From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism
<i>Kirtan</i> is a musical worship practice from India that involves the congregational performance of sacred chants and mantras in call-and-response format. The style of <i>kirtan</i> performed within Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism is an expression of Bhakti Yoga, “the yoga of l...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/8/600 |
| _version_ | 1828715066273300480 |
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| author | Sara Black Brown |
| author_facet | Sara Black Brown |
| author_sort | Sara Black Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Kirtan</i> is a musical worship practice from India that involves the congregational performance of sacred chants and mantras in call-and-response format. The style of <i>kirtan</i> performed within Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism is an expression of Bhakti Yoga, “the yoga of love and devotion”, and focuses on creating a personal, playful, and emotionally intense connection between the worshipper and their god—specifically, through words and sounds whose vibration is believed to carry the literal presence of Krishna. <i>Kirtan</i> is one of many Indian genres that uses musical techniques to move participants through a progression of spiritual states from meditation to ecstasy. <i>Kirtan</i>-singing has become internationally popular in recent decades, largely thanks to the efforts of the Hare Krishna movement, which has led to extensive hybridization of musical styles and cultural approaches to <i>kirtan</i> adapted to the needs of a diasporic, globalized community of worshippers. This essay explores the practice of <i>kirtan</i> in the United States through interviews, fieldwork, and analysis of recordings made at several Krishna temples and festivals that demonstrate the musical techniques that can be spontaneously deployed in acts of collective worship in order to create intense feelings of deep, focused meditation and uninhibited, expressive bliss. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:26:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50abe705f9e54fa08b89c11f00a7e3e6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:26:18Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-50abe705f9e54fa08b89c11f00a7e3e62023-11-22T09:29:47ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442021-08-0112860010.3390/rel12080600From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava HinduismSara Black Brown0Communications and Humanities Division, Tallahassee Community College, Tallahassee, FL 32304, USA<i>Kirtan</i> is a musical worship practice from India that involves the congregational performance of sacred chants and mantras in call-and-response format. The style of <i>kirtan</i> performed within Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism is an expression of Bhakti Yoga, “the yoga of love and devotion”, and focuses on creating a personal, playful, and emotionally intense connection between the worshipper and their god—specifically, through words and sounds whose vibration is believed to carry the literal presence of Krishna. <i>Kirtan</i> is one of many Indian genres that uses musical techniques to move participants through a progression of spiritual states from meditation to ecstasy. <i>Kirtan</i>-singing has become internationally popular in recent decades, largely thanks to the efforts of the Hare Krishna movement, which has led to extensive hybridization of musical styles and cultural approaches to <i>kirtan</i> adapted to the needs of a diasporic, globalized community of worshippers. This essay explores the practice of <i>kirtan</i> in the United States through interviews, fieldwork, and analysis of recordings made at several Krishna temples and festivals that demonstrate the musical techniques that can be spontaneously deployed in acts of collective worship in order to create intense feelings of deep, focused meditation and uninhibited, expressive bliss.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/8/600<i>kirtan</i>Bhakti YogaHinduismVaishnavismHare Krishnasacred music |
| spellingShingle | Sara Black Brown From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism Religions <i>kirtan</i> Bhakti Yoga Hinduism Vaishnavism Hare Krishna sacred music |
| title | From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism |
| title_full | From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism |
| title_fullStr | From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism |
| title_short | From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through <i>Kirtan</i> Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism |
| title_sort | from meditation to bliss achieving the heights of progressive spiritual energy through i kirtan i singing in american gaudiya vaishnava hinduism |
| topic | <i>kirtan</i> Bhakti Yoga Hinduism Vaishnavism Hare Krishna sacred music |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/8/600 |
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