Yes, I believe unconditional love is possible between adults.It means no criticism, no blaming, no judgements and no attempt to gain control. It means total acceptance. Here is another view. “Unconditional love does not say “I love everyone equally,” but rather “I love everyone appropriately and in response to their uniqueness.” And, very importantly, unconditional love does not mean unconditional acceptance of behaviors.” Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Unconditional Love, by Tony Mitton (Findhorn Press, 2003). “Agape is the Greek word for divine, unconditional love. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato used it in a way that suggested a universal, as opposed a personal, love; this could mean love of truth, or love of humanity. The term was used by the early Christians to refer to the special love for God and God's love for man, as well as the self-sacrificing love they believed all should have for each other.” http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Agape

I'm inclined to say no to both propositions. "Unconditional love" means that you extend love to someone regardless of what they do. No one should ever do this. A child will usually receive the benefit of the doubt from a parent. But there can be a breaking point, beyond which one party detaches because of unacceptable behaviour on the part of the other. As far as for "unconditional love" between partners, I don't feel this makes for a particularly healthy relationship. You may experience something approaching this if your relationship with your partner is exceptionally good and is reciprocated completely. But it leaves one open to victimization if your partner decides to go his or her own way. Extending unconditional love can make you willfully blind to destructive changes in the relationship. ------------------------------------------------------------ Re: "You can care about someone unconditionally without willingly choosing to be around them." This comment is irrelevant, as far as my answer is concerned. I do not extend "unconditional love" to anyone, present or absent, and do not advise anyone to do so, either. Since "unconditional love" makes one open to abuse by those you "love", one must retain a certain level of caution and detachment towards any person, be they child, spouse, parent, or any other. This is the reality of an offtimes cruel world.

Yes......to want to spend the rest of your life with that special only one does happen. not very often. this means no holes barred. you are there for each other, no matter what. unconditional love, to me, means its just you and your mate, as one, against the world no matter what comes your way. respect, love and super glue will bind you together...forever.

Yes. You can choose to care about someone regardless of what they do to you. There are cases of people being killed even as they pray for their murderers. There's a case where a guy was beaten by a gang and then when they took the members to court and pronounced the jail sentence, the guy asked for all the sentences to be added up and served the total time himself, on their behalf, just as Jesus died for our crimes committed against him. Unconditional love doesn't mean you're blind to the mistakes the other person makes. It means you deliberately choose to care about the other person, even knowing they do wrong things, and to act in their best interests because you care about them. It means you care about them, even if you don't approve of their actions. It essentially means that "no matter what you do, I care about you and want the best for you." Love isn't blind, indeed it chooses to see the other person's pain and the hurt inside of them, and to care about them for who they are, regardless of their actions. The truest love is indeed unconditional.

I can say that you could never love a spouse like you do your kids. I think its a different kind of love you have for a spouse. Your kids should always be number one. Your kids will always be a part of your life, whos to say you and your spouse work out, but your children will always be there.

This is a major mistake that most married couples make. They put thier children before thier marriage. Your kids are very important but your success as a couple is much more important as it will filter down to the children. When you put your children before your marriage you put them between your marriage and this will often end in divorce as has been clearly demonstarted in in American society. A happy couple has happy childern. The idea of "my children are always number one" means that your marriage is number two. Which in effect makes your kids number 3! Foolish at best! "I can say that you could never love a spouse like you do your kids. I think its a different kind of love you have for a spouse. Your kids should always be number one. Your kids will always be a part of your life, whos to say you and your spouse work out, but your children will always be there. "

