Photos by Christopher Clinnick Photography
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, selected verses (Hindu scriptures)
A wife loves her husband not for his own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in him. A Husband loves his wife not for her own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in her. Children are loved not for their own sake, dear one, but because the Divine Beloved lives in them... All things are loved not for their own sake, but because the Divine Beloved lives in them. The Divine Beloved must be realized. Hearing about and meditating upon the Divine Beloved, you will come to understand everything in life ...
As long as there is the sense of separateness, one sees another as separate from oneself... But when the Divine Beloved is realized as the indivisible unity of life, who can be seen by whom... who can be spoken to by whom, who can be thought of by whom, who can be known by whom?
(Translated by Eknath Easwaran, Nilgiri Press, 1987)
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The Buddha's sermon at Rajagaha; verses 19-22 (Buddhist Scriptures)
"Do not deceive, do not despise each other anywhere. Do not be angry nor bear secret resentments; for as a mother will risk her life and watches over her child, so boundless be your love to all, so tender, kind and mild.
Cherish good will right and left, early and late, and without hindrance, without stint, be free of hate and envy, while standing and walking and sitting down, what ever you have in mind, the rule of life that is always best is to be loving-kind.
Gifts are great, founding temples is meritorious, meditations and religious exercises pacify the heart,comprehension of the truth leads to Nirvana, but greater than all is lovingkindness.
As the light of the moon is 16 times stronger than the light of all the stars, so lovingkindness is 16 times more efficacious in liberating the heart than all other religious accomplishments taken together.
(From "The Gospel of the Buddha" Paul Carus, 1915, Open court Publishing source:"The Mahavagga" Sacred books of the East. Oxford, 1881-82)
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Navajo Wedding Ceremony (The Native American Tradition)
Now you have lit a fire and that fire should not go out. The two of you now have a fire that represents love, understanding and a philosophy of life. It will give you heat, food, warmth and happiness. The new fire represents a new beginning - a new life and a new family. The fire should keep burning; you should stay together. You have lit the fire for life, until old age separates you.
('Words of Power'; Voices from Indian America)
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The Song of Songs by Solomon, Chap. 3, verses 9-11 (Hebrew Scriptures)
You have captured my heart, my own, my bride, you have captured my heart with one glance of you eyes, with one coil of your necklace. How sweet is your love, my own, my bride! How much more delightful your love than wine, your ointments more fragrant than any spice! Sweetness drops from your lips, O bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the scent of your robes is like the scent of Lebanon
(The Tanakh (Old Testament))
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Matthew Chap.6 verses 25-34 (Christian Scriptures)
Therefore I bid you put away anxious thoughts about food and drink to keep you alive, and clothes to cover your body. Surely life is more that food, the body more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. You are worth more than the birds! Is there a person among you who by anxious thought can add a foot to his height? And why be anxious about clothes? consider how the lilies grow in the fields; they do not work, they do not spin, and yet, I tell you, Solomon in all his splendor was not attired as one of these. But if that is how God clothes the grass in the fields, which is there today, and tomorrow is thrown on the stove, will He not all the more clothe you? How little faith you have!...Set your mind on God's Kingdom and His justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well. So do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own.
(The New English Bible, The Oxford Press)
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The Koran (Islam)
O believers, be in awe of God, and believe in His Messenger, and He will give you a twofold portion of His mercy, and He will appoint for you a light whereby you shall walk, and forgive you; God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate; that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over anything of God's bounty, and that bounty is in the hand of God; He gives it unto whomsoever He will; and God is of bounty abounding.
(The Koran Interpreted; A.J. Arberry)
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A Wedding Reading (Gayan of Hazrat Inayat Khan)
My thoughtful self, reproach no one; hold grudge against no one; take revenge against no one; bear malice against no one; be wise.
Be kind to all; tolerate all; considerate to all; polite to all, oh my thoughtful self.
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Apache Blessing (Author Unknown)
May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries
And the breeze blow new strength into your being,
And all of the days of your life may you walk
Gently through the world and know its beauty.
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Apache Marriage Blessing
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be the shelter for each other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be the warmth for the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before.
Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your life together.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
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The Prayer (St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226))
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
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1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (Christian Scriptures)
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
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Photos by Christopher Clinnick Photography
Wedding Prayer (By Robert Louis Stevenson)
Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
for the love that unites us,
for the peace accorded us this day,
for the hope with which we expect the morrow,
for the health, the work, the food,
and the bright skies that make our lives delightful;
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Amen
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Cherokee Prayer
God in heaven above
please protect the ones we love.
We honor all you created as we pledge
our hearts and lives together.
We honor mother-earth
- and ask for our marriage to be abundant
and grow stronger through the seasons;
We honor fire
- and ask that our union be warm
and glowing with love in our hearts;
We honor wind
- and ask we sail though life
safe and calm as in our father's arms;
We honor water
- to clean and soothe our relationship
- that it may never thirsts for love;
With all the forces of the universe you created,
we pray for harmony and true happiness as we forever grow young together.
Amen.
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