Q. What is the spiritual attitude toward divorce? If one is divorced, what can be done to reduce the karmic effects?
Hilarion: Divorce is merely the sundering of a relationship. Every relationship is fated to be sundered at some point in time, even if this is by the death of one partner after many happy years. Thus, from a karmic point of view, divorce as a fact is neither good nor bad. What produces karma of a negative kind is a bringing of mental, emotional or physical pain to another being, whether this is done through the process of divorce has little to do with the degree or nature of the karma.
As to the best attitude, it is this: The souls of men were meant in this phase of humanity's development to come together in pairs, male and female, in order to allow each other to grow through interaction with the other. When this growth becomes repressed or halted due to the interaction between the couple, then it may be better, from the point of view of spiritual expansion and learning, to separate the two souls.
On the other hand, the learning might be best accomplished by having both souls stick together despite the problems, so that they may seek a common solution. Normally, the souls decide whether the experience is to be continued or not. For the conscious mind of the person involved, the best approach is to seek always to make the burdens of the other lighter, even in the midst of the pain of separation, for this will ensure that the karmic burden generated by the difficulties is minimized.
But even here, a word of caution is in order, for those who treat others kindly merely for the selfish reason of minimizing their karma are not really learning kindness from the heart. All acts of goodwill should be done for their own sake and never from any personal motive.
"Answers," by Hilarion/ Maurice Cooke
