A love for an object or person is never unconditional since ego/mind is involved with that. I.e. the love and care of a mother for her child is not entirely self-less since the mother is afraid of losing her child and in that case there would be tremendous suffering. Thus a major motivation of love (for any person) is based on one's own wellbeing, to "feel good" around a loved one and to avoid pain if something happens to a loved one. The classic aspects of attachment (and conditional love) and ego and that can never lessen ego. The only love which will lessen ego is the love for self, for "I am". The only true Bhakti is to love self. That love is the only pure love and truly unconditional.

@Chad-vo8pz I figured this was going to be the reply that I got. I understand it. Its a good reply. But honestly, I don't feel love for the "I am". Its so impersonal at this point. What I have to do is feel this love that I have felt for another being (a kind of spiritual transformative event that I had 5 years ago) and then realize that that love came from God/I am and then I feel a gratitude toward God. I am unable to JUST Love God at this point, undoubtedly because I still identify as form. A bhakti kind of outward love has led me to Ramana and like most of us I suppose I'm working on turning that love inward.

@@christopherjordan9707 I have very little love for "I am" too. That should grow with persistent practice of vichara. If you like to develop outward love to a deity like Bhagavan or someone else and you find that helpful then by all means that should/will be helpful on the path. Ideally that should be someone who is dead. My outward love to Bhagavan (my favorite deity in a form) is only a little more than my love for "I am". I also do not see an advantage to develop a particular love for that body/form of Bhagavan but to use all my effort for "I am" instead. My strongest form of [outward/personal] Bhakti is when I surrender to Bhagavan in times of trial, when I open myself to Him and beg for his mercy. Pure Bhakti is quite rare and I am not sure if we Westerners are even capable of that. If that feels difficult now it won't be much better 30 years down the road, IMO. I believe that it depends on the particular aspirant and what works for one aspirant might not work at all for the other one. Someone may get ecstatic thinking of Jesus while others have no connection whatsoever. I also had an experience of deep love suddenly permeating me for several hours while I was hiking in the woods. That of course was incredible but ultimately I find it not useful at all. Why? Firstly, I certainly do not want to run after that experience (what many do) since that is chasing a ghost, and secondly everything what comes and goes is not real and therefore it cannot "come from God". That what is real (God/atma swarupa) never changes and therefore any experience is not real and is not from God but by ego! Everything what we experience (outwardly and inwardly) is by ego! It could not exist without ego. That's why outward love i.e. for Jesus can only be a temporary step to freedom but can never, by itself, lead to freedom. Only atma-vichara can.

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www.sriramanateachings.org/blog/2017/12/upadesa-kalivenba-extended-version-of.html#unm1s Namo Ramanaya 🙏🙏🙏