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Music
Artist:
Snatam Kaur
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Bio: Snatam Kaur was introduced to music and spiritual practice at an early age. Schooled in kirtan, meditation, and Gurmukhi, the Sanskrit-based language of Sikh scriptures from Northern India, the young Snatam Kaur began to develop the devotion and skills that have grown and blossomed into a... more
Bio: Snatam Kaur was introduced to music and spiritual practice at an early age. Schooled in kirtan, meditation, and Gurmukhi, the Sanskrit-based language of Sikh scriptures from Northern India, the young Snatam Kaur began to develop the devotion and skills that have grown and blossomed into a compelling, profound talent.
Snatam Kaur's parents brought her up in the Sikh tradition as taught by Yogi Bhajan. From an early age, she practiced yoga and meditation daily and her mother taught her Gurmukhi. "My mother taught me the alphabet on my way to school every morning," recalls Snatam. Her Sikh community augmented these lessons with instruction in kirtan (devotional chanting). "Through these experiences, I learned the pronunciation," she says, "but also I learned the passion for what I was singing because these gatherings were so spiritual."
As a child, Snatam also had training in voice, violin, guitar, and percussion. She obtained a solid foundation in Western classical music while playing violin in an orchestra and giving solo performances. Her many opportunities to use and expand her musical talent in a spiritual setting emphasized for her the connection between her music and spirituality. "I learned about the importance of sound currents from Yogi Bhajan," she says, "but I also had the personal experience of how the energy of these sacred words can have a very real, positive effect."
Snatam further explored the power of sound in India. After high school, her love for the Indian musical tradition and for children took her to Miri Piri Academy, a boarding school for children in India. She spent time taking care of the young children, teaching physical education, and providing music for the children's morning and evening chanting. When she returned to the United States, she attended Mills College in Oakland, California, where she obtained a degree in biochemistry, taught yoga classes, and shared her chants with Western audiences. But India called her back. After touring and performing Kirtan in northern India, Snatam settled in Amritsar where she studied music with the accomplished ragi (Indian master of Sikh-style kirtan) Bhai Hari Singh. This was a great honor for her, and particularly meaningful because Singh was the same teacher who had taught her mother when she was just a little girl.
Snatam embraced everything that Singh taught her, from the technical aspects of the notes, to the ability to sing with presence and awareness. The lessons took place in Singh's home, where Snatam was welcomed by the entire family--daughters, sons, and grandchildren.
While in Amritsar, Snatam lived next door to the Golden Temple, considered the world's holiest Sikh temple. Sacred music resonates from inside the temple from about 2:30 in the morning to midnight every day-sounds created by world-class masters of Sikh kirtan. This enabled Snatam to continually soak in the essence of the Sound Current.
Upon returning to the US from India, Snatam began her career as a recording artist with a band called the Peace Family. She served as the band's lead singer and, with two skilled and accomplished musicians - Livtar Singh and GuruGanesha Singh, had her first opportunity to write songs. Two years later she began to develop her own sound and style and embarked on a very fruitful solo career. hide
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Click play to listen to "We are People"
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Interview with Snatam Kaur
YM: Which came first for you, the yoga or the music?
SK: Honestly, I have no idea! My parents raised me in the 3HO lifestyle (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) founded by Yogi Bhajan in 1969. In this lifestyle, music and yoga are interlinked. Every morning we did a daily sadhana (spiritual discipline), and my parents would carry me to the family meditation room all wrapped up in blankets. They would start out doing yoga, and my mother tells me that when the musical chanting meditations started, I would sit up straight and start singing along. So perhaps in a sense, music and the divine chanting got a hold of me first. But, I also remember doing lots of fun yoga classes with my parents and other children in the community, where we used our imaginations and told yoga stories while trying out a bunch of postures. In addition through the guidance of Yogi Bhajan my parents conveyed many basic yogic principals to me… things like breathe deep when you are anxious, balance your physical, mental, and spiritual energy every day with yoga, and other things. So yoga has been key for me my whole life.
YM: What does your daily practice look like?
SK: I have grown up understanding that there is no greater peace and pleasure then feeling one with God. Every morning, I strive for this feeling, and pray that it will last for the rest of the day! I always do a good Kundalini Yoga practice, followed by chanting. This always brings me into a really positive state. These days, being pregnant, my husband and I take long morning walks and chant while walking for the coming of the new soul into this world. In the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, he recommends that a woman walk five miles a day when she is pregnant. Although we don't always manage five miles, we do pretty well, and it has helped with all sorts of pregnancy symptoms, and it is a great way to start the day!
YM: Why Mantra?
