The Architecture of Mantras and Kirtan
$40 in advance, $45 door

The 50 seed sounds, or bijas, that make up the sacred Sanskrit alphabet are the building blocks to all mantras. Mantras are the foundation of kirtan, the devotional call-and-response chanting which is one of the primary practices of bhakti yoga, the path to union with God by way of the heart.

Sanskrit is an energetic language. Each bija carries its own particular and specific vibrational quality. Through chanting the bijas, either by themselves or combined as mantras, these qualities within us are imbued and strengthened. When we chant the names of the many names of God in Sanskrit, we are actually vibrating the essential qualities of that deity within ourselves. This is the real power of chanting and what makes it such a powerful practice.

We will begin by chanting the Sanskrit alphabet- the “varnamala”, or garland of letters- which stimulates and balances the 7 major chakras, all areas of the brain, and the 72,000 nadis (subtle energy channels) that run through the body. You will also learn the primary seed sound of each chakra. From here we will begin to understand the sounds and vibratory essence that form simple mantras. And finally, we put these mantras together with melody for our kirtan, celebrating the Divine.