Taoism and relationships

[rckandorroll]

I've been on a spiritual quest for awhile. After having a neardeath experience I felt i needed to find my answers more so than ever. I was raised catholic, and still see jesus as a great man and the world's first hippie, but i don't like the fear factor involved. then i got into buddhism which i really liked except for the fact that everything is suffering. I don't want to go through life thinking nothing is good. Then I discovered Taoism, and I feel this is what I've been searching for. I've always loved the idea of Yin and Yang and since my bday is june 9 (69) I always thought maybe I had a connection with it already.

but my question is, my girlfriend is not on a spiritual journey of any sorts and I don't pressure her to be. i believe spirituality is something one must look for on their own instead of being force fed it. i do encourage her to come to any meditation sessions or read any books that i find interesting, but i don't force her to like i said. is anyone in a relationship where their partner isn't interested in pursuing a or the spiritual journey you're participating in. I just don't want to isolate her involuntarily or push her away. thanks!

[ghost of rat]

I dont believe you asked a question?

[hippie_chick666]

My fiance is strictly anti-religion due to his crazy religious Christian parents. It's funny when I hear all this shit about Catholics being crazy when my parents (catholics) did not pull half the shit his Protestant parents did. His parents kept talking about his so called Godless music, while if my parents did not like my music, it was because they didn't like the language. Never once did they pull the religion card and say "this is anti-Christian." His parents used that all the time. That being said, he finds most religion as hypocritical, especially after his experiences in his church (he and his sister were sexually assaulted by church members, who went unpunished by the church).

Back to your question, I don't try to force any of my beliefs on him. I have suggested him read a few books so he understands what he thinks he opposes b/c many of the things he believes in is shared w/ Eastern spirituality. He just doesn't know that his beliefs are held by accepted viewpoints. He also finds rules in religions very restricting, which is why he gave up Wiccan (sp?), which I think he only got into b/c he was trying to reject everything that had been forced upon him. You hear more about the conflicts between witchcraft and Christianity than Christianity and Buddhism anyways.

If you are encouraging her to find her own path, great. There's nothing wrong w/ that. What is wrong is forcing your beliefs on her as the only Truth, and you're not doing that, so no worries.

Peace and love

[rckandorroll]

yeah i didn't really phrase it correctly. i was basically asking if anyone had similar experiences to this and how did they deal with it. because its hard when u want to maybe stay in and meditate as much as they want to go out to a club or something.