youtube/watch?v=_vp6fukuXwY Namaste friends - Im writing this a few nights after our concert in San Quentin prison. we are still in the afterglow of the experience. So much unexpected love was shared that afternoon - it seemed we were all reaching out for connection About 150 inmates came to sing and chant (and eventually, even dance!) with us. But what was most profound were the moments of silent meditation we shared together, as the mantras opened our collective heart and silenced our busy minds. We played for a couple of hours - mixing in some blues and some reggae, naturally, with the chants. I loved sharing the songs - they felt particularly poignant in this environment - especially Native Son. One man told me that hed been brought to tears during the song, thinking of his own boy. We received such a loving response and when we finished playing we just hung out with the men until they had to leave. Many shared their gratitude and their stories...we werent supposed to hug, but i couldnt help myself. We shared some intensely memorable moments, looking into each others eyes, and listening while they shared their heart-wrenching horror stories of their journey towards repentance, acceptance and forgiveness. Many of the guys had been incarcerated for as long as 25 years - lifers - and they felt more like monks - clear eyed with nowhere left to go, but in. Most of them had murdered, one shared that hed been chanting the Gayatri mantra three times a day for 30 years. Hed lived in india before his incarceration - he also told us he suspected San Quentin to be a power spot, because his meditation had flowered and had increased in intensity since his transferral from another prison. iI also heard this from another source. Some comments: I havent been free for 20 years, but tonight I was. I havent been this high for 15 years! Apparently it is unusual for ethnic groups to mix with each other in prison, but the mantras brought over 200 men together by the end of the concert, to be in peace and sing with one another...and to suddenly watch a spontaneous dance session happen while we played some reggae was just overwhelming. A tiny spark of pure joy filled our collective consciousness, filled the chapel, filled our hearts - and yes, for that one moment, we were all free. Just over the courtyard from where we played was the house of the damned - 700 people on death row. I think they might even have been able to hear us play...I hoped so And now Deva and I sit here on a plane – Deva is wearing a beautifully intricate, ornate bracelet made by one of the men on death row and given to her as a gift. We watch it reflect light from the window and wonder abot the intense mysterious beauty of this life we live.... I see that ultimately, these mantras are simply songs of freedom; they take us from the darkness of our busy minds, our ideals, our plans and schemes - to the light of redemption and acceptance.redemption songs, as Bob Marley calls them. Hari om, Bob! Hari om San Quentin! with love, Miten
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 06:34:03 +0000
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