Kirtan Yoga - Easy Practice For Difficult Age

Many of us have tried to practice popular yoga and have meditated on all kinds of things patiently waiting to enter the sacred space, to rise from our current state of mind and be transported to spiritual bliss - the goal of yoga. But for most of us, it just does not happen .

The exhausting techniques of asana and pranayama can certainly lead us to the greatest heights of spiritual awakening - if only we could practice them strictly in the manner recommended in the classical yoga texts. Let us take for example the prescription to make 80 pranayamas four times a day. Those breathing exercises alone will take very many hours. And if we add meditation and other yoga practices, it appears that we have to devote all of our time if we really want to achieve the final result.

Yoga in today’s hectic way of life

Who today can afford to devote so much time in yoga? In today's hectic life, filled with stress, it is very difficult to isolate and practice yoga in a way we are told in the books.

Fortunately the scriptures have given various spiritual techniques suitable for different times. For the present age, called in the Vedas 'Kali' particularly recommended is the method of kirtan yoga or mantra meditation through sacred chants.

In the basis of this yoga practice lies the Vedic concept of the power of spiritual sound, as a means of transforming consciousness.

Kirtan is central to the system of bhakti - yoga of devotion, described in Bhagavad-gita as the highest form of spiritual realization.

In the 16th century the saint Shri Chaitanya disseminated throughout India the practice of san-kirtan (singing together), making the Vedic mantras available to everyone.

Today, the method of kirtan yoga is becoming more and more popular around the world. In yoga studios, once famous with silent meditation, now we hear the sounding of melodic mantras and they are selling various CDs with prayers. And why not? Kirtan is practical.

Not everyone has the physical stamina to practice common forms of yoga. But even a child can sing.

You open your mouth and let your heart sing. This is blissful and easy to practice. All senses are engaged. Sound is absorbing for the ear and the tongue. You see other singers and perhaps you are looking at the pictures of deities or divine personalities, teachers who have mastered yogic science.

The smell of fresh flowers or incense is often associated with kirtan meditation. Anyone can play cymbals or small drum, or just clap their hands, so that the sense of touch is also employed. One can sit in a meditative pose or get up and dance. Kirtan is filled with experience that is hard to forget.

Through singing, breath is naturally controlled, which is a kind of Pranayama. The mind is easily brought under control simply by focusing on the sound. This is because essentially by singing the Supreme is glorified with carefully passed down from generations mantras - verbal combinations scientifically conceived by the ancients in order to reach direct contact with Divinity.

Kirtan is the only form of yoga that is useful not only for the practitioner, but for all who hear the chanting.

In the early stages of the process of singing, we immediately feel good, purified and calm. As we progress into practice we become purified and deep happiness fills our hearts. Bad habits gradually disappear. Over time chanting heals, nourishes and elates our spirit. It culminates in an overwhelming feeling of love - for God and all living creatures.

A little more than 10 years ago, few were aware of the virtues of kirtan, even in the yoga community. Today, kirtan events attract both yogis and non-yogis. Many people "relax" by listening to CDs with kirtan.

Popular writers explain kirtan mantras with a modern language. In "Chanting: discovering the spirit in sound" for instance, the author Robert Gass writes that kirtan is "singing our prayers, vocal meditation, breath expressed through acoustic tone, and discovering the spirit in the sound ." It reminds us that "religions, armies, tribes and nations, political groups and sports teams, have understood and use the power of singing to touch our collective minds and hearts - for better or worse. Something happens when we sing together, when we choose to devote our voices, energy and hearts to a single song and to one another." His words are like an echo of the ancient Sanskrit texts from India.
 

Thus new kirtan arises: the sages of ancient India call us and we respond to their call, with modern words and rhythms.

Kirtan is a form of yoga through call and response, and we are responding to the wise men, who knew we would do it.

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