Evening Prayer - Kirtan Sohila by Snatam KaurClick here to listen to Snatam Kaur on Spirit Voyage Radio with Ramdesh.
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Airdate: August 2, 2012
This fascinating podcast with prolific sacred chant artist Snatam Kaur focuses on her new album Evening Prayer, and “Kirtan Sohila,” the beautiful prayer that Sikhs all over the world recite before bed each night.
What is Snatam’s life like now? She has recently moved to Santa Cruz, California, and lives near her daughter’s new preschool. The family is in transition as for the past three years they have traveled on the road as a family unit. It was time, they decided, to give the preschooler a more stable life and to have a new home space.
What is Kirtan Sohila and why did Snatam want to record it? The prayer is a combination of poems from the first, fourth and fifth Sikh gurus. Says Snatam, “Kirtan Sohila takes you into a journey of consciousness… in the words of Yogi Bhajan you are brought to the feet of God.” For the yogi, when you go to sleep it’s similar to dying; you let go of everything and get to a deep place of sleep. The prayer helps you to reach that place of neutrality.
Snatam first connected with the prayer when she was a teenager and her stepfather recited it to her every night. The poem brought comfort and peace during a tumultuous time in her family. She began reciting it in her teens and then continued until she reconnected with it as a mother. It’s now part of the nighttime ritual to recite the prayer to her daughter before bed.
Thomas Barquee, Snatam’s producer, helped her put the prayer into a form suitable for recording. They decided to include both a recitation version and a musical version (you will hear parts of both on this podcast). The musical version is composed of five different sections, each with “its own feeling, energy and journey.” Snatam-- who is a self-described perfectionist --was a little worried about recording the piece; she would often awaken in the night and go over the structure in her mind. When it came time to record, however, the music flowed naturally and gracefully. (For those who know Snatam’s work, that’s no surprise!)
Are there some key lines that especially speak to Snatam? The last line, she says, is especially meaningful, and refers to being in a state of humility and service. “Let me be the dust of the feet of the Saints” brings us to serving the spiritual, serving the saintly energy and the pure vibration, Snatam explains: It recalibrates you to that task and lets you let go of the day.
She also points out a line that speaks of the home environment and how important it is to fill our homes with chanting God’s name. If you want to connect with God the best place is in your heart and then of course in your home, Snatam says. In the Sikh tradition, the way to liberation is to chant God’s name. The power of Kirtan Sohila is that it becomes an instruction to your subconscious and your psyche. You are saying to yourself, “chant the name of the fearless God” and this message follows you throughout your day and brings peace and calm on a subconscious level. The daily repetition brings profound transformation.
Listen in as a caller to the show asks Snatam a question about releasing the vibration of the ego. Snatam says it is absolutely possible: “YES with capital letters.” But you must be really immersed in prayer and not lost in your mental patterns about business or grocery lists or previous conversations; the more you can immerse yourself in the prayer the more complete is the effect, she explains.
Join Ramdesh and Snatam on this exploratory journey into this extraordinary prayer that is recited by Sikhs around the world in the evening before sleep, as well as when an individual leaves the body. Join in as best you can; even if you don’t know the words you’ll be uplifted and amazed.
Listen to and purchase Evening Prayer on www.spiritvoyage.com
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Posted in Announcements, Interviews, Radio, Snatam Kaur | Tagged evening prayer, kirtan sohila, Snatam Kaur, Spirit Voyage Radio with Ramdesh, yoga podcast
Kathryn E. Livingston has been writing professionally on parenting issues for nearly three decades and has recently turned her pen to her new passion, Kundalini Yoga, which has changed her life. She lives in Bogota, NJ. 
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