~ Connecting & Creating Community for Kirtan Lovers in Toronto and Beyond ~

Kirtan opens the heart and stills the mind. It is the yoga practice of ecstatic chanting. Through repeating the Divine Names in Sanskrit, the mind is cleared of worry, doubt, fear and all limiting concepts. The joy of peace and infinite love is given to the practitioner, and transmitted through the world by chanting. This is the practice of bhakti yoga or the yoga of devotion. - contributed by Pat Sandford

To receive a weekly list of kirtan events or to have your kirtan posted, please email torontokirtancommunity@gmail.com

FaceBook's 'TorontoKirtanCommunity' group: the upcoming week's kirtans are posted onto the group wall, as well as interesting articles, videos, photos about events and artists.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/torontokirtancommunity/

Facebook's 'TorontoKirtanCommunity' page lists links/info.
https://www.facebook.com/torontokirtancommunity

ALL known kirtans are posted below, on the left side, on this website's Kirtan Calendar.

“Music that is saturated with soul force is the real universal music, understandable by all hearts.” — Paramahansa Yogananda

“Kirtan is for all people. There are no experts, no beginners. The practice itself is the teacher, guiding us to ourselves. Kirtan allows us to enter into a mystery world—a world where all the logic of our minds, all the condition and learning are left outside. And in this mystery, we create a temple inside of our hearts, a place of refuge, a place of love, a place of just being.” —Jai Uttal

"Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment." -- Krishna Das

"You start doing chanting as technique. You start to sing ‘Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram.’ You start thinking it means, Honorable Ram, Hail Ram, Hail Hail Ram. Then after an hour you stop thinking about all of that and you are just singing it. You are realizing the aesthetic of the music and how beautiful it is. Then after a while it starts to go deeper until your heart is just singing, it’s singing from inside you. Then there’s a point where true bhakti starts- where dualism ends and you become like the chant. You are in a space where it’s not emotional anymore. It’s moved into the deeper, intuitive quality of love. Touching that love leaves you with trust in the method and trust in where the method takes you—trust in the Beloved and trust in how you get there." –Ram Dass

"If we know anything about a path at all, it's only because of the Great ones that have gone before us. Out of their love and kindness, they have left some footprints for us to follow. So, in the same way that they wish for us, we wish that all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be safe, be happy, have good health, and enough to eat. And may we all live at ease of heart with whatever comes to us in life."
- Kirtan closing prayer by Krishna Das


Monday, May 31, 2010

Tripp Dudley, Allie Stringer, Mike Cohen & Brenda McMorrow May 30, 2010 in Toronto

Posted by at No comments:

Maie, Mike Cohen, Brenda McMorrow, Pat, Tripp Dudley (missing: Allie Stringer) May 29, 2010

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, May 21, 2010

Mike Cohen! Next Weekend at Downward Dog!

Kirtan lovers in Toronto are slowly floating back to earth after a delicious angelic sacred chant concert by Snatam Kaur and Guru Ganesha Singh on Wed. About 700 people filled the MacMillan Theatre, we sang and clapped, danced and practiced pranayama together.... there was one incredibly moving moment when Snatam had everyone hold hands as we chanted for world peace. Wow!
We don't have to wait long for our next evening of kirtan intoxicaton! Next weekend we will be chanting our hearts open with Mike Cohen at Downward Dog Yoga Studio on Queen St. We have Funky Datta Kirtan to look forward to on Saturday May 29th, at 8pm, and then a Bhakti & Beyond Workshop also at Downward Dog, on Sunday May 30th from 2-4.30pm. We are also excited to announce that our beloved local chantress Brenda McMorrow will be joining Mike on vocals. What an amazing month we kirtan lovers are having!

Scroll down to the below posts for more details about times & tickets!
Posted by at No comments:

MIKE COHEN's 1st visit to Toronto - Please Join Us at the Saturday evening Kirtan



MIKE COHEN Kirtan:

Chant Your Heart Open

featuring vocalists BRENDA MCMORROW, Allie Stringer and tabla wiz Tripp Dudley.

Sat May 29 @ 8:00pm

Join us at the Downward Dog Yoga Centre: 735 Queen St. West, 2nd Floor. Toronto, ONT

TICKETS: $ 20 in advance, $ 25 at door. Advance tickets available at Downward Dog Yoga Studio, by calling 416-703-8805 or purchased online!

This is a Sacred Chant Benefit Event hosted by Toronto Kirtan Community. Proceeds collected will go towards developing a Bhakti Outreach programme, which will explore taking kirtan into shelters for the homeless. If chanting brings you joy and peacefulness, let’s reach out and share this bliss with the under-privileged. As a community we have the opportunity to raise funds to change the lives. Come on out and support this wonderful cause.

