Sacred "Live In" relationships

"Live In" relationships commonly means people living together without marriage. But if one expands the relationship beyond the merely physical, a wonderful world of spirituality beckons.

An outstanding example is Akka Mahadevi, who though nominally married to a king, considered herself the spouse of her "Chenna Mallikarjuna", i.e., Shiva. As she puts it in one of her Vachanas,

If one is hungry, one can beg.

If one is thirsty, there are ponds.

For hot or cold weather,

There are fans & cloths.

For sleep, disused temples;

For my soul's company.

You are there, Channamallikarjuna.

Even earlier, was Rabia of Basra, who when asked about her marriage, said;

The contract of marriage is for those

Who have a physical existence;

I have ceased to exist,

My existence is in Allah,

I am totally His.

Comments Margaret Smith in her pioneering study, "Rabia Basri the Mystic", writes "So like her Christian Sister's in sanctity, Rabia espoused a heavenly Bridegroom."

Speaking of her Christian Sister in Sanctity,  St.Julian of Norwich went so far as to ask for the experience of Christ's Crucifixion as a boon. It was vouchsafed to her in her eighth "shewing", as she describes her vision.

As all these saints, cutting across religious barriers, express basically the same identification with the Divinity, there may be some truth in the assertion that their Bliss was incomparably higher than the utmost human Bliss.