Angie leads a group kirtan session with chants from Buddhist, yogic and Sufi traditions, including Jai Sri Rama, the Kwan Yin mantra, and the Heart Sutra. The session opens with a Rumi reading and voice preparation, then moves through devotional mantras accompanied by shruti box and drums, with participants taking turns leading and harmonizing.
Chapters
Ding!
Welcome everybody, so lovely to see you all. Really glad you could join us for this evening of chanting and singing. Have we got anybody here who's never been to anything like this before? Yeah, welcome!
Bailey!
Also Bailey! Great. So what we're going to be doing for the next hour and a quarter, that kind of time, is we're going to be chanting and singing mantras and short devotional songs from Buddhist, yogic, and Sufi traditions. And we're going to be accompanying the voice with a shruti box. That's this. And sometimes a drum and maybe a shaker or a tambourine. And what, what having all these instruments and having a melody does is it makes it easier to drop deeper and deeper into the mantra. And really drop into the heart because you can get carried by the vibrations and by the rhythm and by the melody. So somebody, Tabla Tom, who taught me the drum, calls these sacred nursery rhymes. Yeah, sacred nursery rhymes. And it doesn't matter if you don't get all the pronunciation right, or if you don't hit the same notes as me, or breathe in different places, or sing for sometimes and not for others, because it's all just perfect. You're just tuning in, following in to the mantra, to where you're at, just allowing the process to move through you and to all unfold. So I've got a poem. I always like to share a poem at the beginning, so I'm going to share a part of a Rumi poem. This we have now is not imagination. This is not grief or joy, not a judging state or an elation or sadness. Those come and go. This is the presence that doesn't. This we have now is not imagination. This is not grief or joy. Not a judging state, or an elation, or sadness. Those come and go. This is the presence that doesn't. And maybe you'll find at some points during this that you start to get in touch with that presence. That doesn't come and go, that exists beneath all the other things that arise and fall. I'm going to sing the opening prayer, and feel free just to listen and to allow it to wash over you, to help you to really arrive a bit more fully and to transition to this group this time, the space that we're going to be in together.
Dharmakam Pradhevi Narayani Namastu Devi. Kali Kali Mahakali Kali Ke Paparani. Sarvenyari Devi Narayani Namastu Devi. Jai Andhi Mangokari. Badrakali Kapanani. Durga Akshama Shiva Datri. Swa swa rah namastu dey. Jai atvam devi jaman dey. Jai abhutati harani. Jai asardhva gata devi. Kalachwi namastu dey.
Okay, so beginning to help the body to prepare for chanting. Yeah, have a little shuffle.
Yeah, feel, feel your edges, feel your body in the space.
Maybe get a sense of how the spine is sitting in the pelvis, the neck. And starting to deepen the breath and breathing deep into the abdomen, so taking some belly breaths, abdominal breaths. So as the whole body begins to breathe a bit more deeply, a bit more fully, the diaphragm starts to move more. That whole motion is preparing the voice for coming through. When you're ready, we can start with a little hum. At some point, that hum can turn into an om, and it can be at any note. So we're going to keep it really gentle and move in to our first mantra. Jai Sri Rama, Jai Jai Hanuman.
So if you want to see that written down, then it's on page 3.
Check out page 3. If you've got laminated words, it might be on a different page, but it might— it might still— it's still on page 3. Okay, great. It's not on page 3? Yeah, okay, so, um, Jai Sri Rama, Jai Jai Hanuman. Sorry, causing chaos. Okay, great. So if you've got paper copy, page 2. If you've got a laminated copy, page 3. Jai Sri Rama, Jai Jai Hanuman. So this is to Hanuman, the son of the wind god. So it was really just like an embodiment of like devotion and service within the Bhakti Yoga tradition. And it's said to have like flown through the air to get a herb from the mountain, didn't know which one to get, So brought the entire mountain back, and that's a famous image of the lake from the air. With all of these things, if you want to do harmony, or if where I'm pitching it doesn't match your voice, just find where matches your voice and sing it there. So the next one we're going to move into is, um, engrossed is the bee of my mind at the lotus feet of the Divine Mother. Oh, Divine Mother. And moving into the Kwan Yin mantra. So page 7, page 7, which is probably even in the laminated ones, it'll be on a non-laminated sheet snuck in where page 7 also is of the laminated ones is a non-laminated page with this engrossed is the bee of my mind. Would anyone like a shaker? Takers for a shaker? Yes, thanks. Would anyone— I don't know how I managed to actually sometimes fit these instruments in, and then other times I can't fit any of the instruments in. Anyone like a tambourine? Don't leave me shaking on my own.
