In the practice of OM, Eros aims for us to simultaneously offer and receive each stroke, in the same way we offer and receive people. When Eros is present, everything is on, and when it is blocked, nothing is. Eros does not discriminate, with people or strokes, in terms of to what it will apply the five cornerstones of attention—approval, intimacy, intuition, power, optionality—to develop the connection that switches on the lights of Erotic liberation in both people.
This is a recognition that our success cannot be achieved in isolation. The process in OM is to sync up nervous systems where the state that results is the physical analogue for the invisible workings of all of life. We interact with each person not based on notions of benevolence or altruism, but as a friend for accessing this state together.
Entirely rooted in the practical and aiming for us to develop this quality of equal and simultaneous attention with the whole of life, Eros considers all people friends. With friendship in Eros, we have two intentions. Regardless of who the friend is or what they bring, we aim to ensure we keep our nervous system activated. In addition, we put all our efforts forth toward ensuring we provide whatever conditions we can that, should they choose to, they have the potential to stay activated as well.
This is an entirely practical approach to life. When other people switch the lights on, they can see the map and access the power that brings higher states of consciousness; with the lights on, they can make any world (including our own) better by their generosity, empathy, and brilliance. Choosing to apply our efforts equally to all people is a way to build a life where what we interact with is of a higher quality. We aim to stabilize and light up our own nervous system and then extend it in a balanced way, into the world around us. We take ideas of who deserves it and who doesn't out of the equation, and as a result, we increase our efficiency and decrease tumescence. We are a light that shines out equally on all and a ground that receives equally from all.
We offer our preferences in exchange for intimacy with the whole, but more importantly we come into alignment with the truth of reality: we are equally connected to all things and all people in the invisible, subtle energy that permeates all. We move and are moved by everyone around us even when on the surface the experience of connection is either blocked or latent. Just as trees share signals through their roots beneath the soil, humans have a shared network of connection.
We need to acknowledge the fact (not the aspiration) that well-being is an interdependent endeavor, whether we recognize it or not. We always have the option of ignoring this truth, but doing so, while it may seem to decrease the amount of effort asked of us, ultimately limits our power. Power operates in alignment with truth and to the extent that we do as well, we can both see and carry out the activities necessary to find unconditional liberation.
We begin by approaching each and every person we encounter as a friend. Just as there are different strokes with different benefits, there are different friends who are beneficial in different ways. We agree to always start with this foundation and the intention to find resonance that opens into intimacy. In the same way that we meet different strokes in different ways in OM, we also do this with people. We develop a repertoire of responses to the various pressures, speeds, and directions, acknowledging that whatever we encounter is welcome—be it a lesson, a challenge, a nurturance, an awakening, a turn-on, silence, or hydration.
When it comes to friendship, there are "predisposition" spots or people. Because relationships are dynamic, these predispositions may change. However, just as we tend toward certain spots in OM, we tend toward specific experiences, particularly in relating with others.
The fundamental practice is to do what is necessary to remain unconditionally open. The key to sovereignty and power is to remain open no matter what occurs; this offers us dignity and more importantly, power. From power, we can convert everything we meet in the world. We must be willing to release any circumstance necessary and receive any circumstance necessary in order to remain open.
No one and no thing has the power to make us close. We recognize that no circumstance can substitute for the sensation of openness. In every moment, how we hold our Erotic consciousness so that we remain open, becomes our sensory inquiry.