What is friendship? How can it help us to wake up? A podcast from Satsang with Shambhavi
first words from the podcast
Most cultures have some discourse around the ideal friendship. Indigenous cultures, spiritual cultures, high philosophy cultures – the subject of friendship is talked about a lot in human life. There have been a lot of writings, ponderings, and poetry about an ideal friendship or an ideal friend. Those of you who have read Rumi know that he often referred to his guru, Shams Tabrizi, as “the Friend.” There are many other instances of this throughout spiritual writings, in Greek and European philosophy, in Daoist traditions, and in every tradition.
In this discourse on friendship, ideal friendship has some characteristics that can help us to understand a few things about how to feel more friendly toward ourselves. One thing is that the scene of this friendship is a scene without struggle. This idea of friendship that is actually working does not involve struggle. This is because the participants in an actual friendship are giving in to the situation of the friendship. These ideal friendships are in paintings, poems, music, philosophical writings, fiction, and in all kinds of philosophy. One of the hallmarks of these writings is that the ideal friendship is a place of respite from struggle – it’s a place where you just give in to each other.