Tuning In: Discovering Authenticity Through Music | Episode 111 with Narada Williams

(1) Tuning In: Discovering Authenticity Through Music | Episode 111 with Narada Williams - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbsYTt5bjC4

Transcript:
(00:02) [Music] [Music] oh tat ah thanks brother finally finally it's been years we've been talking about doing this yes here we are isn't it interesting when that happens and there's like a lot of buildup to something and then you get to the actual moment it's like okay here's the moment like and it's so chill uh I wanted to ask you about uh authentic voice I know you have a upom coming workshop and part of what I saw there is you know like discovering your authentic
(01:07) voice so I'm curious what what does that mean to you this is my experience and I think a lot of others experiences is children some people are not born with easy access to their voice so they may be singing as a child and someone says you know you're singing off key or you're not singing in a beautiful way and then we kind of just get shut down and think that oh well I'm just not a singer and then it all I think most people still enjoy singing but they do it alone and have judgment for themselves and it's my firm belief that
(01:59) we're all inherently ly musical beings it's a kind of an essential piece of our nature um so my goal was first just finding my own voice just singing by myself and then I had the profound experience as a young boy singing um in church and that amazing feeling that you get when you're not only singing by yourself but you're singing with others and you're singing about Divine conscious ideas and to me that was a life-changing moment and what I find when I'm singing with others who are maybe new to singing
(02:43) or are not comfortable singing that this experience of group singing is really healing and so my goal is to just remind everyone that we're all musical beings and that we all have the ability to make music and and should do that for our own mental health and Spiritual Development why do you think that healing occurs in those moments well I think there's the subtlety of just sound vibration is so powerful you know you're a lover of Music most people are a lover of music and and music has the ability to change
(03:28) our Consciousness our State um so I think I'm that's the most powerful thing is one we can absorb music in like a concert but when we're actively participating in it it it's just very healing for the soul I think it's in our DNA when you look at all of these ancient cultures and ancient tribes music is an essential piece and it's everyone's participating it's not there's this one musician and we just sit around and listen to her all the time um it's a community building
(04:04) activity that I think our modern culture is kind of um not cultivated that um but it's within our DNA so I mean that's why I think it's so healing because we've been doing it for Millennia as a community yeah this to me is what's so special about Kyon it's like the particip uh participatory aspect of it you know like we get together often here to have Kyon and sometimes I think about you know wanting to play some songs that I enjoy playing there but I realize in those moments that that's
(04:44) nice but what happens at Kyon is another level because we're all participating you know and so I just I just consider that like we all want to be involved yeah you know invite and and when that balance happens between the facilitator the leader and everyone the audience you know actually I thought there's a lot of things about like um democratizing uh yeah components of life and I think there's like a fundamental philosophy here uh that people can have that either it's better if just one person does something or if we
(05:27) crowdsource and gather um gather a little bit from everyone or like the collective intelligence that it's going to be at a higher level than the individual and I'm not sure I think that there's something to be said but like as an example even you know sometimes uh famous musicians will allow the audience to sing their songs that are so popular and everyone knows it you know and they'll stop singing and all of a sudden you just hear the crowd singing together you know thousands of voices in Harmony
(06:00) and I just wonder about that like will that one single musician could can that one single musici ever compare to thousands of voices singing together yeah I I don't think so I think it's a matter of sheer numbers and participation you know I think we as Kyan leaders um the goal of someone leading a Kyon is maximum participation from everyone that's there so it's a very um it's all about inclusion the practice of Kyan I got a very um beautiful lesson in Kyan early on it was before I was ever
(06:46) really leading Kyon and durgadas who's David Newman was here doing Kyon college and at that time I was administrating the program and he told a very beautiful story that impact acted me deeply and it's something I share with anyone who is new in leading Kon so he was playing Kon H he's playing guitar and he was so in to what he was doing um and when he ended the Kyon in his mind it was like this was one of the best kons I've ever had and he wanted to get a reflection from those who were there and uh this
