The group was small and most of us seemingly new to the whole experience, as evidenced by our coy reserve and inability to effectively sing along. But the few that were by all appearances "regulars" made the experience meaningful for the entire group. freeing our inhibitions and setting the tone. It's one thing to enjoy kirtan as an observer or listener and an entirely different thing to experience kirtan as an active participant. The experience comes to life when you feel the words and music burst out of your own mouth, even if, like me, you're half mumbling half singing the foreign tasting sanskrit words--no one cares how well you sing or how well you pronounce the words!
At the Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork kirtan is an integral part of their Sunday worship service. Imagine you are there with me as the wallah (or kirtan leader) and other musicians are sitting cross-legged on a beautiful rug surrounded by their exotic instruments: the mridanga hand drums, the bell metal kartals and the harmonium, in this instance. The wallah, playing different instruments throughout the service, begins to play and chant then invites the congregation to join in, until everyone in the room is rocking back and forth, swaying, up and dancing and most certainly lending their voices to the chant.
Kirtan then....
...and now.
Each sacred chant seems to begin slow and steady and builds in intensity and speed, finishing with a thrilling "crash" of the kartals, or "thump" on the mridanga. After a chant or two, the wallah opens the Bhagavad Gita and shares personal insights on their sacred Hindu text. "Consider the image of the person attempting to drive a carriage led by five wild horses," he explains, "These five horses represent our senses--taste, smell, sight, sound, and touch. Until we can tame and yoke those senses, we will always be out of control." And how can we learn to control those senses? This wallah mentions yoga, namely kirtan, which he calls "true yoga", to tame the horses and gain control of the carriage, to gain control of our mortal life journey. He says, "You can't be thinking about your hunger, your lust, your anger when you are caught up in the sacred chanting."
Many believe that kirtan is the essence of yoga. Yoga means "to yoke". What are we trying to yoke? Five wild horses! We are striving to yoke the mind, body and spirit, not just to one another, but to God. Or could it be that a fully-yoked mind, body and spirit actually is God? Or are we possibly just making room for God to enter? Or are we finding that God was within us all along? Yes. Yes. And yes. God is within and without. He is cellular and cosmic. He is flesh and spirit.
Here is an example of a kirtan experience that rose up in the youtube world, because in case I forgot to mention it, above all else, kirtan is just really, really fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment