Concert at the Yoga Farm: Karnamrita Dasi

This Thanksgiving weekend at the Yoga Farm, we were lucky to have Karnamrita Dasi for kirtan on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.  She played the harmonium and was accompanied by a tabla player (a different one on Thursday and Friday/Saturday) and someone who alternated between playing the guitar and mandolin.

I knew this was going to be a treat.  I had seen Karnamrita several years ago (before I started writing this blog) at a performance at the Yoga Farm.  It was a great experience back then, so much that I bought her CD, Prayers by Women, and have listened to it regularly over the years.  I went hunting around for more music by her, but while there are lots of random recordings from festivals and such on youtube, the only other recorded piece I was able to find was her piece titled Om Purnam on the Sri Isopanishad in an album by Bada Haridas.

She brings an amazing energy with her sharing various stories from her and life and educating the audience about the lyrics and encouraging participation.  She grew up in an ashram community in the US, but spent several years in India learning music.  I really cannot adequately describe her voice or even the experience of being at the concert.  Her CD might give a slight glimpse into her voice, but there is so much more that is not captured by recordings.

On Friday evening, she told us to remember the name of an album she wanted to recommend --  the Radha Krsna Temple album which was produced by George Harrison (free version at archive.org, CD version, iTunes).

On Saturday morning I found it on iTunes and it instantly sent me back to my college years when my dad would play this music at home in the mornings.  I cannot seem to tire from listening to Govinda, which contains verses from the Brahma Samhita, specifically verses 5.30 and 5.32, reproduced below.

veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam-
barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi 

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

This was the first time I actually understood how to pronounce the words as Karnamrita had walked us through it on Friday night.

Listening to it over and over brought tears to my eyes as my mind was flooded with (mostly unhappy) memories of my teenage years and I started to realize how incomprehensible the meaning of life is with so much sadness and suffering as we go from birth to youth to old age and finally to death.

She said that she only sings in sanskrit (with a few exceptions), and also mentioned that memorizing the sanskrit texts such as the Brahma Samhita would keep ones memory sharp, such is the nature of the sanskrit language.

This was really a beautiful weekend as I spent three evenings in row at the Yoga Farm enjoying wonderful food cooked by Shambu and some of the most enchanting kirtan.

Albums featuring Karnamrita Dasi

Since first writing this article, I have come across some other pieces featuring her singing.  She doesn't do a good job of advertising her music but the following is a listing of the pieces that I've been able to find where she has either sung solo or as part of a group.

• Prayers by Women (Song #5 is available free at archive.org)
• Nectar of Devotion (Songs #3 and #8)
• Divas & Devas (Song #3)
• Om Purnam (Song #3)

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Hasu Patel

This past Saturday there was a sitar concert by Hasu Patel at the Yoga Farm.

I have seen her play several times over the years -- she usually makes it to the Yoga Farm at least once a year.  She's a music teacher so she usually explains the differences between Indian and Western classical music.  I don't know much about music myself so I'm unable to appreciate those lessons.  However, it is always a treat to listen to her play.  I find her music both uplifting and meditative.

You can listen to samples of her music here.  She mentioned that she had composed the concertos during a stay at the Yoga Farm.

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Uma Reed & Friends

Yesterday, at the Yoga Farm, there was a concert by a kirtan group Uma Reed & Friends.  The kirtan program was enjoyable, but what I found more noteworthy were the stories by one of the members of the group, Shivaya.

Shivaya had spent a number of years as a wandering sadhu in India.  He had spent time with Neem Karoli Baba in Rishikesh in the foothills of the himalayas.  Neem Karoli Baba didn't have a very high opinion of many of the practicing gurus at that time, but he did have a high regard for Swami Sivananda (the Yoga Farm was started by a disciple of Swami Sivananda).  He told us a couple of interesting stories of Neem Karoli Baba.

The first story was about a time when Swami Chidanana, a disciple of Swami Sivanada, who succeeded Swami Sivananda as the head of the ashram in Rishikesh, came to meet Neem Karoli Baba.  He brought with him a bag containing six oranges.  That day, as visitors came to the ashram, he'd pick an orange out of the bag and give it to them.  After more than twenty people had visited and they were about the leave for the day, Neem Karoli Baba handed the bag back to Swami Chidananda who was surprised that there were still six oranges in the bag.

The second story about about several occasions when Neem Karoli baba visited the Sivananda ashram in Rishikesh; the chowkidaar (security guard) at the front gate never noticed him entering or leaving.

I was intrigued by Shivaya's background (from living as a sadhu to returning to the material world), so I went up to speak to him after the program.  I asked him why he left the life of a sadhu to return to the material world.  He said it was thrown to him as a challenge by someone and somehow he was able to carry the peace with him.  He also told of his miraculous healing from gangrene while he was a sadhu.  I asked him if he had ever met yogis that were very old. (I had heard about such yogis from a person that visits holy places in the himalayas regularly.)  He mentioned he had met one that was 138 years old and another that he knows to still be alive at 163.

