Amrish, Jyoti and all:Is marriage an impediment in one's spiritual growth?

[Guest guest]

Namaste Amrish and all family: I am glad that you found some relevance

in our family story. Truly we draw inspiration daily from Maa and Swami.

That said, I wish I had access to this kind of information when I was

married. Even though my wife and I knew that a God centered life was

important, we never really discussed the fact, and never made a

detailed plan concerning how we would like our lives to evolve

together, how we would raise children, and what were our short and

long term goals, etc. We loved each other, and thought that was

enough. We thought that our love would take care of everything. Love

conquers all, that was our motto.

Yet, in review of our years together, we now understand that having a

deep understanding of our individual goals, and our shared goals,

would have helped us in many many ways. For, as Swami says, " those

without plans, become part of someone's else plan. "

I thank Maa that She guided us in the years prior to our meeting 10

years ago. Again, looking back in time, we can see Her guiding hand in

so many instances, and we know that we unknowingly followed Her

suggestions, as the silent impulses of intuition deep in our hearts.

While our lives continue on, we now have a plan to reach our mutually

agreed upon goals, and Maa and Swami have helped us clarify those plans.

As you take the first steps towards considering marriage as a sadhana

which for yourself, we suggest reading a great book, " BEFORE BECOMING

THIS " , available thru the Mandir web site. It features questions and

answers with Maa and Swami concerning many important aspects of life

on this Earth, including marriage.

A central theme of Maa and Swami's views on the sacred union of

marriage involve one seeing one's spouse as Divine. Indeed, they

teach us to worship our wives as Durga, using the Durga puja, {Kali or

another Goddess works as well}, and our wives worship us as Shiva.

This means we literally perform puja to each other using the sacred

texts.

The second theme is understanding each other and setting gaols which

will benefit both partners.

There is so much to say about marriage. Let us see how others respond

to our discussion and we can talk more later.

 

May God Bless you and may He bring your the ideal mate, to bring you

both to Lord Shiva's feet.

 

Jai Maa Jai Swami

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

 

 

, " amrish krish " <krisam76 wrote:

>

> Namaste Vishweshwar!

> I was deeply touched by your letter .Your life

> and the way you have lived life being grihasta(family man ) and yet

> practising spiritual sadhana has served single people like me to

> consider you as my inspiration before getting into family life. Even

> i was grappling with this this question whether marriage is

> necessary at all and how to balance family and sadhana.I had even

> posted query answered by swami on this topic.

>

> But reading your letter has made me set a goal and approach this

> using you as a my role model.

>

> I also thank Swami and Shree maa for inspiring you to write this mail

> and in a way answer lot of questions.

>

> May MAA and swami bless you and your family allways.

>

>

> JAI MAA

>

> Amrish

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

, " inspectionconnection108 "

> <inspectionconnection108@> wrote:

> >

> > Namaste all family: I have a wonderful wife, married more than 25

> > years. Today is her birthday. In honor of the Grace of having her

> in

> > my life, I joyfully respond to this question: is marriage an

> > impediment to one's spiritual goals?

> > As a supreme blessing in my life, she has been an amazing helpmate

> and

> > partner. Together we have raised a family based on the highest

> ideals

> > of perfection, and served Maa and Swami with love and devotion. We

> > always knew that our life together would be stronger and more

> fruitful

> > than alone. Our deepest desire, to know God, is manifesting thru

> the

> > support and strength we give each other. We are a team, united and

> > strong, and Maa and Swami bless us daily.

> > I remember 10 years ago when we met Maa and Swami for the first

> time,

> > while still living in Iowa, Maa told Bharati, my wife, to serve my

> son

> > and I and help us in every way possible. She, with a totally loving

> > heart, has given us 100%+ these past 10 years. And as a result, my

> > son and I have flourished and grown in so many ways. Bharati has

> been

> > our shakti, our foundation, our living Mother Divine in our home.

> She

> > has shown us that no matter how selfish we may be, or how unbalanced

> > we may become, she will still love and nourish us. We are blessed

> to

> > have her.

> > Maa also told Bharati and I to be an ideal couple, to be an example

> to

> > others in this world. We have worked hard to fulfill Maa's request,

> > battling the ego and his army of generals, fighting to overcome

> > selfish desires, and with Maa's Grace, overcoming them and growing

> > stronger and stronger.

> > Marriage is not for everyone, but a marriage based on the highest

> > ideals of perfection, founded on mutually satisfying and life

> > supporting goals, becomes a tremendously powerful sadhana, a

> spiritual

> > practice. To be able to dedicate one's life to knowing God in each

> > other, and thru that experience, growing to see God in everyone:

> that

> > is a goal worth working towards.

> > If I see my wife as Mother Divine, and she sees me as Lord Shiva,

> then

> > we have reached our goal.

> > Life is so short, time passes so quickly, set your goals, make a

> plan,

> > work the plan, and stay alert for the bumps in the road. Whether

> you

> > are married or single, keep your eyes and heart fixed on attaining

> the

> > highest goal, and live life to the fullest.

> > If you are married, serve your spouse as God, if you are single,

> serve

> > your Guru as God. Don't entertain idle thoughts, and don't waste

> your

> > time arguing idle philosophies.

> > Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and

> try

> > to uplift everyone. Love and serve your Guru, and wear a path to

> their

> > door. Do whatever they need to ease their burdens, and they will

> > shower you with love and free you of all your past karmas. For the

> > Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the Great Maheshwar.

> >

> > Love and Jai Ma Jai Swami

> >

> > vishweshwar

> >

> > Happy Birthday Bharati

> >

> >

> >

> > , " jyoti_pierce " <jyoti_pierce@>

> > wrote:

> > >

> > >

> > > Dear All,

> > >

> > > I have been wondering, if marriage is an impediment in one's

> spiritual

> > > goals?

> > >

> > > Thanks,

> > >

> > > Jyoti N

> > >

> >

>