What is Kirtan?

By fondly repeating His Name... devotees easily become abodes of joy and blessings.
- Sri Ramacaritamanasa.

In Kirtan (KEER-tan) we sing the Divine Name to connect with our own deep inner wisdom and infinite capacity for love. A practice of the Indian devotional path known as Bhakti-Yoga, Kirtan is singing the various names of the One in a call and response format. It is said that these ancient chants already dwell within our hearts. When we sing, we reawaken the timeless collective song of the Self; Divine Light manifests as sound and we remember Who We Are. Through repetition of the Name we immerse ourselves in the bottomless lake of immortal unconditional love that even when we forget its existence, is never absent. Reconnecting with its presence is the ultimate wisdom.

When we see the beauty of our own being we are seeing the beauty of the Being that is the One of which we are all a part. And when we turn towards that One, love is the natural reaction of the heart. - Krishna Das.

Singing as a community, we support each other in our continual search to remember our Divine nature. Even as we howl our individual hunger for connection, we hear and support each surrounding heart that breaks only because we’ve forgotten that it’s the Divine’s dwelling place. Over time the chants’ vibrations gradually dissolve the walls separating us from our souls and from each other. As we sing our passion and joy, hearts soften and relax into love’s boundless ocean; individual voices merge into One single ecstatic voice of universal being.

Bhakti Yoga brings us into the realm of mystery, a realm where the dissecting, discerning qualities of the intellect are powerless next to the vast ocean of feelings. Like all Yoga, the goal of Bhakti is union, oneness with the Supreme. But in Bhakti we don’t think about the goal, we only weep, laugh, cry, sing and dance with our Beloved. - Jai Uttal

Singing Kirtan requires no previous experience, knowledge of Sanskrit or understanding of esoteric Yoga texts. Although Kirtan is a Bhakti-Yoga practice, there’s no need to ascribe to any particular belief system, religion or spiritual practice. No musical talent or expertise is required - you don’t even need to sing if you prefer not to. Simply sitting in the presence of the Name with an open heart and absorbing the sacred sounds will evoke the collective memory of Divine being.

I bow to the lotus feet of my Guru, who is an ocean of mercy and is no other than Sri Hari Himself in human form, and whose words are sunbeams as it were for dispersing the mass of darkness in the form of gross ignorance. - Sri Ramacaritamanasa.