When I Look at Relationships

Question: How can we maintain our own integrity or identity in a relationship, especially a close one, without compromising the integrity of others?

Ram Dass: Which you do you want to preserve?

Let me play with it a little bit. When I look at relationships, my own and others, I see a wide range of reasons for people to be together and ways in which they are together. I see ways in which relationship – which means something that exists between two or more people – for the most part, reinforces people’s separateness, as individual entities. And it doesn’t just honor it; it treats it as the reality of it.

The image I always have when I am performing a wedding is the image of a triangle in which there are 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. And 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 as two.  So that the twoness brings them into one and the oneness dances as two, and that’s a kind of a vibrating relationship between the one and the two. So that people are both separate, and yet they are not separate. And they are experiencing that the relationship is feeding both their uniqueness as individuals and their unit of consciousness.

Now, that is extremely delicate because it is so easy to get entrenched in your own “I need this,” “I want this,” “you are not fulfilling this for me” and seeing the other as object. But the delight, which all of you have experienced, is of being with somebody where you are sharing an awareness of the predicament you are both in. And you are sharing an awareness of the predicament even when you are having an argument with each other – there is an awareness that you are both almost delighting in the horrible beauty of it. We’re hating it and enjoying it both – because there are these levels we are playing at all the time.  We come into relationship often very much identified with our needs. I need this, I need security, I need refuge, I need friendship, I need this. And all of relationships are symbiotic in that sense.  We come together because we fulfill each others’ needs at some level or other.

The problem is that when you identify with those needs, you always stay at the level where the other person is she or he – it is satisfying that need. And it really only gets extraordinarily beautiful when it becomes us, and then when it goes behind us and becomes I. And so when I ask you which person are you saving or protecting or whose integrity you are protecting, I understand that to enter into the yoga of relationship is an extremely difficult thing to do.  It’s the hardest yoga that I know of actually. Because your ego is so vulnerable when you start to open up to another human being. You feel so tender and so vulnerable. And before that one place gets going strong enough, you get frightened and you pull back and you get entrenched and that happens all the time in relationships. People that come together with the greatest meaning of feeling love and then they get caught in their needs and their frustrations and they separate.

One of the problems is that we tend to place relationships a little bit on the back burner in life. We get a relationship and then we go out to a job and we go out to other things. Now that we have that together, we go do life.  And for a relationship to be a yoga of relationship, is like a full-time operation for years.  For me, one of my examples is Stephen and Ondrea Levine. Stephen and Ondrea used to be really nice, friendly, sociable people – before they met.  And then they met – I used to like Stephen – and then they met and they really started to be together and the amount of energy that had to go into staying clear with each other was profound. Because what happens is so much goes down so fast in relationships, it’s really hard to process it fast enough to keep clear.  So you keep getting this kind of residual of old stuff that isn’t quite digested enough and you end up separate from the person because you didn’t have time to stop and kind of work it through, clear it, and so on. So what they did was they moved on to land with no telephone. Put up a big sign “No Trespassing”.  And they just started to work with one another. And after some years, during which you really felt like you were cut off as a friend, and it was hard for me because I counted on Stephen a lot for sharing consciousness. And then after a while, they began to open up to me and allow me in, and then I began to see the effect of that. I began to see what happens when people learn how to really open, trust, meditate together, keep emptying, keep clearing, and work until they are a shared awareness. And if you watch them when they are teaching together, when they are on the platform, or when they are together, they have done some really extraordinary work. They still have a lot of work to do. I mean they aren’t cooked by any means. But they have done some really good stuff together. And that’s hard and it’s rare.

I, on the other hand, have gone into relationships and realized that I can’t hear my own truth in the relationship and I’ve had to stop it. Because I wasn’t willing to surrender the life games that I was in for that relationship. It just wasn’t worth the effort. I treasured what I was doing in my life too much to invest in that relationship that deeply. So I’ve heard it both ways. You hear that? It’s not fair to say that any relationship that isn’t involved in the yoga of relationship is not useful and fulfilling to people. A lot of people come together because it is just really comfortable living with another person and there is a wonderful kind of sweet intimacy. And it’s fun to cook with each other and to sleep together and it’s fun to just live life together without trying to get too deep in as a spiritual practice. And many of those people have other spiritual practices. They go off and meditate and one does something else – Tai Chi or something else. And that seems fine to me. I don’t think you should make believe that a relationship is really yoga unless you are willing to really put the effort into making it such. And if you are, it really fills all the space for a long time.

When I am in a relationship with somebody else, and what they do upsets me; because I understand that my life experiences are the gift of my Guru in order to bring me to God if somebody upsets me, that’s my problem. This is a hard one. Because we don’t usually think these ways in this culture. What I see other people as, I see them as trees in the forest. You go to the woods and you see gnarled trees and live oaks and pines and hemlocks and elms and things like that. And you are not inclined to say, “I don’t like you because you are a pine and not an elm.” You appreciate trees the way they are. But the minute you get near humans, you notice how quick it changes. It’s a way in which you don’t allow humans to just manifest the way they are. You take it personally. You keep taking other people personally. All they are are mechanical run-offs of old Karma. Really, it’s what they are. I mean they look real and they think they are real, but really what they are is mechanical run-off. So they say, Grrr! And you karmically go Grrr! And then one of you says, “We’ve got to work this out.” And the other says, “Yes, we must.” And then you start to work it out. It’s all mechanical. It’s all condition stuff.

