From the author: Formula of love... “Love and hate move the world” Heraclitus What is love? Is it worth believing in it? Is it a gift from the gods, or a punishment? Is it possible that she is just a myth stemming from a childhood dream of happiness? Or a simple expression of animal instincts? Is there a way to understand the secret and derive the formula of love? And if so, what should we do with her secret? The charm of secrets The mysterious is infinitely more interesting than the ordinary. The incomprehensible calls and frightens, bewitches the eye and forces one to strain the imagination. The brave go in search, while the timid wait for news. And the most important, alluring and endlessly terrible secret sleeps in the depths of our hearts. Sometimes it wakes up and takes possession of us, completely changing our usual life. And just as mysteriously he leaves, leaving behind smoking ruins and sweet memories. We want to touch it, master it and know the secret. And they are ready to recoil in fear as soon as she opens up to us. Her name is Love. We know her in different guises. Some of them are beautiful, others are monstrous. At times, despair and pain make you forget it, like a dream. But we strive for it again and again, no matter what. What is her secret? Where does it come from? Is it possible to know its secret? For centuries, poets and philosophers have debated about it. However, no solution was found. Or rather, everyone found their own. It's just that others didn't agree with him. And this is not a matter of weak arguments. And in that sweet charm of mystery, which is so easy to destroy. Knowledge turns a mystery into a banality. The miracle disappears. Therefore, the secret of love will never be revealed. Even if some dark genius deduces its formula. We won't believe it. Because we want to love, not to know. Although, in other ancient cultures this is the same word. To know and to love is the same thing for them. But we do not accept their knowledge. We did not accept their faith, although we submitted to their god. Faith requires recognizing that He, the invisible creator of existence, is the source of our love. He himself is love. The impersonal force behind the diversity of the world. We owe this miracle and curse to him. But we want to find its source within ourselves. We also rejected the claims of the materialists who tried to convince us that we were monkeys. And as if all feelings are a product of the hormonal system. Biochemistry helps to understand a lot. Besides the main thing. Why is everything so beautiful and so difficult? What is this all for? And our mind again went in search of the mystery. Psychoanalysis grew out of biology, making love an artificial superstructure over natural sexuality. His heirs assure us that love is a type of trance state, like self-hypnosis. But we won't believe it. Even if we are offered all the treasures of the world. As beautiful antiquity offered them to us. To love in Greek Antiquity was the kingdom of love. Wars were fought and temples were built in her name. Ancient Greece created a cult of nudity and the worship of beauty. Openness was combined with rigid patriarchy. We owe this wonderful culture some of the most sophisticated descriptions of the types of love that are still relevant today. Eros is love as attraction. A passionate desire to merge into a single whole. At the bodily level it manifests itself as sexuality. On the inside, like spiritual closeness and community of beliefs. At the cosmological level, philosophers believed her to be a god who gave birth to the world by the force of the mutual gravity of things. Ludus - love as a game. The joy of mutual touches and glances. Cheerful flirting that turns into a fight for supremacy. Like the happy play of children, sometimes cruel, but giving life a special shine. Sometimes it absorbs all the attention of the players, turning into persistent forms, but as a rule it is fleeting. Philosophy: love as a preference. Selecting the closest possible option. In this sense, it can manifest itself not only in relation to people, but also to things and ideas. The desire to understand and know. A feeling of interest and passion that captivates us every time we think about the subject of our passion. Mania—love as obsession. A blinding desire to get what you want at any cost. A force capable of pushing to crime and heroism.The possessed person loses control over himself and the ability to reason sensibly, becoming a slave to passion. A painful and at the same time beautiful state that burns a person alive. Agape is love as a wish for happiness to another. A perfect form, extolled as a manifestation of the divine. A feeling that does not require gratitude, but comes from a pure heart. A selfless desire to care and help. A beautiful flower that grows from the rare ability to rejoice in the happiness of one’s neighbor. Storge - love as the desire to subjugate and dominate. The desire to dominate the object of one’s adoration for his own benefit. To own and protect from others. Even against the lover’s own will. A fusion of care and cruelty, born of secret fears and feelings of inferiority. Pragmos is love as a consequence of a conscious choice, or humility before the fact. A gift based not on passion, but on calculation, loyalty and a sense of duty. At a time when marriage was concluded at the will of the parents, it was considered an ethical norm. Today it is an anachronism that has long gone out of fashion. Although it also had its own charm... Five elements of happiness Antiquity laid the foundations of European culture. Since then, the forms and ideas fixed in us often seem to be the only possible ones. But the world is infinitely richer than one civilization, even the most beautiful one. Turning to the east, we find a completely different world. And a completely different love. The cultures of the Far East created a classification of forms of love that is not inferior to the ancient one, but with a completely different emphasis. The goal was not just a description, but the creation of tools and technologies that would allow a person to gain a new quality of life and the very ability to love. Ideas about love, developed by philosophers of ancient China and Tibet, are based on the theory of the five primary elements. The inner is connected with the outer, and the secret forces that rule the world are equally present within and without. The task is to master them by knowing each element. Tree - Benevolence - is responsible for kindness and the ability to accept loved ones as they are. This feeling grows gradually, based on our own worth. From it comes the ability to distinguish between what is useful and what is inspired by chance. The lack of this element manifests itself as addiction. Fire - Joy - is responsible for respect and delight. The feelings generated by it quickly fade away if you do not pay attention to them. But being realized and accepted with all our hearts, they strengthen our sense of pride in those who are dear to us. Lack of fire manifests itself as isolation and the desire to cause pain. Earth - Trust - is responsible for trust and openness to new experiences. It is the ability to take risks for those you love. Wisdom to preserve what is truly important to us. Honesty and the ability to forgive are based on it. It gives strength to understand someone else's weakness. Lack of it can manifest itself as stubbornness and rigidity. Metal - Protection - is responsible for the desire to benefit. To serve and protect, becoming a support for those who are dear to us. The feeling he gives birth to combines strength and flexibility, determination to overcome obstacles and calm self-confidence. The loss of this element leads to depression and disappointment. Water - Compassion - is responsible for empathy and tenderness. Gives you the ability to empathize with the pain of another and the strength to take it upon yourself. Manifests itself as the gift of intimacy, the ability to listen, and to be a source of comfort in difficult situations. The lack of this element can be expressed in an obsessive fear of loss and loss of meaning in life. Passion for the beyond The five elements and the five types of love corresponding to them are in complex relationships of mutual generation and struggle. Some combinations are favorable, others are destructive. They are connected by cycles of birth and destruction. This is an ancient alchemy of feelings, the mastery of which requires extraordinary effort. Moreover, each element connects the spirit with the physical body and the entire external world. As a result, illness and health are directly related to the flow of feelings. Suppression within leads to negative external situations, and vice versa. Love is inseparable from life, and life from love.»