Martinus: Livets Bog, vol. 5, sect. 1847

1847. Has the above thus not established as fact that the commandment of marriage and the commandment of neighbourly love express two great, very different epochs of evolution, whose beings cannot possibly be subject to the same fundamental laws of life or culture? Does not the commandment of marriage constitute the law or foundation for a particular epoch of culture or life experience, and is not the law of neighbourly love in the same way the foundation for another specific epoch of life or culture? In the one epoch, marriage and its method of reproduction provide the greatest feeling in life; indeed, as we have already shown, it constitutes paradise or a ray from heaven in the middle of the spiral cycle's midwinter or night zone. In the other epoch, the commandment of marriage has lost its position of power; if this were not the case, this epoch could not possibly come into existence, since complete compliance with the commandment of marriage prevents compliance with the commandment of neighbourly love, which stipulates that everyone should be loved, not merely with a little artificial politeness or good manners but with a love that is on a level with the love with which one loves oneself. One must thus actually have the same interest in protecting, helping and looking after all other fellow beings and giving them a pleasant time as the interest one has in doing the same things for oneself.