SK: Mantra, means projection (tra) of the mind (man). Mantra is not really personal, in the sense that it doesn't relate to the ego. It relates to the eternal flow of light and love that is within each of us, and the essence of the soul. We project ourselves into this vibration, and by doing so, reclaim our divinity. The mind is not an easy thing. Sometimes we get caught in negative thought patterns, or are affected in our minds deeply by experiences that we have, to the point that the mind takes over. Sometimes when I sit and meditate, I take a deep breath and bring awareness to my whole body… because it is easy to think that we are just a bunch of walking heads all caught up in our thoughts. Unfortunately when we get caught up in our thoughts, I believe that we don't see the blessings in our lives or the reality. The idea of mantra is to project the mind to a positive state, and by doing so, give the mind the responsibility of uplifting you as an entire being. Mantras are simply positive affirmations of the divinity within us and within all beings. The more we can recite a mantra throughout our lives, the more we will vibrate with its essence. In reality, God is really taking care of everything anyway. And although we have to be present, aware, and live in truth, the more we chant, the more we can be in the flow of the energy of God.
YM: What are you devoted to?
SK: In the Sikh way of life, we are blessed with the living presence of Guru as it exists within the Shabad Guru or Sound Current of the Guru. During the 15th and 18th centuries, we had 10 Gurus who were in their physical form. They left this earth, but left their energy in what we call the Shabad Guru, which are essentially their writings and experiences of union with God. When I recite these words, as I do in many of my recordings, it brings me in union with the energy of my Guru, and it is a very divine experience. And so, I am devoted to my Guru for this reason. But it goes beyond singing for me. In fact, if I suddenly lost my voice, I would still bow my head! It is an energy and a flow that I bow to. It actually happened one night in a concert, where I couldn't sing because of a cold. In my mind, before going on stage, I bowed my head to my Guru, and asked that the divine energy come through anyway. It did! People in the audience sang so beautifully, and the energy of the Guru was palpable that night. I can't put it into words, but it was as if the Guru sat with me, and in every heart, and sang for me.
YM: Why is spirituality so important?
SK: My teacher Yogi Bhajan said that we are not human beings here to have a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings here to have a human experience. I believe that we are spirit first and foremost, and that is what helps me to see God in everyone. The spirit is neutral, the spirit is truth, and somewhere in each of us, although it can be challenging to see at times, there is a soul!
YM: What advise do you have for people to stay grounded in these hectic times?
SK: My advice is to do a daily spiritual practice. Make it your rock, your foundation. Life will flow beautifully if you dedicate yourself in this way. There is a beautiful sadhana that Yogi Bhajan gave called the "Aquarian Sadhana". You can find out about it by looking at www.3HO.org. But the discipline shouldn't stop once you've done your yoga and meditation practice. The whole day is a sadhana, a discipline practice. So, look at every thing as a way to grow spiritually… balancing the check book, taking your kids to gymnastics, shopping, working, making a business deal. See God in everything and in everyone, and drop your victim consciousness. Look to God right in the eyes, and learn the lessons to be learned. This is your time! Yogis say that it takes millions of lifetimes to reach the privileged human life. Many of us won't get how blessed we are this life time or any one soon. But we are in fact "hu" which means light, and "man" which means mind. The light of the mind. So be the light!
YM: Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!! Please tell us about your new CD and DVD with little Yogis!!!
SK: The combination of music and yoga, as you asked me about earlier, that I experienced growing up inspired me to create a DVD for children called "Shanti the Yogi's Mountain Adventure" featuring music from our new children's CD, "Feeling Good Today." Both of these offerings, I feel are a reflection of my early childhood years, which gave me so much joy, and practical tools for life. My intention is to share these things with the children of today so that they can be leaders, healers, and givers for the coming times.
YM: Did being pregnant make it easier or harder to do this project?
SK: Well, being pregnant made this project easier and harder all at the same time! Mentally and spiritually, I felt this huge amount of love and compassion for children, and for life itself. It was a kind of realization that even if things weren't perfect, there is a joy and an innocence of children that is so precious that as a mother or mother to be in my case that you not only want to keep up, but you do! Physically, on the day of the filming, it was a little challenging with all of the sitting. I was about 4.5 months pregnant. But the film's director, Alessandra Dobrin Khalsa, was also just about that pregnant too… so we gave each other a lot of support, and I was really inspired by her keep up spirit.
YM: Why is it so important to teach the little yogis?
