Consider the pain of not being loved, and the joy of loving. What is the difference in your experience? As we progress on the spiritual path, we move to the experience of loving the Divine ... and then being the Beloved of the One. Love is different in different states of realization. Eventually, we become so expanded and loving that we can absorb the world's suffering as energy, purify it, and let it return to its source without harm or danger. Love becomes the way we purify the world and become One with Totality.