: ''Al-Kabir ("the Great") is also one of the 99 names of God in Islam. For a complete disambiguation page, see Kabir (disambiguation)''

Coordinates	40°43′37″N73°38′59″N
name	Kabir
birth date	1440
death date	1518
known	influenced the Bhakti movement
occupation	Weaver, poet
issue	}}

Kabīr (also Kabīra) (Hindi: कबीर, Punjabi: ਕਬੀਰ, Urdu: کبير‎) (1440–1518) was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement. The name Kabir comes from Arabic ''al-Kabīr'' which means 'The Great' - the 37th name of God in Islam.

Apart from having an important influence on Sikhism, Kabir's legacy is today carried forward by the Kabir Panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious community that recognizes him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members, known as ''Kabir panthis'', are estimated to be around 9,600,000. They are spread over north and central India, as well as dispersed with the Indian diaspora across the world, up from 843,171 in the 1901 census. His writings include Bijak, Sakhi Granth, Kabir Granthawali and Anurag Sagar.

Early life and background

Not much is known of Kabir's birth parents, but it is known that he was brought up in a family of Muslim weavers. He was found by a Muslim weaver named Niru and his wife, Nima, in Lehartara, situated in Varanasi. They adopted the boy and taught him the weaver's trade.

The story is told that on one particular day of the year, anyone can become a disciple by having a master speak the name of God over him. It is common for those who live near the Ganges to take their morning bath there in the sacred waters. The bhakti saint Ramananda was in the habit of arising before dawn to take his bath. On this special day too, he awoke before dawn and found his way down to the steps of the Ganges. As he was walking down the steps to the waters, a little hand reached out and grabbed the saint's big toe. Ramananda was taken by surprise, and he involuntarily called out the name of God. Looking down, he saw in the early morning light the hand of the young Kabir. After his bath, he noticed that on the back of the little one's hand was written in Arabic the name ''Kabīr''. He adopted him as son and disciple and brought him back to his ashram, much to the consternation of his Hindu students, some of whom left in protest.

Not much is known about what sort of spiritual training Kabir may have received. He did not become a sadhu, nor did he ever abandon worldly life. Kabir chose instead to live the balanced life of a householder and mystic, a tradesman and contemplative.

Kabir's family is believed to have lived in the locality of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi. ''Kabīr maṭha'' (), a ''maṭha'' located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, celebrates his life and times. Accompanying the property is a house named ''Nīrūṭīlā'' () which houses Niru and Nima's graves. The house also accommodates students and scholars who live there and study Kabir's work.

Philosophies

Kabir was influenced by the prevailing religious mood of his times, such as old Brahmanic Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, the teachings of Nath yogis and the personal devotionalism of South India mixed with the imageless God of Islam. The influence of these various doctrines is clearly evident in Kabir's verses. Eminent historians like R.C. Majumdar, P.N. Chopra, B.N. Puri and M.N. Das have held that Kabir is the first Indian saint to have harmonised Hinduism and Islam by preaching a universal path which both Hindus and Muslims could tread together. But there are a few critics who contest such claims.

His greatest work is the ''Bijak'' (the "Seedling"), an idea of the fundamental one. This collection of poems elucidates Kabir's universal view of spirituality. Though his vocabulary is replete with Hindu spiritual concepts, such as Brahman, karma and reincarnation, he vehemently opposed dogmas, both in Hinduism and in Islam. His Hindi was a vernacular, straightforward kind, much like his philosophies. He often advocated leaving aside the Qur'an and Vedas and simply following Sahaja path, or the Simple/Natural Way to oneness in God. He believed in the Vedantic concept of ''atman'', but unlike earlier orthodox Vedantins, he spurned the Hindu societal caste system and ''murti-poojan'' (idol worship), showing clear belief in both ''bhakti'' and Sufi ideas. The major part of Kabir's work as a ''bhagat'' was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, and forms a part of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib.

While many ideas reign as to who his living influences were, the only Guru of whom he ever spoke was ''Satguru''. Hence one does not find any mention of human gurus in his verses.

