The Art of Intimacy

By definition, intimacy means close familiarity or friendship; closeness. In Eros teachings, we learn that intimacy is a state of being that you can have with every aspect of life, in all moments. It’s a practice, a way of being with and approaching life. We’ve all had to build so many barriers between ourselves and life, to protect our deep sensitivity. Intimacy can act as a bridge between that sensitivity and the world; a way to have approval for what is, a practice of finding perfection in the ugliness and damage, and a peace offering between opposing sides that is based in empathy and humanity. Intimacy is fundamentally a state where there is no other, and yet there is still a sense of essence, of uniqueness, inside of that larger experience of wholeness. 

The mind likes to settle on its ideas and beliefs, cling to them stubbornly, and defend them as though they are the components of our true identity. Intimacy and having an artful life require that we remain dynamic with our ideas and beliefs; that we prioritize putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes over being right; that we create and build rather than tear down and cancel. Everything has its place in art: darkness, taboo, desire, yearning, reverence, confusion, joy, rage, and disagreement. The Art of Intimacy teaches you how to open and include all, dismissing nothing, and seeing into the heart of things for a true discernment that is based in love and truth. 

Therefore, this course comes with a warning: expect to feel at times confronted, at times disturbed, at times angered, and to sometimes or often disagree with the material. For some it is like coming home or remembering something precious that was lost a long time ago, but it’s always a wrestle. This takes us to…

How to get the most out of your course:

• Question what you learn. Try things out; test them. Don’t take our word for it – research it for yourself to discover the validity. 
• Keep a journal and take notes on your entire experience throughout. Write down your questions, your observations, passages that stand out to you, realizations, and arguments. The things that stand out for you are a guidance of their own. In working with Erotic material, your intuition will come alive and begin speaking to you. Eros is food and water for intuition, for that quiet, wise part of you that knows and senses and feels deeply. You are likely to feel this part of you, and others, stir within as you make contact. Taking notes and capturing what stands out for you is how you can begin to create a map for yourself of what your soul wants you to know, or of what you are remembering.
• Try the meditations and exercises. These are designed to offer you a direct experience of the content, which might otherwise feel abstract. That being said, if a meditation or an exercise doesn’t make sense to you, you can skip it until later, or try it and modify it. You can always approach the course at your own pace in your own way, and you do not have to be an expert or have any experience of meditation to get value from it. 
• It is recommended that you explore one lesson per week. It’s perfectly fine if it’s longer or faster; you set your own pace.

Each lesson has the following components:

• An introduction to the lesson
• A deeper infusion from the Eros Sutras 
• An example that illustrates the concept  
• A video for deeper understanding
• A meditation for reflection
• An exercise for integration
• A summary of the lesson

To start this course, we are including three videos here to help you understand what Eros is and what the sutras are, and how both permeate throughout everything we do and create.