SK: Children are blessed with open minds and hearts, and it is a perfect time to teach basic yogic principals that will last a life time. Yoga really just means union of the body, mind and soul. We talk a lot about this with the children that we teach. The fact that we each have a soul should not be a secret! Let's make it a part of our daily living! Let's see that each of us has a soul, and that this soul is divine. Imagine if this is what the majority of the children on our planet were taught! We would never kill each other in wars. Imagine that each child was taught the absolute miracle of the human body, and how we can each day uplift our physical bodies, and feel fantastic by doing a yoga practice. There would be no such thing as "old age." We'd call it "wise age." Imagine that each child was taught how to lift themselves out of sadness or difficult mental situations by doing a meditation! Drug companies would be absolutely out of business! I always envision myself as 80 or 90 years old, and try to see what kind of a world I would be living in. Personally, I'd like to be surrounded by people of consciousness, people of awareness and joy, so I encourage all yoga teachers out there to teach children and together we shall change the energy of the planet.
YM: What is on the horizon for you?
SK: For me, I have a baby on the horizon! Any other questions? Just kidding. Seriously, this is a huge life changing event for me, as this is my first child. Fortunately, my whole family is dedicated to getting this divine music and yoga out to the world, and so we will continue, traveling with our new divine soul. I'm so excited to see what kind of energy this soul brings to me, to my husband, to our lives and the tour. Already in the creation of the children's album and DVD, I have felt a magic and internal grace and strength that carried these projects to an absolute state of miraculous manifestation and completion! So, let us see what awaits us! I'll keep my head bowed to God and Guru and do my best to serve each step of the way with kindness, love, and courage.
YM: Thank you for joining us! Where can we find out more about you and purchase your beautiful music?
SK: You can find out about me, the band, and my family at www.snatamkaur.com. I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter that we post quarterly, that has all sorts of fun stories and life experiences from me and other members of the tour. Also, you can purchase any of our albums at www.spiritvoyage.com.
YM: Which came first for you, the yoga or the music?
SK: Honestly, I have no idea! My parents raised me in the 3HO lifestyle (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) founded by Yogi Bhajan in 1969. In this lifestyle, music and yoga are interlinked. Every morning we did a daily sadhana (spiritual discipline), and my parents would carry me to the family meditation room all wrapped up in blankets. They would start out doing yoga, and my mother tells me that when the musical chanting meditations started, I would sit up straight and start singing along. So perhaps in a sense, music and the divine chanting got a hold of me first. But, I also remember doing lots of fun yoga classes with my parents and other children in the community, where we used our imaginations and told yoga stories while trying out a bunch of postures. In addition through the guidance of Yogi Bhajan my parents conveyed many basic yogic principals to me… things like breathe deep when you are anxious, balance your physical, mental, and spiritual energy every day with yoga, and other things. So yoga has been key for me my whole life.
YM: What does your daily practice look like?
SK: I have grown up understanding that there is no greater peace and pleasure then feeling one with God. Every morning, I strive for this feeling, and pray that it will last for the rest of the day! I always do a good Kundalini Yoga practice, followed by chanting. This always brings me into a really positive state. These days, being pregnant, my husband and I take long morning walks and chant while walking for the coming of the new soul into this world. In the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, he recommends that a woman walk five miles a day when she is pregnant. Although we don't always manage five miles, we do pretty well, and it has helped with all sorts of pregnancy symptoms, and it is a great way to start the day!
YM: Why Mantra?
SK: Mantra, means projection (tra) of the mind (man). Mantra is not really personal, in the sense that it doesn't relate to the ego. It relates to the eternal flow of light and love that is within each of us, and the essence of the soul. We project ourselves into this vibration, and by doing so, reclaim our divinity. The mind is not an easy thing. Sometimes we get caught in negative thought patterns, or are affected in our minds deeply by experiences that we have, to the point that the mind takes over. Sometimes when I sit and meditate, I take a deep breath and bring awareness to my whole body… because it is easy to think that we are just a bunch of walking heads all caught up in our thoughts. Unfortunately when we get caught up in our thoughts, I believe that we don't see the blessings in our lives or the reality. The idea of mantra is to project the mind to a positive state, and by doing so, give the mind the responsibility of uplifting you as an entire being. Mantras are simply positive affirmations of the divinity within us and within all beings. The more we can recite a mantra throughout our lives, the more we will vibrate with its essence. In reality, God is really taking care of everything anyway. And although we have to be present, aware, and live in truth, the more we chant, the more we can be in the flow of the energy of God.
YM: What are you devoted to?
SK: In the Sikh way of life, we are blessed with the living presence of Guru as it exists within the Shabad Guru or Sound Current of the Guru. During the 15th and 18th centuries, we had 10 Gurus who were in their physical form. They left this earth, but left their energy in what we call the Shabad Guru, which are essentially their writings and experiences of union with God. When I recite these words, as I do in many of my recordings, it brings me in union with the energy of my Guru, and it is a very divine experience. And so, I am devoted to my Guru for this reason. But it goes beyond singing for me. In fact, if I suddenly lost my voice, I would still bow my head! It is an energy and a flow that I bow to. It actually happened one night in a concert, where I couldn't sing because of a cold. In my mind, before going on stage, I bowed my head to my Guru, and asked that the divine energy come through anyway. It did! People in the audience sang so beautifully, and the energy of the Guru was palpable that night. I can't put it into words, but it was as if the Guru sat with me, and in every heart, and sang for me.
