There was a time in my life when I thought I would never get married. When most people make that choice, its usually because they are too afraid of commitment. In my case, it was the opposite. I wanted a partner in the cultivation of unconditional love, and after a few experiments in college and after, I concluded that most are not really interested in living that concept. And so I didn’t think it would be possible to find someone whose commitment ran as deeply as mine, and that marriage would be a costly distraction in the spiritual mission of making myself a more loving, happy, and serviceful person.
On May 2nd, 2009, I officially proved myself wrong and finally married my dearest, deepest friend, Asha Patel.
The planning of our marriage seemed like a protracted negotiation between the requirements of traditional culture stemming from our parents wishes, and our desire for something small, simple, and deeply meaningful. Turns out we took the middle path! 🙂
I found myself repeatedly overwhelmed with the love and beauty that was coming at us leading up to our wedding, and even more moved by everyone whose love was pouring out on the day of the wedding itself. Yogesh uncle converted his home into my surrogate home for the precursor ceremonies and starting location for the groom’s procession. I was resistant to riding a horse, so Hemin gave me 300 horses through his sportscar! John flew in as a surprise, and was such an incredible nose-defender (don’t ask) that the priest told me to let Asha’s mom pull my nose as a freebie to make her feel better 🙂 Dinesh & Paresh uncle took charge of so many small pieces, including a major one through muscling the heavy stage around in our massive backyard tent! Another uncle forgot a suit on the west coast, and through the heroics of the anonymous usual suspects, Raj had it on a plane to the east coast within 90 minutes!
As gifts to our guests in attendance, our friend Emmanuel from the Global Oneness Project sent a big box of DVDs of inspiring films and our dear friend Ankur offered box of his book on his personal re-tracing of Gandhi’s Dandi Yatra. We gave every guest a DVD of stories of people who have shaped our lives, and Nipun & the HelpOthers.org crew kicked in a ton of Smile Cards (and small gifts with big love) to facilitate all the forward ripples. Many friends not in physical attendance offered spiritual attendance by meditating during our ceremony. At least a hundred even did random acts of kindness, and through Sukh & Raju’s coordination, the stories were captured to a website so the ripples could continue!
Seema and Seth went a step further in conspiracy with Christine Bulaoro and beautifully printed out all of these acts of kindness, and spent the morning hand-folding them into tent cards to share with everyone at the reception!
Out of their own goodness, and perhaps to offset some of the paper we used (!), Uma & Sriram had a 1000 trees planted in a village near Bangalore! Anjali and some Manav Sadhna heroes cleaned an entire street in the holy town of Rishikesh. Vandana from Pune sent her daughter Keya on her behalf as the smiling emissary, though we felt like so many of our friends from India were smiling through her. Nature also seemed to conspire: there was solid rain every day before and after our wedding, but the morning of the actual ceremony only saw very light sprinkles which quickly subsided. The sun even came out super brightly just as Asha got carried in!
The list goes on & on… Carpools to the events were spontaneously coordinated, extra guests effortlessly accommodated, crowd-sourced marriage advice books lovingly compiled, and so many seeds (literally & figuratively) were offered and planted to bring in the day. And it was all so fitting, because when you decide to make your marriage about the cultivation of unconditional love, you implicitly understand that its a lifelong (perhaps longer!) project in changing yourself to increasingly bring more goodness in the world. What better gift could there be than the offering of so many people’s goodness on that day?
Even before the marriage, but most definitely after, we are so deeply aware of the necessity of a harmonious community of friends and well-wishers to aid us on our lifelong partnership together. As a reminder to these co-creators of our journey as well as ourselves, each table had the vows that spontaneously coalesced late one night after reading and reflecting on sets of similar vows by people we deeply respect and trust. Our vows read as follows:
We live in a materially finite world, and have potentially unlimited material wants. Every physical thing we consume is something that is denied another fellow human. Do you vow to grow in simplicity, reducing your wants so that others may satisfy their needs?
Pleasure can be an intoxicating labyrinth, numbing our awareness and derailing our sense of sacred purpose in this world with its flickering satisfactions. Pleasure can also be beautiful, and can sweeten life in big and small ways. Do you vow to enjoy the pleasures life offers you without chasing them, while growing into more subtle, expansive and enduring joy?
Money, power and fame can become their own ends, robbing us of our sense of interconnectedness, indebtedness and obligation to serve a higher purpose. Do you vow recognize your stewardship of whatever money/power/fame comes into your life, and to only accumulate it as a trustee for the greater good or a higher calling?
Love is a force that binds us together and makes our worlds go round. But the attraction of love can also pull us increasingly closer into each others’ orbits, denying us its expression in other forms in every other department of life. Do you vow to grow your love, and increasingly free it from all its conditions so that you may eventually express love unconditionally for all?
Our words have the power to inspire and to propel each other forward. With our speech, we can build trust, elevate dialogue and create a foundation of harmony in our home. Do you vow to grow in noble speech that uplifts & inspires, builds trust, and aligns your words with your thoughts and actions?
There is a knowing beyond the mind that is not rooted in facts or histories. Do you vow to grow in cohesion and integrity so that your intuitions are the stuff of inspiration rather than the product of whim and fancy? Do you vow to support one another’s intuitions, even when your own facts and perception may not agree?
There is an order and a nature to the inscrutable complexity of cause and effect converging and rippling at every moment. Do you vow to surrender to the mysterious ways of the universe, trusting the inevitability of change, even in difficult times? Do you vow to cultivate gratefulness for the precious moments you will share together, even at the end of your lives when it may come time to part?
As we grow into deeper fulfillment of our sacred vows, we ride on the shoulders of so many incredible friends, teachers, mentors, and guides who have made it possible for us to come this far. In turn, we offer ourselves to back to them, as well as all our yet-unknown friends that we’ll meet together on the journey. The spirit was perhaps best encapsulated by Yaniv’s gift to us in the form of a daily prayer for the continued deepening of our individual and collective unfoldment.
Oh, and those interested can check out our pictures here.
Ponticulus Indica 