Stephen Josephs Photograph Collection
General International Standard for Archival Description
Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Creation of Stephen Josephs Photograph Collection
Time of Creation of Stephen Josephs Photograph Collection
Josephs, Stephen.
Biographical History for: Stephen Josephs Photograph Collection
Historical Note Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs), ca.1972 In 1969, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa introduced Kundalini Yoga to the United States. A charismatic former public servant from India, Yogi Bhajan, as he was known, taught the yoga of the Sikh gurus, centering his practice on self-discipline and self-awareness, but emphasizing worldly engagement, rather than ascetic withdrawal. Through his 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy) organization, Yogi Bhajan rapidly built an avid following among the so-called hippies, offering a holistic spiritual alternative to the prevalent drug culture. In the five years that followed the Yogi's arrival in the States, more than one hundred yoga ashrams were established throughout North America and Europe, to spread his teachings. Established by Stephen Josephs (Gurushabd Singh) in 1972, the Guru Ram Das Ashram quickly became a regional center for instruction in Kundalini Yoga and Tantric meditation. After attending a course in Tantric Yoga in Paeonia, Colorado, Josephs acquired a house for his new ashram on Taylor Hill Road in rural Montague, Massachusetts, and almost immediately began to attract students, many of whom lived communally on site. Their day, Josephs recalls, began at 3.30 AM, with two and a half hours of rigorous yogic practice and music, followed by meditation and the work of the day. At its peak, the ashram had as many as twenty one residents, whom the ashram was able to feed for a mere dollar a day per person. Josephs met his wife Alice (Gurushabd Kaur) in 1972, while the two were attending a tantric yoga course in Washington, D.C. During that course, Yogi Bhajan singled the couple out and called them onto the stage, saying he saw an arc of white light between them. After asking the audience if he had permission to engage them in marriage, and finding enthusiastic approval, the Yogi married the Josephs four days later. Although they left the ashram in 1983, their marriage has endured. Josephs completed his doctorate in education At UMass Amherst in 1974 for a study of the Guru Ram Das Ashram, Education of the spirit; the dynamics underlying personal and spiritual growth into spiritual commune.
Acquired from Tom Fels, 2008.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The thirteen digital images in the Stephen Josephs Collection document the early years of the Guru Ram Das Ashram, and its founders Stephen and Alice Josephs (Gurushabd Singh and Gurushabd Kaur). The collection includes images of Yogi Bhajan, the Josephs, and their infant son Sean (Sat Narayan Singh).
The collection is open for research.
Josephs' dissertation on the Guru Ram Das Ashram, Education of the spirit; the dynamics underlying personal and spiritual growth into spiritual commune, is available for circulation through the Du Bois Library, call number 2398.
Processed by Dex Haven, November 2009.
Ashrams--Massachusetts--Photographs.
lcsh
Collective settlements--Massachusetts--Photographs.
Sikh gurus--Photographs.
Josephs, Gurushabd Singh, 1945- .
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Josephs, Alice.
Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, Yogiji.
Guru Ram Das Ashram (Montague, Mass.)--Photographs.
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item
Yogi Bhajan, leader of 3HO, taken at a Tantric Yoga Course
Creation of Yogi Bhajan, leader of 3HO, taken at a Tantric Yoga Course
Time of Creation of Yogi Bhajan, leader of 3HO, taken at a Tantric Yoga Course
Gurushabd Singh, Gurushabd Kaur with Sat Narayan Singh in the middle (now Stephen, Alice and Sean Josephs)
Creation of Gurushabd Singh, Gurushabd Kaur with Sat Narayan Singh in the middle (now Stephen, Alice and Sean Josephs)
Time of Creation of Gurushabd Singh, Gurushabd Kaur with Sat Narayan Singh in the middle (now Stephen, Alice and Sean Josephs)
Livtar Singh Khalsa at the recording of "Jewels from the East," an audio tape album by the Khalsa String Band
Creation of Livtar Singh Khalsa at the recording of "Jewels from the East," an audio tape album by the Khalsa String Band
Time of Creation of Livtar Singh Khalsa at the recording of "Jewels from the East," an audio tape album by the Khalsa String Band
Two unidentified women singing
Creation of Two unidentified women singing
Time of Creation of Two unidentified women singing
Gurushabd Singh and Kaur
Creation of Gurushabd Singh and Kaur
Time of Creation of Gurushabd Singh and Kaur
Guru Ram Das Ashram, Taylor Hill Road, Montague, Mass.
Creation of Guru Ram Das Ashram, Taylor Hill Road, Montague, Mass.
Time of Creation of Guru Ram Das Ashram, Taylor Hill Road, Montague, Mass.
Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs)
Creation of Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs)
Time of Creation of Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs)
Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs) playing guitar
Creation of Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs) playing guitar
Time of Creation of Gurushabd Singh (Stephen Josephs) playing guitar
Gurushabd Kaur and child (Alice Josephs)
Creation of Gurushabd Kaur and child (Alice Josephs)
Time of Creation of Gurushabd Kaur and child (Alice Josephs)