Physical vs Spiritual Attraction

[jilola]

quote:...but you can not share a spiritual connection with someone without being physically drawn to them too.

I tend to disagree with such definite statements of what can and can not be.
It's entirely possible to share a spiritual connection but not a physical one. Likewise the opposite applies. Indeed any combination of the two is possible.
It's silly to suggest that spiritual attraction/connection somehow requires or exluce a physical attraction/connection.

I can see, however, that a having a spiritual connection with someone would make them physically more atractive. But at the same time a physical attraction would give some leeway on learning about the other and thus lead to a spiritual conncetion.

But as usual, the disclaimer Your Mileage May Vary applies with full force.
2cents & L&L
jouni

[Lighthouse]

quote:Originally posted by jilola

 

It's entirely possible to share a spiritual connection but not a physical one.

I agree with this in theory.  It never dawned on me that this might be true until I read it.  Have you ever had a strong spiritual attraction to someonw without wanting to be in their presence physically?  

For example, with me, there is one person in particular who is a member of this forum who really helps me out spiritually.  Ever since I joined this forum, we have bounced ideas off of one another and have a really great friendship going.  I suspect if I did not have this spiritual link with this person, I would not feel so drawn.  I am really looking forward to meeting this person one day.

If He was just some good looking "Brad Pitt-ish" guy I might be drawn to him physically but I doubt it would be the same feeling... the same strength of psychic attraction.

Kerri

[beavis]

...but you can not share a spiritual connection with someone without being physically drawn to them too.

A spirit can have any kind of body. Would you be attracted to the body if it was not the gender you like?

[Lighthouse]

quote:Originally posted by beavis

...but you can not share a spiritual connection with someone without being physically drawn to them too.

A spirit can have any kind of body. Would you be attracted to the body if it was not the gender you like?

quote: originally posted by Lighthouse

"Even extending into my same sex relationships. If I share a spiritual connection with a woman, we often become "soul sisters" as I like to call them... meaning that we mutually support one another spiritually and are like family I would even say that I would rather be in the physical presence of my spiritual family than my biological family. It feels more like home to me."

I'm not saying I want to "Bang" my spirit sisters... (sorry, that's my husband's word and for some reason, Beavis, it seems appropriate when addressing you [])... no offense.  Just being in the presence of a person who I have a connection with is a form of being physically attracted.  

I want to spend time with them and they are my closest friends.

With MEN on the other hand, the line is a bit more fuzzy (sexual attraction always gets in the way... I hate [}:)] having to give up friends because of sexual attraction... it REALLY REALLY SUCKS)... Fortunately I only connect with very few men on that level... It has been known to wreak havoc on my happy home life [].

Oh well (sigh)... if only there weren't the insecurities revolving around opposite sex friendships, spiritual development would be much easier on the marriage.

Kerri

[jilola]

Ah I see. You were talking about being in the physical presence of the other person and not about physical attraction as it's usually understood.
But to answer your question, I have and in fact do feel a deep spiritual connection with a number of persons but dont feel any specific need to be in their presence. In fact I have had a profound spiritual connection with a person in the past and found it impossible to continue to remain in her physical presence. And the reason for it was spiritual to boot. Go figure [xx(]

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[Lighthouse]

That's good to know... this means it's not always true as the author stated it is.  I think it tends to be true for me... yet my husband and I speak a different language when it comes to our spirituality... I think this makes for many many misunderstandings [xx(].

[beavis]

Because you wouldnt be physically attracted to a woman, it is theoretically possible you could not be physically attracted to a man who you were spiritually attracted to.

[jilola]

Eh? I don't quite understand your statement, Beavis. I think I do but would you elaborate a bit?

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[Lighthouse]

quote:Originally posted by beavis

Because you wouldnt be physically attracted to a woman, it is theoretically possible you could not be physically attracted to a man who you were spiritually attracted to.

True, but the same statement then may still be true... One may want to be in the physical presence of the other and not want to necessarily "bang" them.  I love my spirit sisters and love being with them physically in the same room or on the phone (the phone feels to me like the same room, at least partially.)  

