The vows were the standard and universal ones, emphasizing love, support, acceptance, laughter, commitment, and trust—all seen through the light of Jesus, mentioned in almost every sentence.
We were at my wife's cousin’s wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, the words spoken were profound, and the energy was lighthearted. It was a traditional Christian ceremony officiated by a pastor.
I have been to many religious weddings, mainly Catholic ones, as it's the tradition in Mexico where I grew up. What caught my attention this time, similar to Catholic ceremonies, was that the pastor emphasized the only way a marriage will last is if Jesus is at the center of it. I repeat, the ONLY way.
I thought, "Are you, pastor, implying that my marriage is invalid? That the love I share with my wife isn’t pure and sacred? That our relationship won’t last just because we don’t see life through the lens of dogma? Only because we don’t ‘magnify Jesus’?"
This is the belief that has bothered me about Christianity and other religions. They try to make you feel as if any other way of living is wrong and work hard to convince you that if you don’t follow their rules or share their beliefs, you are lost.
Religions often claim that their way of living is the right way, and the way of living of opposing religions or of no religion at all is the wrong way. The Yogi philosophy teaches that religions have their place in the world, that they are mostly good, except for one thing: they exclude those who don’t adhere to their rules and conception of reality.
This belief separates the world instead of uniting it. And to the Yogis, any belief system that casts off human beings is fundamentally flawed.
Imagine if I told you that the Yogis ask that your marriage should be conducted in a certain way, otherwise, it's invalid and it won’t last. You would likely laugh, question and simply dismiss such a perspective.
The Yogi philosophy accepts any form of marriage or no marriage at all, any belief system or none, any conception of a higher power or no belief in a higher power at all, any race, gender, skin color, geographical location, habits, behavior. Every single human being is accepted.
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