Poetry

Kabir composed in a pithy and earthy style, replete with surprise and inventive imagery. His poems resonate with praise for the true guru who reveals the divine through direct experience, and denounce more usual ways of attempting god-union such as chanting, austerities, etc. Kabir, being illiterate, expressed his poems orally in vernacular Hindi. His verses often began with some strongly worded insult to get the attention of passers-by. Kabir has enjoyed a revival of popularity over the past half century as arguably the most accessible and understandable of the Indian saints, with a special influence over spiritual traditions such as those of Sant Mat, Garib Das and Radha Soami.

Legacy

A considerable body of poetical work has been attributed to Kabir. And while two of his disciples, Bhāgodās and Dharmadās, did write much of it down, "...there is also much that must have passed, with expected changes and distortions, from mouth to mouth, as part of a well-established oral tradition."

Poems and songs ascribed to Kabir are available today in several dialects, with varying wordings and spellings as befits an oral tradition. Opinions vary on establishing any given poem's authenticity. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the spirit of this mystic comes alive through a "unique forcefulness... vigor of thought and rugged terseness of style."

Kabir and his followers named his poetic output as ‘bāņīs,’ utterances. These include songs, as above, and couplets, called variously dohe, śalokā (Sanskrit ślokā), or sākhī (Sanskrit sākşī). The latter term, meaning ‘witness,’ best indicates the use that Kabir and his followers envisioned for these poems: “As direct evidence of the Truth, a sākhī is… meant to be memorized… A sākhī is… meant to evoke the highest Truth.” As such, memorizing, reciting, and thus pondering over these utterances constitutes, for Kabir and his followers, a path to spiritual awakening.

Kabir in popular culture

There are several allusions to Kabir's poetry in mainstream Indian film music. The title song of the Sufi fusion band Indian Ocean's album Jhini is an energetic rendering of Kabir's famous poem "The intricately woven blanket", with influences from Indian folk, Sufi traditions and progressive rock.

Documentary filmmaker Shabnam Virmani, from the Kabir Project, has produced a series of documentaries and books tracing Kabir's philosophy, music and poetry in present day India and Pakistan. The documentaries feature Indian folk singers such as Prahlad Tipanya, Mukhtiyar Ali and the Pakistani Qawwal Fareed Ayaz.

Kabir's poetry has appeared prominently in filmmaker Anand Gandhi's films Right Here Right Now and Continuum.

See also

Hindi Literature

Sahaja

Vedanta

Sant Mat

References

Further reading

''Songs of Kabir'', tr. by Rabindranath Tagore, 1985 ed., Forgotten Books. ISBN 1-60506-643-5.

''Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth'', tr. by Nirmal Dass. SUNY Press, 1991. ISBN 0-7914-0560-5.

''A Weaver Named Kabir: Selected Verses with a Detailed Biographical and Historical Introduction,'' new ed., by Charlotte Vaudeville, New York, 1998, Oxford U. Press. ISBN 0-19-563933-2.

''Kabir: Ecstatic Poems'', tr. by Robert Bly. Beacon Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8070-6384-3.

''Kabir ke dohey'' Compilation of Kabir's dohas in Devanagiri

External links

Uda Bhakt Samaj - Community

Gutenberg: Songs of Kabir by Rabindranath Tagore

Poems of Kabir

Songs of Kabir (tr. Rabindranath Tagore) at sacred-texts.org

Kabir Association of Canada

Category:Sikh Bhagats Category:1440 births Category:1518 deaths Category:15th-century philosophers Category:Founders of religions Category:Hindi poets Category:Indian philosophers Category:Indian poets Category:Mystic poets Category:People from Sant Kabir Nagar Category:Sant Mat Category:Vaishnavism Category:Sant Mat gurus Category:Bhakti movement Category:Religious figures from Varanasi

bn:কবীর de:Kabir es:Kabir fa:کبیر (صوفی) fr:Kabîr gu:સંત કબીર ko:카비르 hi:संत कबीर lt:Kabyras mr:कबीर arz:كبير ja:カビール no:Kabir pl:Kabir pt:Kabir ro:Kabir ru:Кабир sa:कबीरः simple:Kabir sv:Kabir te:కబీరుదాసు

"Now Is the Hour" is a popular song, though often described as a traditional Māori song. It is usually credited to Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart.

