we are pleased to inform you that we have added to the broadcast one new single Austrian group ELIEM - AVATAR.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
New albums
Dear all,
we are pleased to inform you that we have added to the broadcast four new albums. The first one is is hot new - album of Wienananda - Pure Joy. Second one is - Vilamba - Will you come to Cabella?, third is CD of Iranian Yogis - The Breeze of Hope and the last one is album Nirmal Darbar - vol.1 .......
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Meditation and Play
When in January the postman arrived and handed me an amazing CD with children´s songs, I received it with a big smile and joy. I love these recordings with the feel of innocence, purity and bubbling joy. The album is called Meditation and Play and the coordinator of this beautiful project is yogini Sia Reddy. The recording is aimed for parents with young children aged up to five and it offers one special feature, which I haven´t found on other CD´s so far - the possibility to sing together with the children only to instrumental music, to teach them Sahaja yoga techniques and to meditate with them. I asked Sia to tell us more about the album.
Sia, can you introduce yourself to us briefly?
I am originally from Austria, 40 years old and mother of three. I studied Music and French and even though I have worked in offices since we moved to the UK, my heart was always with Music. In 2007, the idea of M&P came up and I wrote a few children's songs for the album (all other songs have already been around). I always felt that music was a wonderful way of teaching children how to meditate. Combined with some actions, they take to it in a playful manner. Since one year I am teaching violin, piano and recorder from home and am always keen to be involved in Sahaj music projects.
How did you get the idea of recording this album for children? Where did it come to exist and who helped you?
A Yogini sister, Kate. H., a dear friend, and myself had the idea of starting a Meditation class for children under 5 and their parents in Maidenhead, the town where we live and where Shri Mataji even came for a visit a few years ago. As we were not quite sure how to go about planning classes that would be full of art, music, movement and also information material for the parents, we sent out an email inviting Yogis/inis all over the world to join in and help out. And so “Meditation and Play” and its lovely Email forum with over 200 members was born, a lovely Sahaj community of people interested in sharing materials, ideas and also reports from Events for Children all over the world. It is a great number of people who has collaborated on this project, many of whom have never met in person but communicated over the net. Each and everyone had his input and his say. If I think back how long it took for example until we finally decided on the logo and its colours….it was months! But what incredible joy whenever we talk, chat – sometimes for hours on skype to work out little things regarding layout, text correction etc etc..
This album is extraordinary in the way that it contains two versions of your songs – first a song sung with lyrics and then its instrumental version, which enables the parents and their children to sing it. It is a great idea. How did you find out and what did you follow with it? The booklet and CD were produced for Meditation and Play classes really, as an introduction book for parents to teach them the basics of Sahaja Yoga Meditation, but also full of colourful pictures to each song for the kids to enjoy. It is a course book really, a tool for Yogis/inis to use when running classes in order to get them started. When I saw German children’s CDs which included also “instrumental only” or “sing-along” tracks, I thought this would be a great idea for our project as the person running the class might not play an instrument but might want to sing him- or herself. It has also proven handy for people in other countries like France who have written their own words to the instrumental tracks. Now that we are starting to produce the CD in other languages – we have already recorded the German version, but this time with 19 children singing compared to 4 on the original English version- we can use the instrumental tracks and only need to record the vocals!
The idea to make a booklet and CD - the CD has an amazing attachment – texts, chords, instructions, treatments and so on. I have never seen anything like it so far. It is like some kind of "working” cd for children, there is a lot parents can use to teach and lead their children. Did you have the intention to produce this book with the cd already at the beginning?The production of the CD and its accompanying booklet has been an amazing experience! It all started with a vision. Well, a desire first, born out of the need for something. Then a vision. All throughout the project, we held on to our vision, the vision to create something that would not only be used by ourselves but that could be useful for many others who are interested in running M&P classes but do not know how to go about it. In the end, the product was even more professional than we ever expected it to be, thanks to all those Sahaja Yogis/inis who shared their expertise, knowledge and mostly their time to bring it all together. And we thank all the people of the Sahaja Yoga World Foundation who have made production, copy right protection and distribution possible.
What would you recommend to parents while using and playing this beautiful recording?Parents as well as people organizing Meditation and Play classes may use the booklet and CD in any way they like. If you would like to follow the songs from beginning to end though, you will notice that the CD is divided into three parts; a Meditation part in the beginning, which takes you through the actual Meditation part of a session (usually held in the beginning), the Activity Part, which – again – accompanies the second part of a M&P class in which we dance, create art or sing, depending on what the subject it – and the third part which is useful for evening meditation at home including massage, foot soak and lullabies. The CD ends with a few lullabies and finally a long tampura sound in case Mums decide to put on the last few tracks to put their children to sleep.
