I have some footage for you from Saturday night at the Orpheum Theatre with Snatam Kaur. One of the best parts was right before this was filmed... she invited me on stage for a song we had not rehearsed: Guru Ram Das Raakho Saranaa-ee.
This song played on repeat throughout my entire birth with my second son (read about my freebirth) here. It's kind of amazing how that happened!
Alright, here is Snatam and I singing her Longtime Sun together.
This is a story of yogic technology in action. It is the story of an answered prayer and a fulfilled New Year’s intention. It is the story of two people who knew what they wanted and dared to receive it. This is the story of how I came to enter the most rewarding (and yes, often challenging) partnership and commitment of my life. This is how I met my husband.
In 2010 I attended my first Summer Solstice Sadhana in New Mexico. I was very new to Kundalini Yoga at that time. A friend had invited me to sing for his workshop, and besides, I had some free time. At least that’s why I thought I was there. If you have ever been to this epic event, you know that the reason you think you go, is a very far cry from the reason your soul arranges for you to be there. It turns out there were a lot of reasons for my presence, not least of which was doing a service exchange on the sound team with the man I would marry exactly one year later.
The most amazing part about our first meeting was that neither of were interested in the other romantically. It was not love at first sight.
In fact, besides some conversations about his teacher training, and some other service-related banter, we barely interacted.
The next time we met was at Winter Solstice in Florida, only 6 months later. I had just finished my month-long intensive teacher training in Espanola, New Mexico. Also, I had completed 40 days of reciting the prayer “So Purkh” with the intention of attracting a partner.
My future husband, Harimander, had begun his own spiritual practice. He had expressed interest in marriage, so his teacher encouraged him to being a Sahej Path to activate the intention. A Sahej Path is a personal prayer that involves reading the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scriptures) each day, eventually completing it in its entirety.
When we met again at Winter Solstice, something had changed in both of us. Still no attraction though.
We both signed up for the sound team again. On one of the days, we were assigned to help out for a class taught by Snatam Kaur and So Purkh Singh (I love that that is his name by the way!). I could tell the story within the story of how they met and married—because that was the topic of their class—but I’ll keep on point here.
At some point during their class Harimander and I realized that everything was going smoothly, so we decided to participate in the class. Unbeknownst to me, he got a very clear message as we were doing one of the exercises in the kriya. The message was: “Your future wife could be very near you right now.” Immediately interested in this suggestion, he opened his eyes and sees that I’m the only one next to him within a few feet. We were “backstage” and everyone else was actually in the class. He didn’t tell me this until a little later in our relationship. He probably didn’t want to scare me. Smart man.
Our courtship began when he started Facebook messaging me about two weeks later. He ended up coming out to Los Angeles, where I was currently living, to see “how our auras would get along.” I kid you not. That is what he said.
In the car, on the way to a Dave Stringer kirtan, he asked me what I wanted out of a relationship. I told him I wasn’t interested in dating. I wanted to get married. He said that was exactly where he was in his life as well. Three months later he proposed over skype—and again in person when he came to meet my parents in Connecticut. Two months after that we got married at Ram Das Puri in New Mexico at Summer Solstice Sadhana.
Some family members expressed their concern that the relationship was so new, and that the marriage felt rushed. My mom thought I was pregnant! (Nope, not until the next year!). Funny enough, for the Kundalini Yoga community, short courtships (even no courtships) were fairly commonplace. Yogi Bhajan had arranged marriages for many people who met and married on the same day. Harimander used to tell people that Guru (the subtle energy that guides us to our highest and brightest) arranged our marriage. I think that’s about right.
We knew what we wanted, recognized it was right there, and signed up for the adventure. We have certainly had our difficulties, but all in all, we both know we made the only possible decision. After all, when God answers your prayers, the least you can do is receive.
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End of original post. This is footage from our wedding, with Snatam Kaur playing the traditional shabads for the Sikh "Anand Karaj" ceremony.
When I first heard Snatam Kaur’s voice, I had no idea where it came from. I was not a Kundalini Yogi. I was not a Sikh. I could not have even told you how to pronounce Snatam’s name (first or last!), let alone the mysterious sounding words she was singing. And yet, I listened to her “Ray Man Shabad” (from her album Grace, produced by Thomas Barquee) on repeat in my car for three months when I first moved to Los Angeles.
