El Pescador (The Fisherman)

"Dear Waris, If we keep away from wanting, keep away both fear and hope, what does love feel like? Are relationships a trap, another construction to narrow the capacities of the mind?

 Dear Seeker, Why would we keep away from wanting, fear, and hope? These are the basic building blocks of our emotional makeup, just as amino acids are vital to every part of human function. These feelings arise all the time—it’s how one addresses them that’s important. Love, in all its variations—the Platonic kind, the romantic kind, the love of self, devotional love—is an absolute mystery to me. It is a boundless force. As for many who have come before me, it is the inspiration for all my work, for my being, my raison d’être. It confounds me to no end. Roxy Music was on the money when they proclaimed, “Love Is the Drug.” Recent scientific studies have proved that the effects of being in love have similar neurological effects on your brain as taking certain recreational drugs—not that I recommend these. Why would I, when there’s love? In their studies of MRIs of people in love, Drs. Fisher and Brown of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York say what they learned from lovers’ brains is that romantic love isn’t really an emotion. It’s a drive that’s based deep within our brains, right alongside our urges to find food and water. And you wouldn’t go hungry, would you?"