Satya Robyn leads a guided kirtan session with breathwork, vocal warm-ups, and group chanting of sacred songs from Sufi, Bhakti, and Buddhist traditions. The session includes a Hafiz poem, simple mantras like Namo Amida Butsu and the Heart Sutra, and live interaction with online participants.
Chapters
Welcome to our most intimate ever Kim Tan and Tinker Team session! Ah, yeah. So, I will say a little bit more about it than I normally do because we have a couple of new faces amongst us. Yes, so what we do here is we're going to be spending the next hour and a half gradually warming up the voice, connecting with the breath, warming up the voice, and dropping into the practice of chanting and devotional singing using mantra mantras and very, very simple short little sacred songs from different traditions. And this is very much a heart practice. It's not about being good at singing or being able to keep time or any— or anything like that. It's not even about knowing who it is we're singing about. It's very much about simply kind of really letting yourself be carried by the words, by the sounds, by the vibrations, and allowing them to work their magic. I often start with a poem, so I'm going to share A Sufi poem to help get us in the mood. This is a Hafiz poem, Positions of Love. There are so many positions of love, each curled on a branch. The thousand ways your eyes can hold us. The infinite shapes each mind can draw. The spring orchestra of scents and sounds wafting through the air. The currents of light combusting like passionate lips. The revolution of the universe's whose folds contain other worlds. Our every sigh that falls against their inconceivably close omnipresent divine body. I'm going to read it twice. So I always say the first time is just kind of hearing it, and then the second time it sinks in more. There are so many positions of love, each curve on a branch, a thousand ways your eyes can hold us, the infinite shapes each mind can draw. The spring orchestra of synths and sounds wafting through the air. The currents of light combusting like passionate lips. The revolution of the universe's skirt, whose folds contain other worlds. Our every sigh, that falls against their inconceivably close omnipresent divine body. Welcome to our online viewers. Do let us know in the chat who you are because I don't get to see who you are, so let us know in the chat who you are. We'll carry on letting that poem sink in. Now saying the opening prayer. So, so ready, preparing the body for some chanting. You might want to have a little wiggle, find your edges. Find the seat, find the floor, find what your spine is doing. I'm beginning to take deeper belly breaths, really moving with the diaphragm. So the breath is the vehicle which is going to transport the voice from within the body out into the space. So really just taking a moment to really connect with the breath. We're going to start with a little hum, and your hum doesn't have to sound anything like mine, and it doesn't have to be at the same pitch. And at some point, that hum might turn into an om. Ama Bhavani Dei Adorande. So, onto the Divine Mother. And if you want to see that written down, then it's on page 1. Ama Bhavani Dei Adorande. And welcome, Sonia! Welcome, Sonia, online. So how this works is that there are two lines which are higher, and then there are two lines which are lower. And you're here as I do it and just join in when you're ready and when you decide to move and feel for it. Harmonies are welcome. Getting it wrong, like you're not doing it how I'm doing it, is welcome. Under the line—
yeah, under the line— yeah!
I'm Satya Robyn. Always makes me really feel like I'm spinning walks in the arms of the Divine Mother. We're going to move into the mantra from the Heart Sutra, Buddhist Heart Sutra, on the words: Pārasāṁ yatho bodhi soḥ. If you need to see that written down, then it's also on page 1, and it looks like gate, gate, paragate. Gate, gate, there's a parrot at the gate. So this one we start very slow with big gaps, and then as we gather momentum, I gradually take the gaps out. So it feels like we're going faster— not really, just the gaps are being taken out. And then at some point, and I'll try and make a little call of some kind on the drums, when I'm about to do these kind of transitions. So when you hear something like, something like that, you kind of think, oh, something's about to change. Then I'll reintroduce some of the gaps again, and we'll slow down as we wind back down. This mantra is very much an invitation to go beyond how we normally perceive ourselves and reality, to the fluidness or the kind of dynamic emptiness, dynamic process that is everything arising and falling and interrelating.
So hard! Nam nee nam nee ma ga te— Arasangate gori so ha!
Thank you, Julia, for telling us why I hear you. I will increase the volume of your Always, if you're doing it live, you obviously have a little bit more time to do this. It's always much better, much better quality, much easier to fix in the morning than it is in like the first week. So there we go, I've, uh, retraced the layer of the book, so it should be better. So we're going to do one that I don't very often do in this group, but it used to be a real favourite of one of the old groups I used to hold. It's by Jim Fox, who does the Kirtan stage at Glastonbury actually, so he does know. Yeah, and it goes, 'Namaste, namaste.' Quite a lot of I bow to the divine within you. Namaste.
Namaste.