(07:29) Beautiful Soul raised their hand and said um you know I can see that you had a really beautiful experience but you didn't take us with you um and of course I'm sure for David Newman that was hard to hear but at the same time it was a deep lesson for him and is now is a deep lesson for anyone who comes in contact with that story where it's great to sound good it's great to have fun it's actually important that the leader is having fun but you have to bring everyone into that it's like for him the
(08:08) train left the station and no one was on the train um so for me personally when I'm sitting with a group chanting Kyan um My ultimate job is to make sure everyone is feeling comfortable and feeling included in the experience and um that's what finding your voice is all about is creating a very safe conducive space where there's no judgment one you're not judging yourself but ultimately of course you're not judging anyone else and that's why in these kons where we're passing um who's leading the
(08:45) Kyon when someone leads and maybe their voice is crackling or you can tell they're very nervous after they're done leading everyone will clap and cheer just to kind of encourage and to thank that person for for Having the courage to sing in a group setting because it's not easy in the beginning um but I think that's what Kyon is all about is making sure everyone feels safe to express yeah it's it's really interesting because I think there's two sides to this or it might be a place for some
(09:21) balance because I can imagine if you're the leader and it's all about the experience that other people are having then you might only get so far too right like allowing yourself to have a a deep genuine authentic experience also carries everyone but if that's all that you're concerned with then I think the example that you're giving like the train left the station and no one but I would also be curious like to have heard from other people like maybe that was the one woman's experience that she
(09:53) didn't feel that way but I don't know I I do sometimes think like if someone is really having a powerful genuine experience then there's something special in that and I do have the opportunity to get something beneficial certainly from that like just any any wonderful musicians that like when you go to a concert and you see them and they're just doing their thing and maybe they they don't even think that you're there but it doesn't matter like if what's they're produc in his art
(10:30) that can be beneficial yeah to me still touch the totally Kon you know for myself something interesting happens where I I notice myself fluctuate sometimes I'm in a state where I I'm just taking it in and I don't even have the ability to well may maybe I have the ability but I don't want to sing yeah like I'm in such a deep meditative place that it's just like oh I'm just being flooded by these sounds totally and then I'll come out of that and I'll participate and that's
(11:09) wonderful too and both are great and I love to have the freedom of kind of going back and forth right yeah yeah I think when I say Max participation it doesn't mean that you have to be singing at the top of your lungs but Kiran what we're doing is we're chanting the names of the Divine so when I say Max participation it's that anyone who is in the Kyon is present for the Kyon whether you're just sitting meditating on the sound vibrations or you're silently dancing or you're singing at the top of
(11:46) your lungs all of these are ways to participate um but I think what makes a powerful experience for everyone is that when you're in the Kyon you're in it how you're participating is totally up to you and I think that's the beautiful kind of safe vibration that we can create that there aren't there aren't really many rules they definitely structure to Kyon which helps kind of be conducive for the experience but yeah there aren't any exact rules now if you're in the back of the room talking
(12:19) on your cell phone you're not participating um so it's one respecting that Sanctified place where we're all coming together to chant the names of the Divine and and hold that loving vibration in our hearts so that's what I mean by mass is that what you experienced like this loving vibration in your heart and it um it like caught you and grabbed you and you developed interest in going back there again and again yeah that's it it's just being with your brothers and sisters and having this communal experience of
(13:02) music and the Divine name and love for one another and love for life itself love for life itself that's not always an easy one right no no is that how you feel genuinely that you love this experience of being alive or is it a is it a journey do you notice yourself fluctuating and is it a discipline to come back to that place that perspective yes it's everything um you know we do need to develop love and respect for this opportunity we've been given to be in a body and live on planet Earth and know that it's
(13:49) structured in a way that it is not easy and it's not supposed to be easy but I think developing love in respect for the difficult pieces in our life are ultimately just the divine's way of teaching us and it's approaching it with that attitude that everything that is happening to me is the divine grace especially the difficult moments of life because these difficulties push us back to our source um you know prayer really happens on us in sinere level when there's something very difficult happening within your life
