Pictured above, left to right: (1) Sat Purkh Khalsa leading Kirtan at the 2007 Yoga Festival, (2) Susan Shehata playing the Harmonium, (3) Gregg Giddings, Pasacale LaPoint & Pete Luellen at a local Kirtan Session
MUSICIANS
Kirtan with Susan Shehata, Colleen Buckman & their musicians might be about as close to the angelic realm as you ever will get. Join us in the evening program after a simple vegetarian meal for a dynamic interactive musical extravaganza! See more about Susan on the “Our Team” page and at www.myspace.com/susanshehata. No experience is necessary to jump in and enjoy the Kirtan experience. That’s what makes it so great!
If you want living proof of the positive effects of yoga, spend some kirtan time with Pascale & Nancy. You will be rocketed into a new dimension, and you may find yourself clapping, tapping feet and even getting up and dancing! No experience necessary!
ABOUT KIRTAN
“Bhakti Yoga” and Kirtan, which are limbs of yoga, have specifically touched the lives of many of us yogis in the Twin Cities.
Indeed, performing asanas (yoga postures/exercises) as a way to stay fit & toned is one application of yoga wisdom; however, yoga asanas originally were practiced to prepare the body for meditation.
It is good to become aware that the practice of asanas is just one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali reveal 195 sutras or aphorisms that are a template for living a yogic lifestyle, and included in that is the subject of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion or adoration of the Divine.
Bhakti Yoga might be expressed through deep prayer, meditation and devotional singing & chanting and, for many, dance.
Pictured above, Jagadasi on the left, a local Kirtankar whose music speak to all ages.
Pictured below: Ananta, a local Krishna Kirtankar, playign the guitar
A local Sufi and participant in Dances of Universal Peace, John Hakim Bushnell, explains that:
“The effect of participating in Kirtan is the quick expansion of consciousness allowing one to enter states of divine ecstasy and bliss through singing the Names of Divine Source. This frequently feels like quite a party! The energy of everyone in the room becomes harmonized together allowing folks to enter a spiritual state quite beyond limitations of creed and dogma. Frequently people have experiences of deep peace as well.
“The mystical traditions of the earth all contain the Spirituality of singing, or intoning, or chanting Divine Name. Kirtan is a version of such practice that comes from India. Kirtan usually involves singing Divine Name(s) and Sacred Phrases that are quite short and easy to pick up.
“A Kirtan concert or session will generally have a ‘call and response’ format, with a lot of repetition, so someone new to it gets to hear it over and over. The languages used can include Sanskrit, Pali, Urdu, and English. Perfect pitch, perfect singing, perfection in any way is not required! Most people feel that an intention to draw near to Divine Source is the basis for a ‘good’ Kirtan concert. Beginners can get what they can and hum along for the rest. It is largely about Joy, relaxing into the sound of the instruments, the drums, the voices of the people in the room, and the presence of Spirit.”