Hansadutta
das presents Krishna Kirtan,
the Congregational Chant
Festival.
What do football games, rock concerts, political
rallies,
boxing matches and congregational prayers all have in common?
The mass glorification of a person or persons engaged in
extraordinary feats–a very exciting, even electrifying experience for
large groups of people. This phenomenon is known as kirtan.
We're travelling
world-wide to introduce krishna kirtan. Now people
experience the kirtan of a football game, a baseball game, or a
concert--the congregation of many people shouting, cheering and
singing. These mundane kirtans are only for the body or mind.
Because they are material, their pleasure is only temporary.
The same principle of these materialistic kirtans exists in
krishna kirtan ; except its effect is spiritual
and everlasting. When we are performing krishna kirtan and
everyone is enthusiastically chanting Hare Krishna, it has great
potency for invoking the Lord. This is the sankirtan movement
of Lord Chaitanya.
Kirtan, glorification of God
by
chanting His names is not a sectarian religious practice. It is
the natural fulfilment of every person's desire to sing, praise,
cheer and chant the glories of a superior person's extraordinary
activities.
It brings happiness, peace and harmony to all persons who thus find
their common object of adoration, God.
In every religious tradition we are
encouraged to praise God's names:
"The whole world becomes joyful hearing Your [Krishna's]
name. Everyone becomes attached to You." (Bhagavad-gita 11.36)
"From the rising of the sun unto its setting, the Lord's
name is to be praised." (Psalms)
"Praise God in His temple on earth, Praise Him in His
temple in heaven, Praise Him for His mighty achievements, Praise
Him for His transcendent greatness, Praise Him with blasts of
the trumpet, Praise Him with lyre and harp, Praise Him with drums
and dancing, Praise Him with strings and reeds, Praise Him with
clashing cymbals, Praise Him with clanging cymbals, Let everything
that breathes praise Yahweh." (Psalms)
"Glorify the name of your Lord, the most high." (Koran
87.2)
"Allah, who does not fit into heavens or worlds, fits
into the hearts of men. The process used to clean the heart is
dhikrullah (chanting the names of Allah). Dhikr is a key to the secrets
of life." (Ninety-Nine Names of Allah)
"All who sincerely call upon My name will come to Me
after death, and I will take them to Paradise." (Vows of Amida Buddha
18)
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." (Acts 2:21)
"One must learn to call upon the name of God, even more
than breathing--at all times, in all places, in every kind of
occupation." (Eastern Orthodox Philokalia)
"Chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the
holy
name of the Lord. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy there is no
other
way, no other way, no other way to attain spiritual enlightenment."
(Brihan-Naradiya Purana)
The singing and dancing of Hare
Krishna is known as kirtan. Our spiritual master Srila
Prabhupada said, "This is not ordinary dancing; this is the dancing of
the soul, a soul awakened to his original consciousness, Krishna
consciousness." There is no motive in performing kirtan. It is
the
song and dance of ecstasy, the dance of the soul.
There are no hard and fast rules for
chanting these names. Kirtan is not ritualistic. It
is the soul's awakening in touch with God--the song and dance
of the soul. There are no rules or regulations for kirtan . One
can dance in any way one likes; one can sing God's names
to any tune; one can dress any way one likes; one can perform
kirtan anywhere. Kirtan is universal and
transcendental, and it should be re-established worldwide, because
kirtan is the only means to counteract fear, anxiety and
illusion of this age. –Hansadutta
dasa, Kirtan: Ancient Medicine for Modern Man
Hansadutta
das was born Hans
Kary on May 27, 1941 in Brunswick, Germany. In early March, 1967, he
became a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada. Hansadutta das helped his spiritual master pioneer the Hare
Krishna movement by preaching and opening Hare Krishna centres
in Europe: Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and in
USA: Boston and Berkeley (San Francisco), in Canada: Montreal and
Vancouver, and in Asia: Turkey, Egypt (Cairo), Afghanistan, Nepal,
India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.
Hansadutta
das is famous for his ecstatic kirtans. From the beginning he
pushed harinama-sankirtana (the congregational chanting of the
holy names in public) with great enthusiasm and
expertise. Srila Prabhupada especially appreciated this, and christened
him "King of Kirtan" ("Krishna Kirtan Thakur").
Hansadutta
das was the first to organise and personally oversee publication
and mass distribution of his spiritual master's books in English
and Russian, German, French, Danish, Swedish, Arabic, Tagalo, Tamil,
Singhalese, and Chinese, and the first to print Srila Prabhupada's Back
To Godhead magazine in four colours
and in European languages. He also cut and sold records of Hare Krishna
kirtans, including wonderful kirtans led by Srila Prabhupada.
He travelled extensively with Srila Prabhupada in India, and on his
own, leading chanting parties and giving lectures. On account of his
dynamic preaching, Hansadutta das won the approval and praise of Srila
Prabhupada ("You have understood the importance of my books. Without
being asked, you published and distributed my books."). He was awarded
with increased responsibility as one of Srila Prabhupada's senior
disciples,
and was especially appointed as lifetime trustee of the Bhaktivedanta
Book Trust, publisher of Srila Prabhupada's books.
In
November, 1977, Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the Hare Krishna
movement, passed away from this world, leaving his disciples to carry
on his mission of expanding the Krishna consciousness movement to every
town and village on the planet. He left behind written instructions
designating Hansadutta das as one of his deputies, Rittvik
Representative of the Acharya, authorised to continue recruiting and
initiating new disciples on behalf of Srila Prabhupada.
Since then,
Hansadutta das has also authored several books and other publications: The
Hammer for Smashing Illusion (based on Shankaracharya's famous Bhaja
Govinda), Kirtan: Ancient Medicine for Modern Man, Fool's
Paradise, The Book, and more recently, Srila
Prabhupada, His Movement and You. He has given lectures at Harvard
University, McGill University, University of California at Berkeley,
and many other public venues around the world, and made TV and radio
appearances.
Hansadutta
das now resides in Cloverdale, California, north of San Francisco. His
email address is:
hansadutta@hansadutta.com
We're travelling
world-wide to introduce krishna kirtan. Now people
experience the kirtan of a football game, a baseball game, or a
concert--the congregation of many people shouting, cheering and
singing. These mundane kirtans are only for the body or mind.
Because they are material, their pleasure is only temporary.
The same principle of these materialistic kirtans exists in
krishna kirtan ; except its effect is spiritual
and everlasting. When we are performing krishna kirtan and
everyone is enthusiastically chanting Hare Krishna, it has great
potency for invoking the Lord. This is the sankirtan movement
of Lord Chaitanya.