Originally posted by
Chris
I’m sorry, but I’ll have to respectfully disagree with that. Nothing is supposed to be forever, least of all relationships. It may be a sad state of affairs, but everything on this physical plain of existence is transitory and ephemeral, including relationships. Your connection with the Absolute is the only thing that will last into eternity. Some relationships, including familial ones, may survive into another life on rare occasions, but the idea that they survive much beyond that is pretty naive and wishful thinking in my view.
I know this will ruffle a lot of feathers, but that’s the way I see it. Relationships tie you down to this earthly plane of existence and you can’t go beyond the Illusory matrix unless you learn to let go of people and relationships. There is a reason monks, Yogis and other Ascetics leave their families behind and concentrate on their relationship with the divine absolute. Even Jesus admonished his disciples to give up all their earthly possessions and even their families to follow him.
Most people are not ready to give up everything in pursuit of the Truth and that’s ok, a singular pursuit of Absolute Truth, Liberation and Self-realisation is not a suitable life path for many people. Most will get married and start families of their own, but if you are in a situation where that sort of thing just doesn’t want to happen, you should consider that it is not the path you were meant to follow.
There is a strong biological imperative to propagate our genes and ensure the survival of our bloodline. However, there is an even stronger spiritual imperative to seek out God in whatever form we can. I’m not talking about the Yahweh demiurge of the Bible here, but the Absolute, known as Brahman in Sanskrit.
Just to be clear, having a family and following a spiritual path are not mutually exclusive, many have been able to follow both successfully. All I’m saying is that if you have not been successful in your relationships, perhaps it was meant to be and may serve a higher purpose that you may not be aware of right now. Our current obsession with relationships is unhealthy anyway, there are many paths to liberation, enlightenment and happiness that do not have to involve relationships or family.