Author: Sri Prahlada

The power of kirtan is not only being increasingly recognised and embraced in the yoga community, but practitioners of other religious traditions are embracing it as well; creating new kirtan forms. What are some of these forms of kirtan and how is a kirtan practitioner to respond to them?

Within the Jewish tradition, we have the Kirtan Rabbi. He sings Hebrew Kirtan, which involves a weaving of traditional Jewish liturgy and musical modes with the call-and-response kirtan format as well as kirtan instrumentation. Kirtan Rabbai’s Hebrew kirtan uses the traditional call-and-response form – but utilises traditional Jewish modes of notation drawn from both European and Eastern sources.

Then there is Christian Kirtan, which is engaged in some churches to celebrate the service of Holy Communion. One way this practice differs from Hebrew kirtan is that it involves not only using the call-and-response format and instrumentation of kirtan, but also singing in Sanskrit. This is, Sanskrit versions of Christian prayers or Christian versions of Sanskrit prayers such as Jaya Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ (glory to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ).

Within the Hindu and Yoga traditions, we find kirtans dedicated to numerous deities such as Kali, Hanuman, Ram, Krishna, and Shiva. Study of the Vedic literatures reveals, however, that kirtan is exclusively a limb of bhakti that stresses devotion to Krishna. In the Gita Krishna stresses the importance of kirtan by characterising his devotees as those who always do kirtana – “satatam kirtayanto mam” (Bhagavad-gita 9:14). Such statements have led to the development of kirtantheology and practice. In the statements of other Hindu deities such as Shiva, Durga, and Kali in Vedic literatures, such mention of kirtan as a means of worship is largely conspicuous by its absence. Nonetheless, although the scriptures endorse Krishna kirtan, the practice is so blissful and satisfying that other spiritual paths have adopted it to chant the names of Siva, Durga, Kali, and other deities. And now Jewish and Christian kirtan have emerged as well.

Personally, rather than composing my own chants, I prefer to sing mantras in glorification of Krishna as found in the scriptures, or, as written by great saints. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that whether in Sanskrit, or Hebrew, or any other language, the most important principle in kirtan is that Divine names are being glorified. The great spiritual teacher Srila Prabhupada stated, “Actually, it doesn’t matter – Krsna or Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age” (Science of Self Realization, Chapter 4). And it is not only the Vedic tradition that recommends the chanting of the holy names of the Divine with musical instruments. In the Old Testament we find: “Praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals” (Psalms 150:4-5). Why not fulfil this injunction to praise the lord, through kirtan!

Celebrate the coming of the New Year by setting the right intention and example: a wholesome (radical for New Year’s Eve!) evening starting with a transformational Yoga class and meditation with Fabio Fabbri, delicious, healthy vegetarian buffet food, followed by a blissful Kirtan (live music with Yoga chants and dancing) with Sri Prahlada & The Bhakti Band.

Bring along your friends, entire family including of course, your children. The littler ones also get to set their New Year intentions with Art and Craft activities with a Steiner playgroup leader for the duration of the Yoga class. And all that – away from crowds, on the park, just opposite the beach, at Avalon. Sound the perfect way to end the year?

17:00 Yoga class and children’s art and craft

18:30 Dinner – vegetarian buffet

19:30 Kirtan – music, chanting and dancing with Sri Prahlada & the Bhakti Band

Avalon Recreation Centre, 59 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon.

Bookings essential!

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Those who are actually advanced in knowledge… worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of kirtana.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.36

Kirtan is not just spiritual meditation music; it is a philosophy and way of life. To me it represents the essence of what I learned from my dad in a critical period of his spiritual journey in the late 1970s and the most impressionable period of my growth from ages 4-5, which by divine arrangement came to coincide. He shared the principles of the kirtan lifestyle over the span of a year, not as a set curriculum, but through the course of introducing me to various powerful spiritual experiences. These included, preparing vegetarian food, offering it to the divine, and eating it as sacred prasadam or “mercy”.  And an introduction to the ancient yoga-texts such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, with all of their profound wisdom. He also taught me about Japa which like kirtan involves mantra repetition, but unlike kirtan which is practiced congregationally, japa is practiced as private meditation. Amongst these teachings, I found gathering with others for call-and-response kirtan chanting sessions, the most exciting. My dad said that this was the most important spiritual practice for our time. But really, they all go together as parts of a complete bhakti-yoga program.