(14:34) that's my um experience at least is when my prayer is totally pure and totally surrendered and without ego is when something difficult is happening and that difficulty brings about this flavor of prayer that doesn't rise any other way maybe not any other way um but I think that's when a lot of humans feel the need to to connect to the Divine because you feel the need I'm surrendered I need help I need guidance I need support but then there's the practice of gratitude which we've talked about a lot
(15:26) which is you know equally powerful seeing how so many beautiful gifts that were being given on a moment to moment basis and and really being grateful for that I wonder if there's like a a message maybe it's ridiculous to think about it like this but I still wonder if there's like a if if there's a message that God is trying to send to us or even like if God is learning through us like as far as I can tell like if we're generalizing throughout [Music] time more Comforts uh and in in ease of life more
(16:21) pleasure is all is being offered to humans through throughout the layers of time like just to think about our grandparents and compare my life to my grandparents life it's fundamentally so much easier because of technological advances and all of that so so I wonder you know it is like God thinking this is ridiculous that like uh I'll just keep giving giving giving giving more it's almost like you can you could do that that for someone else like even like a like a child you can have that perspective for a child like I'm
(17:04) just going to keep giving you and giving you because why wouldn't I give you like everything that I can offer you I'm just going to keep giving it to you um and maybe what's being like realized potentially that the Gratitude component has to be there that the giving all the everything that that you can have is is in a way worthless or not as valuable if the gratitude for it doesn't exist totally totally yeah and our modern society has given us a lot of gifts um but I personally seeing a trend of
(17:49) trying to simplify one's life um our modern society as humans I don't think we're really built for what's going on the the amount of input from the outer World cell phones mass communications these are all very beautiful gifts and at the same time I mean you and I we live at an ashram so we're in the middle of the woods 20 minutes from any gas station and um grocery store and a lot of our guests are coming from DC area um cities and they're coming because they need Simplicity and they need nature and they need regimented
(18:38) spiritual practice so I do believe the experience that one has in Asam is kind of an antidote to modern society yeah yeah well I think it's such an antidote because it gives it gives the space it offers the space to come to to conclusions on your own yeah and I don't know about you but like we're we're both dads and you know if I could say through this experience of being a father I think the most important thing that that I'm doing that I can do is to offer space yeah you know because the the most of the experience I had in
(19:21) my life was kind of lessons being forced onto me yeah and that came from a good place of course there were adults older people in my life that had discovered these things and were trying to say like AI this is how it is like do this but that didn't work and I have that impulse too like Zen I'm going to teach you this lesson like you know I'm gonna and I do and I do it sometimes but ultimately like I guess the great uh question for me is can I really believe in the power of allowing her to discover
(19:58) on her own mhm and that she will the the conclusions she can come to on her own like I could have more faith in that than in any lesson I'm trying to teacher myself yeah yeah and that's what happens at the asham I think totally and I you know it's my firm belief that we as parents our main job is to create a beautiful environment in the home that has boundaries boundaries of are of course essential children need structure need boundaries but our ultimate goal is to create space for this soul to flower and
(20:43) not flower how we think it should um you know every individual is born with their own propensities and their own abilities and you know my goal as a father is to leave leave space for these children to flower into their ultimate true nature not impose my own BS that has worked for me and also not worked for me so and of course it's a Razor's Edge to walk as as parents um yeah I think you and I we're holding the same vibration in our hearts of just creating enough space and a very safe environment
(21:26) where these children can learn life's lessons cuz it's all there you know it's built into the structure of human life uh to learn these very deep morals um it can be learned by just living but it's important that we create boundaries and openness in the home yeah and it's not isolation either no like it doesn't exist in because you know speaking about this flowering I don't think that ends like that's still happening for you and me too totally so we're holding the space but we're also holding the space for
