Such a beautifully comprehensive article that I wish many others might read. Thank you! I love your approach to this important work and share with you your consternation about living in the dark ages when it comes to love, sex, and relationships. The hell-realms, indeed. There's so much to reflect upon.
Being in partnership with a significant other is perhaps the most difficult spiritual path one can undertake. For better or worse, the union between men and women has become less about duty, sacrifice, and procreation, and more of an intensely focused wrestling match with our angels and demons. Yet with this challenge there lies an opportunity to see the path of intimacy as a sacred path.
As you are clearly familiar with, we bring to a relationship all the conditioned aspects of our nature that have not yet been integrated—our worries and concerns, likes and dislikes, and a slew of personal needs. Love is a spiritual path precisely because it reveals both the angels and the demons of our nature. Our hearts seem to expand and burst upon the world, only to fall earthward in a death spiral.
Yet we don’t have to crash and burn.
An essential attribute of a conscious relationship is, I believe, to allow both lovers to be the aegis of each other’s shadow aspects. Their role is neither to sit in judgment nor ignore, enable, condone, or mollify. They are an empathizer who holds in sacred trust the wounds of their lover and tends them with gentle medicine, without allowing their beloved to bypass their own inner work. As emotionally charged as some moments might be, each person is at peace with what arises.
The world that awaits us, then, is revealed by men and women coming into their divine essences. It’s the product of men and women in their divine aspects arising to their full potential.
Hi Michael, I am so grateful for your comment here! Thank you for your kind words. Wow, you are quite advanced in your knowledge of this path as well. It is very true that being in partnership is one of the most difficult spiritual paths. Especially in this day and age of utter confusion when it comes to relating. But it is worth every moment in my opinion. There will be many who are not ready for this level of relational shadow work. But a small percentage definitely are, and with them holding the torch, the others will eventually follow. I believe we are all destined for this. Your last two sentences are what I believe as well. May we all rise into divine union, within and without.
Hi Leigh-Anne. I was wondering if you had written a book on the subject of conscious relating but didn't find one on Amazon (any relation to author Winnie LoPinto?). I would love to read it, should you choose to write one. My own book reflects the perspective of the conscious masculine as he discovers and reveals his own true nature and how he might navigate relationships with women in his life. As well as many other perspectives.
I would be curious to read about how conscious women would meet a similar task. Having read some of your previous articles, I think you'd have many valuable insights to share with a broader audience.
Hi Michael, oh my! I am flattered by your search for me as an author. I have not yet written a book, this will be the first one (the contents of this article). This particular work is bursting from me. I still feel somewhat pregnant with it (ha!) because this article is just the tip of the iceberg. I have, however, taught classes about conscious relating, and speak about the work on my podcast. Most importantly, though, I work deeply 1:1 with people to support them on the path. At the same time, messages like yours help me cut through the overwhelm of writing a full book. My work here on Substack is raw and unedited, just streaming. I will definitely need to find an editor (with a light touch? I'm picky about the delivery.)
Your work sounds vitally important, and I would like to read your book. I will get a copy of it soon. Perhaps you can come have a conversation with me about all of this on the podcast? I wholeheartedly believe that men and women doing this work need to be talking to each other and co-creating the new paradigm. It would be a honor to have you on. If you'd like to, just email me at la@love-evolved.us and we can plan more.
Such a beautifully comprehensive article that I wish many others might read. Thank you! I love your approach to this important work and share with you your consternation about living in the dark ages when it comes to love, sex, and relationships. The hell-realms, indeed. There's so much to reflect upon.
Being in partnership with a significant other is perhaps the most difficult spiritual path one can undertake. For better or worse, the union between men and women has become less about duty, sacrifice, and procreation, and more of an intensely focused wrestling match with our angels and demons. Yet with this challenge there lies an opportunity to see the path of intimacy as a sacred path.
As you are clearly familiar with, we bring to a relationship all the conditioned aspects of our nature that have not yet been integrated—our worries and concerns, likes and dislikes, and a slew of personal needs. Love is a spiritual path precisely because it reveals both the angels and the demons of our nature. Our hearts seem to expand and burst upon the world, only to fall earthward in a death spiral.
Yet we don’t have to crash and burn.
An essential attribute of a conscious relationship is, I believe, to allow both lovers to be the aegis of each other’s shadow aspects. Their role is neither to sit in judgment nor ignore, enable, condone, or mollify. They are an empathizer who holds in sacred trust the wounds of their lover and tends them with gentle medicine, without allowing their beloved to bypass their own inner work. As emotionally charged as some moments might be, each person is at peace with what arises.
The world that awaits us, then, is revealed by men and women coming into their divine essences. It’s the product of men and women in their divine aspects arising to their full potential.
Hi Michael, I am so grateful for your comment here! Thank you for your kind words. Wow, you are quite advanced in your knowledge of this path as well. It is very true that being in partnership is one of the most difficult spiritual paths. Especially in this day and age of utter confusion when it comes to relating. But it is worth every moment in my opinion. There will be many who are not ready for this level of relational shadow work. But a small percentage definitely are, and with them holding the torch, the others will eventually follow. I believe we are all destined for this. Your last two sentences are what I believe as well. May we all rise into divine union, within and without.
Hi Leigh-Anne. I was wondering if you had written a book on the subject of conscious relating but didn't find one on Amazon (any relation to author Winnie LoPinto?). I would love to read it, should you choose to write one. My own book reflects the perspective of the conscious masculine as he discovers and reveals his own true nature and how he might navigate relationships with women in his life. As well as many other perspectives.
I would be curious to read about how conscious women would meet a similar task. Having read some of your previous articles, I think you'd have many valuable insights to share with a broader audience.
All the best in your endeavors!
Hi Michael, oh my! I am flattered by your search for me as an author. I have not yet written a book, this will be the first one (the contents of this article). This particular work is bursting from me. I still feel somewhat pregnant with it (ha!) because this article is just the tip of the iceberg. I have, however, taught classes about conscious relating, and speak about the work on my podcast. Most importantly, though, I work deeply 1:1 with people to support them on the path. At the same time, messages like yours help me cut through the overwhelm of writing a full book. My work here on Substack is raw and unedited, just streaming. I will definitely need to find an editor (with a light touch? I'm picky about the delivery.)
Your work sounds vitally important, and I would like to read your book. I will get a copy of it soon. Perhaps you can come have a conversation with me about all of this on the podcast? I wholeheartedly believe that men and women doing this work need to be talking to each other and co-creating the new paradigm. It would be a honor to have you on. If you'd like to, just email me at la@love-evolved.us and we can plan more.