Divine Music of India
I am studying voice with Manik Khan at The Yoga Society of San Francisco / Brahmananda Ashram and we are singing a song in the scale of Bhairavi written by his grandfather to Mata Sarasvatī, the Goddess of Music and the Arts. My heart bows in gratitude.
Manik is an incredible teacher and a very gifted musician like his father, Ali Akbar Khan. I am also studying mixed instrumental with Arjun Verma, staff at Ali Akbar Khan College of Music, amazing teacher and musician, whose father was one of my first Indian Classical music teachers at Ananda Ashram: Our celestial and musical families unite in harmony.
The scales of Indian Classical music are infused with Shakti, the gift of the Goddess. Singing them puts one in a greater dimension, both inward and out. So humbling, the gift of divine music is. And sublime. It is an incredible opportunity to study with the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music. I highly recommend their classes.
One of the most challenging things for me as a musician has always been to sing and play an instrument at the same time. We are learning to sing the notes of the scale in key with the instruments one is playing or playing with. And it is an incredible practice for the mind and body.
One of the things Guruji - Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati - emphasized was East-West unity - not that one is more important or dominant over the other - but the unity of both schools of thought in Yoga. I have realized that one of the things I have missed the most out of being away from one of our home Ashramas in New York and San Francisco is this seamless blend of the East and the West in one hOMe for Yoga.
It's an incredible nuance, a delicate balance, but somehow the chord is struck at just the right place at both Ananda Ashram in New York and Brahmananda Ashram in San Francisco. May we continue to awaken in light of the legacies passed on to us by our great Gurus and Masters.
Jai Shri Guruji
May all be blessed.
The Ali Akbar Khan School of Music at Yoga Society of San Francisco
Asha Bosle and Maestro Ali Akbar Khan
The Goddess Bhairavi