Where can parents buy it?
As the World Foundation has generally stopped producing more CDs, all copies that are left over are with me at the moment. I am not sure if and how we will be able to produce more. My desire would be that English speaking countries like Australia, America, Canada, South Africa and also India produce CDs and booklets locally, independently and look after their distribution. India’s NITL has already expressed interest in it. We are not worried about any royalties as we do not keep any money from the project for ourselves, but I personally hope that 1 Euro, Pound or whatever currency we are talking about is kept aside per copy in order to support local M&P classes, recordings etc. That would be, you could say, our “Condition”. So far, we have been able to pay the two recording engineers with the money we had extra. Our next need would be a website that can be used by everyone running a class.
Also, I am still hoping that more countries will record the M&P CD and translate the booklet into different languages like we did in German. It is great fun, plus everything is already there to use(the CD design, booklet design, instrumental recording etc), all that is needed is someone overseeing the actual recording of the children singing. Another thing we need to look into is to try selling the CD and booklet in bookstores. I simply had not had the time or the connections to get this sorted out. Maybe someone else can help out there? Thank you so much for inviting me to write/say a little something about Meditation and Play!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tim Bruce - The Mantra Book Audio Part.2
Rightfully we can ask you as our teacher – how can we master this way of pronunciation and mantra recital, what would you recommend for us to study? Good pronunciation begins with good listening – not only with your ears but with your whole subtle system. As I mentioned earlier, Sanskrit is the language of the Kundalini, so be very sensitive to the vibrational response She gives to the sounds of the mantras. As far as recordings go, I would be very cautious of ‚Brahmin‘ versions of the mantras. I often find they catch on right Muladhara and have no devotion or beauty of expression at all. Their business is priest-craft. Better listen to devotional musical versions of the mantras where the heart and Spirit speak forth. Either Sahaj artists such as Subrahmaniam or the great masters of Indian Classical vocal music such as Rajan Misra. Alternatively, we ran a mantra pronunciation class at the Nirmal Arts Academy this year in Cabella which proved very popular. If the desire is there, I could always come to Czech and run some workshops!
On your website I found, apart from Bhagavad Gita and Shri Ganesha Atharva Shirsha, also a recital of the sacred Shri Kungika Stotram mantras. What benefits do these bring to the one reciting them?Complete bhakti and feeling completely dissolved in the bliss of that bhakti. It's like a blessing from Shri Shiva. When we enter into that state, it is pure Spirit.
Could we look forward to another project you might prepare in the future to help sahajayogis improve their spiritual growth?
We have just set up a recording studio in my home which will make it much easier to play with ideas and make them a reality. There are a number of ideas in the pipeline: for example, a sung musical CD of all the mantras for all the Nine Nights of Navaratri (probably in the style of the full musical version of the Devi Kavach). Other sacred texts such as the Shri Kundalini stuti stotram, Shri Suktam, Shiva kavach etc. I would love to make audiobooks of texts of spiritual interest such as Kabir, Kahlil Gibran, the Devi Mahatmyam, Ed Word's ‚Oakee Doakee‘ for children, Blake's prophetic books such as ‚Jerusalem‘ and so many more! Then we should encourage yogis to create much more original writing. We have a whole new Sahaj Culture to manifest and develop!!
In 1995 a beautiful ten-part documentary about Sahaja yoga called ‚Experiment with the Truth‘, which was shot in the Czech Republic, came to existence. You as a guide voiced all its parts, how do you remember this work now, more than 16 years later?
Wow! That was the first big Sahaj TV project and people are still getting Self-realisation from it. Even now I get approached by new yogis from all over the world asking me whether i'm ‚that voice from the TV series‘. Believe it or not we voiced the whole series in two days. Actually one and a half days! The vibrations were incredibly intense and working with Gunter was a great joy as we have a similar sense of humour! We are still working together to this very day on TEV's production of William Blake. When I came out of the studio I was so tired that unfortunately I hardly noticed beautiful Prague. I only remember the wonderful light that played upon the water as I looked down from St Stephen's bridge and the wonderful creative energy coming from the river. But I was in complete bliss. Luckily I returned to Prague two years ago when I was helping to train up some staff at the British Embassy and finally got a chance to explore the wonderful architecture.
The third self-realisation tour of Ghana (from 20 Oct – 7 November 2011) is about to start and also you have toured to Kenya and Nigeria. So what attracted you to Africa?
