Kirtan at Samma Karuna

I had seen a notice at MammaKop Restaurant pointing to a place where Osho's Dynamic Meditation was offered. So on one of those bad weather days, I went in search of Samma Karuna, hoping to encounter either Sanyassins or other meditation offerings, as I was not interested in Dynamic Meditation.

I eventually found the resort near the end of Sritanu, just before it transitions to the next town. I asked for a printed event calendar at the reception and then drove back.

From the program, I learned that they not only offered meditations but also regular groups, from the inevitable tantra to breathwork, of course yoga, etc. In addition to Dynamic Meditation, they also offered Vipassana and Kundalini Meditation, although Kundalini cost 450 Bath, almost 15 euros. That was definitely not an option for me. However, participation in Kirtan, a type of mantra singing, was free.

So on Sunday, I went for the singing. Just before I was about to leave, it rained heavily, but fortunately, it stopped in time as well. The singing took place in an open pavilion right on the beach. I was warmly welcomed by a beautiful Brazilian woman and invited to choose a seat. Yoga mats and cushions were laid out. I was the first guest and chose the only seat next to a pillar, where I could lean against it. Apart from me and Luzie, only the two German musicians were already there, but that would soon change. They were facing away from the sea, so I had an unobstructed view of the water and the beach. And if the weather had been better, I would have had a wonderful view of the sunset as well. Over time, more and more guests arrived, and mosquito sprays were unpacked everywhere, as the pests were now at their peak.

Martin, the Kirtan singer and guitar player, introduced himself and his co-musician, who played a kind of harp and bongos, and started with a song that was unfortunately unknown to me. In my opinion, the choice was a bit unlucky for the start, as apparently the other participants didn't know the song either, so the beginning was a bit slow because the lyrics and melody were not necessarily catchy. Hare Krishna was a bit more familiar, although the version of the melody was also unknown to me, so I kept falling out of the singing. The third one was supposed to be very simple, both in lyrics and melody, and it turned out to be a great success, not only for that reason. According to his own statements, he had heard it many years ago in Bagwhan's ashram...Well, well! Now I was curious, but I was surprised to admit that I didn't know it. It must have been part of the midday Heartdance, which I never attended. Salam Mevlana Salam was the simple text, may peace be with you, and the melody was similarly catchy. After we had all sung a few rounds of it, he replaced the second Salam with a name. Each person should take turns saying their name, and then the whole group would sing for him or her, Salam Mevlana Nirav for example. That was really beautiful and brought many radiant eyes to many faces.

On YouTube, I found a somewhat related version:

https://youtu.be/3ZbPaVlOv_c

We sang a few other songs that were also unknown to me and not so easy to sing, but they still had their effect and put me in a calm, peaceful, and pleasantly joyful state. By now, it had gotten dark, and after about 1.5 hours, the event was over. I stood alone by the water for a while and enjoyed the tranquility before getting Indian takeout at the market in Sritanu and heading for the contrasting program of the evening, watching football with Darshi on the beach.