Does true, selfless, unconditional love really exist, or do people love others because they expect something from them, maybe unknowingly?

Let's get our basics clear first - there's really nothing selfless or unconditional. All of us living beings need a cause for every single thing we do. And that cause is linked - directly or indirectly - to our survival instinct. What we call as unconditional love (or any other act) is we are self satisfied and don't need any action - reciprocating or otherwise - from other person to feel that. Just appreciating a person (in your mind) for the way he / she is can give you a good feeling.

Unconditonal love is when you commit ten thousand mistakes in a relationship and then you are forgiven lakhs a times for those mistakes.. its when you always feel positive and no single negetive thought about the person you love irrespective of whatever he does.. its when you are blind in love and you do not demand anything except a feeling of presence of person you love.. Need not be a physical presence though.. its when you support the person you love in each and every decision of him/her..

No I don't think selfless unconditional love exists. Humans are inherently selfish. We're biologically programmed to be selfish. Even if we love someone and don't expect anything from that person, we do it because it makes us happy. So there's always some selfish interest in our actions. I believe every action has some positive and negative consequence. And at least one of these two types of consequences can be perceived as selfish. So only an action without any consequence at all can be seen as selfless. But the bigger question to ponder is why does love need to be selfless and unconditional? What's wrong in being in a symbiotic relationship where both parties make each other happy?

An interesting and challenging question. Many would say no, stating that we are selfish to the core and that's it. Furthermore that what is perceived as something else but selfish is but an illusion. To some extent they would be right but only to some extent. First of all, why are we selfish? Because we have an ego which is the basis for our Self. Without an ego we wouldn't see ourselves as differentiated from others, from the You and They. Let me tell a story: a woman I knew many years ago actually had a clear memory of when her self consciousness awoke, something which is normally a gradual process in our early childhood and most of us has no recollection of this, but she had and she was a person I trusted. One day she realised all of a sudden that the two persons sitting at a distance from her was not part of her. They were her mother and father but they were separate beings and she was she and not them. This realisation was like a shock, like falling into the physical three-dimensional world with a crash and a bang. So, the ego separares us and from that separation arises our sensation if being I, of self consciousness. But at the same time a feeling of desire arises. The ego could be seen as a mental black hole into which everything is sucked into by its tremendous gravitational force. Without it, we wouldn't be self conscious beings. We wouldn't be humans. But, as Socrates held forth, everything which exists, has its opposite. So what is the opposite force of egotism, the force of ego which pulls everything into itself and thus creates separation and division? We call it altruism. Many hold it for nothing but an ideal but I think it is more to it than so. It is the balancing force to the ego. But as it is the opposite of ego it must necessary be a passive force where the ego is active. We don't need to do anything to become egotistical. It's just to let loose and there you go. Follow the least resistance. Our ego will flourish and grow. Altruism is something we need to choose and we must be willing it. We must consciously make a deliberate choice. Making that choice doesn't imply that we all of a sudden are rid of our ego but that we have acted contrary to it. What we normally mistake for love is more often than not our ego desiring something. There might be an element of altruism in it but the driving element is our ego. But then, when desire burns out, that's when we make the choice. That's when love may enter. Love and our will are therefore closely connected because love doesn't come automatically. We must be willing it. And even when we do so, the ego will be with us. We are entangled in a constant battle with it. On one hand we wouldn't be what we are without it and on the other hand it threatens to destroy what we are. It needs to be balanced and the only counter force appears passive whereas ego is active and fierce. The dilemma of being human. So, does true love exist? Yes, otherwise we would have been destroyed a long time ago and sucked into the black hole of the ego. It exists in human relationship as well but not as a pure phenomenon. It will always be tainted by the ego. But it is there, waiting for us to be willing it.

Yes, it definitely does exist. It will be more relevant to say that without selfless love you would have not been in existence. Why? Think of God, he wakes you up in the morning, lets you sleep in the night, he has given you eyes to read this and also given you a very beautiful world to live in, he has given you intellect and free will. He makes you feel hungry he digests it and no matter what you eat you will get only one product, energy. You think this is coincidence?  This is all evolution? This is all false because Darwin said it?  No, there is something in this world that does all this some energy, some force, some miracle which lets all this happen you can call that thing just 'energy' or you can call it GOD. Why he loves you selflessly? He has never asked me anything for return, nor I have given him anything till now. Still,  I wake up, I sleep, I think, I feel hungry, my body digests food without me knowing, I am able to memorise things........and million different happenings. Same thing goes to you. Same thing goes to my neighbour. Same thing goes to your neighbour. Same thing goes to the security guard named Darwin in some store in San Jose, California. Even the biggest atheist in the world who insults God by questioning his existence and abuses him, wakes up, sleeps, eats, digests food, enjoys the weather and what not. What I mean to say here is that no matter who you are or where you are or what your race is or what your religion is, you are living you are in existence because of selfless love of God. Therefore,  selfless love definitely exist. Thank you. If you liked it, please I don't deserve the credit. This was explained to me by a great person who I believe is next to God. This is not something which I figured out myself.

In fairytales it does, unfortunately not in real life.

This is a question we must all ask ourselves, if we could learn to forgive eachother, and do to others what we would like done to us, then this type of love would seem more realistic. Do we not see people even strangers sacrificing themselves for anothers well being and expecting nothing in return. If we dont have this love then its not really love at all.

True love exists only between mother and child. Rest all are deals, you get this in lieu of that. Show carrot and rabbit comes! So, true love in reality doesn't exists.

No, there's no such thing as unconditional love. Even parents' love for their offspring isn't unconditional. As human beings we are inherently selfish creatures, concerned primarily with our own well being and happiness. All our actions are motivated by this pursuit of happiness. Once you realise this truth, life becomes a lot easier!