DAY 7 – Finding Heart in the Darkness

BNK,

The past couple of days we have been feeling a bit under the weather here in our humble abode, and I have been struggling with feeling a lack of connection with my Baba. I think maybe the way of the heart is to find acceptance and love even for the static vibrations of the dis-ease. If we really live life in the spirit of Baba Nam Kevalam then we will treat everything as an expression of the Divine. Not just the moments of Bliss in meditation or the feelings of surrender during Kiirtan. In fact every so called negative propensity of our minds only wants to be recognized. And Dada Pranakrsnanda helped me to understand that instead of trying to push all of our shame, guilt, fear, etc…. deeper into the shadows, we should name them, recognize them and sing Baba Nam Kevalam to them and help to transmute them into their highest expression. I would even go as far to say that we should bring all of the dirt with us in Dhyana and offer it into the light……..

I have a few kiirtans that I havnt been able to finish and I have the idea that I can record my unfinished kiirtans and you can help me to find some other parts…….I’ll try to get a few recorded in the next couple of days……

Baba Nam Kevalam,

LM

DAY 6 – In the Silent Hours of Night

Ahhhhhhh I just wrote a whole big blog entry an somehow when I published it, it got erased……
BNK
Lots to share but its late….Ill try again in the morning…..
ps. I have some new ideas that Ill present in the next couple of days……

New How-to Kiirtan – “A Walk in the Clouds”

NEW Kiirtan by Jagat Bandhu – Brahma Chakra Kiirtan

enjoy!!!!

p.s check out JB’s soundcloud page tons of free Kiirtan.

DAY 4 – The power of Sankalpa

Tonight I was reminded of the power of Sankalpa…… If your a parent you can probably relate to the feeling of being tired and how easy it is to fall asleep with your child at their bedtime (in my case sometimes before my daughter:-)) and how difficult it is to pull yourself out of bed and finish all your meditation…. Well this evening I was faced with the allure of skipping my kiirtan and meditation, but remembering my Sankalpa I got up and experienced a really nice Avarta Kiirtan and meditation.
I find it easy to do all of my lessons when I feel the grace of the Divine, but when the force of Maya is strong and Im not feeling inspired then its only my Sankalpa that keeps me moving towards that goal, infact I would argue that during this inner battle most of my spiritual transformation occurs. It reminds me of the time when I was new to mediation. I was staying in Carbondale Illinois and doing some fundraising at the local University. It was time for evening meditation and I decided to sit down on the bank of a small pond at the campus, little did I know that the mosquitos come out in droves as the sun sets. So soon after I started my meditation I heard the familiar buzz of little mosquitos all around my body, at first I got very agitated and thought to get up and move my practice indoors, but then I looked over at my friend whom I was meditating with and he was as still as a statue. So I thought “let me take my own Sankalpa, I’m not going to move until Im finished my meditation” At first it was very difficult to ignore the little buggers feasting on my flesh, but at a certain point something shifted in my distressed mind and I sunk deep into a state of peace, I no longer felt my body and experienced a very special meditation.

BNK,
LM

DAY 3 – Buddha Loves BNK Kiirtan

A have little experience to share with you…….

The other day as I was into the final day of my personal kiirtan retreat I began to circle the room playing kiirtan. It had been extremely stormy the entire time of my retreat, but finally as I sang Baba Nam Kevalam the sun broke through the clouds and filled the room with a beautiful light. During my retreat I often looked up to notice all of the statues of Indian Deities that made their homes along the top ledge of the studio. But this time as I circled the room I noticed a smile on the faces of the statues and the one the stood out the most was Buddha. I swear that I never noticed such a smile on His face, but as I sang His smile became ever more radiant, until tears of blissful joy streamed down my face. Buddha’s happiness was so real that I felt it fill the room and my heart was overflowing. It was really a great experience for me to have a glimpse into Buddha’s radiant personality. I always thought of buddism as a dry practice devoid of devotion, boy was I wrong :-)……… I love when my ideas are pushed beyond illusion.

BNK,

LM 

New Tune from Jagat Bandhu – In Your Loving Arms

enjoy 🙂

40 Day Kiirtan Sankalpa – Day 2 – Sorry this didn’t get published yesterday…….

BNK,

Just had an inspiring and heartfelt visit from my good friends, Niiranmaya and Ishika from Seattle…… after having some good Satsaunga (spiritual company) I’m really missing having more margi’s around. I live in one of the most beautiful places, surrounded by mountains, rainforest, ocean and streams but without regular satsaunga its easy to get swept away in the lure of material ways, not that the divine isn’t present in all aspects of life but sometimes easier to forget His presence…….

Tonight when I was doing Avarta Kiirtan, I felt that sweet inspiration fill our liitle space and felt so grateful to have such a practice of the heart. Kiirtan really has the power to transmute energy and awaken all of our potential. I’m excited to start sharing some new tunes that have come to me in the past few months and will record and post the tunes with chords. And agian like my last 40 Day Sankalpa I’d love for anyone to email me some kiirtan tunes that you have recorded with the chords and I’ll post them here on the blog for others to enjoy.

I realize that some of the download functionality isn’t working for some of the posts Ill try to get all of those things ironed out in the next few days, my apologies for my lack of attention to these things……. 

More to come 🙂

BNK,

LM

DAY 1 – It’s time for a new kiirtan samkalpa

BNK,

I recently returned from a 3 day personal kiirtan retreat at my friend’s Yoga studio. I was feeling the stress of life keeping me from thriving so I decided to unplug for a few days. Armed with a bag of brown rice, my trusty guitar and a copy of “Idea and Ideology” I left my home on an epic 3 day inner journey. I resolved to practice maximum kiirtan and meditation, do my asanas twice a day, study Baba’s Books, eat 1 simple meal a day and except for kiirtan remain silent.

For anyone who has never experienced a silent retreat I highly highly recommend. It was amazing…. to feel the veil lifted…… and realize how thin the veil really is. Baba is right here with us, within every breathe, it just takes “one step towards Him and He takes 100 steps towards us.”

Well I’ve decided to take up another 40 day Samkalpa. last time my family was away so I had determined to practice kiirtan for 3 hours per day, but this time due to my wonderful family being with me I’m resolving to practicing kiirtan for 45min per day with the intention to share with my family and friends as much as possible. Also Im resolving to write a daily blog entry and connect as many people as possible to kiirtan through sharing kiirtan. Im going to continue to share new kiirtans through audio and video.

More to come……..

BNK,

LM