"Lovingly Indifferent": Its meaning for you?

[JaiMaaDurga]

Namaste,

It is not out of a dire need to understand the concept, or to make any
specific point, or promote a particular perspective, but merely out of interest in the thoughts of others here, that I ask this question..
I am refraining from expressing my own view for now, in the interest of
avoiding constraint or coloration of possible replies...
I would be most interested to know my fellow members' thoughts.

JAI MATA DI

[Shuddhasattva]

Namaste

To me it's a somewhat more challenging way of saying 'unconditional love' or 'lovingly unconditional/equanimous.'

A mother is not wrecked to find her child up on the counter with their hand in the cookie jar. Such is simply what one might expect. The important thing is the child.

Likewise, the divine absolver, be She mother or father, is indifferent to the sins or merits of the sadhak, which are equalized in her love.

[ShriBala]

Namaskar. You really haven't given anything to work on, have you ?

What follows is ONLY my opinion.

When troubles overtake a common person like me, i, with my limited scope of my mind, look towards any door or window to see the ray of light which might shine upon the darkness i am in and to shoo it away. Those are the times when i pray to the devi/devata to thrown upon the window and to let the proverbial light to shine thru. And sometimes, it does not happen immediately. Those are the times when i feel that god is lovingly indifferent. When i do discuss these thoughts with evolved spiritual souls, they say that god, during those times is loving and different. Different from any other worldly source which claims to have the wherewithal to help me out of my problem. Or to even kniw what the root of it is.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: I see it as the same as 'affectionate detachment'. It means that we love everybody, do what we can, yet remained detached emotionally to the point that it doesn't also affect us, or limit us by us getting all 'sticky' (odic) and emotional.

Where did you hear the terminology?

Aum Namasivaya

[Believer]

Namaste,

Being Indifferent = I don't care what you do, and I don't want to know what you do.
Being Lovingly Indifferent = I know what you do but my love/respect for you does not change because of your actions. I knowingly don't care and still love you - I am being Lovingly Indifferent.

Pranam.

[Vasa]

Namaste,

Being Indifferent = I don't care what you do, and I don't want to know what you do.
Being Lovingly Indifferent = I know what you do but my love/respect for you does not change because of your actions. I knowingly don't care and still love you - I am being Lovingly Indifferent.

Pranam.

Namaste.

I agree with all of the above posters. Believerji expressed it similarly to how I would have done so.

My only addition to this, from the perspective of a parent with a young child, is that it also involves a lack of what I will call "limiting expectations.". It is important to guide loved ones on the right path but we must remember only they can walk it. It also means, in the example, that one must not live vicariously through our children or loved ones, getting attached to what we think they should do or expecting them to follow in our footsteps, and getting hurt if they do not.

In summary, to me, it means to love fully and without expectation or reservation, to guide gently but remember that they must walk the path themselves.

Pranam.

[JaiMaaDurga]

Namaste,

Many thanks for the thoughtful replies; as Vasa has already said,
I am in agreement with all of them, in the sense that each illustrates
a different possible aspect of the expression.
To answer EM's question, I first encountered it when reading a
description of the change caused by a devotee's clinging to ego,
or adharmic behavior that demonstrates attachment to self, rather
than seeking remembrance of Self; to paraphrase, it was said that
instead of blessing or cursing, Devi becomes 'lovingly indifferent',
until such time as the jiva becomes weary, from sustaining the delusion
of an existence in which Her will is not manifest, that there is
any place where She cannot be found to abide, that there could
be a truth She does not express... it may be many births and deaths
before this weariness finally allows the mistaking of misery for freedom
to end, but to the devourer of time, She who is yet both the cause and
ultimate destruction of delusion, all this is only Her lila..

So, now you know this Shakta's introduction to the phrase, and perhaps
yet another slightly different shade of interpretation. I thank you
all again for helping explore the possible facets, and hope some of you
may have found considering the question interesting.

JAI MATA DI