So we all live through karmic relationships.
We all have these karmic relationships where,
For example,
You meet someone and there's no rational reason for you to be together,
But you feel like you need to be together or the chemistry is very,
Very quick.
Or you meet someone and you just find them super annoying and you're super irritated by that person.
I have an MTS in Buddhist theology from Harvard Divinity School,
And I went very deeply into figuring out karmic relationships.
So today I want to do like a teaser.
Today,
I want to share seven ideas that will guide you through overcoming karmic relationships.
First idea.
Close the window that hurt you,
No matter how beautiful the view is.
For every relationship you're in,
Frame it this way.
If we're together,
You're either my good karma or my bad karma.
Either way,
It's on me.
It's not on you.
And I won't know for a while if you are my good karma or my bad karma.
Third idea.
Compassion,
Creates karmic knots.
Love unties them.
Love means letting other people be free.
We live in a time of enormous consumptions.
We're all consuming our phones.
We're all consuming.
Everything.
We want everything to be a positive experience.
We want everything to feel good.
The problem with love relationships,
Why I think that the rate of divorce is growing is that we kind of want to consume other people.
It's like,
I have two hours max this weekend to spend with you.
I have 20 minutes a day to spend with you.
These 20 minutes need to be super positive.
If they're not super positive,
Goodbye.
You don't fit into my life.
I don't want this.
So we only want positive emotions from a relationship.
And in reality,
A relationship gives you everything.
When you come at love from a point of view of consumption.
You're always going to be frustrated and that's a karmic knot.
But love,
Which is,
I care about you.
I want everything for you.
I want you to be happy.
I want you to be free.
I will set my boundaries,
But I want you to be happy.
You are free to do as you choose.
That attitude undoes the karma knot.
Relationships are always about something greater than ourselves.
Four,
I think four.
Relationships,
Five.
Relationships are our way to grow.
And serve.
This is a good one.
We think that if there is anything negative in our lives,
That we're doing something wrong.
But in reality,
No matter how smart you are,
No matter how much you know,
No matter how much you meditate,
No matter how mature you are,
How above you are!
Every now and then you will experience God knows what.
Sometimes you will experience Chaos,
Sometimes you'll experience emotions you don't want to feel.
This happens in the context of life and in the context of relationships in general.
So.
Know that sometimes you're just meant to experience certain emotions in this life and circumstances will fall into place so that you experience them.
You're not necessarily doing anything wrong.
It is just life itself moving through you and it's the current of life and it's exciting and it's unpredictable.
And it sometimes has emotions like hopelessness,
Anger,
Sadness,
Loneliness,
Loss.
It's just part of this bouquet that we have called life.
There's a kind of disnification of modern culture where we think,
If I'm experiencing anything negative,
I don't have the right hacks.
Do all the right hacks and let me do the right practices and read the right books and go to the right college and get the right job and pick the right partner.
And then there will be zero suffering inside my container.
In reality.
God knows what will always happen and you will always feel every emotion.
The goal we're working toward is to heal ourselves,
Heal our own hearts,
Open to compassion,
And then heal the hearts of anyone who we touch.
By your own compassion toward all beings.
That's our strength.
Our strength is actually our compassion.
And to do that,
To have this warm,
Free,
Compassionate,
Joyful presence,
We need to protect our boundaries.
You need to do as much as possible of what brings you joy.
Be honest.
Make sure that you're treated well.
Make sure you're safe.
Then within that container that you build for yourself,
You can cultivate your inner light and that light hopefully reaches the entire universe.
That is the goal.