Maori words: :''Po atarau'' :''E moea iho nei.......''

English words: :''Now is the hour,'' :''when we must say goodbye......''

It first became known in 1913 when it was published by W.H.Paling and Co as a piano-variations piece in Australia, called ''Swiss Cradle Song'' and credited to an Australian, Clement Scott. The piece consisted of eight variations to the main 16-bar theme. Palings sold 130,000 copies of ''Swiss Cradle Song''.

Māori words were added around 1915 and the tune was slightly changed. It became known as ''Po Atarau'' and was used a farewell to Māori soldiers going to the First World War. This has led some people to believe it was a traditional Māori folk-song. One claim attributes the first words to two Māori groups of sheep shearers, the Grace and Awatere families, of Tuparoa.

In 1920 Maewa Kaihau wrote an opening verse in English as "This is the hour.." for her daughter who had become attached to a member of a visiting royal party, who was shortly to leave. She also modified the ''Po Atarau'' tune and added another Māori translation. When it became popular, Maewa Kaihau claimed the words and tune as her own work, but then Palings asserted their copyright for the tune. Nevertheless Maewa Kaihau's words were copyrighted in 1928. However Dick Grace has since claimed the words as the work of his family. In 1935 Kaihau modified the ''Po Atarau'' version again to become the ''Haere Ra Waltz Song'', which was performed as the last waltz at dances and farewells.

The song was first recorded by Ana Hato in 1927 with minor variations in the lyrics. English singer, Gracie Fields, learnt ''Haere Ra'' on a visit to New Zealand in 1945 in Rotorua. While travelling in her car, her driver taught her a version of it and it became a world-wide hit in 1948. Fields' manager, Dorothy Stewart, is credited with amending to the opening line to ''Now is the Hour'', and with adding another verse. Other recordings of the song were made by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Eddy Howard, Kate Smith, and Gale Storm. [Hayley Westenra the soprano from New Zealand]

The identity of Clement Scott has also been subject to debate. In 1948, a widow claimed that her husband, Albert Saunders, an employee of Palings, used the pseudonym, 'Clement Scott', and had written the ''Swiss Cradle Song'' in 1906. She said he had sold the tune to Palings. The manager, however, of Palings was still living and denied this, saying that Clement Scott was still alive. The matter is one of some confusion and contention; see the article on English drama critic Clement Scott.

The tune, commonly named MAORI in hymnals, is also used with the lyrics "Search Me, O God" by J. Edwin Orr.

References

Category:1948 songs Category:Bing Crosby songs Category:Frank Sinatra songs Category:Māori music Category:New Zealand songs

no:Now Is the Hour

Robert Bly (born December 23, 1926) is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.

Life

Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, people of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving two years. After one year at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, he transferred to Harvard University, joining the later famous group of writers who were undergraduates at that time, including Donald Hall, Adrienne Rich, Kenneth Koch, Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Harold Brodkey, George Plimpton and John Hawkes. He graduated in 1950 and spent the next few years in New York.

Beginning in 1954, Bly took two years at the University of Iowa at the Iowa Writers Workshop along with W. D. Snodgrass, Donald Justice, and others. In 1956, he received a Fulbright Grant to travel to Norway and translate Norwegian poetry into English. While there, he found not only his relatives, but became acquainted with the work of a number of major poets whose work was barely known in the United States, among them Pablo Neruda, Cesar Vallejo, Antonio Machado, Gunnar Ekelof, Georg Trakl, Rumi, Hafez, Kabir, Mirabai, and Harry Martinson. Bly determined then to start a literary magazine for poetry translation in the United States. ''The Fifties,'' ''The Sixties,'' and ''The Seventies'', introduced many of these poets to the writers of his generation. He also published essays on American poets.

During this time, Bly lived on a farm in Minnesota, with his wife and children. His first marriage was to award-winning short story novelist Carol Bly. They had four children, including Mary Bly, a Literature Professor at Fordham University and also a best-selling novelist. Bly and Carol divorced in 1979; Bly has been married to the former Ruth Ray since 1980. and he has a stepdaughter this marriage. A stepson from the marriage died in a pedestrian-train incident while he attended private college in Minnesota.

