Charolette Kasl's "If the Buddha Dated..." is
a fascinating spiritual take on advice on every stage of relationships
from dating to marriage.
Kasl draws her spiritual ideas from a number of sources, starting
with Buddhism but also ranging from The Society of Friends (the
Quakers) to the Sufi path. The breadth of her references almost seem
to prove the timelessness of many of her points.
A primary theme of If the Buddha Dated... is that spirituality
is a path for assessing what is going on inside of your own heart, and
that that knowledge allows you to maintain yourself within the context
of a relationship.
There are a lot of gems here. Sections on "Making Friends" with your
fears and ambivalence are good introductions to using ones own unpleasant
feelings (perhaps jealousy?) as a road to revelation.
And "What's that Buzzing in My Brain?" would be excellent reading
for those moments when NRE ("New Relationship Energy") overwhelms
and obsesses us.
