The invitation of the beloved, in each of his or her forms,
is to step fully into the crucible of relationship where we no longer limit the
mystery of love’s expression, resisting the temptation to have the fires of
love conform to our endless requirements. And to open to the reality that
perhaps the purpose of love and intimacy is not to provide endless feelings of
safety, certainty, connection, validation, and the meeting of our ever
expanding list of 'needs.' The beloved has not come to confirm what we think
love is – or the ways we have come to believe we must be seen - but rather to
introduce us to the wild creative terrain of the unknown, and to the vast, warm
openness of our true nature.
Perhaps there will always be surges of grief, sadness,
fear, anger, jealousy, shame, and irritation that arise in the intersubjective
field of lovers. Let us remain committed to meeting each of these archaic emissaries
with loving awareness, seeing each as a portal into the sweet and fierce
mandala of the beloved and his or her transformative world. And make the
commitment to befriending whatever arises in our immediate somatic reality, no
matter how disturbing, joyful, irritating, or intense. For these are the gifts
of the yoga of relationship, if we will receive them.
Though we may never know the actual route or destination
– and though the beloved may always and forever continue to take us into the
deep, dark recesses of our own heart, without any promise of resolution or a
life of invulnerability – let us stay close, tenderly holding the hand of our
lovers as we take this journey together. For it is so precious.
Above all, please be kind to yourself and your partners
if you truly decide to take up the yoga of intimacy, knowing that it will take
everything you have to navigate, and much more. And in return offers nothing. Well,
except for everything you have ever truly longed for.
Allow the beloved to reveal that you are no one, and in
that you will behold the eternal nature of love.