YM: Why is spirituality so important?
SK: My teacher Yogi Bhajan said that we are not human beings here to have a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings here to have a human experience. I believe that we are spirit first and foremost, and that is what helps me to see God in everyone. The spirit is neutral, the spirit is truth, and somewhere in each of us, although it can be challenging to see at times, there is a soul!
YM: What advise do you have for people to stay grounded in these hectic times?
SK: My advice is to do a daily spiritual practice. Make it your rock, your foundation. Life will flow beautifully if you dedicate yourself in this way. There is a beautiful sadhana that Yogi Bhajan gave called the "Aquarian Sadhana". You can find out about it by looking at www.3HO.org. But the discipline shouldn't stop once you've done your yoga and meditation practice. The whole day is a sadhana, a discipline practice. So, look at every thing as a way to grow spiritually… balancing the check book, taking your kids to gymnastics, shopping, working, making a business deal. See God in everything and in everyone, and drop your victim consciousness. Look to God right in the eyes, and learn the lessons to be learned. This is your time! Yogis say that it takes millions of lifetimes to reach the privileged human life. Many of us won't get how blessed we are this life time or any one soon. But we are in fact "hu" which means light, and "man" which means mind. The light of the mind. So be the light!
YM: Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!! Please tell us about your new CD and DVD with little Yogis!!!
SK: The combination of music and yoga, as you asked me about earlier, that I experienced growing up inspired me to create a DVD for children called "Shanti the Yogi's Mountain Adventure" featuring music from our new children's CD, "Feeling Good Today." Both of these offerings, I feel are a reflection of my early childhood years, which gave me so much joy, and practical tools for life. My intention is to share these things with the children of today so that they can be leaders, healers, and givers for the coming times.
YM: Did being pregnant make it easier or harder to do this project?
SK: Well, being pregnant made this project easier and harder all at the same time! Mentally and spiritually, I felt this huge amount of love and compassion for children, and for life itself. It was a kind of realization that even if things weren't perfect, there is a joy and an innocence of children that is so precious that as a mother or mother to be in my case that you not only want to keep up, but you do! Physically, on the day of the filming, it was a little challenging with all of the sitting. I was about 4.5 months pregnant. But the film's director, Alessandra Dobrin Khalsa, was also just about that pregnant too… so we gave each other a lot of support, and I was really inspired by her keep up spirit.
YM: Why is it so important to teach the little yogis?
SK: Children are blessed with open minds and hearts, and it is a perfect time to teach basic yogic principals that will last a life time. Yoga really just means union of the body, mind and soul. We talk a lot about this with the children that we teach. The fact that we each have a soul should not be a secret! Let's make it a part of our daily living! Let's see that each of us has a soul, and that this soul is divine. Imagine if this is what the majority of the children on our planet were taught! We would never kill each other in wars. Imagine that each child was taught the absolute miracle of the human body, and how we can each day uplift our physical bodies, and feel fantastic by doing a yoga practice. There would be no such thing as "old age." We'd call it "wise age." Imagine that each child was taught how to lift themselves out of sadness or difficult mental situations by doing a meditation! Drug companies would be absolutely out of business! I always envision myself as 80 or 90 years old, and try to see what kind of a world I would be living in. Personally, I'd like to be surrounded by people of consciousness, people of awareness and joy, so I encourage all yoga teachers out there to teach children and together we shall change the energy of the planet.
YM: What is on the horizon for you?
SK: For me, I have a baby on the horizon! Any other questions? Just kidding. Seriously, this is a huge life changing event for me, as this is my first child. Fortunately, my whole family is dedicated to getting this divine music and yoga out to the world, and so we will continue, traveling with our new divine soul. I'm so excited to see what kind of energy this soul brings to me, to my husband, to our lives and the tour. Already in the creation of the children's album and DVD, I have felt a magic and internal grace and strength that carried these projects to an absolute state of miraculous manifestation and completion! So, let us see what awaits us! I'll keep my head bowed to God and Guru and do my best to serve each step of the way with kindness, love, and courage.
YM: Thank you for joining us! Where can we find out more about you and purchase your beautiful music?
SK: You can find out about me, the band, and my family at www.snatamkaur.com. I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter that we post quarterly, that has all sorts of fun stories and life experiences from me and other members of the tour. Also, you can purchase any of our albums at www.spiritvoyage.com.
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