Go Ohm Yourself

I spent the weekend at an Ashram in upstate New York listening to my favorite devotional chanter “Krishna Das”:http://www.krishnadas.com/. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a new age Hindu hippy living off the love of the land in spiritual bliss, eating only bean curd and playing flutes. I am a cynical carnivore New Yorker and am incapable of truly opening up for fear that if do open up, I will get mugged.

My Chakras are all sorts of screwed up.

Chanting, however, is a really amazing way to completely empty your mind of the thoughts that spin through it. It, much like yoga, frees the mind of the noise and gets you out of your own head for a while.

Unfortunately there is a lot of religion that get rolled up into it, but hinduism isn’t really that bad of a religion to to rolled up with, considering it’s all based on peace and self-love. I, however, am an atheist, so when anybody mentions god, I get a little wary. The Hindu’s are kind of cool in that they are very open to you if you don’t believe in their god, unlike some other religions that I have encountered which are less understanding.

Basically chanting is sitting cross-legged on the floor and repeating the names of Hindu gods over and over in a call and response type of dialog. Sure it feels kind of strange to sing _”Hari Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hari, Hari”_ like a bald headed monk, but soon the ridiculousness of the whole thing passes and you get into the groove.

It’s basically New Age techno.

I would recommend trying some on for size and seeing how it fits. I really enjoy the relaxation it brings, just remember to keep an open mind and pack plenty “Beano”:http://www.beano.net/.

_Ohm Shanti my Peeps, Ohm Flipping Shanti_

(Diane just sent me “this link”:http://www.wildheartjournal.com/kd.pdf about Krishna Das and what exactly he does. It’s a PDF.)