Benjy Wertheimer & John De Kadt - Shivaratri

About Benjy Wertheimer:
Benjy Wertheimer is an award-winning musician, composer, vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist equally accomplished on tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar and keyboards. He has been a student of Indian classical music for over 40 years, sitting with some of the greatest masters of that tradition. He and his wife Heather have been leading kirtan (sacred chanting) worldwide since 2001 as the duo Shantala. Benjy is also a producer, engineer, and studio session musician.
shantalamusic.com/benjy/

About John De Kadt:
ohn de Kadt is an internationally acclaimed percussionist, poet, and storyteller. John plays ethnic percussion instruments from across the globe and has a passion for spoken word, whether it’s in poetry, song, rap, or story. John is also well known for his mellow, instrumental, healing arrangements. He plays with kirtan artists worldwide and is a founding member of the well-known devotional group The Hanumen. Motivated by a love of the earth, community, and wisdom traditions, John’s poetry and story stirs the heart and awakens us towards a remembrance of ourselves and the wildness of the natural world.
www.johndekadt.com/

#music #Benjy-Wertheimer #John-De-Kadt #Indian-classical-music #percusion #sacred-chants #world #ethnic

Adi Shakti - Bhakti Mantra

”Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Namo Namo
Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Namo Namo
Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Namo Namo
Kundalini Mata Shakti, Mata Shakti, Namo Namo.”

Mantra meaning and translation in English:
”First force of all creation, to You I bow
Divine force, everywhere, to You I bow
Creative force, primal force, to You I bow
Rising up, Divine Mother, to You I bow.”

#music #sacred-chants #Ajeet-Kaur #healing-chants

Ajeet Kaur ⋄ Sacred Waters ⋄ Kundalini yoga meditations ⋄ Relaxation ⋄ Balance and radiance

Question: Your first CD, Sacred Waters, has received extremely positive reviews. You have selected 3 mantras for this CD. Why did you choose these mantras?

Whenever anyone asks me how I chose the mantras, I have to say I didn’t really choose them. Like everything that Kundalini Yoga teaches, the universe just presented them to me to share. I was teaching a yoga class and I was looking for something on majesty. The Sat Nayaran meditation works for majesty and I fell in love with that mantra. I composed the music and went into class and taught it. It was very much on the spot, since it seemed like a great melody that was very simple and didn’t take away from the meditation. All these shabds are about letting go and letting the flow take over. The process of making this CD was all part of that flow.

I started to chant the Narayan Shabad as a way to take it deeper. I love the theme of water, which just washes things away. I was loving my daily practice of Sat Narayan and I thought that if I practiced the shabd everyday, that would take it a little deeper. The melody just seemed to make its way there and it stuck.

Gobinda is often translated as “sustainer”, but it also represents the water element, so it has a similar vibration as the other tracks. The entire CD works on washing away whatever doesn’t serve us anymore. Gobinda organically found its way into this project, since I had written it much earlier in time. I was walking out of the gurdwara one day and just started singing the tune. I added the shabd part into that song later on, and the English is just the translation of the shabd. This shabd is the first part of a prayer called Bayntee Chaupaee by Guru Gobind Singh. It is from the evening prayer, Rehiraas, which balances the water element.

#music #sacred-chants #water #element #Ajeet-Kaur