What does it ‘really’ mean to love your neighbor as yourself?

You just might find the answer surprising

The imperative of ‘loving neighbors as oneself’ is an age old imperative. If everyone loves their neighbor as themselves, with love interpreted as non-inflicting of hurt on neighbors, society functions much like an Utopia. Though of Jewish and Christian origins, few if any other tenets of spirituality disagree with purity of moral imperative of loving neighbors as oneself.

The typical interpretation of loving of a neighbor as oneself is affinity for kindness, patience, gentleness etc. in relations with neighbors. This interpretation of course is right. The easiest way to avoid doing of wrong to others is focus on doing of what is right.

If you do not want to hurt your neighbor, the easiest way to arrive at this outcome is to ask yourself, what is right to do to your neighbor.

But then, how exactly to know what is right?

In context of knowing of what exactly is right to do to a neighbor, there exists a deeper meaning to the ‘love your neighbor’ imperative. If we are to arrive at this deeper meaning, we have to reword the moral imperative in the following manner.