Search - Various Artists :: Kirtan: Great Mantra From the Himalayas 1

An excellent recording innocent of all charges...

G. Sharik | Athens, GA | 08/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was challenged by the serious charges leveled by a reviewer below. So much so, that I wrote to Krishna Das himself before purchasing this recording. Much to my relief, KD answered each of them, which I quote here (without KD's permission or knowledge):



"First of all, the singers in the recordings

are not 'obviously very poor mountain people', they are or

were, since most of them are dead, Sadhakas, spiritual

practicioners, whose practice is the chanting of the

divine Name. This was the practice that they were

initiated by their Gurus and they spend their lives

singing it whenever and wherever they can.



"Second of all, he writes, 'what about the temple where

these chants were recorded? Surely they could use an

infusion of American dollars.' What does he know? Wrong

again. The temple where I recorded these chants is my

Guru's temple and they don't want or need any American

dollars. They don't accept money from us no matter how

may times we offer. My Guru would have the Kirtan-walas

come to His temple in the hills and spend the entire

summer and rainy season chanting the Name there. They

were compensated for their service to the Divine by the

temple and I recorded them with their full gracious

permission and loving blessings and encouragement as a

way of learning the chants. They were also given gifts

as was appropriate in THEIR eyes and in harmony with their

own spiritual goals in life. There was no thought at all

about ever releasing the poorly recorded Kirtan. It was

only recently that we thought to make it available to

people as chanting is becoming so popular. We wanted to

share the sweetness and simplicity and depth of emotion

with anyone who wanted to hear it.



"The reason that I am collecting the royalties is to

accomplish EXACTLY what our 'music fan' is accusing me

of NOT DOING. There is no one to do it except me. The

money will be distributed to needy children widows and

sadhakas in Brindavan as it comes in and some portion will

go to the Temple in Taos to further the very goals that

the chanters themselves honored and respected and

encouraged...the chanting of the Holy Name."



I can now say that I have purchased and thoroughly enjoyed this recording. Although the sound is not pristine, it has been lovingly restored and sounds just great to me. Plus, the spiritual power of these chants is truly heartfelt. This disc is heartily and without reservation recommended to all interested in chant."

Praise for Great Mantra

N. Rao | New York, NY | 08/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone old or new to chanting should hear this CD - chanting of this mantra has been inspirational to many over 100s of years. In reference to an earlier 'review' the slanderer is incorrect in all his statements and hasn't done his research well. As Krishna Das credits when he writes about the singers in his liner notes: "sitting and singing with these Kirtan Walas was one of the most inspiring and uplifting experiences of my life". Nowhere does he take credit for composing, only for recording the chants and producing the CD. As for supporting the temples and the kirtan walas, the reviewer is making assumptions with no basis."

Kirtan: Great mantra from the Himalayas 1

remark | UK | 07/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is beautiful and uplifting. A must for your collection.

A previous rviewer has slandered the label that produces this CD

and I'm amazed that Amazon.com allows such utter rubbish to be published.

"