Comment

Comment by Joyraj Kalita on February 22, 2012 at 4:29am

Borgeet is a devotional form of music created by 15th Century reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva of Assam. Here is a link to listen Borgeet http://soundcloud.com/tiku-1/narayon-kahe-borgeet

Comment by Judith Bruni on July 17, 2011 at 12:12am

I love your comments. Sonia, what a way to start your career in music! Oh to really hear the music of the spheres....

I belong to a choir, and there is great joy in this. Most of the music is quite poppy though, I should really love to tackle some of the great religious works, but one of our members would leave if we did that, as his views are very strong. This is sad, because as some say, God has the best tunes. Some church music is sublime and a true expression of that which is deep within us.

Comment by Sonia Dunbar on May 5, 2011 at 6:57pm

Prem & Deirdre,

I want to echo my agreement!  I became a musician because of an experience of being 6 years old, looking at a gorgeous pipe organ and hearing my congregation singing a line about the "music of the spheres."  As only a child could, I knew exactly what the words meant and knew that I had to become a musician. 

 

We need to sing, play instruments, clap hands, let out whoops and zaghreets, express ourselves ecstatically with the joy of being in the Presence and present.  My Protestant congregation has earned the nickname "The Singing Congregation" and our music director begins each practice with the intent: "Let us serve God through music."

 

That's my wish, too. 

Comment by Jag Lall on May 5, 2011 at 6:39pm

Music is boundless and I have found it a fantastic form of expression to help bring about a positive change and reflection to the listener.

Comment by Alona Diaz Dizon on April 27, 2011 at 1:54pm

Greetings!

One of my spiritual places is my place I called "My Sanctuary of Music"

Music heals, Music calms the soul, and Music makes one happy.

I thank God for giving me songs to write and sing.  It's my way of expressing my soul and to honor God.

Love, Peace, Joy!

Alona

Comment by Deirdre Pulgram Arthen on March 21, 2011 at 1:21pm

Prem,

What a wonderful rant! I too long for us all to sing together and agree that we don't do it nearly enough. I find that singing or dancing with a group - large or small - nurtures my heart and spirit in ways that nothing else does. It is at the core of human expression and can carry us far beyond our intellectual perceptions and differences. Were you at the Parliament, in Melbourne? At the end of the Youth Plenery, my daughter Isobel (can't help bragging just a little) stood on the stage, sang a song of healing and hope, and invited all who were there to join her. The words went up on a screen and, believe it or not, a lot of people did actually join in! It felt wonderful.

There is so much joy and connection and harmony within us -- I agree, let's share it and spread it everywhere! We sure do need it. 

Blessings and peace, Deirdre

Comment by Prem Lancaster on February 19, 2011 at 1:32pm

As a sacred musician I have a small musical rant to get off my chest ; ) I think that the power of devotional group singing is totally under-utilized across the board. Almost every Interfaith service/gathering I have attended in the last year includes sacred music from various traditions...but only on CD or through a solo performer. As a facilitator of kirtan and Dances of Universal Peace, I have found that people (in the West anyway) are very, very critical of their own voice and (too often) unwilling to sing loudly or at all. Time to move out of the head and into the heart! It's not American Idol people!!! The heart doesn't care if you have perfect pitch or if you can even carry a tune! It is not about great musicality, it is about great feeling...music is the divine language that transcends all cultures and beliefs and is a wonderful gift that needs to be celebrated daily, our souls long to sing! So we need to get singing...and not just in the shower. We need to spread the healing tonic of our joyous voice throughout the land!!! Thanks for providing a forum for me to let that go Dierdre! I feel much better now : )

Comment by Dr Jayesh Shah on January 3, 2011 at 2:43am

Divine Musical Offering

The musician and the raga are like the priest and the deity. Each morning as the musician sits down to practice, the soulful lyrics and the rhythm rouses the raga's divine force — quite
like the ceremonial prayer performed in a temple to `awaken' the deity.

