Backyard Chanting

Namaste, dear yogi friend. Welcome to this little Kirtan gathering that we have here today. I have learnt pretty much everything I know about Kirtan from this man, Saul David-Ray, and have really enjoyed the beautiful, beautiful music of Jim Beckwith in association with Saul. So for me, this practice of Kirtan is really about just awakening the sweetness of life, the sweetness in the heart, and finding the nectar of pure presence that is already naturally inside of us. And I feel like this man here is really one of the greatest people to invite you into that space.

So today we're just going to share a little song and really invite you to sing with us. No skill required, there's no right way to do it. Just be prepared to give it a go and see what happens. I love that, I'm learning from you. So we're going to just share a little bit here, and it's always beautiful to share music together and share the breath together.

So Kirtan means to pray, so to sing, and it's the congregational chanting of India. And there are many forms, but it's really about ecstatic devotional singing through sound, connecting with one's source, as you beautifully said. We're going to just do a couple of mantras, and the one we chose today was Radhe Radhe Govinda. And very simply, Radhe is the sacred feminine principle, or it symbolizes one's own soul, one's own inner divinity soul, and Krishna, or Govinda, which is the form of Krishna, is divine love. So the soul uniting with the love inside, and it's like a hide and seek that we're always looking for love in our life, and what we really seek is this deep eternal love, and it's inside of us all along.

And so the practices of bhakti yoga, to bring that out, especially in Kirtan. So we usually sing in a call and response, but we don't mind where you sing, and the call and response just symbolizes the Leela, the play, the loving dialogue between the lover and the beloved, between one's soul and God. Sing with me. Alhamdulillah alhamdulillah Oh, in Thy name, I hear the King, Oh, in Thy name, I hear Thy name, Oh, in Thy name, I hear the King, Oh, in Thy name, I hear Thy name, Oh, in Thy name, I hear Thy name, Oh, in Thy name, I hear Thy name, Oh, in Thy name, I hear Thy name, India RÄ쳌jÄ« RÄ쳌m India RÄ쳌jÄ« RÄ쳌m India You are the Magic India RÄ쳌jÄ« RÄ쳌m India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic India You are the Magic A day, a day, a day A day, a day, a day A day, a day, a day Forever is flowing, flowing and growing Forever is flowing down to the sea Oh, Mother Kevin me, your child I will always be Oh, Mother Kevin me, down to the sea The river is flowing, flowing and growing Forever is flowing down to the sea Oh, Mother Kevin me, your child I will always be Oh, Mother Kevin me, down to the sea Oh, Sandy, oh, Sandy, oh, Sandy, oh Oh, Sandy, oh, Sandy, oh, Sandy, oh For the sun shined down on me, child I lost you For the months of the sun shined down on me, till I am free For the sun shined down on me, till I am free Just taking a moment to feel the effect, the vibrations in your body Deep breath in, exhale everything Namaste, blessings on your journey