The Buddhist view of marriage considers marriage a secular affair
and as such, it is not considered a
sacrament
A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...
.
Buddhists are expected to follow the civil laws regarding marriage laid out by their respective governments.
While the ceremony itself is civil, many Buddhists obtain the blessing from monks at the local temple after the marriage is completed.
History
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
never spoke against marriage
but instead pointed out some of the difficulties of marriage.
He is quoted in the Parabhava
Sutta as saying
Views
The Pali Canon, a major Theravada text, bars both male and female monastics from both heterosexual and homosexual activities. While homosexuality may or may not be explicitly condemned in some texts, according to the
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...
:
While
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
may neither encourage nor discourage getting married, it does provide principles regarding it.
The Digha Nikaya 31 (
Sigalovada Sutta) describes the respect that one is expected to give to one's spouse.
In Tibetan Buddhism
The
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...
has spoken of the merits of marriage:
Divorce
Since marriage is secular,
Buddhism has no restrictions on divorce.
Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda has said "if a husband and wife really cannot live together, instead of leading a miserable life and harboring more jealousy, anger and hatred, they should have the liberty to separate and live peacefully."
See also
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Bahá'í marriage
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Buddhism and sexual orientation
The relationship between Buddhism and sexual orientation varies by tradition and teacher. According to some scholars, Early Buddhist schools, early Buddhism appears to have placed no special stigma on homosexual relations, since the subject was no ...
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Buddhism and romantic relationships
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Buddhism and sexuality
In the Buddha's first discourse, he identifies craving ('' tanha'') as the cause of suffering ('' dukkha''). He then identifies three objects of craving: the craving for existence; the craving for non-existence and the craving for sense pleasures ...
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Christian views on marriage
From the earliest days of the Christian faith, Christians have honored ''holy matrimony'' (as Christian marriages are referred to) as a divinely blessed, lifelong, monogamous union between a man and a woman. According to the Episcopal Book of ...
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Interfaith marriage
Interfaith marriage, sometimes called a "mixed marriage", is marriage between spouses professing different religions. Although interfaith marriages are often established as civil marriages, in some instances they may be established as a religiou ...
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Jewish views on marriage
Marriage in Judaism is the documentation of a contract between a Jewish man and a Jewish woman in which God is involved. In Judaism, a marriage can end either because of a divorce document given by the man to his wife, or by the death of eit ...
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List of religions and spiritual traditions
While the word religion is hard to define, one standard model of religion used in religious studies courses defines it as a
Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life ...
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Marriage in Hinduism
The Hindu marriage () is the most important of all the samskaras, the rites of passage described in the Dharmashastra texts.
Variously defined, it is generally described to be a social institution for the establishment and regulation of a prope ...
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Marriage in Islam
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic ...
References
External links
Marriage articles at the Access to Insight site
{{Buddhism topics
Marriage, Buddhist view of
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