Career

Bly's early collection of poems, ''Silence in the Snowy Fields,'' was published in 1962, and its plain, imagistic style had considerable influence on American verse of the next two decades. The following year, he published "A Wrong Turning in American Poetry", an essay in which he made a case against the influences of Eliot, Pound, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams, in favour of the more direct work of writers such as Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Antonio Machado, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

In 1966, Bly co-founded American Writers Against the Vietnam War, and went on to lead much of the opposition to that war among writers. In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the war. When he won the National Book Award for ''The Light Around the Body,'' he contributed the prize money to the Resistance. During the 1970s, he published eleven books of poetry, essays, and translations, celebrating the power of myth, Indian ecstatic poetry, meditation, and storytelling. During the 1980s he published ''Loving a Woman in Two Worlds,'' ''The Wingéd Life: Selected Poems and Prose of Thoreau,'' ''The Man in the Black Coat Turns,'' and ''A Little Book on the Human Shadow''.During the sixties he was of great help to the Bengali Hungryalist poets who faced anti-establishment trial at Kolkata, India.

Among his most famous works is ''Iron John: A Book About Men,'' an international bestseller which has been translated into many languages. The book is credited with starting the Mythopoetic men's movement in the United States. Bly frequently conducts workshops for men with James Hillman, Michael J. Meade, and others, as well as workshops for men and women with Marion Woodman. He has taught at the annual Great Mother Conference since 1975. He maintains a friendly correspondence with Clarissa Pinkola Estés, author of ''Women Who Run With the Wolves''.

Bly was the University of Minnesota Library's 2002 Distinguished Writer. He received The McKnight Foundation's Distinguished Artist Award in 2000, and the Maurice English Poetry Award in 2002. He has published more than 40 collections of poetry, edited many others, and published translations of poetry and prose from such languages as Swedish, Norwegian, German, Spanish, Persian and Urdu. His book ''The Night Abraham Called to the Stars'' was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. He also edited the prestigious ''Best American Poetry 1999'' (Scribners).

In 2006 the University of Minnesota purchased Bly's archive, which contained more than 80,000 pages of handwritten manuscripts; a journal spanning nearly 50 years; notebooks of his "morning poems"; drafts of translations; hundreds of audio and videotapes, and correspondence with many writers such as James Wright, Donald Hall and James Dickey. The archive is housed at Elmer L. Andersen Library on the University of Minnesota campus. The university paid $775,000 from school funds and private donors.

In February, 2008, Bly was named Minnesota's first poet laureate. In that year he also contributed a poem and an Afterword to ''From the Other World: Poems in Memory of James Wright''.

Thought and the Men's Movement

Much of Bly's writings focus on what he saw as the troubled situation of men in today's world as a result of, among other things, the decline of the father's role in the modern family. He claimed that whereas women are helped by their own bodies along the stages of maturity, men are somewhat of an "experimental species" and have to be taught on what it is to be a man. Older cultures had elaborate myths, enacted through rites of passage, that helped men along this path as well as the concept of a "men's societie" as a place where older men would teach young boys on these gender specific issues. He argues that these rituals are as important to humans as instincts are to animals and as fathers became increasingly absent from the house during and after the industrial revolution, young males did not receive the teachings that they used to. According to Bly, many of the phenomena of depression, juvenile delinquency and lack of leadership in business and politics have their roots in these problems.

Bly therefore sees today's men as half adults, trapped somewhere between childhood and maturity, a state in which they find it hard to become responsible leaders, carers and fathers, which in turn leads to the passing down of that immaturity through the generations. In his book ''The Sibling Society'' (1997), Bly argues that a society formed mainly by half adults is extremely problematic as it lacks in leadership, daring initiative, creativity and a deep care about others. The image of weak men, he argues, is further enhanced by popular media and Hollywood films which often present fathers as overweight and emotionally co-dependent. Women, according to Bly, rushed to fill the gap during the 1960s, infusing men with an enhanced emotional sensitivity which in itself was good to the extent that it helped men to better understand women and start feeling their age old pain of repression, but also led to the creation of 'soft males' which lacked the outwardly directed strength to revitalize the community with assertiveness and a certain warrior strength.

