I was introduced to kirtan in an unusual way.  Years ago I met Sujita, a Yoga teacher who lived in an old farmhouse just outside of town.  She had classes there, and on Wednesday evening people came to chant.  I didn’t know what chanting was, but I was going through a divorce and anything that offered peace sounded good to me.  The first time I went to chant it was an evening in early summer.  It was dusk when I arrived, and  I could hear the sound of voices chanting “Om” from the open windows of the big old farmhouse.  The sense of peace was palpable.  When I entered I could see everyone sitting in a semi-darkened room with a luminous statue of an Indian goddess–still don’t know which one it was–at one end.  There were lots & lots of candles.  No one knew each other, but week after week we met and sang to magical music from CDs Sujita chose.  It was my  introduction to kirtan, and where I first heard the music of  Ragani, Krishna Das, Wah & Snatam Kaur.  Sujita also loved traditional kirtan, the kind that starts very slowly and builds to a faster & faster pace over about an hour, but I loved singing to the more melodic & rhythmic chants she played.

Long story short, several years ago Sujita had to move, the magical farmhouse is no more, and so a friend and I have started a satsang group here in town.  We sing to CDs, as we did at Sujitas.  As an interesting result of this, I’ve never experienced a live kirtan.  But that’s going to change very  soon, because rumor has it there is a lot of great kirtan coming to the Northwest this spring & summer.

You can read what our Sunday satsang is like here.  Our group continues to grow, and satsang is a jealously guarded time in my life.  It centers me for the week, grounding me in the knowledge that “wherever we are God is . . . and all is well”.  Enjoy the set.  Namaste.

THIS WEEK’S SET
SONG	ARTIST	CD	SONGBOOK
Holy Ma	Shantala	Sri	P. 7
Radhe Suite I: The Longing	David Newman	Love, Peace, Chant	P.  12
Radhe Suite II: The Dance	David Newman	Love, Peace, Chant	P. 12
Radhe Suite: The Union	David Newman	Love, Peace, Chant	P. 12
Aja Uttama	Dave Stringer	Divas & Devas	Bonus Track
Ecstasy: Forklift Your Experience	Satkirin Kaur Khalsa	Lightness of Being	P. 15
Hara Hara  Mahadev/Om Namah Shivaya	Jai Uttal	Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant	P. 4