastern religion, is so similar to love, the means and ends of much western religion, I wonder how many other similarities we aren't seeing.  I wonder how many of our differences, which we feel must be solved through persuasion and debate (or worse), could be aptly overcome by a good translator.