Sunday, December 2, 2007

Call to Silence and Opening Meditation

Om Namah Shivaya is known as the great redeeming mantra also known as five-syllable mantra. It means “I bow to Shiva.” Shiva is the supreme reality, the inner Self. It is the name given to consciousness that dwells in all. Shiva is the name of your true identity, your self. According to Hindu mythology there are three Gods who run this creation: the Brahma, who creates the universe, the Vishnu, who preserves the Universe and the Shiva, who in the end destroys the universe. Among the three deities, Shiva, though considered as destroyer, also symbolizes the inner self which remains intact even after everything ends. In this mantra the chanter (one who repeats the mantra) bows to Shiva: his or her true self. Om Namah Shivaya.

(http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCorner/techniques/Om_namah_shivaya.htm)

Introductory Reading

Kirtan--chanting the many names or mantras of the Gods and Goddesses--is perhaps the most important technique in Bhakti yoga. Although the practice itself is very simple, the internal process that it stimulates is vast and mysterious. Externally, we’re just singing repetitive songs with simple melodies and a few Sanskrit words. We’re asked to try to put our analytical minds to the side (easier said than done), and sing from our hearts. We’re told that whatever emotion we’re feeling, even anger, can be passionately channeled into the song. We’re told that it doesn’t matter the slightest bit what our voices sound like. Then the magic happens. Walls constructed long ago come crumbling down. Wounds that we never knew were there begin to heal. Long submerged emotions, both joy and sorrow, come to the surface to be offered up into the chant. And somehow, effortlessly, we move into a meditative state that creates a safe, calm haven for the flower of the heart to unfold. Whether or not we understand the meanings of the words, these chants become vessels to carry our deepest unspoken prayers to the infinite soul of God.

One of the amazing things about Kirtan as a practice is that it welcomes any mood or emotional condition. We can sing softly, like a mother to her baby. We can sing sensually, as if to a lover. And we can sing with the powerful energy of an angry warrior. Our whole being is offered. Whoever we are at any given time, whether happy or sad, shining with light or hidden in darkness, our prayers are perfect in the eyes of unconditional love. Finally, one who embraces the path of Bhakti very quickly stops doing these practices to get anything or feel anything. Rather, the Kirtan becomes an outpouring of love and emotion to the beloved, an unburdening, an offering . . . Truly, the essence of Bhakti is surrender, offering our individual selves to the great ocean of pure consciousness, gently resting in the loving embrace of the Divine Mother, saying, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

The Songs: The Sanskrit words that we sing in these Kirtans are mantras, or divine names. A mantra can be thought of as a sonic embodiment of the supreme being who, through grace, takes infinite recognizable forms. When touched by the blessings of an enlightened master or the longing of a pure heart, these mantras become fully alive and have the power to carry us back to the One, the universal heart. These ancient words hold within them the very presence of the deity; they are prayers, they are vessels for our prayers, and they are that One to whom we are praying. The chants don’t tell stories and aren’t actual sentences. Rather, they are like simple road maps to help the mind leap from mental remembrance into the deepest heart essence, where we actually meet and commune with that being who is the source of all. And, really, it’s okay if we don't fully understand the translations or pronunciations. Through these simple Kirtans, we can communicate with our hearts, with our souls; we can cry, we can laugh, we can dance.

(Jai Uttal, “Kirtan! The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant,” Sounds True, 2003)

First Kirtan

“Sita Ram Sita Ram Sita Ram Jay Sita Ram”
Sita is the infinite Goddess, the Divine Mother, the embodiment of devotion and loyalty, the bestower of all blessings, the daughter of the earth in eternal union with Ram. Sita is an incarnation of Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity and abundance. She is thought of as the Kundalini Shakti, or power of God, residing within and all around us. Ram is the infinite, all-pervading supreme being, an embodiment of dharma, truth, the protector of the earth. Ram is an avatar of Vishnu, Lord and protector of the created universe, the one who preserves the stability of the worldly and heavenly realms, the supreme consciousness. . . Jay is translated as glory to, victory to. Sita and Ram are recognized as the divine couple, the union of male and female, lord and devotee, microcosm and macrocosm, Atma and Paramatma, Kundalini and Shiva (consciousness).
Approximate translation: Glory to Sita and Ram.

Second Kirtan

“Nataraj Nataraja Jay Shiva Shankara Nataraja Shivaraj Shivaraja Shambho Shankara Shivaraja Om Namah Shivaya Namah Shivaya”
Lord Shiva is the cosmic energy of change and transformation, the fire that burns away all that stands between us and freedom. He is the absolute pure consciousness, the embodiment of auspiciousness. He is known as the Lord of time, of dreams, of the unconscious mind, of ghosts, of death. He is the exhale that creates room for the inhale. He is destruction that opens up the way for rebirth. Creation, preservation, and destruction happening every moment. When we sing to Shiva, we offer ourselves to Him to be cleansed, purified, transformed, liberated. We offer our sense of separateness, our ego-driven self-will to the will of the divine. Nataraja means Lord or King (raja) of the dance (nata). This is an epithet of Shiva, referring to his tandava, his ferocious dance of fury which causes the entire world to crumble into dust. This is the auspicious and sometimes frightening clearing away of the old to make way for the creation of the new. Shivaraja means Lord or King Shiva. Shankara is an epithet of Shiva, meaning “the annihilator.” Shambho is another epithet of Shiva. Om is the cosmic sound, the sacred syllable, the core sound of creation, preservation, and destruction. Namah Shivaya is translated as: I bow to, I surrender to, I honor, I offer myself unto Shiva, the great Lord of yogis and of transformation, the indwelling higher self.
Approximate translation: Lord of the dance, Lord of the dance, glory to Shiva, glory to the annihilator, the Lord of the dance, Lord Shiva, Shambho, Shankara. Lord Shiva please perform your tandava dance of annihiliation upon the demons of ignorance and ego within me! Please grant me liberation. Om, I bow to Shiva. Thy will be done.

(Jai Uttal, “Kirtan! The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant,” Sounds True, 2003)

Call to Conversation

Closing Reading

A reading from the Gospel of Mary (trans. Karen King)

The soul replied, saying, “What binds me has been slain, and what surrounds me has been destroyed, and my desire has been brought to an end, and ignorance has died. In a [wor]ld, I was set loose from a world [an]d in a type, from a type which is above, and (from) the chain of forgetfulness which exists in time. From this hour on, for the time of the due season of the aeon, I will receive rest i[n] silence.”


We ask for your thoughts/comments to continue our Sunday conversation. Thank you.