(22:08) ourselves to do and we're kind of these flowers are like bouncing around with with with each other totally I think by creating that space it's healing for us too to continue our our journey of self-realization yeah yeah but hopefully what we're doing for our children is is we're empowering them to kind of already create the habit of getting to know oneself right from the beginning you know I think you and I later in life we kind of started that process over again I know personally I certainly did of you know High School is
(22:55) a very distracting place with many different emotions happening and you know for me after leaving high school and and going to college and being on my own and having deep experiences you know that process kind of started to happen again and it's still unfolding and hopefully will be unfolding until we leave this Earth so you you don't have like an ambition that there's like a there's an end point within being alive where um there isn't any more learning no I think it's infinite yeah that's my experience too
(23:36) [Music] MH and I'm okay with that like do you feel like you're okay with that like that there isn't an end to it well one we don't have an option so might as well be okay with it no not always but um yeah it is The Human Experience so don't push back don't fight it lean into it yeah yeah there's there's something uh very supportive for me and that if it's true even if it's difficult I can deal with it right it's reality this is the reality as far as I can tell if my heart says
(24:28) this is the situation right and I'm clear on that then okay but if it's all vague then that's much harder totally yeah we're truth seeking beings at our core and that doesn't end no no end Insight yeah how do you practice authenticity moment to moment for me I use my heart as kind of a barometer and I don't mean my physical heart but my spiritual heart so I notice interacting with the world sometimes my heart
(25:35) closes pushes away and to me that's kind of my own internal barometer of whether I'm being authentic or not um if I feel my heart closes off to others or to myself it's kind of like a warning sign that I'm not in my own truth does that make sense yeah I think so but do you notice that there are times when you're listening more closely and then maybe you catch yourself like wow I wasn't I wasn't tuned into that space I was somewhere else totally yeah I think that's the modern Human Condition
(26:23) and that's why meditation is such an important practice because what we're doing is one we're closing off the outer world and then we're going into ourselves and this practice of meditation you know we teach it here all the time meditation actually starts after you get off of your seat for meditation it's like this formal 30 minutes to an hour practice is is preparation because the goal is that we're living our entire day in this state of meditation in the state of awareness and openness and in touch with
(27:05) oursel so I mean if you've been to the asham you've probably heard this before that you know the game really begins when you leave the meditation Hall can you hold on to that awareness of yourself and of others and how you're interacting interacting with the world I feel like something needs to be discovered or is discovered in order to to do that so meditation can be a place where what you're saying is discovered it it's not necessarily the case that doesn't have to happen but it it can
(27:49) happen I'm curious like what is it that's discovered that allows for in a way it's a commitment to practicing this all the time to me that Discovery is is our self our true nature is that we are souls on this very short Journey on Earth and that every opportunity is an opportunity to love and to love oneself and once we learn to love ourself we can really learn to love others yeah I think if there is something to discover it's love with a capital l how good that feels to be in that state and it comes
(28:53) [Music] from this uh security I think also or some kind of stability in the way that each of us are created like it's it's like honoring this being through honoring this being like deeply genuinely it can allow for [Music] that yeah to me it's almost a state of fearlessness what I've noticed is when we're afraid is when we close and the state of fearlessness is a very powerful place to be and I think it's you know in this world there's so many things to fear but when we realize our Immortal
(29:57) nature and our um total connection with every living thing on this planet we learn that there's actually nothing to be afraid of this is only a game which is driving us to realize our true nature which is a state of fearlessness yeah what's really important to me is this is Allegiance I bring in this word it's like I'm so grateful for this discovery actually I didn't realize that this is what's what was happening and I think it's maybe happening for all of us but it's an I think it's a very powerful inquiry
