Hansadutta at Santa Rosa Junior College (Part 1/10)
Guest speaker to Professor Carla Grady’s Asian Philosophy Class
September 27, 2010
An essential part of or presentation in terms of philosophy and spiritual subject matters, is to precede it with kirtan. Kirtan is a form of meditation or praise by sound. The whole Vedic culture and philosophy is based on sound. Therefore the Vedas are called shruti. Shruti means “which is heard.” Even if a person is illiterate – can’t read, can’t write – the tradition was that by hearing he could imbibe the highest most esoteric principles of Vedic philosophy. So the kirtan, or maha-mantra… maha meaning “great”, man means “mind”, and tra “to deliver” or “clear” the mind of all unwanted thoughts, because our mind is always churning – “Oh, where’s my girlfriend, where’s my job, where’s my books, where’s my car” and so forth. It’s a very simple process. There are only three words: Hare, Krishna and Rama, and they are in a 16 word mantra.