So somebody comes along and gets to me. They get me angry or uptight or they awaken some desire in me, wow am I delighted. They got me. And that’s my work on myself. If I am angry with you because your behavior doesn’t fill my model of how you should be, that’s my problem for having models. No expectations, no upset. If you are a liar and a cheat, that’s your Karma. If I’m cheated, that’s my work on myself.

My attempting to change you, that’s a whole other ballgame. What I am saying is if I will only be happy if you are different than you are, you are asking for it. You are really asking for it.  Think of how many relationships you say, “I really don’t like that person’s this or that. If they would only be this. If I could manipulate them to be this, I can be happy.” Isn’t that weird? Why can’t I be happy with them the way they are? You are a liar, a cheat and a scoundrel and I love you. I won’t play any games with you, but I love you. It’s interesting to move to the level where you can appreciate, love, and allow in the same way you would in the woods.  Instead of constantly bringing in that judging component which is really rooted out of your own feelings of lack of power. Judging comes out of your own fear. Now I fall trap to it all the time. But every time I do, I catch myself.

– Ram Dass

16 thoughts on “When I Look at Relationships”

  1. Hi Richard! I will address you as Richard since that is the name you used at Owen House. Since I last saw you at Owen House, much water has gone over the dam……so to speak. I went to U of I at Urbana, then Hofstra, then Duke, then San Jose State, then Syracuse, NY. I had four sons, got divorced, got remarried, adopted a daughter, retired, moved back to California from CT where my second wife was a professor at UConn. At my second wedding in 1981, I last saw Bob Sears and Pat Sears. There are no others from Owen House days that I know to be alive, except you. You seem to be as busy as you were then……making waves and advising all those who care to listen. I admire your persistence and resilience. Best wishes, Rob

    Reply
  2. Thank you so much for this story – it was just what I needed now!
    I hope I’ll always remember that picture of the wood – and the trees… how can I say I do not like that tree?
    It is cosy and very hard for me at the same time.
    Love, Susan.

    Reply
  3. I love how you wrote about the mechanical of others and the old karmic run off we allow based on our expectations and taking others responses personally. Often I find a fine line between what is “my stuff” and what is “their stuff”. If not for meditating and turning within I would be a neurotic mess ! Great post !
    You’re a true inspiration.

    Warmly,
    Jackie

    Reply
  4. So that people are both separate, and yet they are not separate”And the two people in the yoga of relationship” I often wondered about the calling of those who, for whatever reason, choose to live separate and live life from close intimate relationships. I guess i was conditioned by the barrage of media input etc that this is what I should do, or I needed to connect on an ever-deepening level of a “yoga of relationship” (got to love the Yog~!). Today I realize how futile it is to expect nirvana in a relationship for any length of time, or for love to grow or at least stay constant. Could this be that I have a calling to love the Creator first? Then I can find this model of love in all my relationships, not just the intimate ones? I hope to realize all relationships are vastly intimate, deep and penetrating whether or not we physically touch or not because love is intimate, deep and penetrating, and if I am love, that is all I can attain in this lifetime, and all flows from there…and I can work with the “yoga of relationships” and maintain the integrity of communication with the beloved as well, because it all flows from my initial relationship with the Beloved Creator of LOVE~all is then sustainable and doable in the spiritual sense of loving all my relationships in this equinimitous way.

    Reply
  5. Thank you Ram Dass. Your treatise on relationships is timely and thought provoking. I find I am able to step into a relationship without preconceived notions or expectation and be unconditionally loving, but finding someone who can be in and sustain the dance in the now in a mutually loving and supportive way is illusive. At this point my work in the world is foremost in my experience, but I do think about it. What you have written resonates and I am grateful for your insight.

    Reply
  6. All throughout the internet there are thousands of words written on all types of relationships. How to and what to do list abound with the purpose of guiding us to relationship Nirvana. This piece resonates on many levels. We all see others we think are happy and have ideals set by society as to what Love looks like(on some level we are visual animals). Reminder that inner peace and true love flows out from within when proper channels are tapped.

    Reply
  7. I would be a strong candidate for going away somewhere with partner to do the work blocking everyone else out except partner god and horses…

    Reply
  8. But I DO lack power, and feel it. Would I not judge Hitler If I were around him? Is what to say and do in each (ridiculous?) circumstance we find ourselves the art of living?

    Reply
  9. Thank You Ram Dass,
    Even though I skip reading articles later on that particular issue I passed over surfaces and there’s your teaching, right on time.
    Only a few months ago I started reading your books. Wish I’d have found you years ago.
    With love
    Donna

    Reply
  10. Greetings friend,
    There are no words that can adequately describe the love I have received through the vibrations of your teachings and your ever-present spirit contained within all the sacred sentences written and read sacred sentences. I am ever grateful that our paths have crossed, albeit via word, books, and thoughts. I am also thankful that we both have been connected on sacred Mother Earth, on the same planet during our lifetime. Jai! Baba Ram Dass, you continue to shine brightly in my thoughts, words, and deeds
    All love always
    Elena

    Reply

Leave a Comment

RamDass-Store-Shop-700x286

Ram Dass Online Shop

Buy books, media, digital downloads, apparel, devotional, art & other great items!

Join Our Newsletter

Sign up for the Love Serve Remember newsletter to receive teachings, exclusive offers & more.

Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

Donate to LSRF

Help ensure that the teachings of Ram Dass will be available to generations to come.

A Network of Mindfulness & Spirituality Podcasts
❤️   DONATE
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap