Yoga, based on the teachings of Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Kirtan tranquillises the fluctuating tendencies of the mind
Complete article can be read at http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1982/haug82/call882.shtml
Sw Vidyutananda Saraswati. Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India.
Kirtan has a potent quality which gives solace to the sufferings of humanity. In our modern age of constant stress, strain and tension, kirtan has a key role to play in tranquillising the fluctuating tendencies of the mind. Just as a mother can give peace to her troubled child, similarly, kirtan tranquillises the oscillating mind and makes the heart pure and innocent.
According to Swami Sivananda, "Kirtan is the easiest, cheapest, safest and surest method to go inside and to attune with one's self."
Kirtan Etiquette
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•Kirtan utilizes group energy and has a lead singer who “calls” and to whom the group “responds”. The lead singer determines the mood and feeling of the kirtan, as well as the speed and the group supports this by responding.
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•In kirtan one generally closes the eyes so they can experience the effects kirtan is having on them and if possible keeps the eyes closed until all the kirtans have finished.
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•In an hour of kirtan there is usually about 4-5 individual kirtans i.e. they are approx 10-15 minutes in duration, however they can be less, or more. A really energised, responsive kirtan might go for 20 minutes.
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•Kirtan can and hopefully does have an harmonium, a drum, a guitar, tambourine and other instruments which give the kirtan feeling and accent its rhythm. The drumming in particular needs to be very conscious and “on” because it is the first point of support that a kirtanist has.
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•The members of the group who do not play an instrument may clap or dance – and they most assuredly should sing.
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•While kirtan is first and foremost for oneself, there is an element of natural seva (service) in it because it depends on the group’s input.
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•After each kirtan has finished, there is a brief period of stillness before the harmonium is passed to the next singer. For the duration of the kirtan session there should be little or no conversation as this practice is a meditation.
Kirtan: Rocket to Self-realization
Complete article can be read at http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1982/haug82/kirtan882.shtml
Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India.
Yoga is incomplete without kirtan
Kirtan is an important aspect of yoga. Just as rasgula is incomplete without sugar, so yoga is also incomplete without kirtan. Kirtan is not religious chanting, nor is it just singing one word many times. It is a part of nada yoga, the yoga of sound, in which you produce sound waves and follow them with your awareness. By singing kirtan you are able to withdraw yourself from the body and your external environment. You are travelling by the jet of emotions, therefore, you do not confront the mind at all. In raja yoga you have to fight the mind, but in kirtan you bypass the mind.
Kirtan is not an intellectual yoga, but each and every sound that is produced in kirtan goes deep into your consciousness. Intellectuals will try to understand kirtan, but for them it is very difficult, because kirtan is mainly concerned with the emotional personality of the individual. Although the emotions are not properly understood and utilised, they are very powerful tools in the hands of man. Through the intellect, you cannot go very deep; you cannot realise the consciousness. By means of the intellect you can know about God, truth and many things; but you can never experience them.
If you want to experience peace and God within you, you have to develop the emotional side of your nature. If your emotions are blunt, you can go to the temple and talk about God for days together or speak about him from the church pulpit, but he will be far from you. However, if your emotions are charged, just by hearing about God, you can enter into a trance and experience him. This is because the emotions are the eyes through which you can experience a greater love and awareness.
Music in the Tantric Tradition
Complete article can be read at http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1982/haug82/tanmus882.shtml
Dr. Swami Karmananda Saraswati, MB, BS (Syd)
[ … ] Music is thus a more fundamental language, enabling communication at a more primitive physiological level of rhythm which puts the neurotic personality back into contact with his own roots, the source of his lost energy. At the same time, music enables a rapport to be established with psychotic patients which is not attainable with conventional language, and can help to develop more external, socially and interpersonally oriented patterns of behaviour. Thus the healing potential of kirtan and music therapy is profound. It balances the lopsided developments of the human personality which correspond to the two extremes of neurosis and psychosis, and is the most direct means of awakening kundalini in the sushumna nadi.
Chanting by Sri Sw Satyananda & Sw Niranjananda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0EIA6_iARM
Paramahansa Swami Niranjanananda singing beautifully whilst photos of Sri Swamiji flow on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Je858eqwUw&feature=related
Sri Paramahansa Sw Satyananda chanting Mahamrityunjaya Mantra – lots of beautiful images.
Kirtan is the delicious practice of chanting beautiful mantras in beautiful melodies with rhythm and beat, in a group. Havan is a beautiful ceremony with fire and mantras to purify the environment and the mind. Together they refine the body, mind heart and the environment around.
Where: the Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne
When: Second Sunday of the month
Time: 4.00pm-6.00pm
Cost: a gold coin donation
The havan location changes each month, so for the exact address each time
Email: devamaya.yoga@gmail.com or Text: 0450 340 418
Semester 1 Havan & Kirtan dates are: March 11, April 8, May 13 and June 17
