Kirtan

This evening I had the good fortune of, upon following intuition into a bookstore near my house (a lovely bookstore called Gateways, which is of a spiritual bent), being told of a concert there later in the evening. I came back at the appropriate hour, not having any idea what I was getting myself into. I then spent the next 1.5 hours participating whole-heartedly in my first Kirtan experience. Kirtan, which apparently is Sanskirt for "to repeat", is a form of call and response singing that involves singing mantras and hymns.

What a wonderful introduction to more Hindi! I think this must be the best way to learn! - to sing in call and response.

The musician who led the evening was a White man named Gishi (www.gishimusic.com). He had an incredible voice. He did a wonderful job of introducing each piece, explaining the meaning of some of the Sanskirt words. There are many things I loved about the evening. Notice that I'm not saying concert. This is because this music was so all inclusive that there was really little distinction between him and the audience. The audience did not applaud, which was a new experience for me, and one that I quite enjoyed. I found that this silence after each song really allowed its weight to sink in and for the energy created by the music to continue to percolate. I had never really before considered that applause can abruptly cut the mystical experience of music. I was also amazed by the power of the silence at the end of each mantra, especially that precious moment when the singing stopped but the instrumentation continued to linger just a bit longer.

Another thing I loved about Gishi is that he used an eccelctic repetoire of styles to bring the mantras to life. As he said, "the mantras are fine by themselves." They will not loose their power. If putting them to a hip hip beat brings them to life for us, why not? Or if it's jazz, or rock, or a simple flute or harmonium... the power lies in the words and in our ability to embrace them and make them our own.

Fortunately, Gishi lives in Santa Cruz now so there should be ample opportunities to see him. There's one, in fact, tomorrow evening at Downtown Yoga Shala in San Jose at 8pm. 450 S First St., www.downtownyogashala.com