My Introduction to Kirtan
My
then yoga teacher, Gopali Vaccarelli, who is an incredibly gifted teacher and
has been a major spiritual influence in my life, first introduced me to Kirtan
in 2006. I had never heard of Kirtan before, but all I knew was that it
involved the practice of chanting mantras and other words from the Indian/Hindu
cultures. It sounded exotic and fascinating, and I was eager to learn more
about the yogic philosophy, so I enthusiastically told her that I would be
attending the Kirtan workshop she was hosting at her studio the following week.
Gopali had invited her spiritual teacher
and mentor, Suzin Green, to lead the Kirtan that evening as Suzin had made a
career out of sacred spiritual work and often used mantra and Kirtan as part of
her personal spiritual practice and in her healing work with clients and
individuals.
I
entered into Gopali’s studio that night, found a spot, and tried to settle into
the moment. There I sat before Suzin, a woman who radiated spiritual energy and
compassion, and listened to a sound that I had never heard before: the drone of
a harmonium. From the first pump of the bellows, I felt my soul transported to
another world. For two hours we sang and chanted with Suzin’s amazing voice
leading us, and the otherworldly, ethereal sound of her harmonium opening up
the portal to a higher plane of existence. I felt completely transformed and in
absolute awe of the experience I had just had, and didn’t know what to do next!
I continued to practice yoga with Gopali, learning more about mantra and yogic
chanting and this approach to meditation. I had tried to meditate before, but
found the process intimidating and impossible. But now, with mantra and
chanting, I had a mental tool to assist me in my meditative journey. Suddenly I
had a very easy way to enter into meditation, and felt I had found a new way of
studying and experiencing spirituality.
At
the same time, I knew I had to study more with Suzin! After speaking with
Gopali I learned that at the time Suzin held a weekly mantra and meditation
group in Princeton, and I diligently attended every work for almost a full
year. I felt I had found my new church, my new congregation. The people who
attended were just as interested as I was in this style of spiritual practice,
and the room hummed with our combined energy and desire for something deeply
personal and profound. I learned so much about the Divine during that time, and
began to create for myself a new spiritual practice. Sadly after that year I
wasn’t able to continue to attend Suzin’s classes as my work scheduled changed.
But I was hooked and was not about to let this feeling and experience go! I
spoke with Suzin about how I could continue to practice Kirtan and sacred
chanting, and with her guidance purchased my own harmonium and began to slowly
learn how to play this exotic and wonderful instrument.
Since
that first evening of being exposed to this incredible practice, chanting with
the harmonium remains one of my most precious and important forms of spiritual
expression. When I chant, especially with the sound of the harmonium
accompanying me, I feel like I am transcending the realms of the physical and am
beginning to reunite with God. My mind changes, my thoughts stop, and I merge
back with the Divine. It actually reminds me of the writings of the experiences
of St. Teresa of Avila; St. Teresa being overcome with the rapturous presence
of God and would levitate from the ground in a state of spiritual ecstasy. And
while I haven’t had this experience yet myself (although perhaps someday I
will!), it has shown me a different side of spiritual experience. Too often
prayer and spiritual communion is presented as somber and serious and almost
sad, but when I am practicing my mantra with the harmonium I commune with God
in a way that is full of joy and ecstasy and incredible joy. It is for this reason,
and for all of these other reasons that I have chosen to share Kirtan with you
and with the class for my final project.
A Brief History of Kirtan
Kirtan
is a relatively new practice, being only about 500 years old or so, although it
is possible that it is older than that. However, it is agreed that
approximately 500 years ago in 1506 the Indian saint Sri Krishna Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu popularized the practice of Kirtan while India was going through its
Renaissance period. The word Kirtan transliterates
from Sanskrit to mean, “to glorify.” Also known as sankirtan (to glorify in the presence of others), Kirtan is
typically practiced in a large group or sanga
which adds to its spiritual nature by acting as a force to bring people
together and share in the moment as an integrated whole.
The
act of adding a musical/harmonious nature to the repetition of sacred Hindu
mantras is very unique to Kirtan, as up until this time in history mantras were
not practiced with any kind of accompanying music or rhythm. Mantra, which
comes from the Sanskrit root words mana
‘the mind’, and tra ‘to deliver’, is
a commonly utilized practice in many Eastern religions as a way to “deliver the
mind” from the chains from material obsessions and instead give passage for the
mind to achieve a higher state of spiritual consciousness. Thus mantra was and
still is seen as a profound sacred tool in the act of uniting one’s mind with
the greater spiritual aspects of the Universe. However, to properly chant and
recite a mantra to receive its deepest benefits, the mind must be calm and
clear and peaceful. Chaitanya introduced the musical and singing qualities to
the act of reciting mantra as a way in which to calm and control the processes
of the mind.