(30:51) said where is my allegiance it's like what I hear you describing is an allegiance to love right through the discovery of what that feels like and so therefore when fear arises in those moments where fear comes up and it can be so strong you know there's a remembrance through what's practiced in meditation right like that's the practice room the training room as you said because fear will come up there too like if you wait long enough you know there will be the Freer no one yeah no one else needs to
(31:28) be a part of it you know the fear will come and in that if I'm practicing in those moments I mean what is happening there so it let's just take meditation meditating and then fear comes up whatever the flavor of fear is and I can get stuck on it I can be with that for the rest of the time until something else comes that I don't even notice or right away I can pay attention I'm paying attention you know or like that's even the allegiance to paying attention my allegiance is just just to pay attention yeah and then through that
(32:04) I notice okay the fear is here right and then now what right I mean I love the quote the only way out is through um you know when fear comes up if it's you know in meditation things are coming up we call from the chittum which is like the storehouse of emotions and thoughts things are boiling up if they're just pushed back down it's it's um it's just going to come back up again so to me the process of meditation is letting those things flow through seeing them clearly for what they are which the
(32:42) most part is misunderstanding and letting that happen and I think that's the essential piece of of meditation is is allowing and not judging and then of course bringing the Mind back to whatever your source of concentration is be it Mantra or affirmation or like vasana practice which is just focusing on the breath or nothingness so the allowance um the allowance allows for return in to a an intention an area of focus but what you're saying is that the the first step is the allowance that there's nothing wrong that this is okay is that
(33:43) that and then that opens up and allows for something to shift yeah I mean AI you and I are both firm Believers in cold therapy yeah and you know I recommend to pretty much everyone that I come across to to practice cold therapy be it cold showers or the ultimate is you know immersing yourself in cold water but for me why that practice is so powerful is because one you're looking at this tub of cold water and your mind is saying I don't want to do this and then you get in and physiologically your body is saying I
(34:33) don't like this I need to get out but there's the intellect the awareness which is no I'm actually okay I'm not dying even though my my brain and body are saying you are dying but it's it's this practice of I'm okay I'm not dying and I'm in control control of my own physiological responses to stress be it cold be it stress out in the world so for me my daily cold practice is is just reminding myself that I'm okay yes this is an intense experience um but I'm okay and I can I
(35:22) can hold space for that so for me it's it's changed my life because you know living our daily lives they are difficult experiences that we encounter and difficult chemicals are produced in the body where it's it's uncomfortable but it's not something we have to run away from actually we can kind of lean into that discomfort um and gain so much power and fearlessness from it yeah yeah yeah leaning into discomfort is not easy no it's so interesting that like that's a way yeah like why is it why does it set up
(36:08) like that why is that how it works I don't know I mean if you think of say the practice of aasana where for 10 days you're sitting and that is all you're doing and the many processes that you go through in your mind where what are you doing this is ridiculous your knees feel like they're exploding your back is hurting why are you doing this yet these powerful yogis which I've never done vapas but I've sat enough to know kind of the gravity of that practice um and it's so powerful um to kind of sit
(36:45) through that and then see what's on the other side just like in the cold plunge when you're sitting there what's on the other side of that discomfort is bliss yes and yeah am I able to go through that discomfort to get to the Bliss MH that's what it's about yeah and it's knowing in your heart that the Bliss is always there but we can do things that help us remember yeah that's what the practice of yoga is the end of my um cold plunges I go under and hold my breath and those moments are the ones
(37:36) where I really come up with fear come up face to face with fear the most yeah and it's crazy like it's really intense because like I feel death there when I'm holding my breath and I'm holding my breath and I'm relaxing and I'm allowing and I'm being successful at that it's all it's all okay until it's not MH you know until it's like no there's a problem like you need to breathe and then that's okay too that's okay too wow and then the same thing again and then okay okay like
(38:10) eventually I'm G to have to come up and breathe and that's fine but there's something in that whole process like when I go through that a few times and the fear comes up again and it's a little bit stronger and deeper and and I allow it and that it feels like it's beneficial for me to be doing that certainly yeah it's just we're exercising the muscle of the willpower and just being okay with fear uncomfort yeah and I wonder if all that is like preparation for what we're encountering in our daily