There are many who strive, today, to love without limits, that is to say, unconditionally, who find it possible to do with those who do not burden them with distress, or cause them difficulties in any one of a number of ways, yet who, in the presence of someone else's rage, rejection, or indifference, find it impossible to respond with love. This limitation of the human heart cannot be overcome through the use of will, except on a limited basis, for the will-to-love can be plentiful, but the emotions that get in the way of love can also be plentiful. What is needed is a fuller immersion in, and experience of, the 'vibration' of Love, so that it becomes a living reality that is first offered to the self, after which it can be offered to others. The vibration of limitless or unconditional love is not one that is self-created. Rather, it partakes of the Divine and must be received in the way of an experience of God's love that softens the heart, melting the sharp edges that are often carried in relation to unhealed situations in life or in relation to people with whom one has had difficulty in the past. One can speak of 'unconditional love' and understand that it lives within each human heart at its Divine core, but to arrive at the place where it can be felt as a feeling and conveyed to others as well, it must be awakened first, and this awakening is an awakening of the Christ-self within. To speak of the Christ-self within is not to identify such love with any particular religion, for it does not belong to any religion. It belongs to the universe of souls and to the Heart from which all human hearts derive. This greater Heart has included in the lesser, the capacity to reach toward the limitless in the way of love, compassion, mercy, and gratitude, and has provided an inner path to do so which is carved out by the many ways in which one can pray for, meditate on, and receive an experience of Divine love. In this way, the human heart becomes connected with the Heart of God, the Heart of Hearts, and can then love others with what it has experienced within itself. Often, the awakening to the unconditional love that God has for all souls that man seeks to find within occurs spontaneously when the soul is ready, simply because it is time, and the embodied self is ripe for such an experience. Sometimes, the synergy of being with a group of others who pray together and share in God's love can quicken the awakening of the Divine heart within each human heart. And sometimes, being in the presence of an Illuminated One - a being who has awakened to the Divine Heart within sufficiently to transmit the vibration to others - is needed in order that the light within be ignited as if by a small match that then produces a flame that grows and grows. The longing for an experience of Divine love in order to feel it, to become it, and to share it with humanity, are the steps toward awakening of the Christ-self. At the foundation of this longing is the spiritual gravitation of the human heart toward the Heart of God. This gravitation is something that is indigenous to the human soul. It is part of the spiritual unfoldment of the soul. And so allowing it to grow and nurturing it, will ultimately produce the benefits of longing and of praying, expecially when accompanied by the purification of those aspects of thought and feeling that may additionally be standing in the way of greater love. In relation to such an awakening, it is important to understand two things: first, that spiritual awakening for each and every soul is much more possible today, due to the earth's infusion with greater light. This infusion has already transformed the spiritual atmosphere in which humanity lives. Across the board, it is making it more possible for souls to have experiences of spiritual deepening that either would not have been possible before, or would have taken much longer. Second, one must realize that the words 'unconditional love' or 'limitless love' can be used without the speaker having full awareness of their meaning. For until the experience of merging and melting of heart within Heart takes place, it is not possible to know what the words mean, although it is still possible for the spiritual gravitation to take place that enables the heart to keep reaching toward what it most deeply seeks. The Christ-self within is the capacity to embody God's heart within one's own and to share the love that comes from this joining. All steps taken in pursuit of this joining will bear fruit, and all steps taken with indifference to the outcome of any action or path in terms of love, will increasingly separate one from the Source of love. This is to say that in order to receive Love, one must desire it, one must have a place within where it can reside, and one must wish to share it, for such love cannot be held for the benefit of the self. This would be incompatible with its essence. There are many guides, steps, paths, and practices which are all designed to open the heart to greater love. What is important is to begin walking toward the Heart whose call is sounding ever more loudly, even now, as it attempts to heal an earth that is greatly in need of healing. May all who seek unconditional love seek to share it in the way of God - as the gentle rain that falleth on the good and the evil alike. And may all such seeking bear fruit and be blessed.

I my opinion, no, its not possible to have unconditional love between two adults. An adult mind is formed and supposed to be able to reason. A child is a child and has some reason, but alot of immaturity. No life experience. Thats why I think its funny that at 18 or 21 even, your suddenly an adult. Even at those stages in life your switching from teenager mode to young adult mode, and it takes a few life lessons to attain maturity...however, just because your old, doesn't mean your mature. As adults, it might be easier to break off friendships with people who your mad at or outgrown friendships even. (Because you can reason your thoughts.) With a child rarely could one do that; without having emotions, gulit,anger, fear etc. I think those are two different types of relationships that your talking about.

I had it so I know it is possible!

Yes, but the possibility is very slim. The bond between parent and child is unbreakable. I can't say the same thing for two adults who used to be strangers.

