Kirtan is a very different kind of music. Based on ancient Mantra chants,
it has the ability to quiet the mind if listened to with intention. It is also known as devotional Yoga (Bakti Yoga).
A mantra, is a word or phrase that has special
meaning, such as peace, shalom or
shanti. It may be the name of a spiritual being, such as Jesus Christ, Hare
Krishna, Mohamed, or Buddha. In the east,
Om or Aum is a favourite sound as it means the sound of the creation of the universe:
a mantra can be a positive affirmation as ‘I am Love and kindness.’ Just repeat
this and become loving kindness! Then share that loving kindness with all
others!
Mantra meditation and Kirtan
chanting is like spiritual food; it awakens your creative process and nourishes
your spirit, while habitual or agitated thinking patterns are released. In the
process you discover the silence behind the sound and your heart opens.
Everyone experiences kirtan
differently, and it doesn’t have to be a religious experience for everyone. Because
kirtan has roots in India, many of the songs are sung in Sanskrit. Sanskit
mantras have the powerful vibrations of an ancient, holy language that have been
repeated for hundreds of years by sages, saints and many generations of people.
You can be completely immersed in the sound, with no words to distract the
mind, the magic of the chants can then carry you within
You can think of it as a sing-along. Chanting sacred sounds or names, as done in
many religious practices, worshipping the sacred but also creating harmony by unifying voices into a synchronized
whole. This is particularly effective if the sound does not require thought, as
it is the sound that is important and not the meaning. Such repetition has also
been put to music that reaches across religious boundaries. The performers are
accessible, in fact there’s not much of a distinction between performers &
audience. The wallah (leader) sings the mantra, and the audience sings it
back. A single chant can go on for up to forty minutes. As you sing
with each other you experience a deep connection with the musicians, the other
audience members and yourself. And when the music stops, your mind is
quiet and ready to enter into meditation.
Apart from
calming the mind, kirtan chanting is powerfully healing. The frequency of the
sound deeply affected us, it smoothed out the rough edges, and bring us back
home to our natural state of Inner Peace.
With my best wishes of Inner Peace,
Om Shanti
Amalia Shakti