I have felt that so far, we have somehow failed to reach out to the black community and that we had to go to the root, which meant giving realisation in Africa. Shri Mataji actually said very pointedly to the English yogis that they had to go there because of what their forefathers had done to the Africans during the Slave Trade and the days of Empire. She said that Shri Shiva was still angry at the treatment of his Sister Shri Saraswati and would only be placated by giving realisation to the children of Shri Saraswati. So we started arranging Self-realisation tours first in Nigeria where Obi in London is from, them in Ghana and last year in Kenya. In one TV interview we gave realisation to an estimated audience of around 2 million people from over ten countries. Also it is a very important chakra, as the Left Swadhishthana is where the Nirmala Vidya resides and I personally feel it is of huge importance to the continuance of Sahaja spiritual growth and evolution, to the full establishment and complete manifestation of Nirmala Vidya: the complete living knowledge of the Divine. Only then can we truly become the prophets and gurus that William Blake and Shri Mataji have prophesied. Only then can be so completely one with Shri Mataji's divine presence and manifest Her pure divine love. ¨
Jai Shri Mataji!
Tim, thank you very much!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Tim Bruce - The Mantra Book Audio Part.1
Tim Bruce – a name no yogi can possibly overlook – be it in the field of music or art. You know him as the protagonist of William Blake drama performance, he is an excellent narrator, a reciter and a singer. Therefore I believe he is rightly included in our audio blog and I´m delighted I could prepare an interview about one recording with him. Yes, you are feeling it right, it´s about a recording of a mantra from The Mantra Book Audio, which creates an unforgettable atmosphere, has a wonderful drive and is a source of immense vibrations. When I heard the recording for the first time, I remained sitting in a complete amazement at my pc. Tim´s mantra recital I have heard many times, for example in Cabella, where he is their chief reciter, his drama rendering in Blake is exquisite and last but not least – his websites speak for him themselves. Let me go back to what is standing in the forefront of our attention – audio recordings from The Mantra Book Audio. As this project aroused a lot of interest in me, I put Tim a few questions.
Tim, this recording is a real jewel for those of us who daily read the pages of The Mantra Book and turn in their prayers to the Divine. How did this idea to put The Mantra Book into music come to its existence?When we were in Africa, in Shri Saraswati's land of music and Shri Nirmala Vidya, while on the first Self-realisation tour of Ghana in October 2009 (and by divine coincidence we are returning there for another tour this week!) After presenting some new Ghanaian yogis with a copies of the new mantra book, I was struck by how difficult it was for these new yogis to use the mantra book without some kind of oral guidance and so promised to make some recordings to help them pronounce the Sanskrit mantras. Actually if you think about it, the mantras don't really exist on the written page, they are there only in potential form. Only when someone reads them aloud or sings them do they come to life and act upon the world, infusing the material word with the vibrations of the Spirit. But how to learn how? As we could only be in Ghana for a short time, an audio recording was the ideal solution not only for Africa, but for anyone who desires to deepen their knowledge and their appreciation of the mantras.
It's so wonderful and auspicious that this idea should have originated Africa, because the name of the mantra book is 'Nirmala Vidya' and Africa is the Land of Shri Nirmala Vidya, of the pure divine knowledge, of the subtle knowledge of Shri Nirmala. So the recording felt like the next natural stage in helping to manifest Shri Nirmala Vidya.
The style of the music is something which developed from singing with a Swar-mandal which is a small Indian Harp with 30 strings, which I love to listen to and strum. It immediately puts you into a meditative mood and always evokes a strong sense of the eternal with its undulating watery sounds. I was sitting on my bed at the health centre in Vashi one day, singing the 1000 names of Shri Shiva and this tune just came out! It's based on the traditional chant of Vedic mantra, but the cyclical ying-yang call-and-answer musical pattern is a melodic Westernisation, which somehow came out of me.
When did the recording come to being and who helped you? How long did it take you to record a recording as long as eight hours?
There were lots of try-outs and delays along the way and lots subtle resistance to push against, so in the end it took nearly two years to bring the project to completion. What you hear today is actually the third version of the mantra book audio, as it went through various stages of evolution and refinement.
The first two versions were recorded by Raimondo Sonis a Sardinian yogi living in North London and I needed time to listen and learn how to master the mantras and for them to sit comfortably in my voice. Once we were ready, the final version was recorded in Andreas Van Engelen's sound studio in Amsterdam, surrounded by the Guru-like vibrations of the North sea and the pure December snows. It took seven days to record the whole mantra book, starting with the Muladhara and working our way methodically through the book. We recorded all the Sanskrit names first, then all the Arabic and finally the Latin and Ancient Greek. I wanted each language to sound very different in both mood and musical style. It then took about six months for Andreas to edit all 74 tracks and get them ready for production. Then the Mantra Book Audio DVD was launched through the World Foundation in Cabella at Guru puja 2011.
