An “ideal couple” once came to Gautama Buddha and asked, “Lord, we married after being acquainted from childhood and there has never been a cloud on our happiness. Please tell us if we can marry in the next life?” The Buddha gave them this wise answer: “If you both have exactly the same faith, if you both receive the same teaching in exactly the same way, and if you have the same wisdom, then you will have the same mind in the next birth”
… “The greatest happiness which a mortal man can imagine is the bond of marriage that ties together two loving hearts. But, there is a greater happiness still: it is to embrace the truth. Death will separate husband and wife, but death will never affect him who has espoused the truth. Therefore, be married unto the truth and live with the truth in holy wedlock.”
… The best garment is the garment of God-consciousness. It requires that a husband and wife should be as garments for each other: Just as garments are for protection, comfort, show and concealment for human beings, God expects husbands and wives to be for one another.
… The greatest thing a husband or wife can wish for the spouse is spirituality; for the soul unfoldment brings out the divine qualities of understanding, patience, thoughtfulness, and love. Spouses must learn how to advance each other’s happiness and promote each other’s welfare. Advancing each other’s vanity does not provide any benefit. By doing so, one only weakens the spouse’s spiritual potential by keeping him or her locked in the body mind complex.
… Had you offered half of this love to God, you would have been spared from all worldly troubles and have attained salvation while living. This is an illusion that you are tied to, which is fleeting. But, God will remain with you forever. He is the only Truth in the entire creation.
… When a person sees the Divine in his/her spouse, all possessiveness and selfishness vanishes. What remains is the subordination of one’s own desires in return for the spiritual welfare and growth of the other. The partnership thus doesn’t become one that averts problems and unhappiness, but becomes one where both companies aid each other in rising above the mundane and grasping the reality of Divine Love.
To know how spouses can help each other to elevate their minds towards God read the complete article in July 2013 edition of English Akhand Gyan monthly magazine.