Deva Ram. It's quite a feel-good one, this one. It's English, so it makes it easier for English-speaking people as well. If you need to see it written down, it's on page 1. It's all about page 1 at the moment. Yeah, this is a new addition thanks to Helen, one of our regulars, who normally brings us to the cave dance. She's very good at that, and very great. It's not much easier to transport than my equally beautiful but hefty double-ended, um, bowat Indian drum there, which I love, but it's hard to take to events and things. So when Jim Fox sings this, he has everyone getting up, walking around the room, and holding eye contact with each other. While singing this. Mostly people get terrified at the idea of that kind of proposition and prefer to stay seated, but if you do fancy dancing across, you can. Or what I really invite as well is, as you know, as you're singing, let yourself Imagine singing it to people. Sing it to people. You start off with people you care about, where the love easily flows. Imagine you're singing it with them. Yeah, you can include yourself, sing it to yourself. And then maybe if you're feeling brave, you might start imagining singing it to some people who you feel a bit, you know, a bit more neutral about. And if you're feeling really courageous, then you can have a go at imagining singing it to some people that you have a little bit of tension with, a few difficulties with, and use it as practice. Or you can simply sing and enjoy. Ah, thank you for the feedback, Julie. You can only hear the tambourine. Yeah, I haven't started anything else yet, so I'm not surprised you can only hear the tambourine. Yeah, I'll increase the gain a bit more, but I imagine that might be a bit much, but we'll see how it goes. It also might be because when I did a sound check before I started, all the levels were good, so it might be that YouTube's handling the volume or something like that as well.
Namaste.
Namaste.
I bow to the Divine within me. Namaste.
Namaste.
Jai Jai Vaheguru. Namaste. Namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Jai, jai Bhagavan. Namaste, namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. I must stay. I must stay. Stay, stay by your side. I must stay. I must stay. I vow. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Jai, Jai, Satya Robyn.
We're gonna have a key change. Crisco's gonna change out the key.
Namaste. Namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Jai Jai Bhagavan. Namaste. Namaste. To the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Ye ye vada vada. Namaste. Namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Jai Jai Ram Dev Baba. Namaste. Namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste. Thank you. Namaste. Namaste. Hey, bye, bye-bye. Last time round. Namaste. Namaste. I bow to the divine within you. Namaste. Namaste. Jai Jai Baba.
We're going to move into a Sufi one. Ya wadu yamani ishk Allah ma uvida. Ya wadu yamani ishk Allah ma uvida. May the love remain and the peace be among us. Ya Salaam. Ya Salaam. H2.
May the love remain and the peace be among us. Ya Selam. Ya Selam. May the love remain and the peace be among us. Ya Selam. May the Lord remain at the peak of Amalunga's Yasala. Ah, Yasala. May the Lord remain at the peak of Amalunga's Yasala, ma, yasala. Ya wadu, ya ma. Eshkala maguli la.
5.
For engrossed is the bee of my mind at the lotus feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. So we sing that a few times around, and then at some point we'll move into the Kwan Yin mantra, which goes Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And I will have the drum back for this one. You can have the tambourine if you want, or you can go back to the shaker. So just follow with the drum. So that's page 5. Engrossed is the bee of my mind.
The beat of my mind. At the lotus feet of me delight. Mother O Divine, Mother O Divine, Engross Senti me, oh my mind, as the lotus feeds of the divine. Mother, oh divine.
Mother, oh divine. Mother, how divine!
In bronze is the reed of my mind. At the rumpus beats a giddy mind.
Mother, how divine!
Mother, Oh no!
Page 6. The deep peace. Deep peace of the running waves to you. Deep peace of the flowing air. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the shining May peace, may peace, may peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, may peace make you whole. Obviously, I tend to think we're all already whole. But may peace help us remember our wholeness. I'm going to be doing hand movements to help you know which line's up next. I mean, you've got the words, but you know.
Turi Ru Deep Peace of the Flowing Air. Deep Peace of the Choir of Turi Ru Deep Peace of the Shining Stars. May he be, may he be, May peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, may peace make you whole. Deep peace of the running waves to you. Deep peace of the flowing May peace, may peace, may peace make you whole. Deep peace of the running waves near you. Deep peace of the flowing land. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, deep peace of the shining stars. May peace, may peace, may peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, may peace make you whole. Deep peace of the running waves, dear. Deep peace of the flowing air. Deep peace of the quiet Aye, and unto you, the peace of the shining star. May peace, may peace, may peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, May peace make you whole. Deep peace of the running waves to you. Deep peace of the flowing down. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the shining stars. May peace, may peace, may peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, may peace take you Last time. Deep peace of the running waves to you. Deep peace of the flowing air. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you. Deep peace of the shining stars. May peace, may peace, may peace fill your soul. May peace, may peace, may peace make you whole.
May peace Moving into our final mantra, final chants. Namamritsu. Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu. Buddha, and Buddha brings light and life and love. It's on page 3 if you need to see it. Namo Amida.
Namaha Miramu. Namoha Miramu.
Amira.
May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. for joining me in this practice this evening. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who joined us online. The next one will be on the first Sunday of next month. We're on kind of new regular slot, the first Sunday instead of the last Sunday. Online people, I'm going to end the livestream now as I'm going to be getting up and handing out prasad. Here's my prasad offering to you. Hope you can join us next time. Everyone else, I'm going to hand out a little prasad. Like, that's in the Bhakti Yoga tradition. Prasad is like blessed food. It's been sitting on the shrine of receiving our blessings and offering our blessings, and then we all take it in as another blessing. So there's lots of blessings going around.
