Energy and Love

Source teaching · Alex Julian, 2024

The original lesson

Energy is the most foundational level of existence, and this is more of a scientific statement than a spiritual one. Everything comes down to energy, and everything is built on top of it. Simply put, the quality of our energy largely determines the quality of our work. Think about how much easier it is to work and be creative when you have good energy versus when you don’t. It honestly is like day and night.

We will get into specific techniques to improve our energy later, but the point here is to realize that maybe the hippies were on to something. I’m trying to have some fun here as I convey this message. To bring in Ram Dass again, I have listened to a specific lecture from him on the Bhagavad Gita so many times. It may be over a hundred. It is just such a beautiful talk and a joy to listen to. In the very beginning of the lecture at Naropa University, he says that the words said don’t matter as much as the energy exchanged. At the most fundamental level, what is being transferred between people is energy.

It is actually fascinating if you stop and think about what is going on with communication and energy. In essence, your energy is packaged into letters, words, and sentences, then delivered invisibly from your vocal chords into the ears of the other person. Although delivery matters, what is the most important part of the package? It is the contents of the package, or the energy. What energy are you delivering to people in life and in what you are building with AI?

On a similar note, people will often remember how you made them feel more than the actual words said. This is not always the case, however often this is what leaves the greatest lasting impact. This is all for multiple reasons. First of all, everyone could use a little more kindness. It is also the right thing to do, morally speaking. However, don’t forget that it is also the wisest business practice. Remember the Jeff Bezos story from before? That love and care became a foundation of Amazon’s mammoth success.

It is important to talk about love in a more nuanced way. It is better to love wisely than to love blindly. Having been a yoga teacher for over a decade, I have heard thousands of times about how the answer is always love no matter what. At first, I was completely on board. However, I soon realized that as much as I want life to be simple, it isn’t. Life is complex. Life is color — not black and white. Love is a great default answer, and I actual recommend that setting. However, it is not always the best choice. For instance, is it a good idea to love cigarettes? Is it a good idea to love binge drinking? Is it smart to love someone or something that is harmful to you? The answer is obviously no.

Love should undoubtedly be built into AI systems, however there is an interesting limitation that we all must figure out how to transcend. Much like you can only love someone as much as you love yourself, you can only build love into a system as much as you understand it. May we all take love and energy more seriously, and even treat it like scientists — researching, experimenting, and learning as much as we can.

In closing, energy and love matter — a lot. Our understanding of both will only become more important moving forward, and I predict that true love will only become exponentially more valuable.

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