In my experience, the kirtan lifestyle is the most profound teaching there is. This is a big claim, especially considering that I have traveled all over the world shared with people of many diverse cultures. Further, I have earned several university degrees in communication and psychology, contributed to peer reviewed academic journals, taught university lectures and self-development workshops, and am currently completing a PhD. When I started university I believed that the science of human behaviour or psychology would give me stronger more satisfying answers to the human conditions of suffering and happiness, dissatisfaction and fulfillment, failure and success. After years of study, lecturing, and writing, however, my realisation is that these understandings are weak in comparison to the spiritual principles relating to kirtan that I learned from my dad. What he taught me over the span of a year, I have been realising ever since, gaining deeper realisation and appreciation with each passing year.

Do you agree that kirtan is a lifestyle as opposed to simply sacred music? What do you think of my claim that it is the most valuable thing I know? Feel free to offer any thoughts or questions on this topic.

I taught this eternal practice of yoga to Vivisvan the sun-god; Vivisvan gave it to Manu, father of mankind; Manu passed it to King Iksvaku. Thus handed from one to another, it was known by saintly kings. But over a great passage of time this yoga was lost to the world. Now I am teaching the transcendental secret of this ancient yoga to you, Arjuna, because you are my devotee and my friend.

Bhagavad-gita 4, 1-3

Lost in materialism

I waited all day for bedtime, when my dad would continue his spiritual history of kirtan and the world. That history spoke of an ancient spiritual civilization wherein yogis lived in harmony with one another and divine nature, and spent most of their time absorbed in blissful spiritual practices such as kirtan, a form of meditation based upon sacred sound. With the advance of time, however, the influence of materialism slowly became stronger and many yogis came to identify more with the external material-powers of technology than with internal spiritual practices.

My dad explained that with declining spiritual vision, the former yogis became increasingly greedy, lusty, and angry. And, just as an elderly person becomes increasingly week and dependent upon the support of a walking cane, these people became more dependent on external things as a source of happiness. Eventually, spiritual practice was forgotten in the greater community consciousness just as an adolescent forgets the innocence of childhood. Even their access to spirituality was externalised and materialised, taking to be designated by birth rather than by inner qualities. As such, “spirituality” came to uphold a brutally oppressive cast system. All of this led to a scarcity mentality of competition and conflict where people and Mother Nature came to be seen as things to be used and exploited rather than as divine personalities to be respected, nurtured, and protected.

As humans took from Mother Nature according to their greed rather than according to their need, she withdrew her bounties deep within her surface as a turtle protects itself by withdrawing its limbs within its shell. Thereupon humans were forced to work hard by ploughing, digging, and drilling to reach nature’s resources. When the harmony that had existed for so long between humans, nature, and the Divine was lost, even learned people came to view the forgotten mysteries of spiritual practices like kirtan as the stuff of superstitions, myths, and legends. Meanwhile the external squirrel like accumulation of things substituted the sage like inner cultivation of peace, love and joy, as indicators of success. In time the people who had become like squirrels realised that no matter how many acorns they collected, they were not happy. Alcohol and drugs were invented to address this issue, making them even less self-aware and ever more dependent on external stimulants as sources of joy. A new profession called psychology was also invented, supplying people theories and drugs to motivate them to get back out play harder in the squirrel-race to accumulate the externals of money, sex, drugs, and fame.

Spiritual revival

Through all of this history, small bands of yogis had continued to practice, preserve, and teach the forgotten yoga tradition of internal spiritual practice. And, as people became disillusioned and questioned the external materialistic paradigm, these yogis were there to revive the humans who had become like squirrels, by providing access to spiritual power and thus reminding them about their earlier greatness. This they were able to do thanks to Vyasa, the yogi who thousands of years earlier had the foresight to codify the teachings of yoga within texts called the Veda or The Knowledge, also called yoga texts.

