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The chants on the Kirtan Disc are

  1. ganesha sharanam
  2. om mani padme hum
  3. om namaha shiva
  4. chamudaye kali ma
  5. dirge maharani devi
  6. astanga yoga mantra (vande guru nam)
  7. gayatri mantra
  8. om namo bhagavate
  9. sangye mantra solo by jude hynes
  10. om

The voices are

karen, roger, alex, jude, peter, liana, lou, jo, shenoa, owen, marco, stephen, brenda, debra and karla

Special thanks to Stephen and Kirstan Skelton for helping us get started and teaching us so many songs.

As far as we know these songs are versions of traditional Hindi and Buddhist mantras. We also used contemporary Maori songs in our sessions but have not recorded these.

Special thanks also to artist Stephen Thorpe for making and providing all the labels!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirtan; sacred singing and chanting

In 2003 Yoga Students from the Auckland Yoga Academy helped me create a CD of chants sung at our (then) regular Kirtan circle. I understand Kirtan to be a way to meditate through sound, using song (and laughter).

What is it all about? Within the circle each person holds their own deep spiritual truths. We rejoice in the our ability to share in the holistic experience of honouring spiritual life by singing sacred songs together in a relaxed, non-competitive and non-judgemental environment.

To be honest I thought when I started leading the group ( because the previous leader left town) that it was a little to 'fey' for me, the whole idea of sitting in a circle and chanting for peace. But it became quite an important way for me to connect with other people musically over the year, in a very open-minded and relaxed way.

Most of the people who sang in the group, and who agreed to help make the CD are not singers, and what we have captured on disc is not a bunch of "angels floating in a ray of light"! I'ts more like a group of very grounded , ordinary folk, with voices that reflect their individual personalities, singing together.


To learn more about the Auckland Yoga Academy click here

Make a donation to Operation Shanti

If you enjoy the Kirtan chants we have as free downloads we would love you to make a donation to Operation Shanti, an organisation working with very poor orphans in India. Please read more info on this fabulous initiatve here

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