In Bly's view, one solution lies in the rediscovery of the meanings hidden in traditional mythology that have hopefully been passed down to us but are in danger of being forgotten. He researched and collected myths he considered to focus on male maturity and published them in various books, ''Iron John'' being the most notable example, many coming from the Grimm's fairytales. Descent is a common theme arising in these myths, variously presented as the hero going underground to pass a period of solitude in a somewhat bestial mode. He often used the Greek term for 'descent' (κατάβασης) to describe the maturing process for men, in contrast with the continuous achievements they have been taught to pursue by today's culture.

Bly was also strongly influenced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung who developed the theory of the eternal images that exist within the Psyche which he called archetypes. The image of the powerful king, the evil witch and the beautiful maiden are, according to Jung, structures of the collective unconscious, and Robert Bly wrote extensively about their meanings. For example, Bly considered The Witch to be that part of the male psyche upon which the negative, destructive side of women is imprinted (first presented to him in the form of his own mother's imperfections) and not as yet realized in the Self. This is why the witch's symbols are inverted motherly symbols, as cooking becomes the brewing of evil potions and the act of feeding is reversed, to the demise of the child that is now in danger of being eaten rather than fed. Many fairytales describe this battle in physical terms with the hero saving the girl by killing a witch, as in the Grimm's story "The Drummer". These concepts are recounted in Bly's talk ''The Human Shadow'' (1989) and the book it was presenting.

Works

Poetry collections

Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011)

Turkish Pears in August: Twenty-Four Ramages (Eastern Washington University, 2007)

The Urge to Travel Long Distances (Eastern Washington University Press, 2005)

My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy (HarperCollins, 2005)

Surprised by Evening (RealNewMusic, 2005)

The Night Abraham Called to the Stars (HarperCollins, 2001)

Eating the Honey of Words: New and Selected Poems (1999)

Snowbanks North of the House (1999)

Morning Poems (1997)

Meditations on the Insatiable Soul (1994)

What Have I Ever Lost by Dying?: Collected Prose Poems (1992)

Loving a Woman in Two Worlds (1985)

Selected Poems (1986)

Mirabai Versions (1984)

The Man in the Black Coat Turns (1981)

This Tree Will Be Here for a Thousand Years (1979)

This Body is Made of Camphor and Gopherwood (1977)

Old Man Rubbing His Eyes (1974)

Jumping Out of Bed (1973)

Sleepers Joining Hands (1973)

The Light Around the Body (1967)- won National Book Award

The Lion's Tail and Eyes (1962)

Silence in the Snowy Fields (1962)

Translations collections

''The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems of Olav H. Hauge'' (Copper Canyon Press, 2008) (with Robert Hedin)

''Peer Gynt'' (verse play) - by Henrik Ibsen (2008)

''The Winged Energy of Delight: Selected Translations,'' HarperCollins (2004)

''The Half-Finished Heaven: The Best Poems of Tomas Tranströmer,'' Graywolf Press (2001)

''The Lightning Should Have Fallen on Ghalib'' (with Sunil Dutta, 1999)

''Lorca and Jiménez: Selected Poems,'' Beacon Press (1997)

''Ten Poems of Francis Ponge Translated by Robert Bly & Ten Poems of Robert Bly Inspired by the Poems of Francis Ponge'' (1990)

''Trusting Your Life to Water and Eternity: Twenty Poems of Olav H. Hauge'' (1987)

''Machado's Times Alone: Selected Poems'' (1983)

''The Kabir Book'' (1977)

''Friends, You Drank Some Darkness: Three Swedish Poets: Martinson, Ekeloef, and Transtromer'' (1975)

''Neruda and Vallejo: Selected Poems'' (1971)

''Hunger (novel) — by Knut Hamsun'' (1967)

''Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke - A Translation from the German and Commentary by Robert Bly'' (1981)

