Creating A Spiritual Relationship

This book is designed for people who are either in a committed relationship or want to be. A committed relationship is one path toward spiritual growth and transformation. It is not the only path, nor is it a very easy path. The seven spiritual laws discussed in Part Two of this book provide a roadmap for couples who are committed to their mutual spiritual growth. This simple but profound guide to growth and happiness for couples will help you and your partner weather the ups and downs of your relationship so that you can grow together and deepen the intimacy between you.

Learn how to successfully negotiate conflicts and deepen our most intimate relationships in this practical and thoughtful guide by an experienced Buddhist teacher, psychotherapist, and couples counselor. A committed relationship, as most people see it today, is a partnership of equals who share values and goals, a team united by love and dedicated to each other’s growth on every level. This contemporary model for coupledom requires real intention and work, and, more often than not, the traditional archetypes of relationships experienced by our parents and grandparents fail us or seem irrelevant. Utilizing the wisdom of her years of personal and professional practice, Young-Eisendrath dismantles our idealized projections about love, while revealing how mindfulness and communication can help us identify and honor the differences with our partners and strengthen our bonds. These practical and time-tested guidelines are rooted in sound understanding of modern psychology and offer concrete ideas and the necessary tools to reinforce and reinvigorate our deepest relationships.

Based on his personal experiences, the author of"The Celestine Prophecy" and "The Tenth Insight" shares his vision for--and explains how to achieve--a new era of global peace and understanding.

Developing A Spiritual Relationship leads couples through the flurry and excitement of wedding planning and provides tangible suggestions for bringing spirituality into their lives before the wedding, at the ceremony and after the "I Do's." It is filled with ideas, rituals and good commonsense advice on how to create those special moments instilling quiet interludes during the rush-rush of hectic planning. This book has been written for wedding couples who are searching for different ways to bring peace and contentment into their lives. Using fresh perspectives Rev. Charlann Walker encourages incorporating simple rituals in the everyday part of our lives. Divided into three sections, the first one, "Rituals to Create A "Time Out", deals with the time before the wedding ceremony. There are ideas such as treasure mapping, meditations, creative imagery, working with different scents, collecting touchstones all of which encourage couples to take a "time out" from the flurry of excitement. The second section shares special suggestions for bringing spirituality within the wedding ceremony. Different ways to write your own vows, special readings and all sorts of symbolism, such as a stone blessing, flower ceremony, hand fasting, water ceremony create a sacred and memorable ceremony. The third part deals with spiritual suggestions and ideas to work with after the "I do's." Ways to strengthen a relationship include holding family meetings, providing time to journal together, even planting a tree in honor of your relationship, and yes, even making a butterfly garden. Much effort goes into the planning of a wedding, be it large or small. With the overwhelming details and decisions certain uncertainties may occur. Even though there is so much love and excitement, all of may lead to confusion. Sometimes frustrations can replace joy and overwhelming preparations can replace happiness. Some couples seem to have settled into the notion that in order to hold those splendid ceremonies we must loose ourselves in the continuous planning of each detail. Of course we want everything to be wonderful, but it is also important to take the time to center our souls and smooth our spirits. This practical handbook guides couples toward a healthy relationship and provides ways to build a strong foundation.

In his first major book since the legendary bestseller The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav reveals a revolutionary new path for spiritual growth. What began with an introduction to a major paradigm shift in The Dancing Wu Li Masters turned into a discussion of aligning our personalities with our soul in The Seat of the Soul; finally, in Spiritual Partnership, Zukav guides the reader on this practical path to authentic power.

This book explores the sources of misunderstanding and reexamines traditional Buddhist teachings to receal methods that can heal wounds.

The New York Times bestselling author and trusted spiritual adviser offers a follow-up to his classic Care of the Soul. Something essential is missing from modern life. Many who’ve turned away from religious institutions—and others who have lived wholly without religion—hunger for more than what contemporary secular life has to offer but are reluctant to follow organized religion’s strict and often inflexible path to spirituality. In A Religion of One’s Own, bestselling author and former monk Thomas Moore explores the myriad possibilities of creating a personal spiritual style, either inside or outside formal religion. Two decades ago, Moore’s Care of the Soul touched a chord with millions of readers yearning to integrate spirituality into their everyday lives. In A Religion of One’s Own, Moore expands on the topics he first explored shortly after leaving the monastery. He recounts the benefits of contemplative living that he learned during his twelve years as a monk but also the more original and imaginative spirituality that he later developed and embraced in his secular life. Here, he shares stories of others who are creating their own path: a former football player now on a spiritual quest with the Pueblo Indians, a friend who makes a meditative practice of floral arrangements, and a well-known classical pianist whose audiences sometimes describe having a mystical experience while listening to her performances. Moore weaves their experiences with the wisdom of philosophers, writers, and artists who have rejected materialism and infused their secular lives with transcendence. At a time when so many feel disillusioned with or detached from organized religion yet long for a way to move beyond an exclusively materialistic, rational lifestyle, A Religion of One’s Own points the way to creating an amplified inner life and a world of greater purpose, meaning, and reflection.

This is a book for those of us who recognize the importance of relationship as the key source for happiness in our lives, and who are serious about wanting to discover ways of creating and co-creating a relationship that is truly brilliant. It is a story about how our relationships can grow over a lifetime - leading us to feel more connected, content, joyful, and flourishing. We're talking about the relationship that we have a partner, the one we have with ourselves, and the one we have with being or existence - with all that is - as citizens of the universe. It is possible for us to grow in awareness, so that we have a rich experience not only of the physical world in which we move and act, but also in interior experiences of intuition, compassion, aliveness, perception, wisdom, inner tranquility, spirituality, relationship, and knowing. It's possible to grow into a deeper knowing and higher consciousness, changing and enriching substantially how we connect with life, how we make meaning, and how large our capacity to live in joy might be. Part One, "Co-Creating a Brilliant Partner Relationship," zeroes in on how to make our partner relationship successful. Many of the ideas here are new, or are examined from different vantage points than we might have considered in the past. We look at relationships as they develop, in predictable sequential stages, and examine both the issues that emerge in each of the stages, as well as how we can address them, resolve them, and move on toward richer experiences together. Nevertheless, if we are really after a healthy and satisfying partner relationship, we will need to craft an authentic relationship with our own inner selves as well, which is a subject of Part Two, "Creating a Brilliant Relationship with Me." Here we explore, in an uncommon way, the power of a conscious relationship with ourselves, focused on a deepening intimacy with our own inner being - on a conscious, deliberate connection with the wise, intuitive, compass