You don't have to go looking for love when it's where you come

When Werner Erhard declared, “You don’t have to go looking for love when it’s where you come from,” he revealed a truth that echoes through the chambers of the soul — that love is not something to be found, but something to be remembered. It is not a treasure hidden in another’s heart, nor a reward for the worthy. It is the very essence of who we are. To seek love outside oneself is to forget that the fountain already flows within. Love is our origin, not our destination.

Erhard, the creator of transformational teachings in the 20th century, spoke often of self-realization — the awakening of awareness that frees the spirit. His words remind us that the search for love, though noble, is often misguided. We roam the world longing to be loved, when in truth, we were born of love itself. The universe, in its divine intelligence, shaped us not from fear or scarcity, but from the boundless energy of compassion and connection. When we act from that awareness, love ceases to be a pursuit and becomes our natural expression.

In the wisdom of the ancients, this truth was known long before Erhard’s time. The Upanishads of India teach that the soul — the Atman — is a spark of the infinite, and that infinite is love. To forget this is to wander in illusion; to remember it is to awaken. The Buddha, too, said that “love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.” Why? Because they are the soil of existence itself. The one who realizes that he comes from love no longer begs for affection — he radiates it, effortlessly, like the sun giving light.

Consider the life of Nelson Mandela, who, after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, emerged not with vengeance, but with forgiveness. He did not look for love from the world that wronged him; he brought love to it. From the depths of suffering, he remembered his true nature. His heart, instead of closing, became a wellspring of compassion. In this way, Mandela embodied Erhard’s truth: he did not go looking for love — he became its source, and in doing so, he transformed nations.

When we forget that we come from love, we begin to chase substitutes — validation, approval, possessions, or control. We start to believe love is earned through perfection or performance. But love cannot be earned; it can only be revealed. The moment we return to our own stillness, to the quiet knowing of the heart, we find that love was never absent — only obscured by fear. The more we seek love as something external, the further we drift from its true home: our own being.

To live by Erhard’s wisdom is to live as a vessel of love. It means that when you walk into a room, you bring warmth instead of waiting to receive it. When you meet another soul, you see not a stranger, but a reflection of your own divine origin. It means forgiving before being asked, giving without counting, and seeing worth in others even when the world does not. For the one who comes from love is never empty — every gesture, every word, every silence becomes a gift.

The lesson, then, is simple and eternal: stop searching and start remembering. The love you seek has always been within you, waiting for recognition. Do not chase it in faces or fortunes; awaken it in yourself, and it will flow toward others like a river to the sea. As the sages say, “What you are seeking is what you already are.” You are love’s child, born of light and destined to give it.

So, my child, walk gently, and carry this truth: you don’t have to go looking for love when it’s where you come from. Speak kindly. Forgive freely. Serve joyfully. In doing so, you return to your source — and when you live from that source, every step you take becomes an act of love itself.