Word: kirtan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...KIRTAN RAISING: An antiphonal form of yoga gets an American accent and fills small arenas...
...traditional accompaniment of harmonium and tabla (Indian drums), Stringer employs electric guitars and violins. Uttal frequently underscores his chanting with riffs reminiscent of bluegrass and reggae. "You can sing chants the way they are sung in India," says K.D., whose last album, Door of Faith, was produced by kirtan devotee Rick Rubin, who has worked with Johnny Cash and the Beastie Boys. "However, I was born in America--I grew up on rock 'n' roll--and my natural musical emotions are different from an Indian person...
This appeal to American sensibilities seems to be connecting with audiences eager for spiritual experiences. At a kirtan at the Moksha Yoga Center in Chicago, musicians played mandolin and acoustic guitar. An altar was set up with candles, fruit and a picture of Jimi Hendrix, who did not practice kirtan but, according to chant leader Debi Buzil, "embodies the music and embraced God." The chants' Sanskrit lyrics were projected on the wall via Powerpoint. When Moksha held its first kirtans four years ago, 10 people would show up; today the sessions regularly draw 80. "This is the most happy-producing...
Aaron Reed, a computer specialist in Los Angeles, attends kirtans led by Stringer. "It's like a rock concert," Reed says. "Dave infuses it with rock 'n' roll, soul and the blues." Reed notes, however, that at a rock concert, the audience gazes up at a performer onstage, while at a kirtan, everyone participates. "It's empowering to sing with others who experience the process with you," says Reed. Greg Wendt, a financial adviser in Los Angeles, explains that kirtans allow him to "spend time with people on a spiritual path and share that passion with our voices...
Wendt says that when he chants, "the stress melts in my body and I feel this opening in my heart." But whether he is actually practicing kirtan is a matter of debate. Georg Feuerstein, founder of the Yoga Research and Education Center near Redding, Calif., says kirtan is an exclusively Hindu practice in which believers praise gods to whom they are devoted. He contends that although non-Hindus or those who do not understand what they are chanting may experience a quasi-religious feeling, "the traditionalist would want to know why divine Hindu names are being used for that purpose...