It is the twentieth anniversary of the Christmas movie Love Actually but it is much more a movie about love. So perhaps it is better suited as a Valentine’s Day movie. It begins with this opening monologue by Hugh Grant which is all about love.

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”

I have always found this very moving. It is an acknowledgement of the deep connections we share. It is not so much a matter of going out and creating connections but instead realizing all the ones that already exist in our lives. This is where gratitude begins and compassion grows. We can have this here and now. We do not have to wait for a monumental event in our lives to begin to appreciate all that received from those around us. We just have to open our hearts and become more aware of all that we share with one another. Love really is everywhere, all around us. We just have to open our eyes and hearts to really appreciate it.

Later in the film there is a wedding. After the vows are exchanged, the couple begins to exit the church and suddenly a flash mob breaks out. Not dancing but singing and playing various musical instruments. Suddenly, you realize that you are in the middle of a performance of All You Need Is Love. Again, this emphasizes the importance of love. Love is both the most important thing that we can ever hope to achieve and the only thing.

As John Lennon wrote, everything we do has already been done before.

There's nothing you can know that isn't known

Nothing you can see that isn't shown

But love is different, it is something natural. It arises within us and when it does, our life becomes easy.

There's nowhere you can be

That isn't where you're meant to be - It's easy

John Lennon was influenced by Eastern thought and expressed his understanding in the lyrics of many of his songs. He came in contact with Hinduism from George Harrison and Zen Buddhism from Yoko Ono. This is also how I first came in contact with these spiritual traditions as well, through the Beatles.

“Love” is a term that is not often used in Buddhism. Instead, we use the word “Compassion”. They are related but compassion emphasizes the deep connection between people. Compassion is a compound of the Latin “com” + “passion”. “Com” meaning “with” and “passion” refers to feelings. When we have compassion for others we feel their feelings as if they were our own. We are able to identify with them. Our hearts become one.

“Compassion” is usually thought of as being nice to another person. But in Buddhism it means being of one heart. Here the niceness of it is not emphasized. Often times we may have to say or do what needs to be said or done in the moment to be truly compassionate. It may not be “nice” but it is what is necessary to help another person. In this sense, as Buddhists, Compassion Is All You Need.

In gassho, Rev Jon Turner