Love as a vestige of animality, and intellectualism as a gateway to alienation — Perhaps nothing has more repulsed so-called spiritually enlightened individuals than our preoccupation with romantic love. According to the esoteric ideas that often captivate shamans, gurus, ascetics, saints, monks, philosophers, and reclusive artists, this kind of love is an understandable distraction, a hormonal pitfall, and a mental prison that prevents us…