When yoga arrived in the West, it brought its own jubilant soundtrack along for the ride. The practice of chanting sacred mantras from India’s ancient yogic traditions has taken on new life, thanks to the work of adventurous, modern musicians like Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Wah, Snatam Kaur, MC Yogi, Deva Premal, Donna DeLory and others, including guitarist GuruGanesha Singh.
The styles and sounds of modern mantra music are varied, but most have their root in kirtan – call and response chanting. It’s essentially a form of musical meditation. The kirtan wallah, or leader, sings a mantra – a sacred name or phrase – and the crowd sings it back. This process is repeated over and over until everyone is completely blissed-out. The repetition induces a meditative state and the music engages the emotions. It’s a great practice for those who find more passive forms of sitting meditation tedious. Getting up and dancing is encouraged at a kirtan.
The chanting of mantras was already an ancient practice when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (born 1486) popularized the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra in the Indian city of Navadvipa. This particular mantra was revived by the Krishna Consciousness movement that took off in the late 60s and even became a pop hit in 1969, in a version recorded by George Harrison and the Radha Krishna Temple group.
Many of the key artists who established the current mantra music scene are baby boomers who were among the disaffected youth that turned to India in search of enlightenment in the early 70s. Certain gurus seemed to nurture musical as well as spiritual development. Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Bhagavan Das are all disciples of the Hindu master Neem Karoli Baba, who fostered the practice of kirtan as a form of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. Closer to home, future kirtan luminaries like GuruGanesha Singh and Sat Kartar Kaur were direct disciples of the teacher, Yogi Bhajan, who emigrated from India to North America in 1968. He went on to establish Kundalini yoga and launch the Yogi Tea empire. Yogi Bhajan also encouraged musical pursuits among his students. A bhajan is itself a traditional devotional song form.
While Hindu-based kirtan artists like Krishna Das and Jai Uttal sing Sanskrit mantras, the Sikh mantras performed by artists like Snatam Kaur, Nirinjan Kaur and GuruGanesha are sung in Gurmukhi. An encounter with the core Gurmukhi mantra Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das at a Boston yoga class in 1972 started GuruGanesha on the spiritual path. Adopting the Sikh faith, he sang in ashrams for decades, but went into high gear at the dawn of the new century, launching Spirit Voyage records and the career of Snatam Kaur, acting as her manager, guitarist and songwriting partner.
His latest project, the GuruGanesha Band, is an eclectic ensemble blending the diverse sounds of electric and acoustic guitars, sarangi, cello, sitar, tabla and vocals among other enticing sonic flavours. As with many of today’s mantra artists, all the marvels of modern musical expression are marshalled to unlock the blissful healing power inherent in these ancient languages of love and devotion.
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Veteran music journalist Alan di Perna has written for Yoga Journal, Rolling Stone, Guitar World and grammy.com among many other outlets.
April 8 & 9
GuruGanesha Singh and his band perform at St. James Community Square in Vancouver along with guest artist Vancouver’s own Nirinjan Kaur. Tickets/info: www.guruganesha.com. Tickets: Yoga West 604-732-9642, Bound Lotus Yoga, North Vancouver 604-762-2798 and Banyen Books 604-732-7912
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