Co-Enlightenment is a context for exploring the sacred marriage of masculine and feminine energies as a spiritual path. On the Co-Enlightenment path, we see our own personal polarity as the medium for our spiritual and emotional growth, as well as the source of co-creativity in our lives. Co-Enlightenment is based on an integration of work from many sources (see our Resources page), from which I have distilled the following principles:

1. Consciousness is Evolving

The universe is conscious, and as that universe unfolds and evolves, so too does the consciousness which animates it. There is a direction to this evolution, towards clearer awareness, greater interconnectedness and deeper love. The direction of this evolution has long been associated with spiritual growth.

2. Life is a Creative Process

Life’s essence is creativity. Not only does life repeatedly reproduce itself, it is consistently reinventing itself as well - innovating to inhabit new niches, adapting to new situations and growing into new forms. The human desire to create is an expression of the basic creative force of life. In addition to the more obvious expressions of creativity such as art and buildings, we use our creative powers to make ourselves and our lives.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself.” - George Bernard Shaw

3. You are a Play of Masculine/Feminine Polarity

Just as the earth’s magnetic field is formed by the polarity between the north and south poles, so too are the energy fields inside of you powered by the interplay of the masculine and feminine, the Yin and Yang. While opposites attract, the polarity behind this attraction can also cause tension and conflict within the self.

“We are surrounded by the Masculine and Feminine forces in many forms. Understanding how we relate to these great sexual energies serves our ability to be conscious and trustable lovers...” - David Deida, Intimate Communion.

4. Every Life Has a Unique Intention

Wayne Dyer describes Intention as “a field of energy that flows invisibly beyond the reach of our normal, everyday habitual patterns.” Everyone has such a field - some are so powerful that you can feel yourself being pulled (almost magnetically) towards another person. This field of intention has the power to transform us, to help us break free from our habitual patterns - if we can align ourselves with it and trust it.

5. We Co-create One Another

The way we see and listen to one another, the motives we attribute to each other and the ways we interact all have an impact on the way we grow. Much as we might like to see ourselves as independent beings, we are shaped by the relationships and communities of which we are a part. This is especially true of our intimate relationships. No other relationship has as much power to shape us as the one we co-create with our partner.

“Men and women join as coequal cocreators in the society of universal humans. The purpose of their holy union is to give birth to each other as cocreators....." - Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious Evolution

6. Consciousness Evolves Through Relationship

We experience the evolution of consciousness at the personal level as learning or growth - enlightenment. This learning happens fastest (some would say it only happens) when we are in relationship with others who are different from ourselves. We need the stimulus of relationships to change us. And the more intimate the relationship and the more different the other person is, the faster we grow. .

“When two people are the source of their reality, real intimacy becomes possible.” - Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, Conscious Loving