In the traditional Indian marriage, there are seven pheras / chakar (the bride and the groom encircle the holy fire)
There is a significance of each of the pheras. The seven pheras represent the journey of the couple through their marriage through the seven chakras towards self-realization and spiritual wisdom.
The seven chakras and the challenge they pose are mentioned below.
- The Muladhara Chakra: Support each other to overcome base instincts – primordial instincts.
- The Swadhisthana Chakra: Support each other in overcoming the seductive influence of the physical world and all addictions.
- The Manipura Chakra: Support each other in overcoming fear, anger, and aggression.
- Anahata Chakra: Support each other to resolve emotional energies from childhood and past lives, and become emotionally stable and resilient.
- Vishuddhi Chakra: Support each other in learning how to express oneself in a manner that is non-judgemental and universally resonant.
- Agya Chakra: Support each other in overcoming the fluctuating mind and the duality of existence.
- Sahasrara Chakra: Support each other to Spiritual Maturity, self-realization, and understanding the ONENESS of this existence.
The journey of the couple through these chakras is the true essence of marriage.
The parental samskaras also relate to the bride and the groom, so marriage is not just a marriage of individuals, but also a marriage of families and those who the bride and the groom consider as close to them along with their unresolved samskara. It is a bhelpuri (an Indian snack with multi textures and multi flavors). Especially in India where there is a rich history of caste, religion, race, and ancestral heritage, and at the same time the soul’s innate desire to break free from all past karmic energies that are locked within the cellular system. These energies stay locked within the cellular system for a minimum of three birth and death cycles and they find their way into the expression of the individuals deeply involved in the marriage ceremony.
It is important for the conscious couple to keep the ceremony SIMPLE, with only people who will bless the couple, without judgment, and be with them unconditionally. This is the most important part of the marriage ceremony.
Historically in India, marriages have been within the network of family and friends, within the community/caste, and cultural resonance is also considered and generally regionally limited. Today the scenario has changed. The world has shrunk and therefore the permutations and combinations of marriage that would be outside the culture and the community are likely to be higher.
Marriages that are within the framework of similar family modalities, beliefs, traditions, culture, community, conditioning, and norm, have a very low emotional and psychological delta and offer a safe haven for life but are most unlikely to be transformative, such marriages generally tend to continue and follow the traditional trajectory and traditions, until such time that one of the partners starts seeking the higher meaning of life.
The most challenging/interesting marriages are those that are outside the box of similar family modalities, beliefs, traditions, culture, community, conditioning, and norm. Such marriages tend to have high emotional and psychological delta because of steep ideological differences. The high emotional and psychological delta implies energy that can be used for transformation as long at any point in time one of the partners becomes the pivot point whilst the other is re-calibrating to come to the middle path. Such marriage will challenge every aspect of life and can be painful. Having said so, such marital engagements are the most transformative for the couple in terms of their individual growth and self-realization.
As the couple overcomes each and every challenge within the chakra over the years, they are likely to move away from attachment(s) (all kinds – relationship, material, ego centricity, etc) but will always stay connected with each other, they are most likely to empower each other to RISE to a greater understanding of Life.
The indicator of a successful marriage in the physical realm is self-determined independence because sooner or later one will cease to exist before the other, when this happens the surviving spouse should be able to cope with the loss and move on to live a happy, meaningful, and independent life.
The indicator of a successful marriage in the spiritual realm is individual self-realization.
This karmic cycle keeps on going until there is an understanding of the bond called marriage and its true purpose.
Marriage is a contract, that when understood and executed correctly can liberate, if not understood can cause greater entanglement.
The Social Contract.
The Veil of Ignorance is a device for helping people envision a fair society by pretending that they are ignorant of their personal circumstances. Two primary principles supplement Rawls’ veil of ignorance: the liberty principle and the difference principle.
According to the liberty principle, social awareness should try to ensure that everyone enjoys the maximum liberty possible without intruding upon the freedom of others.
According to the difference principle, social awareness should guarantee that everyone has an equal opportunity to prosper. In other words, if there are any social or economic differences in the social contract, they should help those who are the worst off. And, any advantages in the contract should be available to everyone.