Wedding Ceremony - 1971
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These pictures are professional high resolution pictures of an historical Hare Krishna wedding celebration that took place on Valentine’s Day, 1971.
Since this wedding event is a part of my personal life’s journey, I have been encouraged by family and friends to comment on these pictures that have been posted on FB.
The journalist’s photos capture the colorful yet solemn mood of a group of young spiritual practitioners who were pioneers in creating a wave of transcendental consciousness in the mainstream society for generations to come.
I was a spiritual seeker for as long as I can remember, as was many of my peers from the early 60’s to early 70’s. My search brought me to the Hare Krishna Movement in the spring of 1970. I was 16 when I moved into the temple in Brighton, Ma.
Being passionate about this newfound philosophy, I quickly absorbed myself in the great adventure of living, learning and sharing the timeless wisdom of Bhagavad Gita. We enthusiastically spoke with people on the streets and held programs in schools and colleges.
Hridayananda and I were often teamed together for outreach programs. I was impressed with his scholarly presentation of Krsna Consciousness, and especially his ability to humanize theistic concepts to fit the times and circumstances. He brilliantly used convincing current and personal examples to make practical philosophical points.
Our wedding took place on Feb.14, 1971, Valentine’s Day. For a little more than a year we traveled in the South to help establish new temples. As was usual in those early days married couples lived in separate quarters within the temple. Our relationship was centered on introducing people to Vedic knowledge and encouraging them towards a spiritual lifestyle as taught by our guru, Srila Prabhupada.
In the early spring of 1972 a group of men devotees were taking the renounced order of life, sannyas. In our sincere desire to best assist the mission we both decided to make this sacrifice.
Our idealized and naive concept of sannyas was that although we would not be together both of us would separately continue traveling to different temples, giving classes, and leading up the spiritual mission, much of what we had been doing during our short marriage.
We eagerly asked Srila Prabhupada’s permission. He mentioned that renunciation would be difficult. In our youthful determination and faith we thought, “Yes, there will be difficulty, but because we are sacrificing for him he will surely give us the strength to overcome any difficulty.”
In the course of our discussion he asked three times in a very caring mood if I agreed to this proposal of renunciation. I acknowledged all three times that I did.
He then stepped very close to me and with genuine empathy asked, “So, what do YOU want to do?” His fathomless concern for me compelled me to take this question to depths that were beyond my ordinary comprehension.
In a moment that seemed like eternity, I dug deep within my consciousness. Desires from previous lives flashed in my mind much like on a film reel. Somehow in the midst of this tyranny of desires, I blurted out, “Oh, I just want to be.....Krsna Conscious.” He then stepped back with a look of approval and pride much like an artist viewing their own creation. I knew then that he had somehow mystically pulled that desire and those words from deep within me, bypassing all other desires. With a bright smile and a brandishing wave of his hand he boldly exclaimed, “You are already Krsna Conscious!”
Through the power of his divine compassion and with a mere wave of his hand he offers Krsna Consciousness, love of God, to each of us.
Ananga Manjari Sheth