(38:56) lives lives which is you know it's a combination it's not just the hard stuff but there's the hard stuff and I don't know about you but it's like I find other people can be the most challenging part like in a way like all those practices are tools to help because I feel so helpless sometimes in regard to other people like I can I can I can feel where they're at and I want to help them mhm yeah I'm curious what your take is on this but life has told told me from trying to help so many different times
(39:34) that I need to allow for other people to discover things in their own time and back to um being a dad but in a way the same thing happens often just with interactions with other adults where I feel like I see something I notice something that could be beneficial to someone else but I don't feel like there's a real way to offer them what I have to offer them that's going to be productive yeah so I just need to okay let go like that's what that's what God has has taught me it's just like I got
(40:14) this Obby like you don't need to you don't need to fix this right and um somy sa danda always says you have to become a to become a Seeker have to become a sicker so if someone's not ready to start a practice or you know make a a shift in their life um it's not up to us to convince them that it's the right thing to do it's something we all have to come to on our own terms for sure but it's hard because we know things work they've worked for us and most likely the work for others not
(41:00) always um but until someone's ready in their own heart there's nothing we can do other than just make space and that's what we're talking about is the space yeah and to and to prepare myself for the times that might come where someone does ask where things open open up right um because there's all the difference there of trying to like either Force something onto someone else or just being here and if someone wants to come and ask and say okay you know I'm having this issue or whatever it is right then they're
(41:41) receptive totally to it but the timing is everything timing is everything patience is everything you know especially when this person is someone you love deeply you know it's easier fre for you to want to be very proactive but um we can't force these things yeah I want to go back to um authentic voice and if you could share about like your experience a little bit more and like what what happened to you um in terms of your relationship with your own voice and finding ciron um yeah what that Journey has been like
(42:28) so the journey for me well I've always loved music you know when I was 2 three and four the only way I would fall asleep is by listening to my favorite albums I don't even remember what they were but of course my parents remember because they played them all the time so there was that and my first experience of congregational singing was in church you know I grew up in a moderately religious family and we went to church every Sunday and as a kid sermons were pretty boring but before the sermons for the
(43:11) first 30 minutes we would sing so I grew up next to my father um who is a wonderful musician and beautiful singer um singing with him you know I was next to him but we're singing as a congregation and there was just a feeling that would well up in my heart of just love and joy and also singing next to my father who was a beautiful singer and he would harmonize you know with with the music and that's also where I learned you know the science of harmonizing um so that was I guess my first powerful experience in
(43:57) you know as I grew up I got less interested in church um I had the blessing in high school I was very into basketball and um playing junior varsity I blew out my knee um which I was so disappointed I thought I was just going to play basketball all high school but with this injury I needed to find something else to do so I joined choir and one that was an emotionally hard thing to do I went to private school and then went to public school and high school so I you know entered high school with a couple friends but
(44:37) not many friends and of course there's some judgment around clicks and if you're into sports or if you're into theater if you're into choir if you're into band um but for me you know choir was a very healing experience and that's where I definitely started to discover my own voice and my choir teacher was an amazing soul and she forced me to do solos which uh if anyone's encountered singing alone in front of a group of people it's terrifying and um and was and still is terrifying
(45:18) sometimes um but choir was a very beautiful experience for me but it ended when I left high school you know I got to together with a dear friend Ryan and we played music um all the time and that was so beautiful but it was just me and him and it wasn't until I came to the ashram in 2014 and my teacher Satia greenstone the first thing we did before saying anything was we chanted together Kon and it was my first time I had ever even encountered this practice which to me you know brought me right back to my roots but it was even more humble
