Kirtan
Even if only a handful of meditations remain from the entire Teaching, but among them there will be the practice of Kirtan — it will lead humanity through the era of change.
Yogi Bhajan
We all live in the same world, but not on the same frequency. A mantra awakens after a certain number of chantings, for each person according to their karma.
When we practice Kirtan together, we balance our frequencies and then raise them together by chanting the holy names. And everyone who sincerely participates in kirtan gets the opportunity to touch, taste, and feel rasa—the emotional-spiritual state that unfolds within—and experience prema—love.
“The names of God, like the bija mantra given by a spiritual teacher, are the Lord Himself. Therefore, in the age of Kali, it is very important to chant His names.”
288 / Voice of Devraha Baba
The name of God is Kirtan
What is kirtan?
Kirtan is a form of spiritual practice that involves congregational chanting of mantras.
Kirtan is an important element of bhakti, the yoga of service, used in many traditions, such as Vaishnava and Buddhist.
The Sanskrit root of the verb kirtta means to chant something loudly so that others can also hear. The related Sanskrit word kirti means “glory.” Thus, kirtan means glorification, and sankirtan means congregational glorification of the Supreme Lord. Sankirtana is the yuga-dharma, or main occupation and attribute of the current age (Kali-yuga).
Kirtan is a very ancient form of yoga. Our highest goal is to become infinitely happy.
A mantra is that which protects the mind. The more we manage to dissolve in the sounds of the mantra, the lighter the mind becomes.
Yoga is what brings the mind to a special state in which a person can go beyond the mind; it is an exalted way of supersensory knowledge.
Kirtan does not require any preparation; your presence is already participation.
Mantra Yoga
If we immerse ourselves in the sound of a mantra, if we dissolve in this sound, then, ultimately, this is a connection with something higher, with the higher consciousness that gave birth to this world, with the love that is at the foundation of this world. And this is available to us through yoga and, above all, through mantra yoga. Through the singing of a mantra.
Mantra is the sound that gave birth to us. And when we merge with this sound, we find ourselves. Ultimately, yoga is a way of knowledge, a sublime way of supersensory knowledge, when a person understands his eternal nature, the nature of a particle of spirit, filled with eternity, bliss and knowledge. When a person understands that he has no worries, that he has nothing to worry or be sad about, that there is only love and that he is meant to love, serve, give.
The problem created by the mind, together with the limitations and worries that the mind brings us, we also get a feeling of our separateness or loneliness, our separation from everything that exists. At the same time, deep inside, we understand that I am not separate, I want to be with everyone, I want to merge with this whole world, I want to merge with other people. People try to gain this experience. In physical fusion, intercourse, in some other forms. We want to merge without losing individuality. This fusion, without losing individuality, is called love.