Yeah, I am.
My rhythm is awful. Don't give it to Dave.
You look worried.
You look—
you're doing a worried, like, please don't pick me in audience participation.
It's— it's—
unless you want the tambourine or the shaker.
I've got no rhythm either.
Maybe I—
okay, yeah, yeah. So it's been— it's broken there, it's been glued, so you just have to be gentle with it. Yeah. Oh, so sorry, for Tom Tenzin on Zoom, the words are: engrossed is the bee of my mind. At the lotus feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. And then it goes into the Kwan Yin mantra, so Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in both sides.
Ingros es the being of Mahimaya, at the Lotus Feet of the Divine. Mother, oh Divine Mother, oh Divine Mother, engross esabi of my mind. At the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother, Oh Divine Mother, oh Divine Mother, ingots says the bee on my mind. At the country's feet of thee, Divine Mother, Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother, remove scarcity from my mind. At the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. As the being of my mind, as the Lotus speaks of the Divine Mother. Oh, Divine Mother! Oh, Divine Mother! He was as the being of At the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. It is the beauty of Mahimayi. At the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother. Mother, Holy Divine Mother, Holy Divine Mother, you are the sense, the beauty of my heart, at the lotus feet of the Divine Mother, Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother, you know the state of me, of my mind. I belong to the feet of the Divine Mother. Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother, you know Hence the beauty of my mind. As the Master speaks of the Divine Mother— Oh Divine Mother, oh Divine Mother— hence the beauty of my mind. At the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Namoh Pranji in both the sides. Namoh Pranji. English and Serbian of my mind. At the lotus feet of the Divine Mother, O Divine Mother, O Divine Mother. You are the sense of me, of my mind, at the lotus feet of the Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Oh Divine Mother. Stands the beat of my heart. At the lotus feet of the divine, I throw my heart, my heart, love, love, love. In love stands the beat of my life. I look to speak to the Divine Mother. Divine Mother, Rose Divine Mother.
So we're gonna turn from what felt like deep within the earth at times to, um, maybe a bit higher, maybe, maybe slightly higher, higher ground for, um, Masha'Allah, uh, Through Your Eyes Shines a Light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you. I think this song is what actually enabled me to say the word God without completely reacting. I was like, oh, I can never sing this one without changing the word, and no other word actually fitted. And, uh, you know, now it's— now it's fine. Drop the tambourine back. Someone else take the tambourine. I reckon you've got solid rhythm. Just follow the drum. If in doubt, follow the drum. And if I'm out on the drum, then, you know, just follow it anyway. You can try and bring me back with the tambourine if you think I'm really out of Oh, sorry, um, uh, page 6 or 8 depending on which copy you've got. Masha'Allah means pretty much exactly what the— well, you could translate it lots of different ways, but it's like, yeah, like just seeing that beauty, that divinity here in the world, and like, oh, masha'Allah. So we'll start slow-ish, not that slow, but slow enough for everyone to get the hang of it, and then when it feels like everyone's kind of together, we'll speed up a bit.
Through your Rabbis shines the light. Mashallah, mashallah, wonder of God in you. Through your Rabbis shines the Mashallah, mashallah, wonder of God in you. Satya Robyn shines a light. Mashallah, mashallah, wonder of God in you. Wonder of God in you. Through your body shines a light. Mashallah, mashallah, wonder of God in you. Free your body, shine the light. Mashallah, mashallah, wonder of God in you. Mashallah, mashallah, mashallah. Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Wonder of God in you.
Through your eyes shines a light.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines a light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you.
Through your eyes shines a light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you.
Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines a light. Mashallah, mashallah. Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines a light. Mashallah, mashallah. Wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah.
Wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you. Free always shines light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines light. Masha'Allah, masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, masha'Allah. Masha'Allah, masha'Allah. Masha'Allah, masha'Allah.
Wonder of God In You! Wonder Of God Is Who? Through Your Eyes Shines Light— masha'Allah MASHALLAH . Wonderful Power And Beauty to All The Believers Around Us... I Am A Child For Evermore— Amazing Grace ...in your eyes shines light; mashallah Mashalllah wonder of god within you ah shalala maschalla it's so beautiful amazing grace alhamdulillah subhanahu wa ta'ala Masha'Allah!
Wonder of God within you—
wonder of God within you... Through your eyes shines light , shallaahh? ...Wonder of God within me— through our eye shine lights shalaaashallahah?! Wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah. Wonder of God in you.
Wonder of God in you. If you want to, you can imagine singing this to someone.
