[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f64wUH8npmL7nPorUQ0I-UqWJ3k9Yzp500Z5WsmH0ePk":3,"$fIJZEAjVghS2yGCAFNyOZ_FkWh_3di7dTYbspu7uWQAw":28},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},7808,"Patrick Harpur","P",27,null,"patrick-harpur",[12,16,20,24],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},270,"philosophy",26,{"tag_id":17,"tag_name":18,"tag_count":19},2945,"soul",23,{"tag_id":21,"tag_name":22,"tag_count":23},24,"life",10,{"tag_id":25,"tag_name":26,"tag_count":27},728,"meaning",6,{"quotes":29,"pagination":179},[30,50,65,77,94,109,126,138,150,167],{"id":31,"quote_text":32,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":35,"source":36,"quote_tag":37,"commentary":49},558651,"The paradox is that we can only truly love each other when we also love something beyond each other.",2,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[38,43,46],{"id":39,"tag":40},3017347,{"id":41,"tag_name":42},25,"love",{"id":44,"tag":45},3017348,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":47,"tag":48},3017349,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},"**The Backstory**\n\nThis profound insight is attributed to Patrick Harpur, a Scottish author and philosopher known for his work on the intersection of mysticism, psychology, and culture. While I couldn't pinpoint an exact origin for this quote, it resonates with his era's philosophical debates on love, relationships, and human connection.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nHarpur's paradoxical statement reveals that our capacity to truly love each other is contingent upon loving something beyond the relationship itself. This means that our ability to form deep connections with others is not solely dependent on the bond we share with them but also on our individual capacity for transcendence and self-love.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nIn today's fast-paced, often shallow digital age, Harpur's insight encourages us to cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and meaning that exists independently of our relationships. By prioritizing self-awareness, spiritual exploration, or personal growth, we can foster more authentic connections with others and avoid becoming overly dependent on external validation.\n\n**Behavioral Psychology Connection**\n\nThis quote also speaks to the concept of attachment theory in psychology, which suggests that secure attachments are built upon a foundation of self-esteem, emotional regulation, and a sense of agency. By loving something beyond each other, individuals can develop more resilient relationships and navigate conflicts with greater ease, as their sense of identity is not solely tied to the relationship itself.",{"id":51,"quote_text":52,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":53,"source":54,"quote_tag":55,"commentary":9},558650,"Ideologies can only ever hope to change our lifestyles; it takes soul to change our lives.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[56,59,62],{"id":57,"tag":58},3017344,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":60,"tag":61},3017345,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":63,"tag":64},3017346,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":66,"quote_text":67,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":68,"source":69,"quote_tag":70,"commentary":9},558648,"However much we wish the soul’s path to be straight, upward, and ascending, it is more likely to be meandering, full of regressions, downward turns, and backward glances.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[71,74],{"id":72,"tag":73},3017339,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":75,"tag":76},3017340,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":78,"quote_text":79,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":80,"source":81,"quote_tag":82,"commentary":9},558647,"The way of soul, we notice, is downward rather than the upward flight of the mystic.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[83,86,89],{"id":84,"tag":85},3017337,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":87,"tag":88},3017338,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":90,"tag":91},3017336,{"id":92,"tag_name":93},6618,"mysticism",{"id":95,"quote_text":96,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":97,"source":98,"quote_tag":99,"commentary":9},558646,"Soul is what turns ordinary events into experiences; what imparts to the passing moment depth, connection, and resonance … The effect is unmistakable: an experience of stillness in our heads and, in our hearts, a fullness … Soul is what is transmitted and received in the experience that we call love.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[100,103,106],{"id":101,"tag":102},3017333,{"id":41,"tag_name":42},{"id":104,"tag":105},3017334,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":107,"tag":108},3017335,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":110,"quote_text":111,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":112,"source":113,"quote_tag":114,"commentary":9},558644,"The trick is to cultivate “double vision” … A sense of metaphor, of translation - of two worlds interpenetrating - must be maintained. But this is also the essential movement of the imagination. We see through the literal world to the shape-shifting Otherworld behind.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[115,118,121],{"id":116,"tag":117},3017331,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":119,"tag":120},3017332,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":122,"tag":123},3017328,{"id":124,"tag_name":125},15093,"gnosis",{"id":127,"quote_text":128,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":129,"source":130,"quote_tag":131,"commentary":9},558642,"Each of us is an individual manifestation of the collective world-soul … we are also and paradoxically contained by the world-soul, like droplets in the ocean.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[132,135],{"id":133,"tag":134},3017318,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":136,"tag":137},3017319,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":139,"quote_text":140,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":141,"source":142,"quote_tag":143,"commentary":9},558640,"The task of the human soul is simply to return from its exile in our shadowy, less-than-real material world to an ecstatic union with the One Source of all reality.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[144,147],{"id":145,"tag":146},3017313,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":148,"tag":149},3017314,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":151,"quote_text":152,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":153,"source":154,"quote_tag":155,"commentary":9},558637,"Death is a portal into that greater reality that can already be glimpsed in this world as an imaginative experience of the Otherworld.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[156,161,164],{"id":157,"tag":158},3017304,{"id":159,"tag_name":160},119,"death",{"id":162,"tag":163},3017305,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":165,"tag":166},3017306,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":168,"quote_text":169,"author_id":5,"source_id":33,"has_image":34,"author":170,"source":171,"quote_tag":172,"commentary":9},558634,"Imagination, not reason, is the chief faculty of the soul.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[173,176],{"id":174,"tag":175},3017291,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":177,"tag":178},3017292,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"currentPage":180,"totalPages":181,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":23},1,3]