Some 500 years ago, Sri Caitanya, a saint, spiritual reformer, and Divine incarnation, gave particular emphasis to kirtan. Braking major social trends he made Divine connection available to everyone without distinctions of caste, colour, or creed, giving everyone the opportunity to become fully enlightened through this simple and blissful spiritual activity. In the 1960’s Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada introduced kirtan to the West, leading a group of singers and dancers under a tree in New York’s Tompkins Square Park through the summer of 1965. Later he sent disciples to Europe where they enlisted the support of Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison, who were responsible for having Hare Krishna kirtan released as a single that topped music charts around the world. As my dad ended the story, he showed me a kirtan album he had recently purchased called “The Radha Krishna Temple”, produced and released by George Harrison on the Apple label.

When dad left, closing my bedroom door, I lay in bed wondering if I might ever see the yoga texts he spoke of, or meet the modern yogis who live by them. I too wanted to be a yogi… One day, several months later, I felt this dream was becoming fulfilled when my dad gave me the Sanskrit name Prahlada. He said he was naming me after a five year old yogi from thousands of years before. Prahlada means “one who gives happiness”. My father gave me a lot of hope and happiness that day when he named me Sri Prahlada. Through my life, I have endeavoured to share that happiness with others, particularly by sharing the magic of kirtan.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live as a yogi and study the ancient yoga texts? Feel free to comment with any thoughts or questions.

In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of people and devas [demigods], along with sacrifices, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajna [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you all desirable things. The devas, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you; thus nourishing one another, there will reign general prosperity for all”.

Bhagavad-gita 3, 10-11

My introduction to kirtan

When I was five my dad got into kirtan, an ancient form of meditation based upon sacred music. My dad was a child of the 1960s, which were a critical time in modern history when people, particularly the disillusioned youth, began questioning the status quo. Many also began to recognise that India’s ancient yogi might hold the answers to the hollowness and superficiality that seemed to characterise most people’s lives in modern society. My dad was one such questioning youth who became intrigued by the yogis and the practice of kirtan. When I was born dad was on this spiritual journey and as I grew, he endeavoured to imbibe within me all that he learnt. One night before bed my dad told me the following account of the Earth’s spiritual history, as described in India’s yoga texts:

Once upon a time…

In the far off exotic land today known as India, our ancestors lived as yogis in sustainable rural communities called ashramas. These yogis were also called rishis, which means “seer”, because they cultivated their “third eye”. This is the minds eye of inner spiritual consciousness, which shone in them like an internal blazing mid-summer sun. They cultivated their inner eye through meditation practices such as kirtan, and by proper understanding of the associations between the causes and consequences of all things, allowing them to “see” past, present, and future. Although they lived simply, the life of the yogis was rich with the jewels of satisfaction, peace, spiritually, and a universal harmony between humans, animals, the rest of nature. All parties in this relationship flourished like a perennial spring with abundant beauty, fragrance, vitality, and growth. The yogis didn’t have to work particularly hard because Mother Earth provided them her rich bounty of sweet juicy fruits, nutritious grains, and succulent vegetables without the need for ploughing and sowing fields with seeds for food. As the yogis were vegetarian so there was also no need to hunt and slaughter innocent animals. Additionally, Mother Earth generously sent forth her valuable minerals including jewels and gold to the surface of the earth, these the yogis used for making medicine, ornaments, and for worship; expressing appreciation to the Divine. Mother Earth’s seasons were as predicable as a Swiss watch, such that yogis didn’t need watches, they could accurately tell the time and the date from the weather. In this harmony, the clouds only sent rain at night when the yogis slept, enough to properly irrigate nature’s vegetation, so the sun could shine pleasantly all day long. Without the need for hard work, the yogis devoted their time to nurturing beautiful relationships called yoga or links between each other, with Nature whom the addressed as Mother Nature, and with the Supreme Divine whom, amongst many other Holy Names, was called The Universal Father. They did this through the inner cultivation of spiritual practices that were given by the Supreme Divine at the beginning of time, and handed down from one yogi teacher to the next, in an unbroken chain of disciplic succession.

There my dad smiled and left off, telling me the story would be continued the next evening…

As I lay in bed falling asleep, I wondered what happened to this beautiful spiritual civilization.  I also wondered if it might be possible to experience the peace, love, joy, and harmony that the yogis shared, even today.

What do you think? Feel free to comment with any thoughts or questions you might have.