There is also some
thought that Kirtan pre-dates Chaitanya, going back as early as the 6th
century. Like many early religious traditions, Hinduism had a strong
patriarchal influence along with the caste system that was present throughout
much of India’s history. These two factors worked together to prevent anyone
from learning from the sacred Hindu texts in India unless they were a male
child born into one of the upper caste levels. However, this began to change
around the 6th century when poets began to travel throughout India
singing verses from the Hindu Vedas and Upanishads to share the spiritual
wisdom with others. This not only introduced the deeper teachings of Hinduism
to the greater population, but did so in a musical manner.
Ultimately, the
practice of Kirtan was introduced to the West in the early part of the 20th
century as yogis and yoginis began to travel the world to teach the
philosophies and practices of Indian culture, Hinduism, and the practice of
yoga. Kirtan especially began to take off in this country in the 1960s when the
hippie movement grew and members were looking to embrace the spiritual outlook
and cultural traditions of the East. George Harrison in particular is credited
with introducing a larger portion of the American population with the release
of his single “The Hare Krishna Mantra”, which again works to blend the ancient
art of mantra repetition with music and singing. From there, Kirtan has become
a common practice in many yoga studios, Indian cultural centers, and Hindu
temples.
However, it must be
mentioned that the Indian/Yogic/Hindu cultures do not hold a copyright on the
practice of spiritual devotion through the practice of chanting and singing. As
Russill Paul writes, “Every culture has its own form of sonic mysticism. Gospel
music manifests the spiritual power of sound, as do symphony orchestras, Hebrew
cantors, Sufi Qawwali singers, Siberian shamans, Benedictine monks, and the
Tibetan Gyuto choir…Many ancient cultures viewed physical illness as a lack of
harmony in the body; they used sound and music to restore its natural condition.”
Overall,
one of the aspects of Kirtan that has been so profoundly rewarding and
spiritually nourishing for me is that it can be both a private practice and a
congregational practice. There is nothing quite like being immersed in a large
group of fellow chanters singing and meditating on the various names of the
sacred Divine. But there can be just as much reverie and awe sitting alone and
becoming fully engulfed in your own personal practice. The flexibility and
fluidity and adaptability of a practice like Kirtan is, to me, a deeply
important aspect for a sustainable spiritual practice to have. To become stuck
and stagnant in a rut of “well this is what is done” can quickly drain away the
precious quality of a spiritual practice, and with Kirtan there is no typical
or normal. I have never been to two groups who practiced the same way, or even
had my own private practice ever go exactly the same way from one day to
another.
Kirtan is alive and
malleable and adapts and grows as you yourself grow, and I can see and
understand the process of my spiritual advancement and evolution as I see my
Kirtan practice evolve and change as well. It is always available to me, even
if I am in an environment full of noise and chaos I can allow the chanting to
start in the quiets of my own mind and practice without anyone having to know.
It is deeply personal, there is no right or wrong way to practice, and is a
constant reminder of the peace and joy that can be obtained when one begins to
move into a space closer to the Divine.
And what is so
beautiful about the practice of Kirtan is that it does not require intellectual
and logical understanding and study. Unlike other spiritual practices which
demand a “right mind”, to chant in Kirtan requires no cerebral understanding of
the meaning or transliteration of the mantra. As David Frawley writes,
“Sanskrit mantras have an objective connection between sound and sense. Even if
we do not know what they mean, we can benefit from their energetic quality if
we cant them with an open mind. Their meaning will becomes clear to us in time.
Such meanings are not dictionary meanings but connections to the cosmic energy
and to the Divine Word.”
No matter what
direction my spiritual path takes me next I know that my Kirtan will always be
a part of the process. It has sent deep roots right into the core of my heart,
and is as much a part of my being now as my bones and my breath. I love it, I
thank it for coming into my life, and I am grateful for the bridge it is
helping me to build between God and myself. Kirtan is for me, and in my
experience for so many others, a pathway out of the world of suffering and the
illusion of death and impermanence. To conclude, I would like to end with one
of my favorite Kirtan mantras, the Maha
Mrtunjaya Mantra, which is a Kirtan mantra associated with nurturing,
rejuvenation, and healing by eliminating fears of death and loss. Some consider
it to be the great mantra to become immortal. But since we are all of us
already immortal at our core, I like to think that this mantra helps us to remember our immortality. Enjoy!
oṁ tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ
puṣṭi-vardhanam
urvārukam-iva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya
māmṛtāt
Shelter me, Oh three-eyed Great Lord Shiva. Bless me with health and
immortality, and deliver me from death as the gardener delivers and frees a
cucumber from its creeper.
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