The Science of Love: From the Desire of the Senses to the Intellect of Love

In 'The Science of Love' RAPHAEL takes into consideration the human being in its totality as constituted therefore by body, Soul and Spirit, and examines Love as that powerful unifying impulse, which transmits the grace of joy, flooding and involving all it comes into contact with. As DANTE himself said, love '... moves the sun and the other stars.' And Raphael states: ...the miracle of Love allows growth, redemption and the expansion of consciousness to Universal dimensions. In present-day culture the word love' is taken primarily to indicate sex, and, even when speaking of feelings, they are always qualified in terms of sexual elements. Love is seen as fundamentally functional to the male-female polar sphere rather than to the man-woman aspect, or to that of the person having a body, a psyche and also a soul. If the five senses appreciate the beauty of the sensible world, in the journey leading towards the Intellect of Love, «for people who want to live in a beautiful way, says PLATO, what must guide them for their entire lives is not kinship, honors, riches or anything else, as none of these can inspire in such a beautiful way as Love». It is under this light that Raphael can say that: ...the miracle of Love allows growth, redemption and the expansion of consciousness to Universal dimensions. Of special interest is the presentation of the polarities existing not only between idividuals but operating within the individual itself. Specific and revealing reference is made to the "energy centers" or cakra contemplated by the Yoga.