Meditation, Music and Social Vision

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Long Overdue Update!

I just came back from a trip to India. In India I gave lectures in Orissa State in Koraput, and in Bhubaneshvar.  I also played music at these lectures and got a good reception. I didn’t know how my Western songs would be received, but people liked the lyrics and the rhythm and it was good.

Here is a photo from the India tour:

Also, during the summer I sang a few times at the farmer’s market in Urbana, IL and I noticed that lots of kids and toddlers seemed to like my music so I am now working on a new CD of children’s songs. I already wrote one new song for the CD.

The audio files for my lectures are available online at www.dharmacast.com

Kiirtan: Divine Singing and Dancing

500 years ago a great saint in Bengal popularized the singing of God’s name as a way to reach spiritual fulfillment.  His name was Caetanya Mahaprabhu. Ever since that time this divine chanting (kirtan, or kiirtan) has been a huge part of devotional or bhakti yoga.

Here is a video of some inspired kiirtan at the recent winter retreat held near Austin, Texas

Preparing for a fasting day

I just finished a full-moon fasting day and was very happy that I had prepared for it.  How does one prepare for a fasting day?

There are two factors. First you have to prepare yourself mentally.  The day before you should determine that “tomorrow I am going to fast.”  This may sound silly, but it is not.  If you wake up in the morning and then have to decide whether you are going to fast, then you may start to fast but after a while you will find a hundred reasons why you should eat.  However, if the night before, you have already decided, then you will wake up with the idea firmly in your mind that you will be fasting.  Your body will cooperate too, and you will have less of an urge to eat.

Experienced fasters find that their body somehow kicks into “fasting mode” and they just do not feel hungry the day of the fast.

This mental preparation can only bear fruit if the person also makes physical preparation for a fast, and this is the second major factor.  In order not to be hungry the day of the fast, one must eat adequately the day before. Adequately does not mean to overate but simply to eat your regular amount of food. It is also important to take enough liquids the day before the fast, especially if you are going to be doing a dry-fast.

I have found that the best food to take on the evening before a fast is a vegetable soup.  It fills you up and provides plenty of liquids.  The worst foods to eat (in my experience) before a fast are sweet and starchy.

So, prepare yourself mentally and physically and then do a one day fast.  Do it regularly on the eleventh day of the lunar cycle (11 days after the full or new moons) and you will find it a great way to maintain your physical health and mental balance.

 

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