We are DRAWN to each other because of the connection... therefore we are physically attracted.. perhaps the word I should be using is "drawn" because it is perhaps less confusing language than physical attraction as jilola stated???

[jilola]

I think "To gravitate towards physical presence" would be suffieciently vague for the purpose of this thread [8D]

Physical companionship and/or presence doesn't necesssarily imply the need to have a sexual relationship.
Physical ( as in being geographically displaced) doesn't imply being separate. The distinction is subject to the individual's (irony) perception of existence.

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[WalkerInTheWoods]

quote:Originally posted by Lighthouse

I just read something in a book that suggested that you can be physically attracted to someone and not share a spiritual connection but you can not share a spiritual connection with someone without being physically drawn to them too.

I thought she was a beautiful woman until she opened her mouth. lol []

I do know that the inner person is what I find attractive about a person. The more I know about the person the more attractive or unattractive they appear to me, reguardless of exterior appearances. So really it is the spiritual which would shape my view of the physical.

[Lighthouse]

quote: Originally posted by jilola

I think "To gravitate towards physical presence" would be suffieciently vague for the purpose of this thread

[][]

I liked what you said too before you edited your post fallnangel...

kerri

[MoonGirl]

It's been said but I think that although a spiritual connection can strengthen or even spark a physical attraction... I don't think it's inevitable to happen.  

Although from experience a special spiritual connection does make someone all the more beautiful.  

Or maybe I just have my mind in the gutter and I'm thinking of physical attraction as just wanting to sleep with someone

[Lighthouse]

quote:Originally posted by MoonGirl


Although from experience a special spiritual connection does make someone all the more beautiful.  

Or maybe I just have my mind in the gutter and I'm thinking of physical attraction as just wanting to sleep with someone

Been there...

try telepathy...  

you can FEEL more than you know through telepathy...

but I think you need that special spiritual connection.

(I've never AP'd so this may be true too)

it makes life interesting...

if not completely insane (and wonderful) at times []

Sigh...



Okay can someone pull this back out before it really goes into the gutter?  

[jilola]

Thunderbirds to the rescue, huh?

Here goes: Physical attraction is a physical interpretation of the perceived spiritual connection. Thus being physically attracted to someone may hint at a possible higher level rapport (but not necessarily so to which many failed relationships bear witness).

There, thread deguttered.

2cents & L&L

[Lighthouse]

quote:
Here goes: Physical attraction is a physical interpretation of the perceived spiritual connection. Thus being physically attracted to someone may hint at a possible higher level rapport (but not necessarily so to which many failed relationships bear witness).

WOW... Great Job!

This makes me think of another quote from the same book, Too bad I can't remember the title... it will come to me.  I'm paraphrasing here:  
When you love someone, you are seeing God in them, they represent a connection to God for you.   (God or your connection to the Universe, however you interpret that to mean)

How does this ring for you?  I believe God to be LOVE in the highest sense of the word, all encompassing, blissful, ecstatic... blah, blah, blah.

So could that original statement be that we are trying to commune (in a physical sense) with the God we see in them?  therby being physically attracted to their spiritual side?

Kerri

[jilola]

quote:This makes me think of another quote from the same book, Too bad I can't remember the title... it will come to me. I'm paraphrasing here:
When you love someone, you are seeing God in them, they represent a connection to God for you. (God or your connection to the Universe, however you interpret that to mean)

How does this ring for you? I believe God to be LOVE in the highest sense of the word, all encompassing, blissful, ecstatic... blah, blah, blah.

So could that original statement be that we are trying to commune (in a physical sense) with the God we see in them? therby being physically attracted to their spiritual side?

Here's what I think the Love we feel on the physical is: It is the our perception of the cohesive force between souls that are facets of the total existence often termed god.
Saying that the Love we feel towards another individual is ann attempt at communing with god is almost exactly correct save for the underlying assumption that god is separate from us or we from god.
The deeper the Love we feel the closer we are to the actual union of souls we have on the spiritual domains.
But love (as in I love tennis) and Love (as in I know your soul) are two very different things. They often get confused and the word itself has experienced a terminal inflation.