Anthologies (as editor)

''The Best American Poetry'' (1999)

''The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures,'' Ecco Press (1995)

''The Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford'' (1993)

''The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men'' (1992)

''News of the Universe'' (1980)

''Leaping Poetry'' (1975)

''A Poetry Reading Against the Vietnam War'' (1967)

Nonfiction books

''Remembering James Wright'' (2005)

''The Maiden King : The Reunion of Masculine and Feminine'' (with Marion Woodman), Henry Holt & Co (1998)

''The Sibling Society,'' Addison-Wesley (1996)

''The Spirit Boy and the Insatiable Soul'' (1994)

''American Poetry: Wildness and Domesticity'' (1991)

''Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990)

''A Little Book on the Human Shadow,'' (with William Booth, 1988)

''Eight Stages of Translation'' (1983)

''Talking All Morning: Collected Conversations and Interviews'' (1980)

See also

Religion and mythology

Carl Jung

Joseph Campbell

Mythopoetic Men's Movement

Footnotes

External links

The Robert Bly Web Site

Profile and poems of Bly at PoetryFoundation.org

"Robert Bly reads 'Loon's Cry' " for the WGBH series, New Television Workshop

Bly profile, The Academy of American Poets

MenWeb - Men's Issues Interview with Robert Bly

Modern American Poetry critical essays on Bly's works. University of Illinois

''The Human Shadow'' and other essays, articles and interviews by Robert Bly. Audio.

Category:American poets Category:Men's movement in the United States Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Category:Writers from Minnesota Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:People from Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota Category:1926 births Category:Living people Category:St. Olaf College alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Category:American translators Category:Translators from German Category:Translators from Norwegian Category:Translators from Persian

de:Robert Bly fr:Robert Bly hi:राबर्ट ब्लै he:רוברט בליי no:Robert Bly pl:Robert Bly simple:Robert Bly fi:Robert Bly sv:Robert Bly tr:Robert Bly

Coordinates	40°43′37″N73°38′59″N
name	Snatam Kaur
alt	September 10, 2007, Snatam Kaur in Hockley, Birmingham, England.
background	solo_singer
birth date	1972
birth place	Trinidad, Colorado
genre	Mantra, Meditation, New Age, Female Vocalists
occupation	Musician
years active	2000–present
label	Spirit Voyage Records
website	http://www.snatamkaur.com
notable instruments	}}

Snatam Kaur Khalsa (,), born 1972 in Trinidad, Colorado), is an American singer and songwriter. She performs the Indian devotional music, kirtan and tours around the world as a peace activist. She lives in Española, New Mexico. Like all female Sikhs, she shares the name "Kaur", meaning "princess".

Early life and education

Her family moved to California when Snatam was two, living in Long Beach and Sacramento. When Snatam was six, the family went to India where her mother studied Kirtan. Snatam lived on a ranch near Bolinas, California until 8th grade and then moved to Mill Valley in 1986. During her childhood, she played kirtan with her mother in Sikh temples and at Sikh religious ceremonies. She attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. While at Tam High, she played violin in the school orchestra and began songwriting. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead coached her and her classmates before they performed her song ''Saving the Earth'' at an Earth Day concert in San Francisco on April 22, 1990.

Snatam was also active in social and environmental causes while in high school, serving as president of the social action club known as, "Students for Justice," in her Senior year. The club started a campus recycling program and organized environmental awareness programs. The club also led the effort to change the school mascot and sports team names from the Indians to the Red Tailed Hawk in 1989 and 1990 due to a speech given at the school by Sacheen Littlefeather.

After graduating from Tam, Snatam attended Mills College in Oakland, California, receiving a bachelors degree in biochemistry. She then returned to India, to study Kirtan under her mother's teacher, Bhai Hari Singh. In 1997, Kaur began a career as a food technologist with Peace Cereals in Eugene, Oregon.

