From Meditation to Bliss: Achieving the Heights of Progressive Spiritual Energy through Kirtan Singing in American Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism

Abstract

Kirtan 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 kirtan 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. Kirtan is one of many Indian genres that uses musical techniques to move participants through a progression of spiritual states from meditation to ecstasy. Kirtan-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 kirtan adapted to the needs of a diasporic, globalized community of worshippers. This essay explores the practice of kirtan 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.

fenômeno místico do sankīrtana enquanto singularidade da experiência religiosa de bhakti-yoga

“…Este artigo visa explanar a singularidade da experiência mística presente na prática de sankīrtana, situado na expressão hindu do Vaiṣṇavismo Gauḍīya, por meio da análise dos conceitos de samādhi, mokṣa e prema-bhakti. Segundo o dicionário Monier-Williams (2002), Kīrtana (em sânscrito, कककककक) significa "cantar", "recitar", "repetir", "falar" e pode ser compreendido como uma atividade devocional musical da Índia 3 , composta de mantras e cânticos sagrados (BROWN, 2021). Além disso, o estilo de kirtan realizado dentro do hinduísmo Vaishnava Gaudiya é uma expressão de bhakti-yoga, o 'yoga de amor e devoção', e concentra-se em criar uma conexão pessoal, lúdica e emocionalmente intensa entre o adorador e seu deus, especificamente por meio de palavras e sons cuja vibração crê transportar a presença literal de Krishna.…”