Question: Is self-purification more difficult because we are married?

Sri Chinmoy: If your lower vital is very strong and needs purification then the fastest way to purify it is to aspire constantly. But if that is not possible, if you find it difficult to get sufficient joy from your spiritual path, whatever spiritual partner you take also has to belong to your path. If your spiritual partner belongs to some other path, there will be a tremendous conflict between you. Each one will say that his path is the best. There will be a battle between the ideas and ideals of the two paths. But if both of you follow the same path, then each one can inspire the other. The one who has more speed at a given time will try to help his partner forward.

For purification what you really need is aspiration. But do not torture yourself. Suppression is very bad. In the process of purification you have to minimise the lower vital needs such as smoking, drinking and the undivine emotional life. In this way we can make constant progress, slowly and steadily. But do not try to suppress everything at once. Your self-purification will be most difficult not because you are either married or single, but because you try to force it. In that case it will be not only most difficult, but totally impossible.