Snatam's music

In 2000, Spirit Voyage Records founder GuruGanesha Singh welcomed the young artist to his label, and signed on as her manager and guitarist. Working with a sterling ensemble of talented musicians and the brilliant New Age music producer Thomas Barquee, Snatam has generated one critically acclaimed album after another, including the bestselling CDs Prem, Shanti, Grace, Anand, and Liberation's Door. “It seems to take nine months to make a new CD. It’s a creative and spiritual process. I bow my head and ask God, ‘What do you want to deliver?’ And the energy always comes through.” “Music is essential in my personal practice. It’s the core spiritual practice of Sikhs. Sacred music transports me to the experience of peace every time I sing and play. It’s my prayer that everyone who listens will experience that too. “My music is an offering to people of all faiths. Many of the words are in Gurumukhi, the sacred language of the Sikhs. This language was designed to provide healing just by listening to it or reciting it. “I play the harmonium, guitar and violin, but my main instrument is my voice. It’s the way I communicate with my Creator.”

The Celebrate Peace Tour

Snatam spends much of the year on the road, singing and teaching yoga wherever she’s invited. Sometimes the audiences are very large, other times they’re small. “My prayer is that of the 100 or 1000 people who come, every one of them will become a Nelson Mandela or a Mahatma Gandhi, that they—and we—will experience that level of unfolding of consciousness. “The purpose of our concerts is to create a beautiful experience, to offer people a chance to go deep within themselves and be uplifted from the inside out. The music allows them to experience the quietness within, a total sense of contentment and gratitude. “Sacred music can help people find peace inside themselves so they can express it outside themselves. It’s humbling but also empowering that our inner space absolutely does have an effect on the planet around us.”

Why is world peace such an important theme in Snatam’s mission? “Peace is something that requires people of all faiths to come together and understand each other. That became especially apparent after September 11th. It was a very sad time and also a scary time for everyone. People in the Sikh community wear turbans. In my home town, there was a lot of confusion, fear and anger directed toward anyone that looked like they might be of the same culture as those who brought about the 9/11 disaster. I became very active in reaching out to the interfaith community to create dialogue so that people could know who we were, that Sikhs stand for peace. Sikhs believe in peace through strength. Don’t be afraid of anyone and don’t make anyone afraid of you.” “I also do community service to connect with everyone in the communities we visit, not only the people who come to our concerts,” Snatam says.

Her Celebrate Peace world tour includes stops at schools, hospices, juvenile detention centers, and other facilities where her music can help to heal and inspire. “We reach out to children through our free Children’s Peace Hour, which serves many children in underprivileged communities.” Snatam is a Peace Ambassador working through a United Nations NGO (non-governmental organization) called the 3HO Foundation (the three H’s stand for “happy, healthy, holy”). Snatam uses her public programs as an opportunity to educate audiences about the importance of mutual understanding and respect in these troubled times.

On tour, Snatam is joined by her longtime musical partner GuruGanesha Singh who exudes joy and warmth with his guitar and vocals. She also travels with her husband Sopurkh Singh who serves as her manager, and their new baby daughter Jap Preet Kaur.

Kundalini yoga

“A man came up to us after a concert and asked when we were coming back,” Snatam remembers. “I said I’m coming back in a year, and that made him really sad. He didn’t think he could wait that long to feel so good again! “Yoga is the tool you can use on a daily basis so you don’t have to be dependent on our concert our anyone else’s.”

Snatam offers tools for maintaining a balanced and loving internal state with her “Creating Inner Peace through Kundalini Yoga and Meditation” workshops. These classes provide instruction in the technology of Kundalini as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Chanting is an essential part of the Kundalini Yoga practice. “There’s an actual yogic and scientific effect that happens when you sit with a straight spine and chant,” Snatam says. “The energy rises through the spinal cord to the top of the head and there the tenth gate opens, which is the connection with the Infinite. “ By chanting at home, and practicing Kundalini Yoga, anyone can stay tapped into the bliss they experience at Snatam’s concerts all year long.

Sikh influence

The essence of being a Sikh is that one lives one’s life according to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, devoting time to meditating on God and the scriptures, chanting, and living life in a way that benefits other people and the world. Sikhism emphasizes the truth that everyone is equal in God’s eyes whatever their social status, religious beliefs, or gender. Sikhs do not believe that any one religion has a monopoly on the truth and do not regard their traditions and practices as the only way to God.