You recital has an amazing feel, a vibratory power and is an exemplary sample of how to recite mantras. Where did you learn it and who was your teacher? How long did it take for you to master it?I have spent a lot of time with Rajashree Lal (Deshpande) in London working first on the texts and then on the pronunciation of the mantras and listening back to the recordings to pick out the mistakes. Rajashree is the silent shakti power behind the whole mantra book as well as the audio and is our resident Sanskrit expert. We have been working together on the International Mantra Book since the role of editor passed on to me in May 2007. After the book's inauguration by Shri Mataji during Guru Puja 2008, I vowed that I would try to master all of its contents and bring them vocally to life. Rajashree has helped me enormously in this, but I would say that the real power developed subtly from deep within. Sanskrit is the language of the Kundalini, all of its syllables derive from the sounds that She makes as She travels through the nadis and chakras of the subtle system. Shri Kundalini is the one, She is the nurturing Mother, She is the living guru, She is one who is anxious for Her child to ascend.
As for singing, I studied Western classical opera and song at the Guildhall conservatoire in London; and Indian classical vocal firstly from Arun Apte, then Subrahmaniam and from the great masters of Khyal Pandits Rajan and Sajan Misra.
It´s beautiful to hear you recite various mantras with different pronunciations – for example the 108 name of Pallas Athena or 99 names of Allah and others which are in Sanskrit. Even this testifies to your mastery.Jan Bowen from Cardiff in Wales helped with the Arabic names which were phenomenally difficult!! More difficult than the Sanskrit. We spent ages trying to get them to sound right, as we had previously spent ages getting the text right in the mantra book before it. Arabic is a very complicated language, just looking up a word in the dictionary is an odyssey as you have to look up each word by its root. The Arabic names have been set musically to Rag Bhairav (the rag of the left heart), which is a popular Middle Eastern musical scale and has an evocative Arabic-sounding lilt to it.
We could buy the recording in Cabella as one long audio track on DVD. Why this format?
To be continue...
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Victor Vertunni - The Songs of Innocence and Experience 2
An English Artist, living in Italy, Victor Vertunni, is having a live stream performance organized on the 24th of November at the release of his new CD. It is a compilation of William Blake's poems set to music. William Blake was one of the greates poets of Great Britain and has during his lifetime ( 24.November 1757 – 12. August 1827) created a broad opus of poetry and paintings, hovewer it has only recently came to light that he used to sing his poems. The melodies of his poems have been lost, but Victor Vertunni had once again set to music Blake's poems, with a moderen arrangment, and has thus brought them closer to general public. With this the poetry of William Blake has become accessible and more easily understandable to general public. You are invited to join Victor on the 24th of November 2011 at 20.00 hours (CET) on : http://www.livestream.com/voiceofthedeep
Victor, how did you decide to continue in setting William Blake´s poems to music and why did you decide to do this?I feel that the sound of William Blakes' words have a magical quality of awakening our subtle awareness of the spiritual dimension of life in all its forms. Setting them to music was my way of opening up the deep meaning and beauty of each song. Our modern life cuts off the flow of natural and pure emotions which need to be released, the melodies and sounds of the words seem to work on our emotions - in a gentle and benevolent way.
On this album there are some famous songs from your previous album, but with a new arrangement. Was it your intention to remind people of these songs?
My first album was born while my sons, Leo and Maxim were still children, as they grew up they joined in as musicians. It was they who took the creative initiative and encouraged me to make these new recordings. The wide variety of styles of the new musical arrangements will bring it close to the hearts of more people - even if many fans have written to me saying they still love the acoustic album.
You invited some of your friends and musicians to help with recording, it was not a solo work as with your previous album. What made you do it?Ruslan, Didier ,Debby and Josef (Brazda) and Amedeo have all played with us as guest in our concerts and deserved to have their musical contributions 'showcased' in this version. I love the feeling of playing in a band, you receive so much energy and joy listening and interacting with fellow artists, each one bringing their speciality to the whole. You will recognize, folk, jazz, prog rock even Flamenco...
In the past you used to travel a lot and performed your theatre version of William Blake´s life. What was the reception of your performance?We have played Eternity in an Hour in many European countries, USA and this year in Turkey. The audiences appear to be deeply touched in some way, they do not wish to leave their seats at the end as if in a joyful trance! The real test for this multi-media show was when we toured the national theatres of Turkey: Ankara, Bursa and Istanbul. Performances were full and audience members had tears in their eyes when we talked to them, even if they did not understand everything that was said, it was the energy and beauty that was felt.
What are your plans for the future? Do you plan anything to surprise us?
The world is in a moment of deed transition and artists must take their positions as channels to inspire evolutionary change. The real surprise would be if our 'underground' projects emerge into the limelight and receive more widespread attention. All of your readers can help in that sense, by telling their friends about us! Your interview, is an example of the kind of help we need. Thanks for your support!
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