(46:03) somehow this practice of Kyan and that's really what lit the fire is how good it feels to seeing congregationally with with one people you don't even know and also people that you love and it kind of just dissolves the boundaries so for me it was that and then you know the way to find your voice is to use your voice and to learn to not judge yourself and especially not to judge others but the only way you cannot judge others is by learning to not judge yourself as Swami saand says everything begins at home and until we establish
(46:49) whatever it is in our own heart we can't expect to be able to manifest that in the outer world it's just not possible seems that maybe there's a fine line between judgment and maybe call it discernment or something because like let's say as I'm singing right as you're singing you notice there there was a moment maybe where it didn't sound the way you wanted it to sound or something happened right so it's like almost like there's a judgment there of that moment but maybe it doesn't have to be judgment in that
(47:31) way it's uh it's more of just discernment opportunity to learn something because improve that's how Improvement happens by paying attention totally but you could also almost say that like paying attention is being judgmental so it's like really kind of hard to unpack that right what's happening there yeah I think it's I think it's discerning M and you're realizing okay when I sing this my voice cracks or I'm singing a little off key um that's certainly important and if one wants to develop
(48:10) themselves um then there are Pathways to do that um you know after the pandemic Kyan got very popular at the ashram and I think the main reason it did is because during the pandemic we were all alone and separated and socially maybe not even like allowed to come together in big groups so kyans being such a beautiful communal practice you know it really took off after the pandemic but for me personally because we are practicing Katan and we love it it's very important that we look at the roots of these traditions and not only
(48:56) look at them but respect them and practice them so that's why I've started teaching this weekly class at The asram Yoga of the voice because there are ancient thousands and thousands of year old traditions of music of the East where there are very scientific practices to where we can one develop our voice develop our ear through for music which ultimately just makes for a better experience in Kyan um because you're increasing your ability um it's not just chanting Kyan it's practicing scales learning ragas
(49:46) learning how to pronounce Sanskrit in a very um respectful way so that we're respecting these ancient traditions that are you know giving us so much joy um so to me yeah one not judging but I think when we judge we kind of our heart closes um but discrimination and discernment which I think is what you're talking about is is very important um because yeah we can refine our voice we can refine our musical abilities and everyone can do so um it's not just some people are gifted some are not therefore you're not you know it's
(50:30) not worth putting the work in it's always worth it I wonder if it's like uh there could be like a foundation of acceptance yeah and that's like that's the stability there right both for myself and others it's like yes of course I accept you like of course I think that you're a Divine being that you know that I believe in your genuine self um of course that I love you and when that's stabilized now we can play on top of it right but I think what can happen with judgment often uh that we notice is that
(51:12) judgments can sever the foundation themselves yeah you know and we forget this stability right [Music] um yeah yeah it's like judgment severs trust um and when we're chanting congregationally U trust is is essential trust that I'm not going to be judged if my voice cracks or if I sing off key um that I'm just going to be encouraged because I had the um The Bravery to try yeah yet I've also seen people come into Kyon settings and try to shift it towards something else or grab you know the attention on themselves and
(52:07) I've witnessed the the leader of the Kyon very artfully redirecting that person or making it clear that that's not what we're doing yeah you know right now so again it's like an art to be able to navigate these things totally totally I've been really enjoying going to oldtime jams recently and for anyone who doesn't know you know oldtime music is kind of the roots of what we call Blue Grass now and oldtime music is just like Kyon um you know when I was a young boy going to play with my cousin at my aunt
(52:53) and uncle's house they would have this is in in Floyd County which is a very rural place um you know friends from the county you know you could know there's an oldtime Jam at someone's house because all of the furniture is moved out into the yard so that the living room has space and everyone sits in a circle typically and there are different instruments some are singing some are playing instruments some are just listening and there are tunes that are just well known and you know they go around in the circle and each one leads