Sikhism is a dynamic world religion that began in India in the mid-fifteenth century with the enlightened master Guru Nanak (1469-1539 C.E.). Guru Nanak was followed by nine Gurus, each of whom brought a unique gift to the planet. From the message of universal acceptance of all human beings that Guru Nanak brought, to the great warrior spirit of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhs were given a great example of how to live an exalted life; in a sense creating heaven on earth. Sikhs are householders, practice meditation on a daily basis, keep a vegetarian diet, keep their hair unshorn, and wear the Sikh clothing (most notably the turban).

Snatam’s own teacher was Yogi Bhajan(1929-2004). He was the most influential Sikh in American history, helping promote the Sikh tradition in the West. Upon his passing religious and political leaders recognized him and honored him. The Dalai Lama called him a saint, and the US Congress passed a resolution honoring him for his outstanding contribution not only to Sikhs but to people of all walks of life. Sikhs are known for their service to people of all walks of life through their free kitchen programs called “langar”. When the emperor of India came to seek the advice of the third Guru, Guru Amar Das, he was asked to eat the langar, and was given a place to sit that happened to be next to a beggar who was also partaking of the community meal. The emperor was actually inspired by the experience. Through the langar program, and the message of Guru Nanak “Ek Ong Kaar,” which means the One God is the Creator within all beings, Sikhism contributed greatly to breaking down the caste system in India.

Sikhism is based on the Shabad Guru. “Shabad is the sacred energy or recitation of sound, and Guru means the living teacher,” Snatam explains. “For Sikhs, our living Guru exists within the sacred words of our tradition. As part of our daily practice we take a sacred divine reading from the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, which is a collection of writings from enlightened teachers and sages in India. It includes the Sikh Gurus, but also incorporates saints from other traditions. These sacred poems were originally sung in specific notes, and have been passed down to us exactly as the words were originally recited by our Gurus. “The energy of these songs are alive and gives us healing and guidance. The living presence of the Guru through sound is our foundation. We really feel the Shabad Guru has blessed our lives, and when we sing it, it affects our physical body and our environment. The reason we practice it every day is so we can create within us that resonance of peace, and then go out into the world with that resonance still supporting our words, and still in our thoughts, and still creating the light around us.”

Personal life

Today Snatam lives in Espanola, New Mexico with her husband Sopurkh Singh Khalsa and their baby daughter Jap Preet Kaur. “My husband was the answer to my prayers. One day at the Winter Solstice gathering I went to the Gurdwara (Sikh temple) to pray to God and Guru to find me a husband. I said to God just before opening the doors to the Gurdwara, ‘I can’t find anyone. I surrender this to you.’ When I walked over the threshold I saw that Sopurkh was the only other person sitting in the Gurudwara. He was meditating and looked absolutely peaceful and radiant.” They were married in January 2006.

“He’s a steady spiritual rock for me and my music. And now my daughter is the answer to the prayers I never knew that I had. She is full of love light and joy, and we are so blessed to have her presence in our lives and to be able to serve her in any way we can."

What does Snatam do when she’s not teaching or singing? “Every day I do yoga and meditation with my husband and daughter. That’s key for me. My spiritual practice doesn’t falter even when we're on tour. It’s a total time of connection and rejuvenation. “I’m continuing to study Indian classical music. I spend a lot of time on that. I also absolutely love to cook and explore new recipes. The first place we go when we get home from a tour is to the grocery store, so we can cook a meal! “We also love to be outside. We have a huge garden—we like to hike and to garden. Someone told me, ‘A great way to see the planet is to walk.’ We walk a lot! "We also have a lot of play dates with other children here in our community. It is really wonderful how many children there are for Jap Preet to play with. We are really blessed to live here in Espanola, New Mexico in the spiritual community affectionately called "Hacienda de Guru Ram Das."

“It seems that there will be more recording opportunities. So, I intend to always keep growing in the art of Gurubani Sikh music.”

References and notes

External links

Official website

Snatam Kaur discography at Music City

Category:Living people Category:American Sikhs Category:Indian classical musicians Category:1972 births

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