The Dance Between Power and Intimacy

For twenty years, I’ve been writing about erotic spirituality; and I’ve facilitated workshops and retreats that combine non-erotic and erotic touch with meditation, movement, and other techniques of spiritual awakening. The following is based on my experience.

There is a strong part of every person’s psyche that thinks of itself as separate.  Einstein called this “the optical delusion of consciousness.”  A Course in Miracles, calls this “ego.”

As I have worked with the Course and other spiritual practices, I have come to recognize two other parts of myself.  One I call the True Self.  It is the part that knows my connection with All That Is.  The other part I call the volitional self – the part that originally only listened to ego; but, through meditation and other spiritual practices, now is increasingly able to choose to listen to the True Self.

My goal in any workshop or retreat that I facilitate is to co-create with the participants an environment in which they can choose to listen to and identify with their True Selves.

When we choose to dominate or submit, we act from ego.  When we choose to share power and enter into intimacy, we identify with and act from our True Selves.  We desire intimacy, and that desire comes from our True Selves, but we subvert that desire, and thus every relationship becomes a dance between power and intimacy – between ego and True Self.

Last fall, along with my friends Marco Whiting and Vyvyan Chatterjie, I proposed facilitating a gay men’s week for the Edward Carpenter Community called The Dance Between Power and Intimacy.  Our proposal was accepted and the dates set for 12-19 September 2009.

Next week I’ll post something about how my work with the chakras will be part of this week.