(53:29) their own tune um and I've been to jams locally here where you know a hot shot will come in and try to kind of like make it all about themselves and and the elders who are there are kind of there to to protect everyone and to also make sure that no one's you know stealing the stage that it's this communal experience and everyone are equals well whether you're like a amazing touring musician making a million dollars a year when you enter that Circle everyone is equal and you know that's a folk tradition Kiran
(54:07) is a folk tradition um and these folk Traditions be it you know one's from the West one is uh from the East you know the vibration is the same that we're all coming here Community as community and we're all equals and participating in that way you uh you mentioned before of this belief that you have that uh that we all have a musical inclination I remember exactly how you put it right we all have this you know and so would you also say that inside all of us is a beautiful voice CU you know you often hear like
(54:51) the label like I just have a horrible Voice or you don't want to hear me sing mhm something like that like when you hear someone say that do you consider like that's what you think but that's not the truth yeah I mean it it is totally true that some are are born naturally with the ability to sing and to hear tone into sing in key but it is my firm belief that wherever you're coming from that refinement is always possible for some people it may mean more work um but to me it's it's always
(55:31) possible and what's important is maybe you actually don't want to sing um but there's still Music Inside singing is not the only way to express musically um there's percussion there's learning instruments um so it doesn't always have to be singing in order to cultivate your musical nature um it's much bigger than that what um what caused you to decide to take this leap and now you know offer this this Workshop mainly just people coming and asking me to teach them things you know I'm no expert in
(56:26) anything uh certainly not music um but I know enough to where people come and they ask for me to show them things um so that has been happening a lot the past three years and I've been doing things oneon-one and just thought why not start to share this in a more broad way um if this is how I can serve which you know if people are coming to me and asking I just see it as the divine's asking this is what I need you to do so do it so yeah it took a a leap of faith and you know there's always impostor
(57:08) syndrome which comes in of like who are you to say that I'm going to teach this class um but that's that's just the Judgment coming in where if people are showing up and there are Smiles on their face and they're enjoying what's happening then I'm just here to serve you know the day when no one shows up will be the day it stops you know but really just trying to take the guidance of the Divine is this important to you to be like listening to what is showing up kind of like the the universe is having
(57:53) a conversation with you oh this is what people are asking for I'm going to listen and I'm going to do is like do you find that you're having this ongoing relationship with what's happening in the external world and maybe are you getting more Adept at listening to what's showing up not kind of fighting against it but welcoming it totally yeah surrender is my main practice and it is is you know true surrender is no joke it's not easy um but I've spent a lot of my life trying to control my outside environment
(58:40) so that I can feel more comfortable and every time I try to con manipulate the outer environment so that I can feel more comfortable it never seems to work so I mean my main focus right now is what I can do is manipulate my inner environment manipulating the outer environment is fra in Failure um but if I can manipulate my inner environment to where I'm okay in whatever situation life presents to me to me that's the ultimate power of the human being is to be so deeply rooted in your own peace um that you know everything's okay but
(59:32) rooting yourself in that peace is also listening to your heart and also listening to the world of like what is actually being asked of me opposed to what am I asking of the world so that I can be a happy comfortable person it's it's really I think we're all here to discover how we can serve one another I think that's the Ultimate Experience of community is here are my abilities how can I use my abilities to serve others and that awareness or that ability is a byproduct of the all the management of what's Happening
(1:00:17) internally totally yeah it's very practical too think to focus on this intern it's like the most practical thing in the world yeah because I have Direct Control exactly it's the only thing we have direct control over is our our self but it takes exercise right yeah and it seems that that's the place maybe where fear live lives of course the most and and and in the world we're living in today it's easier than ever to to practice avoidance because there's so many shiny objects to distract yourself
(1:01:00) with totally totally thanks so much brother yeah I'm really grateful that you're here I'm honored to be here would you uh be up for ending us with a with the chat please yeah oh [Music] [Music] om shant shant shant thanks for listening if you've enjoyed this content and think others might as well please feel free to share and subscribe