Ram Dass talks about cultivating loving truth in intimate relationships, and how the yoga of relationships is perhaps the hardest yoga to practice.
The Triangle
Raghu Markus introduces this Ram Dass talk from 1989, and explores how Maharajji made couples of many of the young Westerners in his presence. Ram Dass opens his talk on the yoga of relationships by explaining the connection between the two and the one.
“The image I always have when I’m performing a wedding is the image of a triangle, in which there are the two partners, and then there is this third force, this third being, that emerges out of the interaction of these two. The third one is the one that is the shared awareness that lies behind the two of them. The two people in the yoga of relationship come together in order to find that shared awareness that exists behind them in order to then dance, so that the two-ness brings them into one, and the one-ness dances as two. That’s kind of a vibrating relationship between the one and the two, so that people are both separate, and yet they are not separate.” – Ram Dass
Krishna Das gets real about scandalous acts and relationships on Pilgrim Heart Ep. 43
The Yoga of Relationships (19:48)
Ram Dass explores how the yoga of relationships is the hardest yoga he knows of, using his good friends Stephen and Ondrea Levine as an example. He talks about how not all relationships have to be a spiritual practice themselves, and bringing less judgment into relationships. Ram Dass addresses the idea of soul mates.
“Now, behind all of it is the One. And that is all there is. All of us here are One in drag, appearing to be many. So we are all soul mates.” – Ram Dass
Manipulate Your Mind (41:13)
Ram Dass talks about creating an environment in a relationship where both you and your partner can grow. He explores how you can’t manipulate your environment, but you can manipulate your own mind and let go of your attachment to your models. Ram Dass answers questions about truth in relationships, and about the relationship between spiritual teachers and their students.
“The relationships that are the most exciting are where the contract is to share truth. Many relationships don’t have that kind of a contract. They have a contract of you won’t threaten my ego and I won’t threaten yours, we’ll both feel comfortable.” – Ram Dass