When I got back home, I googled around for information about Neem Karoli Baba.  I found it interesting that Julia Roberts was inspired to practice Hinduism because she saw of a picture of his.

I wrote this post to share a couple of stories I heard that my scientific mind finds hard to believe.  I don't know that I have resolved for myself whether material life only, spiritual life only, or both are important.  For now, I'm trying to live a little of both.

Update 11/5/2013

Shivaya passed away on 11/02/2013

Dance Performance at the Yoga Farm: Anuradha Prabhashankar

This past Saturday at the Yoga Farm, following the evening meditation and daily chants, there was a Bharatnatyam dance performance by Anuradha Prabhashankar.  I've seen her performances many times since she performs at the Yoga Farm several times a year.

A Bharatnatyam dance typically tells a story of devotion to God, often a conversation or a complaint, and is considered a form of Bhakti Yoga.  I find her performances very educational because, before each dance, she explains the story that will be told by that dance along with an explanation of each of the gestures (of arms, hands, face, etc.) that will be used during the dance.

Because one of the dances was about a story that involved the mention of child marriage, she shared an interesting bit of trivia about the origins of child marriage in India -- During medieval times, Hindu families started marrying their daughters off as soon as possible after birth to protect them from abuse by foreign invaders.

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Stephen Longfellow Fiske

Following the Thanksgiving dinner at the Yoga Farm, and after the meditation and chanting, we had a concert by Stephen Longfellow Fiske. Stephen was an acid rock musician in San Francisco before he became a disciple of Swami Satchidananda, who was a contemporary of Swami Vishnudevananda (the founder of the Yoga Farm) and they both shared the same guru, Swami Sivananda.

Stephen visits the Yoga Farm multiple times a year. He usually has a concert performance on the opening day of the Teacher's Training Course at the Yoga Farm, a month long course where people train to become teachers of yoga in the Sivananda tradition. The courses are held twice a year in May and in October.

I've sat through several of his concerts here at the Yoga Farm and always find his music inspiring even though the concert has more or less the same format and songs every time. This Thanksgiving, he entertained us with songs such as "In my imagination", "Go for it", "Green City", and some peace chants. About the only one I can recognize on a commercial album is "Green City" which is part of his album titled Stephen Longfellow Fiske.

He shared with the us the inspiring story of Andy Lipkis, whose dream was to plant a million trees, and who at the time didn't have a clue as to how he was going to accomplish it, but then went on to found Tree People.

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Jai Uttal

Yesterday evening at the Yoga Farm, instead of the usual discourse following the evening mediation and chanting, there was a concert by Jai Uttal, a Grammy nominated kirtan musician. He was accompanied by Joss Jaffe on the percussions and Dr. Dennis Chernin. The event must have been well advertised as it was very well attended. The Yoga Farm was packed and there were many familiar faces that I have met over the years -- ex-staff, ex-students, etc. I've only seen the Yoga Farm this packed on events such as Thanksgiving.

Jai Uttal's singing filled the room with a lively energy. The format of the songs was call and response. Between songs, he'd tell us stories from Hindu mythology such as the story of Hanuman. At one point, he was in the middle of a story at a really interesting part of the plot and he asked "Should I finish the story or should I sing?" The crowd was unanimous -- "Sing!", they chorused. On the way out, I bought one of his CDs, but I found that it is really not possible to capture the energy of the moment in a recording.

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Latif Bolat

Yesterday evening at the Yoga Farm, instead of the usual discourse following the evening mediation and chanting, there was a concert by Latif Bolat, a Turkish mystic musician. His instrument was the lute, but when he saw the piano at the Yoga Farm, he chose to play one piece on the Piano; he mentioned that prior to becoming a mystic musician, he was an opera singer.

The music was wonderful. And throughout the performance he provided educational tidbits on what the lyrics meant, and the origins of sufism and the music. One of the interesting things that he mentioned was regarding quarreling with God, while he was discussing his book by the same name. He said that one can quarrel with God only if there is true love; if there is fear, quarreling is suppressed.

Concert at the Yoga Farm: Collective Awakening

Yesterday evening at the Yoga Farm, instead of the usual discourse following the evening mediation and chanting, there was a concert by Collective Awakening, a duo of Martin Klabunde and Wing Man Law. They used several interesting instruments -- an adungu, an agokos, and a djembe, a didgeridoo, and tibetan meditation bowls.

Two of the pieces I found interesting were Nomad (part of the album Portal Opening) and Amore (which was done as just an instrumental as in the reprise version in the album From the Heart).