Gano Chapel, MO


Summer Updates

Tantric Futures Reunion
Kansas City, MO
June 27 - July 4, 2011

The Tantric Futures Reunion was hosted at a beautiful college campus, north of Kansas City, with pristine flower gardens, overlooking lush, rolling green hills.

One of the highlights of the retreat was a workshop based on the 4 different social classes: workers, warriors, intellectuals, and spiritualists. The participants were asked to develop a play based on these social classes. Our group chose the “the warrior”, with a female heroine, and I was asked to develop the theme song for the play.

The music I chose was based on a song I had written about my grandmother years ago – in a Latin, 6/8 time. “Victoria, you don’t know how beautiful you are, Victoria, don’t you know that you’re a shining star…” schmaltzy, but with some depth: "…the muddy waters clear, and the moon appears, go and find it, trust the one who is your guide, open up your heart and mind, pull from the strength inside… let your inner light shine!"

We had great fun creating the story and the characters: Victoria, a disabled woman is ridiculed, and feels hopeless in the world. She meets with her mentor, a Yaqui elder who shows her how to meditate on the mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”. Victoria runs into a situation where two men are harassing a checker at the market. She pulls up the courage and tells them to stop, threatening them with her cane. The men are pressured into leaving. Victoria has found her strength!

I was asked to perform at the cultural program, and chose a set of songs – including the Beatles song "Within You, Without You", with Giita on violin, and Caetanya on the Oud - a lute-like stringed instrument commonly used in the Middle East. We played in the elegant Gano Chapel, an enormous pipe organ as the backdrop.


28th Annual Prabhat Samgiita Retreat
Fayston, VT
August 19-21, 2011

The 28th annual Prabhat Samgiita Retreat was held in Fayston, VT at the home of Ciranjiiva and Parashakti, overlooking a beautiful mountain. The weather was perfect – around 70 degrees. Arun and I led the teaching, and around 50 people attended.

The devotional evening program was filled with subtle stories and songs. Brother Alok read a touching excerpt from his upcoming novel.

The attendees are improving their singing skills, and are understanding the complexity of Prabhat Samgiita more deeply with each passing year. It was wonderful having two acharyas originally from Bengal – the original language of Prabhat Samgiita. They brought humorous stories, and much warmth and support.


Summer Recordings

This summer, I enjoyed participating in several recording projects: Rap/hiphop artist and filmmaker Anadi (Abe Heisler, NY) asked me to sing kiirtan over a project he’s doing with Anadi and Srikala, "Sacred Hip Hop", to be released this year. Anadi also asked Jyoshna and I to produce a Prabhat Samgiita for a short devotional film. Finally, Kamal Krishna (in Kerala, India) gave his assistance in producing the Prabhat Samgiita “Tiny Green Island” for a collaborative, global project Kiirtan for All.