News of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, the Women's Circle in Sitges and more.....

This month at the women's circle I talked about my experience with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and the wisdom they share/d. The donations we collected at the circle went to help the Grandmothers get to Brazil. It was especially lovely to have a circle of 13 women. Many of the women came for the first time, young women, a pregnant woman and even a few grandmother's were part of the circle.

Someone asked if the Grandmothers had much to say about the future. All the Grandmothers (and many other spiritual leaders) from many different traditions are saying that the most important thing is the present--the now. We need to pray in whatever way we are comfortable with, stay grounded in ourselves and be at peace with the environment and others. We need to stay present and be aware of all that is going on around us to avoid getting lost in the chaos we see and experience.

Starting this Tuesday October 18th (until the following Monday the 24th) the 10th International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers is being held in Brasilia, Brazil in honor of Grandmothers Maria Alice Campos Freire (who I've "studied" with,) Clara Shinobu Iura and the peoples of Mapia and Brazil. By lighting a candle with them in heart and mind we can connect to this event.

From their website:

“Gratitude and joy are the words that come out to express what it is to be hosting the 10th Gathering of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, here in Brazil, in South America. When we look at what is unfolding in this preparation, we can see the prophecies becoming reality, and we feel so humbled." “We, as the people of the South, naturally were guided to dedicate our gathering to the Water. And we can witness the flow of this sacred element designing the event. The prophecy says about the encounter of the eagle and the condor as a sign of the New Time. This is the first of our gatherings that is going to happen in the condor's land and, as the time is approaching, we see the different expressions of native people from South America making signs, joining us, here in Brazil for this sacred moment, when we will host the people from the eagle's land." — Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire

Our next women's circles here in Sitges are:

*Saturday, November 12th, 4:30 until 7:30pm
at C/Escolas Pias, 17, 2º 1ª, Sitges

*Saturday, December 17th, 4:30 until 7:30pm
location to be arranged

* Special Circle for Winter Solstice ,Thursday December 22nd
time and location to be arranged

In the morning, before the next two circle meetings I will be participating in a crafts fair here in Sitges where I will have my ceramics, knitware by my mother and traditional Mayan/Mexican ritual incense (Copal sticks) for sale. Many local craftswomen will be offering lovely items. For more information visit Cinnamon Cafe.

Hope to see you at these events or at the Snatam Kaur concert in Barcelona on Saturday October 29th. Tickets can still be purchased at Shunia Yoga, Sicilia 236 bis. 08013 Barcelona, T. 93 265 89 26

For the 9th year, I attended the Kundalini Yoga Festival in France. This international event takes place in the beautiful countryside. It was such a blessing to walk on earth (instead of paved roads) for the 8 days of the festival.

I furthered my studies of Sat Nam Rasayan with Guru Dev Singh, played percussion with Sada Sat Kaur (here is a small portion that was captured on video), in the bazaar I sold all the ceramics I brought, made new friends and saw old ones from all over the world.

There were 2,500 people in attendance this year, the biggest ever. Most of them use the camp-site. Since I'm not a camper, I usually stay in a small shared room and use the communal bathrooms. However, this year since I didn't register early enough, the first 3 nights I was in a dorm room with 49 other women. Since I was first on the waiting list for a smaller room, I ended up in the chateau where the VIPs stay. It had a private bathroom with only 3 other women, one from Brazil, a Swiss woman and another from New Mexico. I was very grateful for how that worked out.

It's a 10 to 12 hour drive from where I live to the festival, but the time passes quickly with good friends. The French countryside is so beautiful and the highways are much better than in Spain. This is a photo I took where we stopped for our picnic lunch on the way home.

My Youtube channel

I spent today creating a youtube channel so I could share videos I've taken of friends and friends have taken of me. There's lots of mantra music and a bit of mantra in movement there. Have a look when you get the chance. The channel is named with my spiritual name, Gurubachan Kaur ,which, in gurmukhi, means the princess that brings the message of the teacher.

Krishna Das Concert

Chanting with Krishna Das was like polishing the mirror of my heart till it shined and laughed with tears of longing for the Beloved. KD is also an excellent storyteller. His sense of humor and humility are very moving.It was an honor to help my friends who organized the event. Here they are, Shawn and Kirana in the above photo singing an old gospel song translated into Spanish with KD. Hear some of it here.

Krishna Das in Barcelona

Friends of mine have organized Krishna Das' workshop and concert in Barcelona. I'm honored to have the opportunity to help them out. Krishna Das is a great story teller as well as a mantra musician. The workshop Tuesday afternoon with be a heartfelt, amusing music and story-filled event. I hope to see you there. Tickets are still available for both events.

Kirtan

WHAT IS KIRTAN?
Simply stated, kirtan is the chanting of mantras often accompanied by music.

The word Kirtan comes from Sanskrit. It means "to glorify." It comes from the Hindu practice of chanting the name of the divine in all its forms. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a text said to have been written in the 2nd century BC, Patanjali speaks of the importance of chanting "Om" and doing "japa"--repetition of the names of God. Many religions and spiritual traditions celebrate the divine through chanting, for example, Sufi orders chant as well as Sikhs and Buddhists.

"Mantra" is another sanskrit word that can be divided into two words: "mana," meaning the mind, and "tra" which means "to deliver." Mantra delivers the mind from mundane thoughts to a state of deeper more instinctive or spiritual consciousness. Chanting mantras is a powerful meditation technique not tied to one religious or spiritual belief.

Because chanting is a great way to clear the mind of thoughts, the practice of Kirtan continues to gain popularity in the West.

HOW I GOT INTERESTED IN KIRTAN

Before I knew what kirtan was, I learned to play middle eastern percussion to deepen my understanding of the rhythms for my belly dancing. I played dumbek, or "darbukah" as it is called outside of the USA, finger cymbals and later I became interested in the frame drum. A master of the frame drum, Layne Redmond , introduced me to Kirtan at a percussion retreat. She is also the author of When the Drummers were Women.
Layne was inspired to add rhythm to the mantras by her experience as a yoga teacher. Studying with her inspired me to learn more about kirtan and mantra music.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH KIRTAN

For years now, I've been playing percussion and chanting with friends at the Integral Yoga Center in St. Pere de Ribes during our Friday evening kirtan. I find playing the frame drum to be incredibly soothing because its vibration moves from outside in and chanting vibrates from inside back out.

I was drawn to Kundalini yoga because of its connection to mantra music and being a dancer, moving to music in a yoga class felt natural to me. When I eventually became a yoga instructor, two very accomplished Sikh kirtan musicians, Gurudass Singh and Gurudass Kaur administered my Kundalini yoga teacher training.

For the past 8 years I've had the honor of playing percussion with many of my favorite mantra artists at the annual 3HO Kundalini Yoga Festival in France. In these photos, I'm playing with Gurudass Kaur for the "whole camp mantra" and also with Sada Sat Kaur who was premiering mantras from her latest CD, Mantra Masala.

I've attended concerts arranged by people I know in the local yoga community of the most well known Western kirtan artists, Snatam Kaur and Krishna Das. I'm looking forward to a workshop and concert with Krishna Das here in Spain. His last concerts and workshop here were tremendously inspiring.

To watch some of these artists in action, visit my youtube channel.

In closing, I wanted to share a related quote I found on my friend Girish's website by Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji--a Hindu guru who left his body in 1973. Many contemporary Mantra musicians like Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Girish studied with or have been influenced by him:

"Constant repetition of God's name, with or without pious feelings, even in anger or lethargy, brings out his grace in the form of bliss all around."