Written by Caverly Morgan
“Truth is revealed in the collapse of all relationships. It is the shining of the unity of oneness. Liberation is not only the recognition of this oneness — it is the realization that we are this.”
A relational dharma embraces the dynamic of a relationship as a vital place for practice. A place where our conditioning is revealed and we learn and grow from all the bumps and the rubs along the way.
What do I mean by relational dharma? Our life unfolds within relationships — our connections with family, friends, colleagues, community, the world. For most of us, our relationships are where the rubber meets the road. Practice on our cushions can seem quite peaceful, and then we get off our cushions and into the relationships of our lives!
Enlightenment is recognizing, on the most absolute level, there is no relationship. In other words, enlightenment is the collapse of subject versus object — the collapse of the distinction that I (subject) am separate from you (object). It is the dissolution of the belief that who you are is separate from anyone or anything else. It is the recognition of the unity of being.
How do our relationships unfold when the perception of separation is not informing them? In the dissolution of otherness, the unity of being shines brightly through.
When we relate to each other as if we are separate, suffering is inevitable. When we relate to each other from the recognition that our very being is shared, love is centre stage.
When we enter into relationship, seeped in the realization that there is no “other”, not only do our personal lives change, new possibilities emerge for collective transformation as well. A relational dharma supports the realization of no-other-ness. By practicing with relationship, these teachings help us directly experience that, ultimately, there is no relationship.
This understanding allows us to realize that, on the most fundamental level, our shared being is simply appearing in different forms, creating the perception that we are separate. From this understanding, the possibility to act from the knowing of our shared being opens. From this understanding, we live an
awakened life.
Join Caverly Morgan and Deborah Eden Tull for their retreat at Hollyhock this fall, An Autumn Contemplative Retreat: Rooting, Unfurling, Letting Go, September 10-15, 2026
