Marriage.
Spiritual aspects and benefits of marriage and family life.

When a man and a woman become one,
that "one" is You.
And when that one is obliterated, there You are.

Rumi, Mahnawi I, 1799 ..., quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.193.

The love of women
is made attractive to men.
God has arranged it: how can they avoid
what God has arranged? (...)

Rumi, Mathnawi I, 2435-2437, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.5.

The call to marriage is also a vocation, a gift from God. John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, P.122.

Marriage is of great importance in one's life. This relationship may last for centuries. In marriage, two souls coming from different places unite through an inner inspiration. This is a great thing and ancient tradition. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.27.

Marriages are not made by men; they are made by God. (...) Usually, people are married in a haphazard way in their own houses, but there is great fortune to be married in a holy place. The marriages that take place here are long lasting. The history of this place becomes a witness to the event. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.28.

He answered, "Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide. Matthew 19:4-6

(...) anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! (...) Matthew 5:28-29

(...) if any man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her to commit adultery if she marries again, and the man who marries her commits adultery also. Matthew 5:32

You were born together and together you shall be for evermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, P.15.

It is necessary to prepare young people for marriage, it is necessary to teach them love. Love is not something that is learned, and yet there is nothing else as important to learn! John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, P.122.

God gave you a family that you might expand your consciousness by caring and doing for others. In family life we learn love and self-sacrifice for our loved ones, and thus attain some expansion of consciousness. (...) be able to give everyone the same love that you bestow on your family, and to do for others exactly as you would for yourself. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.169.

Marriage is the truest goal for ninety-nine percent of the human race, and they will live the happiest life as soon as they have learnt  and are ready to abide by the eternal lesson - that we are bound to bear and forbear and that to everyone life must be a compromise. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.104.

May you always enjoy the undivided love of your husband, helping him in attaining all that is desirable in this life, and when you have seen your children's children, and the drama of life is nearing its end, may you help each other in reaching that infinite ocean of Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss, at the touch of whose waters all distinctions melt away and we all become One. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.104.

Vanaprasthin is a man who during the third stage of life, lives with his wife in solitude, both devoting themselves to the contemplation of the Godhead. Vivekananda, quoted in: Nikhilananda, Vivekananda, A Biography, P.100.

In truth it matters little if you live in the family or in the world, so long as you do not lose contact with God. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.165.

You should bring up your children, provide for your wife, and put by what is necessary for her to live upon after your death. If you do not do so, you are heartless; and a man without compassion is unworthy of the name of man. Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.187.

Family life is a fortress for you. Moreover, he who has attained knowledge is always free. It is only the lunatic, who says 'I am enchained,' that ends by being so (...). The mind is all in all. If it is free, you are free. Whether in the forest or in the world I am not enchained. I am the son of God, the King of Kings. Who then dare put me in chains? Family life is a fortress for you. Moreover, he who has attained knowledge is always free. It is only the lunatic, who says 'I am enchained,' that ends by being so (...). The mind is all in all. If it is free, you are free. Whether in the forest or in the world I am not enchained. I am the son of God, the King of Kings. Who then dare put me in chains? Ramakrishna, quoted in: Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.189.

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcome
as the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Rumi, Furuzanfar #2667, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.6.

Man is most human and most proves his humanity (...) by the quality of his relationship with woman. (...) Men today think that there is no difference between the capacity to make conquest and the capacity to love. Women respond accordingly. (...) In all this everyone completely forgets the need for love. A desperate need: not the need to receive it only, but the need to give love. Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, P.190.

Movement in the sexual organs was given to us by the Creator for procreation and the continuation of the species, not for unchastity; while incensive power was planted in us for our salvation, so that we could manifest it against wickedness, but not so that we could act like wild beasts towards our fellow men. Even if we make bad use of these passions, nature itself is not therefore sinful, nor should be blame the Creator. St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.78.


Last updated: 200612/30

See the related subjects: Compassion, Duty, Filial Piety, Human Love, Materialism.

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