Spiritual relationships: a course in messiness (AI-version)

Technology, spirituality & relationships... oh my.

Hi there,

How are you holding up with everything?

Last November, it felt impossible for things to get more intense. And then, they did.

The last two months have been one of the most intense periods of my life. I live near Washington, DC where many people are federal employees/contractors (i.e. the people Musk is currently trying to get fired). So, the collective energy is a lot to handle.

However, politics is only a part of what made the last few months so intense for me. Some of my loved ones have gone through small and short-lived, as well as big and ongoing health challenges. I had to adjust, and adjust, and adjust some more.

These two months felt like finding myself on a ship in the middle of a sea that’s so stormy, it’s bordering on hostility. The windows broken by a hailstorm, with cold rain now pouring through the cabin, while I frantically try to course-correct… only to have to course-correct again the next minute.

During this time, I just tried to keep the ship going at all cost. Now finally, finally, things are calming down enough for me to start fixing the ship.

“Remember to play after every storm” — Mattie J. T. Stepanek

As the saying goes, a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. And it’s true: The last few months have helped me grow. They have made me more capable and resilient. They have taken a lot out of me.

So, today, it’s time for me to take a breath. For me, and perhaps for you, too?

And so I’d like to return to an idea that I floated a while back — working monkness.

I recently read something that stuck with me: many super-wealthy people are trying to learn from monks — but few monks are interested in learning from billionaires. That simple observation shows what priorities in life make us happy. Of course, it’s spiritual growth rather than the relentless accumulation of resources.

However, while we might strive to experience the inner peace of monks, we are living in a world that is dominated by capitalism, and the people who came up on top in that game. And, whether we like it or not, we are a part of that game.

(Until we realize that we can just leave the table, and start playing the infinite game, which is a game where everyone wins.)

Spirituality 2.0

Many of the things we are experiencing aren’t new. And yet, our world has changed a lot since Buddha reached enlightenment. While we are physically safer (and more comfortable) than humans in the past, we are also dealing with way more distractions.

You are navigating some challenges that the Buddha never had to face:

• getting targeted by ads everywhere,

• having so many options that it’s a burden, not a positive thing, and

• dealing with AI and technology in general.

In the last few weeks, you also had to deal with things such as:

• seeing the president of the world’s most powerful nation flood the zone with mostly illegal executive orders,

• seeing said president casually propose invading other countries, and

• witnessing the world’s richest man do a Hitler Salute live on stage.

So, yeah, it’s a lot!

On the plus side, I don’t fear dying from chickenpox, and have access to antibiotics, and running water. 😅

My point is that the Buddha reached his enlightenment during a time that was both harder and easier.

All that is to say that spirituality is due for an upgrade. And one of the biggest way in which traditional spirituality and working monkness departs is this: relationships.

After all, the Buddha left his wife and newborn son to pursue his enlightenment. But what if we could pursue our spiritual growth in the midst of our relationships and obligations?

What if our relationships and obligations were, in fact, a valuable path to awakening?

Introducing:

Spiritual Relationships: A Course In Messiness (AI-Version)

A few years ago, my hubby and I taught a live course on Spiritual Relationships. To protect the privacy of participants, we only recorded our teaching portions. While they contain insightful material, they are pretty raw in terms of audio/video quality.

So, I never knew what to do with them: try to turn them into a class? A podcast?

AI to the rescue!

In this audio, two AI podcast hosts summarize and discuss our first class called Spirituality & Relationships. Because it’s not unusual for these tools to be wildly inaccurate, I carefully listened to their podcast — and found that I really liked it!

They focused on the important points of our class, gave their own spin on it, deepened the conversation, and were entertaining throughout.

In short, they really added something to the teachings.

I also found it pretty funny to listen to two AIs discussing the messiness of relationships and embodiment. (Listening to them commiserate made me feel very seen: Apparently, human relationships and embodiment are so hard that even disembodied AIs are struggling with it! 😂)

Anyway, I’m happy that I can now offer the teachings from our class to you in an experimental format.

Spiritual Relationships: A Course In Messiness (Human Version)

If you find this topic interesting and want the messy, human version of it, you can get access to the full course by becoming a paid subscriber for US$5/month.

I’ll increase prices for new subscribers soon, so if you are interested, now is as good a time as any to sign up and get grandfathered in.

❗ Just a heads-up: while the live recordings contain insightful material, they are pretty raw in terms of audio/video quality. 

The recordings are as messy as relationships. There is nothing professional about them!

Here’s the thing: being a human is messy. Being with another human is messy. Therefore, human relationships are inherently messy. They don’t look anything like what we see in movies or on Social Media (or on photoshopped wedding day pictures).

That’s why I have decided to re-launch our course recordings under the title “Spiritual Relationships: A Course in Messiness.” And messiness is what you will get in this course, such as:

• a video where I’m deliberately halfway off the screen (my right eye looked weird 👀),

• a video with an unmade hotel room in the back (we were traveling 🧳), and

• a video that’s not even a video (not sure what happened there — we just have the audio 🤷‍♀️).

Each video is between 2 and 18 minutes long. Altogether, they run for about 66 minutes.

Here’s what’s included in this course:

• Part 1: Spirituality and Relationships

• Part 2: What Even Is Spirituality? (Left-Handed vs. Right-Handed Path)

• Part 3: How to Deal With (Your and Other People’s) Limits in Relationship

• Part 4: How to Deal With Intense Emotions in Relationships

• Part 5: Mutuality: How to Deal with “Hot Button” Topics

• Part 6: How to Deal With Unacknowledged Emotional Labor in Relationships & Course Wrap-Up

You can find the videos here:

Warmly,
Louise

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Playlist:

Christina Aguilera — Fighter

Kelly Clarkson — Stronger