Click here to listen to this episode of Spirit Voyage Radio with Ramdesh!
Gurusangat Singh, jazz musician, composer, guitar teacher, and Kundalini yoga instructor, has been developing music for Kundalini Yoga meditations since 2004 and has produced three CDs. In this radio broadcast, he joins Ramdesh to talk about one of her favorite subjects—music and mantra.
Gurusangat reveals that he had been interested in combining music and mantra early on in his Kundalini Yoga practice, and when Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, a brilliant teacher, scholar, Director of Training for the Kundalini Research Institute (and “the guy you ask if you have a question about Kundalini Yoga”) suggested that he create a track to accompany the Miracle Mantra of Guru Ram Das, he decided to pursue the idea. “My priority with this was always to have this rhythm of the mantra and the appropriate rhythm for Naad yoga to be never not present in the music, and to have all the music that was going on really support that.” Gurusangat admits he had to “step back” from his musical impulses as a jazz musician and make things simpler in a way that would really support the mantra.
The Miracle Mantra of Guru Ram Das offers both a slow and a fast track of the mantra (you’ll hear both tracks on this broadcast) as well as a short, compelling lecture about the mantra by Gurucharan. Gurusangat explains that they wanted to provide two options; a track for practitioners who find it too difficult to make one breath last for five repetitions of the mantra, and also one for those who have difficulty keeping up with the pace. Each track has precisely 108 repetitions; the slower the practitioner chants the longer the breath has to last, and faster the practitioner goes, the more accurate the tongue movements must be.
Gurusangat observes that to chant this mantra is to experience the miracle. “The mantras from this series allow us to enter into a space where we perceive the miracles that are already there; the interconnectivity, the synchronicity, and the beauty of being alive and together in this world that’s lost on us when we’re too busy or too crazy. When we use these techniques they help us to see the miracles that are there and then to follow that flow, that path.” As you chant, the mantra automatically slows your breath down, and in an endless cycle you travel from the finite to the infinite.
Ramdesh and Gurusangat then explore his latest album, Hummee Hum Brahm Hum, a mantra that opens and expands the heart; you’ll also hear a portion of Gurucharan’s lecture from the CD. Next is Isht Sodhanna Mantra (better known to many as Dhartee Hai Akasha Hai) The structure of the CD, Gurusangat explains, is the 62 minute meditation with musical markers; if you want to practice for ll minutes there’s a break where the voices drop out for two repetitions; this also happens at 22, 31, and 62 minutes (Gurusangat mixed in about 20 tracks of his own voice surrounding the mantra). Musically, he explains, it’s a very simple loop of his voices surrounding Gurucharan’s voice. The meditative effect is very powerful.
Last, but certainly not least, Ramdesh and Gurusangat discuss the Sodarshan Chakra Kriya meditation, a project he is currently working on, soon to be released. This rather tricky meditation requires the practitioner to hold the breath while pumping the navel. You’ll hear a sneak preview of Gurusangat’s wonderful musical track, which cues the practitioner, helping to “count without counting.”
Whether you’re learning a new mantra, or re-invigorating a practice you’ve been doing for some time, Gurusangat’s beautiful works—paired with the illuminating and instructive lectures by Gurucharan –aid both the beginning and seasoned Kundalini Yoga practitioner in the exploration and deepening of his or her meditation practice.
Gurusangat will be joining GuruGanesha Singh on a West Coast tour in the near future so be sure to check out GuruGanesha.com for their schedule.
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