The way that track made me feel was different from any other song I’d heard before. I would usually gravitate towards music that fit my current mood—happy, distressed, lovelorn, lonely, angry, etc.
This music was different. It was fitting to any emotional state, but it didn’t keep me where I was. It took me somewhere else. More than that, “Ray Man Shabad” created a sonic space I wanted to live in.
I cannot remember what seemingly random incident first took me to the Golden Bridge, however, when I entered, the bookstore was playing Snatam’s “Ray Man Shabad.” I saw a few people who dressed identically to what Snatam was wearing on the album cover of Grace, and I thought to myself: “this place is the physical manifestation of how that music makes me feel.” In that moment, I had a very strong sense that I had been part of this community before in another lifetime.
After this experience, I wanted to know more, and it only then occurred to me that the meaning of the shabad (Sikh hymn) might be on the internet somewhere. My first understanding of what I found was that “Ray Man Shabad” was about the healing that comes from singing. Since I was a singer, that seemed pretty fitting.
My current understanding is that the shabad is a statement about true God awareness— that it cannot be superficially expressed by wearing “spiritual” clothing, or preaching about one’s faith. It can only be lived—as virtue.
In a place like Los Angeles, where persona tends to rule the day, I am so grateful for this sound current that reminded me (albeit in a language I didn’t think I understood) to be true to myself. It has been my compass ever since.
My favorite line, and the one I mediate on most frequently is:
Jaap so ajapa jaapay,
… which I interpret as, “sing with such devotion that you are vibrating God’s name even when you are silent.”
In the magical synchronistic way life seems to work since Kundalini Yoga entered my life, I was recently asked to sing background vocals for SatKirin Kaur Khalsa’s new album, Good Company. In the control room in Thomas Barquee’s studio (producer of Grace) he asked me if I knew the next shabad we were going to record vocals for. I looked down at the shabad sheet titled “Ray Man Eh Bidh Jog.”
I have coined this daily spiritual practice--or what we like to call "sadhana"--as the GREAT MANTRA SADHANA FOR PROSPERITY.
I did it for over 90 days and it felt like it shot forth into prosperity like a rocket. I have felt more creative, more driven, more energetic, and more passionate ever since. So I wanted to share it with you!
If you are looking for an easy place to begin a sadhana (they start at just 3 minutes a day!), check out my previous blog post HERE, where I outline 5 Easy Kundalin Yoga Practices Everyone Has Time For.
:: THE SADHANA ::
1) 11 recitations of Bahuta Karam
This mantra is for prosperity. It reminds us that you can ask and ask, but until you resonate with the vibration of solution (i.e. the vibration of your soul), you will not feel the prosperity. You will be like a person collecting water with a bucket that has a hole in it. Come with a mended bucket and receive all the "water" you can drink from the Universal "tap." (Read the full post on this mantra HERE)
2) 11 recitations of Amul Gun
Yogi Bhajan gave this mantra to people to recite specifically for business success. He said it “transforms nothing into everything. In your business it banishes losses, misfortunes and miseries.” Can't hurt, right? Even if just play it in the background as you work, it will be enormously potent.
3) 25 recitations of Aakhan Jor
Possibly my favorite of all three. This one seals in the energy of all them to me. It is the mantra that says, and I paraphrase, "I am not the doer, GOD is." Put a different way: I ask, the Universe gives. I call, the Universe answers. I am pray, the Universe hears. I request, the Universe grants. We recite Aakhan Jor to firm-up our certainty that everything is always working out for us. There is no need to effort, because the great power of creation is not ours to create. But it is ours to direct through our focus. (Read more about directing focus HERE). It is important to understand our place in this business of Creation. We don't create energy. We direct it through our vibration.
And slowly...
If you don't know them yet, begin by listening. Snatam Kaur has 11 recitations of each on her album "Meditations of the Soul," which is a gem of a reference for people wanting to learn Japji better.
Oh, and check out the song versions I have made of these mantras too:
I have some footage for you from Saturday night at the Orpheum Theatre with Snatam Kaur. One of the best parts was right before this was filmed... she invited me on stage for a song we had not rehearsed: Guru Ram Das Raakho Saranaa-ee.