Like the priest, the musician first purifies his own mind, body and soul and seeks his guru's blessings before he begins to sing. As the temple precincts
are washed before the daily prayer ritual, the place where the riyaz is performed each day is cleansed
likewise. The priest first 'calls' the deity, what is known as the 'aavahan', with mantras and invites Him
to be seated in the idol. While bathing the idol, and before starting the puja, the priest decorates the idol with
vermillion, ash, sandalwood and silk cloth. So does the musician, as he
concentrates within himself and sings the initial movements of the raga in deep
devotion, invoking the deity of the raga
, rousing it awake.

To the chanting of mantras, the priest `appeases' the divinity present in the idol, treating God as guest, and offering, one by one, water, milk, honey,
perfume, flowers, incense, sweets and fruit, and the light of the oil lamp.
Similarly the musician now mouths the lyric like a mantra, appeasing the raga's
deity by awakening its mandala or
mystic svara configuration, note by
note, to compose cyclical musical movements in the raga.

As the paragraphs of the raga are sung, in cycles of initiation, elaboration, and conclusion, they expand its
presence and aura, giving it life and a spiritual extension and reach. This is
called aalaap—from aalaapanaa or expansion -- when the
notes, along with spaces between them, create a heightened presence of the
raga's divine presence. The raga's
veneration is of the Lord, in the process awakening cosmic love, both in the
musician who is singing and in the listener who is present. The word 'raga', means 'love'.

The priest then narrates the story of the Lord, to the deity, chanting the many names of God. The puja ritual
intensifies to a climax as the mantra chanting goes on, and the Lord is fanned
amidst the ringing of bells and the blowing of conches. At which point the Lord
begins to shower His blessings on all. In the same way, the raga, too, reaches
an ecstatic peak, pitch or crescendo when the musician intensifies its story,
composed from its own inner nature into paragraphs of the aalaap, unfolding its intense beauty and loving nature.

Composing in the raga is a very specialized task. The prabandha , composition or structural arrangement of all three—raga, tala, and bandish or lyric, is in unison, and the musician composes pieces which are expanding
wholes within wholes, inevitably evolving geometries of musical dialogue with
the Self. Each paragraph has assonance and variation by way of contrast, but it
also artfully formulates constant answers or resolutions, only to continue the
process into the next paragraph or cycle of composition. Both processes are the
externalization of the intense internal process going on.

In the temple the priest now symbolically showers the consecrated water on all those present and so, too, with the raga. The musician who has achieved laya or union with the divine core of
the raga, symbolized by the heightened 'drut'
or fast portion of the singing, now showers the blessings of musical prasad on the audience.

Comment by mahanbir singh on December 28, 2010 at 2:36pm

music is language o f soul. when u sing praises of God you enjoy the Ecstasy in sikh religion music is an integral part of the divine poetry. The holy book of sikhs is called sri guru granth sahib. sikhs believe it to be a living guru. This holy book has 1430 pages and contains divine poetry of 6 sikh gurus and 25 other devortees including hindus and muslims. every poem is set in a particualr ragas. there are 31 ragas in which the whole holy book is written and composed. singing of praises is the main material of this holy book plus instructions  about ideal life.This book is translated into English and can be read with the meanings of the scripture  on web sites like sri granth.org  Sikhs call the singing as keertan. this forms the part of holy worship of Formless God.

Comment by Marilyn Louise Copeland on December 10, 2010 at 9:08pm

Hello  Deidre,  Thanks for starting this group.  Music, singing, chanting & toning are very much the universal language of the heart.  I have recently been making up my own chants especially when out driving in the car. They just pop into my head and I chant them over & over.   I used to try & remember them but now I realise whatever comes in the moment of being open in the heart is just right for that day.  I don't have to remember it. There will always be a flow of music ready to rise up from my heart.  I also use Tibetan Bowls ( metal ones) which I find take me into a meditative state quite quickly & change energy patterns.   Next I would love to get a crystal bowl .  They sound so amazing. A whole room fills with the sound and the vibrational quality is sublime.

Marilyn

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