Kirtan with Mike is an invitation to sing, clap, meditate and dance together to create deep connection to the secret places of your soul.

Mike Cohen sings and plays harmonium to lead Kirtan in a manner that blends Eastern spirituality and Western musical influences. Eastern spirituality is represented by Sanskrit mantras that calm minds and opens hearts for the sake of cultivating Divine energy that generates love, freedom and creativity. Western musical sensibilities are represented by typically American/Western musical influences such as funk, soul, rhythm and blues, jazz and rock.

ABOUT MIKE COHEN: Mike's music is an expression of the Dattatreya lineage of Swami Kaleshwar and Shirdi Sai Baba as transmitted through the teachings of Philip Lipetz, author and one of Sri Kaleshwar's most senior Western students. Mike currently tours internationally with vocalists Joni Allen and Allie Stringer, tabla wizards Jim Feist and Andy Skellenger, bassists Mark Gorman and Patrick Hammond, as well as many other top musicians from today's Kirtan scene. His debut album, Om Dattatreya: Journey to the West was released August 2009 and has garnered rave reviews in Chicago Yoga and LA Yoga Magazines. Mike currently tours the US and beyond, offering Kirtan events and workshops to open hearted souls!

For more information about Mike Cohen visit www.mikecohenkirtan.com

'Chant Your Heart Open' is part of the pre-Bhakti Fest (www.bhaktifest.com) gatherings! Discounted Bhakti Fest tickets will be sold for $ 225 at the Kirtan (regularly $ 250) and you will also have a chance to WIN!!! There will be a special raffle for a gift certificate for a Bhakti Fest ticket and high vibration items donated by Bhakti Fest's vendors and sponsors.

To learn more about Bhakti Fest visit www.bhaktifest.com

WHAT IS KIRTAN?

Kirtan is a group participatory experience of sacred call and response chanting that will calm your mind, open your heart and build deep connection to yourself, others and the Divine. Kirtan is a practice that blends East and West. Eastern spirituality is represented by Sanskrit mantras that will calm your mind, open your heart and allow you to connect with Divine energy. Western musical sensibilities are represented by musical influences from uniquely American/Western musical influences such as jazz, funk, soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. As a form of collective spirituality, in Kirtan we bring our voices and intentions together to cultivate Shakti (Divine energy), allowing each participant to bring more love, freedom and creativity into their life. Kirtan is fun and easy, and no prior experience is necessary.

Posted by at No comments:

MIKE COHEN's 1st visit to Toronto - Please Join his Sunday Workshop



MIKE COHEN'S Bhakti and Beyond Workshop

Bhakti & Beyond joined by vocalists BRENDA MCMORROW, Allie Stringer and tabla wiz Tripp Dudley.

Sunday, May 30 - 2:00 - 4:30 pm

Held at Downward Dog Yoga, #725 Queen Street W., 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON.

What is Kirtan? And why does it make me feel so good? Want to deepen your chanting practice? Join us for this fun and informative experiential workshop where you will not only chant, but will also learn about Deities, mantras, sanskrit, Bhakti, Shakti and the Dattatreya Approach to Kirtan. Join Mike for lots of chanting, learning, fun, community and sharing!

All participants receive a 30 page handout titled 'A Bhakti Yoga Perspective on Kirtan'.

$45 in advance and $50 at door. Advance tickets available at studio, by calling 416-703-8805 or on web at www.downwarddog.com.

This is a Sacred Chant Benefit Event hosted by Toronto Kirtan Community. Proceeds collected will go towards developing a Bhakti Outreach programme, which will explore taking kirtan into shelters for the homeless. If chanting brings you joy and peacefulness, let’s reach out and share this bliss with the under-privileged. As a community we have the opportunity to raise funds to change the lives. Come on out and support this wonderful cause.


ABOUT MIKE COHEN: Mike's music is an expression of the Dattatreya lineage of Swami Kaleshwar and Shirdi Sai Baba as transmitted through the teachings of Philip Lipetz, author and one of Sri Kaleshwar's most senior Western students.
His debut album, Om Dattatreya: Journey to the West was released August 2009 and has garnered rave reviews in Chicago Yoga and LA Yoga Magazines. Mike currently tours the US and beyond, offering Kirtan events and workshops to open hearted souls!

For more information about Mike Cohen visit www.mikecohenkirtan.com


http://www.downwarddog.com/web/index.php?option=com_google&view=advanced&id=1&Itemid=53
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, May 17, 2010

Snatam Kaur on Wed.... tickets still available!

Update: close to 700 chanters at MacMillan Theatre on Wednesday. Wahe Guru!
Sat Nam, Nirmal
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)