We Love someone because we subconsciously (or soconsciously depending on our level of understanding) see god in him/her and realize this god is the same god we ourselves are.

ach, to out it short: I agree in a way []

2cents & L&L

[Lighthouse]

Okay, this brings me to another quote:

Excerpt from The Anam Cara



"In the Celtic Tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship.  One of the fascinating ideas here is the idea of soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is anam cara.  Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend.  So anam-cara in the Celtic world means "soul friend."...  



The anam-cara experience opens a friendship that is not wounded or limited by separation or distance.  Such friendship can remain alive even when friends live far away from each other.  Because they have broken through the barriers of persona and egoism to the souls level, the unity of their souls is not easily severed.  When the soul is awakened, physical space is transfigured.  Even across the distance, two friends can stay attuned to each other and continue to sense the flow of each others lives.  With your anam cara you awaken the eternal.  In this soul space there is no distance...



You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the "friend of your soul."  The Celtic understanding did not set limitations of space or time on the soul.  There is no cage for the soul.  The soul is a divine light that flows into you and into your Other. This art of belonging awakened and fostered a deep and special companionship.  In his Conferences, John Cassian says this bond between friends is indissoluble: "This, I say, is what is broken by no chances, what no interval of time or space can sever or destroy, and what death itself cannot part."  (He talks more about your Other which I understand as another word he is using for your Soul Mate.)



In everyone's life, there is a great need for an anam cara, a soul friend.  In this love, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension.  When you are understood, you are at home.  When you really feel understood, you feel free to release yourself into the trust and shelter of the other person's soul..."



Kerri

[jilola]

Anam Cara, my beloved. Yep, that's it.

Just that ultimately we all qualify for the description yet in our lifetimes we only realize it with respect to few people.
There is no difference, no you and I; just one existence we all are adn express. Anam cara is indeed th erealization that there is no difference between the two individuals. Yet it goes deeper to the realization that there is no difference at all, between anyone or anything.

Thanks for reminding me of the term. Iäve been searching fo rone for a while []

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Lighthouse]

You're welcome... []

[jilola]

Paah, I was going to post something profound and cool but suffered a brain leak. Age does not come alone.
Your turn.

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[Lighthouse]

So we hear so much about Soul Mates.  Is the Anam Cara what we are looking for?  Is this why we feel physically drawn to people when we have a spiritual connection?  Are we each looking for our Soul Mates?  Do we perceive that if we have a spititual connection at all, we may have found out Soul Mate?  

Or is it that we're searching for our own divinity and we can only recognize it if the "mirror" of another is held up to us?

Same with anger and other emotions, we become angry or jealous (all those emotions we would rather forget that we experience) We are seeing our own reflections in others of our perceived weaknesses (The ego hates weakness and attacks it at any chance.)  Is the Anam Cara experience one of seeing our own divinity through the image of the other?

Your turn [].

Kerri

[Blissful]

I have dated men of all kinds (attractive, not attractive, intellectual, strong, fun, etc) but I have yet to have a relationship with someone spiritual like me.  

I decided not to date anymore until I find my spiritual equal.  Otherwise, I'de rather not waste my time nor my energy.


I also agree.. being with people that I have met who are spiritual are more fun to be around than family members.  However, all the spiritual people I have met are usually older woman (except for my best friend who is my age and she and I on the same path spiritually). I have yet to meet any spiritual men.  Go figure

Blissful

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Where are these spiritual women you keep talking about? []

[Lighthouse]

Blissful,

I see what you're saying.  A Rabbi once told me I should be a Rabbi (go look at my picture on my website, I'm the furthest thing from looking like a Rabbi... blonde & blue & Scandinavian looking)  This was the highest compliment he could have paid me.  At the time I said, "I Could never marry someone who was not my spiritual equal."


... then I got blinded by love...


go figure

Kerri