Unconditional love is purely this, liking someone with absolutely no expectations of that someone, it is often romantic but does not last ages in this type of situation because the need to reciprocate as is advertised in many a romantic film is overwhelming. The most understandable example of unconditional love is perhaps the self love you may possess. Not your ego but the part of you that wants you to do well and helps scrape you off the floor and start again. the part of yourself that wants to nourish you physically mentally and emotionally. To the child's benifit is that it is a part of your self who you can love unconditionally or not, but will always be and feel responsible for. This part of you (your child) must live on so to perpetuate your linage. Children also give much pleasure as you rediscover the world throught their eyes and are in awe at how the levels of understanding are reached. You understand that they are automatically at a disadvantage and afford them as much empathy and sympathy as you can. You are very forgiving and nuture them into being. For Adults the attraction factor is also relavant if the attraction fades then this type of unconditional love will fade. Yes thats right fade. Love is unconditional until the point when the need for reciprocation is desired. When this does not occur sometimes it is possible to shut down the love and twist it into pain. However what if I told you it is also possible to love unconditionally forever in very different ways? What if I told you A girl met her high school sweetheart her first real relationship it was mostly good and were both compatable and all misgivings forgiven. Never being unfaithful in body. Now while these two people got to know the other people in eachothers lives this girl, fell in love at first sight(soulmate factor). This other man who later after initially declaring his feelings of devine devotion,who was already married with 2 kids one on the way...asked to be more. the girl having been in a relationship with her highschool sweet heart although felt the same and was also in love with a good man who had asked her to marry him. She declined the married soulmates love and chose not to speak to him for over 10 years even though they were regularly in eachothers presence. one day in a conversation they sparked up that special thing in a conversation. it was painful, but the love of a good man and 2 children by this time was at stake. They stay in the same fixed positions for 15 years, sometimes living for moments between months of seeing each other, In between they help eachother out and strike up strong friendships with each others spouses. Then finally one drunken night both declare thier feelings for one another, agreeing that each wants nothing more than the other to know. And so it goes. They help eachother out when ever they can and they stay involved and loving with their spouses, whom they also love unconditionally as they do thier children. niether one of them expects anything of the other and enjoy the moments in each others company. They do the same in their marriages how lucky they are to have so much unconditional love in their lives. There is so much to live for and room for many different loves in our lives. As long as we can love ourselves, which all love is born from respect which implies accountability and doing the right thing; They have never physically expressed their 'unconditional' love. It would cause so much pain in each others lives, and those whom they also love unconditionally. They have the highest respect for eachother. They are both faulted as thier spouses remind them, but at least in someones eyes they are everything they wish they could be. It is this reason they have both achieved so much in their lives. (soulmates are just that not for the physical realm, but for the spiritual realm.) true love is what they have with their spouses. real and true. The same can be said for best friends. perhaps the best example of unconditional is a brother or sister realationship as much as you are annoyed by them or are different you love them just the same. even if you dont talk for years! Just because you can. There is always a possiblitly of reconciliation. Expect nothing, give what you can; sometimes it is sending love out into the universe. Sometimes it is making an anonymous difference in someones life, occasionally it is the purest form that two adults can love each other, realistically and sincerely. We have millions of opportunities to love unconditionally every day. A starving child in Africa recieves a donation; a lady shopping gets help to put her bags in the car; a busker goes unignored and appreciated for their efforts. The answer is yes it is possible for adults to love unconditionally, but the clarification is on many levels. Romantic ideals, God love (parent), self love, it is not being open to abusive relationships each knows what it means. Each is free to leave and if they do they will still love that person from afar. Near or Far. Near and unobatainable, or right there in your arms; Far and longingly calling out to eachother. We are all different and capable of surmounting the biggest obstacles in life through the motivation of love and self sacrifice, if all of us were willing to give unconditional love on any level at least once what an amazing and wonderful world this would be.

Yes, but it takes special insight and awareness. Parents recognize that children still have much to learn so they (in most cases) exercise tolerance, patience and guidance. Adults, in general, fail to recognize the need to display the same disposition in their "big people" relationships. They see themselves as "all grown up" and dispose of the very traits that nurture loving relationships.

"Unconditional love" is a popular misnomer. Is no such thing.