http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sacred-partnerships.html
Sacred Partnerships
Adapted from The Mystic Hours, by Wayne Teasdale (New World Library, 2004).
Many people have tried to describe the sacred partnership between two souls that outlasts the difficulties of daily life and transcends death. But even our business and professional relationships can be sacred partnerships. Do your relationships come from a place of spiritual awareness? Read this description of sacred partnership and see if your relationships are headed in the right direction:
“Sacred partnership is a rich and deep friendship between equals that brings us sanctuary, soul growth and sizzle.” — Sue Patton Thoele
This ideal of mature relationships describes a relationship predicated upon mutual awareness, respect, equality and a highly developed love that has progressed beyond mere sentiment and attachment.
It reminds one of the poet R.M. Rilke’s description of the ideal marriage, in which two people guard one another’s solitude. Thoele names such a relationship as sacred because it involves the spiritual life of two people who live and grow together in the dimension of their inner lives, their souls.
We can extend this model to our business and professional relationships, recognizing the possibility for each transaction to be of mutual benefit and respect. The relationship of sacred partnerships forms a sanctuary that fosters both the inner growth of individuals and outer societal growth when applied in that direction. It is powerful and a real treasure.
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12 comments
add your comment »I love the word sacred. When referring to relationships a sacred marriage implies a deeper relationship honoring both partners values and opinions. It means sharing on a deeper spiritual level all aspects of life and allowing the other person to be as they are. I've been truely blessed because I've been married to this kind of person, who honors me and I honor him.
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I have sacred relationships,the blessing of a partnership,if referring to spousal or lover,has eleuded me,though I have honored all, in my heart, as sacred.
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Even coming from a long and successful marriage that continues to survive in very good health I take issue with the word 'sacred', which may presume an active spiritual reality. No doubt everyone who enters into a marriage or values their marriage highly would wish to describe it as sacred to themselves and rightly so. But the word is still more aspirational then real. For example. Marriage is founded upon contractual obligations. That a written contract is able to contain a spiritual essence is nonsense. Contracts exist to define material rights. The very act of primary intimacy which is so heavily commodified and exploited in the modern world also suggests the material chains to the spirit, as anything bought and sold in the market place cannot be truthfully called spiritual. Like ending war or universally shared sustainable values, the sacred relationship founded upon a pure spiritual foundation remains outside the reach of human nature. I think Shakespeare may have the last word on the character of a truly 'scared' relationship. Quoting from his poem Venus and Adonis:
Call it not love for Love to heaven is fled,
since sweating lust on earth usurped His name. Under whose simple semblance man has fed, upon fresh beauty blotting it with blame, which the hot tyrant stains and soon bereaves as caterpillars do the tender leaves.
Love comforteth like sunshine after rain, while lusts effect is tempest after sun. Love's gentle spring doth alway fresh remain, lust's w
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I much agree at the possibility of a sacred partnership, COMPATIBILITY in a relationship is the desired quality ,it is a blessing to have, or meet such a mate,which I also what Im looking for girl of my life,,, Blessings to you !
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This article caught my eye because I have been married for 25 years to the man I consider my soul mate. Has it been an easy road? Hardly! We have had many struggles and ups and downs. But at the end of a day, we turn to each other and our hearts beat together and we think, yes! Life is possible because we have each other to turn to at the end of the day. For those of you searching for your soul mate, do not despair. He or she is out there. In the meantime, get involved in things in the world that matter to you, that make a difference. There will be your soul mate.
Love,
KATE
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We enter relationships in minor and major ways every day, and every relationship is sacred for however long it lasts. I married for the first time 3 years ago, I am now 47 and this relationship was worth waiting for. I had to wait until I had grown up enough to be able to appreciate it. I give thanks every day for the blessings of this wonderful man in my life, our relationship is the most precious gift I have ever given myself. www.GrassdancerEssences.com
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This is so powerful. I just hope that i will be as lucky in finding a partner that i will have such a relationship with. Very nice
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I am blessed to have found my sacred partner...after 20 years of marriage, who would have guessed that I would fall in love with my best girlfriend?? What a delightful, deep and powerful connection we have...challenging, to be sure, but this feeds me and inspires me and dazzles me and makes me smile; I am blessed. Blessings to you all!
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A lovely and powerful description...of my relationship...who would have guessed that after 20 years of marriage I would fall in love with my best girl friend? A stunning and wonderful and enriching surprise for us both. Sacred partnership is, indeed, what we have---I am blessed and thrilled at what the second 50 years of my life has brought. Blessings on us all!
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Beautiful..this resonates so much with 'The Path to Love' by Deepak Chopra, which describes the sacred nature of relationships. Having read this my understanding of love and realationships is so much more meaningful and spiritual. Blessings!
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