Their essence which is basically the promise and commitment of togetherness based on love and trust has to be kept. The ritual has little meaning without this inner essence and can even be a dark cover for doing things that are just the opposite. There are any number of instances including the most recent ‘honey murder’ that show that the ritual has no meaning without the spirit within it. And if the spirit, that is true love is there then no rituals are needed.
What is important is that one should be genuine and true within. But that is a most difficult qualities to acquire. So rituals, legal documents were a means to put some kind of social and religious pressure to force keep the couple together. Some rituals can also trigger a beautiful inner response in a certain kind of religiously oriented humanity. But the higher one rises in the scale, the lesser one needs these external methods. So basically it all depends upon the level of one’s inner development. The more evolved one is, the more inwardly free, the less is the need of external rituals.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
