About Kirtan

Kirtan is the main practice of Bhakti (devotional) yoga--chanting the mantras or names of the Gods and Goddesses. Still, while it is the simplest kind of yoga of all, what it stimulates inside us is vast and mysterious. The “goal” of this kind of singing meditation (ha—like we can set a goal for meditation) is to try to put our analytical minds aside, sing from our hearts (however poorly we think we sing--especially when we think others are hearing us) and channel our emotions (yea, right, like even the icky angry ones) into the songs.

But something magical happens when we sing these seemingly simplistic words and melodies: the person we’ve taken ourselves to be, been conditioned to believe we are our whole lives, begins to transform, heal and disappear. It’s a pretty amazing thing from such a simple practice. Effortlessly (except for the part about making yourself get to the studio in the first place), you find yourself in a meditative state, sometimes for the first time in your life.

We don’t need to understand the meanings of the words. It doesn’t matter how well or “right” we sing them. They are ancient and timeless, and there is a science behind them. But we don’t need to know or believe any of these details to test for ourselves and discover that this simple chanting practice brings up long-submerged wounds to be healed, crumbles the walls of our no-longer-needed ego defenses, connects us to our true, essential natures, introduces us to the ineffable THAT which is our true Selves, opens our hearts to peace and love, immerses us in the ALL ONE and makes us HAPPY.

So, you may start out thinking chanting is about your happiness and your calming down—and it is . . . to a point; but after chanting regularly for a while, you begin to KNOW that everything you do effects everybody all the time, including the people you don’t even know yet. In addition to everything else, Kirtan is how we can extend loving kindness to the whole of the world . . . starting by connecting with ourselves . . . and connecting with our Kirtan community.

Chanting Kirtan allows us to surrender all our “junk.” It becomes a practice of the spontaneous outpouring of love and giving and unity and oneness. But nothing anyone says about it can convey what it does. In today’s material culture so obviously devoid of true, essential meaning, you owe it to yourself to at least give Kirtan a try--for your Self.