Relating as Spiritual Practise/ Path
To me, spirituality is about what we take to be the most sacred and significant in our lives. For a lot of people on a spiritual path, these include Truth and Love.
Relationally, we can translate Truth as authenticity and honesty.
Am I betraying myself by saying “yes” to my partner’s request right now? Do I express what I truly want or need? Am I living my relationships with sincerity and authenticity? Am I true to myself and others?
Love can be expressed as deep respect and genuine care for our partner’s very being, we enjoy celebrating their existence.
Do I genuinely care about my partner? In which moments do I lose touch with my heart? What seems to be blocking my deeper love? How can I express my love more fully and skillfully in my relationship?
Most people very quickly recognize how hard it is to be genuinely truthful and loving in our relationships. Authentic relating is definitely not a walk in the park.
I’ve never heard about a great relationship that didn’t take some deep work. Establishing real trust and safety alone often takes a significant amount of inner work for both partners, let alone the flowering of deep, mutual love and appreciation.
Approaching our entire relationship as a path of healing and awakening can bring out the best in us.
We leave behind our fantasies about how relationships “should” or “are supposed” to be, and get real. We become aware of the work we need to do to be ripe enough for truly deep mutual love and genuinely fulfilling relating, instead of settling for crumbs.
There is perhaps nothing more powerful than relating to show us where we are hiding from ourselves and Life. The closer we get to people, the more clearly we can see and feel our wounding, reactivity, and defence mechanisms.
Let us embrace the challenge of deep relating and see it as an invitation to live and love more fully.
When both partners embrace the growth potential within their relationship and commit to working on themselves, their relationship becomes a truly safe and supportive container for the deepest healing and awakening.
They are not only in love, but also on the way to recognizing themselves (and everything else) as Love. A Love beyond love awaits our undreaming eyes.