Photo: Kirtan at Integral Yoga Institute, San Francisco.
Swami Satchidananda said, “Bhakti Yoga is the easiest practice because we begin with love. Chanting doesn’t require a quiet place or a particular kind of dress or a particular type of life.” This testimony is evidenced by the steadily increasing popularity of kirtan all over the world. People are discovering the benefits and pleasures of chanting the holy names of God. The practice requires no particular faith, nor belief, to have a positive effect on us.
By singing or repeating these names, even if we don’t know the language we are chanting in, there comes a quieting of the mind and an opening in the heart. Those who regularly practice kirtan and japa experience, without fail, a shift from mind-centered being to heart-centered being. Then comes the question: How do we maintain the open heart and stay centered there in our exchanges with other beings who may not, consciously or unconsciously, welcome nor support an open heart? If we are not securely grounded in our open-heartedness then we will feel the need to guard our hearts from the critical responses of others.
I have been thoroughly enjoying chanting kirtan and japa practices for decades now and most definitely in the many years of living at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, and now at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville where I recently moved. During the first years of the pandemic, joining an online sangha that met to study and repeat the Hanuman Chalisa gave me very clear experiences of reliably opening the heart only to feel that I shut it down upon the first encounter with negativity. But all these experiences have shown me the more challenging work of staying open-hearted in the presence of negativity.
It is certainly not easy, but I’ve had some pretty clear experiences of quelling the tendency to react in defense and rather, just allowing the presence of perceived negativity without needing to “correct” it. I have watched the mind rushing back into its job of defending the ego and have interceded with the knee-jerk reactive mind, requesting that I stay in the heart, because I know how good that open heart feels.
When I’ve been more successful with this, I have been surprised with the degree of calm presence that I find myself in. Within that space, I can choose to act from lovingkindness and choose thoughts, words and actions emanating from love. Even if this doesn’t shift the negativity on the outside, inwardly I remain relatively peaceful compared to the alternative of defensiveness and needing to be understood. And that feels way better than any degree of defensive or understanding can produce.
About the Author:
Snehan Born has been practicing Yoga since 1982 and is a certified Integral Yoga Hatha instructor and trainer at all levels. He served at both the New York and San Francisco Integral Yoga Institutes and currently resides in Yogaville. He also received teacher training from Yoga master Sri Dharma Mittra of the Dharma Yoga Center in Manhattan and has also studied with Sharon Gannon and David Life, founders of Jivamukti Yoga Center, Manhattan. Snehan’s passion is kirtan, singing the holy names and playing the harmonium every day.
