From a podcast interview by Chase & Sarah Koserlitz with Ronald L. Mann, PhD, insightful thoughts on relationships, meditation, and love:

• Awareness – "The first thing is awareness. ... Are YOU the right person? ... Look inside and get a realistic perception of where you're at ..." (recommended reading: Paramahansa Yogananda The Autobiography of a Yogi)
• Caring – "Pray for your partner – surround them with light and more love. ... You don't have to even tell them you're doing it. Trying to talk someone into doing things typically doesn't help. ... Love your partner where he or she is at. It becomes a greater test of unconditional love. ... If your partner can't accept you, maybe you've outgrown that relationship."
• Selflessness – "Learning to be selfless is a great tool in the process of spiritual awakening and creation of love. There's a saying that 'The instrument is plucked by that which goes through it'. ... You're an instrument that is an expression of love, the more you dedicate your life to getting out of yourself. Don't get caught in your own ego and your own desires. Think about other people. See what you can do to enhance the quality of other people's lives as well as your own."
• Conflict – "It takes two to have a conflict. If you've got your ego out of the way and your partner says something to you that may even be hurtful, and you don't immediately have this knee-jerk reaction because you were hurt, of being angry or saying something back that's hurtful to them, the potential problem can just kind of dissolve itself away. It doesn't mean that you allow people to abuse you or take advantage of you. That's not part of the spiritual path, to become something that people can use and abuse. You want to have self-respect. But you also want to learn how to move beyond your ego, so in fact those kinds of things don't touch you in the way they used to, they don't hurt you as much. And you don't have a desire to want to hurt back because there's a realization that you can't win by hurting other people."
• Intention – "If you pray for somebody else, you're putting out a conscious thought that's filled with a positive intention. ... What you put out comes back to you. Your intention can be a positive force in the world ... a vehicle for love and life ... a positive presence. It can have a strong impact on those around you, deepening your capacity to love, to bring more love into your life. Develop on a daily basis some kind of process that draws you within, connects you to your heart. ... Get into a place where you're feeling love and peace, and have that well up within you, to the point where there's so much within you that it goes out to all the people around you. ... Being a loving presence can have an uplifting positive effect on all those around you."
• Gratitude – "The attitude of gratitude is another powerful tool if you want to work on your spiritual life. You see the results, if you're grateful. It takes you beyond your own ego, being grateful to the Universe ... for the great stuff that comes into your life. It automatically does uplift ... and helps you focus on the positive things rather than the negative. We have a choice. We can direct our mind and our thoughts on whatever we want. And if we choose to always obsess on what we don't have, it creates a lot of pain and suffering and discontent. Typically people don't enjoy being around people like that. If we focus on gratitude, ... it opens your heart and brings greater peace of mind, because there's contentment, you're just so grateful for all the wonderful positive things that are in your life. ... You're kind, you're loving, you're present, you're peaceful – those are spiritual qualities. ... Nobody wants to suffer; we all want to get out of suffering. Gratitude is certainly a great mental tool to use, in a moment-to-moment way. It helps uplift your consciousness."

(deep namaste to DDR for sharing this beautiful interview!) - ^z - 2021-12-25