Platonic Relationship --- Does It Work

“No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return” --- Plato. Platonic love is named after the great philosopher Plato. He believed in a pure and disciplined love among friends, even between opposite sexes. It is a kind of love that is so pure that it is void of any longing for intimacy. But in today’s society, this question has been debated and argued by men and women alike: “Platonic relationship: Does it really work?” Truly, can a platonic relationship work?
Plato believed so. He believed in knowledge, wisdom and discipline. He believed that if we can use the supreme thinking that comes from God, we can actually love without involving any romantic or sensual attraction.

Love rightly

According to him,”To love rightly is to love what is orderly and beautiful in an educated and disciplined way. “Two beings who have achieved the spiritual level of love can indeed make a relationship work. When one has achieved a state of being as close to God as he can get, then he can love in a disciplined way.

See another person’s real beauty

In the modern world, platonic relationships do work. There are many who have transformed themselves to experience their higher self. When one can see another person’s real beauty, getting past the physical attributes, then the love is devoid of any sexual attraction. It has become a godly love that is pure.

Spell disaster

In many cases though, what could have become a beautiful relationship is destroyed simply because there is no meeting of the minds, so to speak. When one party sees the other on the spiritual level and the other one continues to see the other on the physical level, romantic love from one starts to blossom. And this romantic feeling, when not reciprocated, can spell disaster on the budding relationship.

Being open in communicating

How do you know then if the other person is deviating from the relationship and slowly moving towards destroying the supposedly long term spiritual love that you both should be experiencing as close friends? How do you avoid or prevent hurting the other person’s feelings?
There is no better way to protect your partner’s feelings than being open in communicating your feelings for him. Spelling it out clearly early on will dispel whatever expectations the other person may be starting to entertain in his or her mind. If you are sure that your feeling for the other person is truly on a platonic or spiritual level, it is best to tell him so.

How do you spell it out

The next question would be “how do you spell it out?”
One good way of saying it would be to mention one time about you having read something about platonic relationship and that you believe that it is a beautiful relationship between two people of the opposite sex; and that you appreciate that you are experiencing it between you and him. This way, you will be able to tell him that you enjoy his company, and that you are thankful for having such a wonderful relationship with him. By saying so, you are actually putting in his head that what you have is a relationship that is on the spiritual level and not on the physical, sensual or romantic level. And that you want to keep it that way.

Clarify your positions

By starting this kind of conversation, you will be able to open the communication with him. Both of you can clarify your positions and will avoid guesswork nor prolong the agony for the other party should he be entertaining the possibility of moving the relationship down the path of intimacy.

Set the boundaries

Should both of you agree on staying on the spiritual plane, the open communication can make your relationship much stronger. The discussion can also open laying down some guidelines on how your relationship should go about, set the boundaries and make the relationship actually work.

Conclusion: As far as your nosey friends are concerned, anytime they ask you: “What? Platonic relationship? Do they work?” You can confidently retort back: “Yes indeed! Platonic relationships do work!”