Who you can really easily see the divinity in, and then gradually transition to people that you don't see it easily in. And at some point, maybe just sing it out to, to the world, or just carry on as you were, which is also quite good.
Masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you.
Through your eyes shines light, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light. Masha'Allah, masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light. Mashallah, mashallah. Wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light. Mashallah, mashallah. Wonder of God in you.
Mashallah, mashallah. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah.
Wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you. Through your eyes shines the light of Shalaa, of Shalaa, wonder of God in you. Ah, Shalaa, of Shalaa, ah, Shalaa, of Shalaa, ah, Shalaa, of Shalaa, wonder of God in you. Wonder of God within you! Through your eyes shines light— Masha'Allah... Wonder of God in you! Through your eyes shines life— Masha'Allah... Wonder of God in you!
Ma sha la ma shala! Masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah, masha'Allah.
Wonder of God in you, wonder of God in you. We are righteous in the light. Masha'Allah, masha'Allah, wonder of God in you. Priyavati shines a light. Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, wonder of God in you.
Wonder of God in you! Light through your body shines like Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah! Wonder of God in you! Free our bodies shine his light, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah! Wonder of God in you! Ma sha Allah, Masha'Allah, Ma sha—
Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah.
Wonder of God in you. Wonder of God in you.
Someone just popping on the light, it's getting quite dark on the screen.
Thank you.
I like it dark, but—
oh God, Jesus—
but I also want people to be able to see. Yeah, that's fine, thank you. That was fun. That was fun for me. We're going to move into the mantra from the Heart Sutra. On page 3, page 3, or page 2.
Is anyone getting cold?
Yeah, we did have some blankets. I don't know where they've gone.
I think I will have the tamburi.
I always imagine this one, I just feel like it kind of drifts in from the mists on the mountains and inviting us into the void.
Gan te gan te ba ga te. Arasam ga te ooh dee so. Gan te gan te. Gaze, gaze, all at the day. Eyes are gazing, oh, so wide. Gaze, gaze, all Kaze kaze, aho uru kaote. Arasang kaze, ooh, it's so hot. Kaze kaze.
Moving into a Sufi number. We got to that point in the night where my voice has dropped an octave. So nothing is said, nothing is heard. My heart is dancing with the universe. Nothing is said, nothing is heard. My heart is dancing with the universe. La ilaha illallah. I don't know what page it's on because it's not on my list of things that I was going to do. Page 5. 5, thank you. Page 5 of the paper copies and 7 of the laminated copies.
Sorry, what's up?
If I say the right mix. Very good.
That was the first, first, first one, I reckon.
Nothing else, nothing else, my power. My heart is dancing with even your eyes. Nothing is set, nothing is set. My heart is dancing with even your eyes. La la la. My heart is dancing with the moonlight, nothing else matters. My heart is dancing with the moonlight, nothing else matters. My heart is dancing with you now. My heart, oh my heart. My heart is dancing with you now. Nothing else matters. Nothing else matters. My heart is dancing with eagles. Nothing else matters. Nothing else matters. My whole heart It's bouncing with you! My heart— my heart dancing with you never happened before. Why? My love, my heart is dancing with you, Satya Robyn. Nothing is sad, nothing is sad. My heart is dancing with you, Nirvāṇa. Nothing is sad, nothing is sad. My heart is dancing with you, Last time round.
Move into our final chant. You all know what this is. Namu Amida Bu. Namu Amida Bu.
Oh, thank you.
It saved me a lot of time. May we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true home. Namah Amida Butsu. Thank you, beautiful beings, for sharing this practice with me tonight. It's been really gorgeous. Yeah, in line with the Bhakti Yoga tradition, we have a little prasad now. That's like a little bit of blessed food. It's a mixture of raisins, pistachios, almonds, vegan chocolate, cranberries, that kind of thing. Definitely to be kept out of the way of the dogs because the raisins and chocolate. Thank you. And yeah, if you're not on Bhikkhantan Sacred Singing mailing list and want to be, Come find me now and give me your— I mean, in a minute— and give me your email address and I'll put you on. Um, and if you're able to give a donation to the temple in the golden bowl, that's always really appreciated too. I'm slowly, um, putting a few of the chants that I do here onto SoundCloud, so if you ever just listen to a bit of it. There's actually a recording of, I think, the last kirtan I held here, like the whole one, on there as well. So if you're ever just cooking and you want a bit of background chanting or anything like that, if you go to Creative Depths, Creative Depths at SoundCloud.
Could you email the mailing list?
Yes, I will do that. Yeah, there's a few other things on there as well, like the odd talk and yoga nidras, visualizations, that kind of thing. But there's also some songs and mantras.
