Wow. I'm spent. Last night I sang backup for Bolo, an awesome kirtan band led by my friends Colin and Tiffany. I love their energy. I met them the weekend I did my first shows with The Temple Bhajan Band. We played at their house for a Vishwananda Satsang. We did a set and then they did theirs. Then back in November we did another gig with them. Both times I was left wanting more. Last night's concert was the best ever! Seriously, the kirtan equivalent of a Prince or Duran Duran concert for me. I felt so honored to be a part of their energy.

Mondays and Tuesdays are my super-busy-stressful days at work. It's deadline for our weekly paper and I spend all day typing ads in and answering phone calls, emails and faxes. I'm usually drained mentally by Tuesday night. Luckily the show was on a Monday and not Tuesday... Still, today I'm trying to get my bearings. The venue for the show is about 30 minutes away if there isn't any traffic. Well, there was, so it took me an hour to get there after work. You know how your legs hurt from riding the break if you're not used to it? Well combine that with siting on the floor and rockin out for 2-3 hours then driving back home.... I'm in pain today but it was soooo worth it.

We played a beautiful venue, Jyoti Mandir. I love the orange color on the walls and there are pictures of deities everywhere you look. The energy is soooo great there. We have a monthly kirtan circle there where we all take turns leading kirtans. It's such a great community here in Encinitas.

Colin sang the best Hanuman Chalisa I've heard, as well as an amazing chant to Shiva. Hard to put into words, but I felt my karma burning away... Literally my body temperature went up and by that time I was kinda loosing my voice but I didn't stop singing. (That was the last chant of the night) I had this big smile on my face, just enjoying the ecstasy of the moment. I could hardly contain myself.

Kirtan is basically call and response chanting in sanskrit. So it was Colin on harmonium and leading the chants, Michael on Djembe and shakers, Brian on tabla, Verdan on Djembe and bells, Tiffany on the response and kartals (she also lead a chant), Me and Shanti on backup (response). There were many points when the djembes were just ON... I mean working it. Sooooo good. I was feeling the groove. We did some awesome harmonies too. Tiffany and Shanti's voices are absolutely heavenly... I was handling the lower alto parts. I can't wait to play with them again! Colin is absolutely amazing… Right up there with Jai Uttal… And for me, that's saying a lot. I'm so inspired by them. I can't wait to be that good.

I feel so blessed, not only to have kirtan in my life, but to be surrounded and appreciated by such amazing people. I'm finally home. On sunday I sat down at my harmonium with the intention of working some chords out for a chant I came up with. I played a chord and it just struck me. Something about the sound of it... I love the harmonium. It's so simple, yet magical. It was just a d minor chord, but it spoke to me. It lead to an A minor chord, naturally and that lead to c major then f major. Not exactly brilliant, but the way it just happened as soon as I sat down and put my hands on it... I started chanting over it and it felt sooo good. I gotta record some stuff soon and I really want to video tape our next show on the 15th. Then you guys can maybe understand my craziness a bit more.



Namaste!

While I don't completely feel what you're saying, I do understand it. I'm happy that you've found others to share music with, I can't wait to hear it.

If you shave your head and start asking for money, we may have a problem

Hippy! (but I like it. don't change a thing)

Slave2daGroove said:

I'm not a Hare Krishna! They freak me out and seriously, with their dogma I may as well be catholic again.

Here are some samples of music similar to what we are doing:

http://www.jaiuttal.com/h...tarfrm.htm

http://cdbaby.com/cd/jaiuttal6

Kirtan is the calling, the crying, the reaching across infinite space -- digging into the heart's deepest well to touch and be touched by the Divine Presence.

Kirtan is singing over and over the many names of God and the Goddess, the multi-colored rainbow manifestations of the One. It is said that there is no difference between the name and that which is being named, and as the words roll off our lips in song, the Infinite is invoked, invited, made manifest in our hearts.

Kirtan is part of an ancient form of Yoga known as Bhakti, or the Yoga of Devotion. But in Bhakti we redefine "devotion", we expand the meaning to include every shade of color in the palette of human emotion, turned towards God through song, dance, and worship. These chants have been sung for millennium by sages, sinners, devotees, and the great primordial yogi alchemists of old. And, as we sing, we touch the spirits of the millions of people across the centuries who have sung the same songs and cried the same tears. As we sing, we immerse ourselves in an endless river of prayer that has been flowing since the birth of the first human beings, longing to know their creator.

Kirtan is a vessel that can hold love, longing, union, separation, lust, despair, mourning, anger, hate, sadness, ecstasy, and oneness. Powered by the fire of these emotions, the chants of Bhakti become like a ship, singing us to the other shore. In lightness, in darkness, in despair, in joy we sing the names -- The Name -- and turn our human hearts toward the One, who is closer to us than our own breath. Kirtan is food for the spirit, a life raft of song.

Kirtan is for all people. There are no masters of kirtan, no experts, no teachers, no advanced students, no beginners. The practice itself is the teacher, guiding us to ourselves. Kirtan teaches itself by allowing us to enter into a mystery world -- a world where all the logic of our minds, all the conditioning and learning are left outside -- and we allow ourselves to expand into the mystery.

And in this mystery, we create a temple inside of our hearts, a place of refuge, a place of love, a place of being, a place of sanctity... whatever we need.

There is no right or wrong way to sing kirtan. Kirtan can be breathtakingly beautiful, the music can be stunning and masterful; and it can be cacophonous, dissonant, and almost painful to the ears. Aesthetics don't matter. All that matters is the spirit, the feeling. Don't worry about what you sound like, feel whatever you feel, have no expectations, no inhibitions. Kirtan is an oil well digging deeper and deeper into the heart. A power tool of love and longing. A train carrying us home. Make these kirtans your own prayers and use their power to set fire to your own soul. We sing together and each person has a totally unique, individual experience. Yet by singing together we give strength, safety and passion to each other, and give ourselves permission to sing and dance freely, releasing and expressing through our voices and bodies, the emotions tightly locked in our hearts. The pain of separation is one with the bliss of union.

And finally kirtan is an offering, a gift to the great One who has given us everything, and to whom we can give nothing in return but our loving remembrance.
[Edited 2/21/06 13:56pm]

That's awesome that you're finding this direction of creativity Vina. It is so far out there for me but your excitement and joy really comes through your descriptions.

beauhall said:

I know, it probably sounds crazy to lots of people... But I have truly found my niche, I guess. I'm not letting go of my other musical outlets though! It's just such a great combination of music and spirituality and the practice of it has opened up my voice, my confidence and my connection to God. It's awesome. Chanting literally has the same effect on the mind, body and spirit as meditation does.

Sometimes I describe kirtan to people by comparing it to gospel music. There is clapping and "feeling the spirit"... People yell out "Haribol" instead of "Hallelujah"... We were foging up the windows and it was COLD last night... for California....


[Edited 2/21/06 15:01pm]

I'm there. I get it.

Jai Ma!

heartbeatocean said:

Hey girl! On the 15th we are playing at the Vishwananda Satsang and Girish will be there too! Oh, and I met Wah! and Donna DeLory last weekend. They did an awesome show together. I was so inspired by their Goddess energy.

Auuuuummmmm
[Edited 2/21/06 16:54pm]

VinaBlue said:

Sounds like you're on a roll!!!

& tranquility 2 u V.