AN UNEXPECTED AND WONDERFUL MEETING

We wanted to meet some swamis at an ashram but weren’t allowed to film inside. Then as we drove away, there was a roadside stall selling local honey and jam. Wherever I go always like to bring mum back a jar of local honey. So got out of the car and it turns out the man selling the local honey was a swami from the ashram who had been a cook there for 40 years!! He invited us into his home where he performed pūja (a Sanskrit prayer ceremony showing reverence and homage to the divine) and we chanted to the divinities from Hinduism and from Christianity. He lived in a small hut and had devoted his house to rescue animals. You never know who you’re going to meet and you never know how things will turn out. But one thing feels for sure… God has better plans for us than we can have for ourselves, if you know what I mean!! And luckily we had the Tanpura in the car to play during the pūja.

MAY YOUR COMPASS POINT TO THE DIVINE

May your compass point to the divine - CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN and AROUND FILMING. I am learning more about myself every day it is a continue lesson. Meeting with gurus. Every moment.

Amidst the filming which continues apace with meetings with inspirational beings throughout the British Isles, recently engaged in a conversation with a friend that went as below

Friend: ‘What is Sanskrit to you?’

Gaiea: ‘To me Sanskrit is more than a language it is a way of life that includes forms of art music dance drama poetry cooking architecture health that if understood we could live at highest potential; it holds within it a perfect system of sound that leads you to vibrations of those sounds that leads you to essence of existing. If the sounds are heard in their gross form, peace of mind can be brought about and a relaxed state free from tension; if the sounds are reflected upon things can be realised that free us from what has been trapping us in the unreal. It is universal and resonates with everyone no matter where they are from.’

Friend: ‘Who do you sing for?’

Gaiea: ‘The first answer that comes to mind is myself. Because without singing it feels like life is not worth living. And when I sing there is the experience of nothing else but the song like somehow I am the song and the song is me and yet it comes through me and I have no idea how, it is visiting me and it comes and goes and yet when am one with song there is a freedom. And at the same time I have a daily prayer where ask that may all who I come into contact with In any way shape or form, May the hearts be melted, May their hearts come home though this song, through this creativity. So although I sing for myself in doing this I have a prayer that it may be for all…. ‘

Friend: ‘You are so right about Sanskrit: if the sounds are reflected upon things can be realised that free us from what has been trapping us in the unreal. And that is universal. The intention and energies of Sanskrit are opposite to that longing of the ego. If you sing in English, you can put your ego fully in, no problem, it will not stop you. But Sanskrit is a holy language. And you are not singing about trees and flowers or something but about holy gods like Maha Kali, Lakshmi, Krishna, Vishnu, about Bhagavad Gita etc. What does this mean? This means that you are singing to the Source, to God, to Gods, or about Them. If you are sincere you know you can not sing about such holy creatures who are unselfish, love, kindness etc. and want something from them to please your ego. A devotee of Sanskrit, a devotee of the divine word, wants nothing for him/herself. A devotee of the divine word, or a devotee of Krishna, or Vishnu etc. just wants to serve the divine and never asks: what is in it for me. He/she is just happy by serving the divine, whatever the outcome. If you change this attitude, sincerely and with much love: the divine will see this. The divine will come and work through you… and then… yes then… people will come, because they are attracted by the divine.

A beautiful example of this is the kirtan singer Krishna Das. Maybe you heard about him. He mostly sings for Maharajji, Hanuman, Ram. As soon as he became famous and people asked him all over the world he instantly stopped for some time. He went to the ashram of his guru and meditated a long time about it. He noticed that some people came for him, not for the love of Maharajji. He noticed that if he would go on it would be for the wrong reasons: for the reasons of the world (fame, money, attention etc.) and he didn’t want that! He wanted to sing for the divine only. He didn’t want his ego to get involved in this holy singing. In the ashram of Maharajji he gets a wonderful spiritual experience. He knows now how he can sing without getting the ego involved. And from that time on Maharjji’s love works through his singing and he became famous and made a lot of tours around the world. Why? Because people feel he is a devotee and only wants to serve. Because people feel the divine energies. Because people know and feel he is working in alignment with the Sanskrit/Hindi and with the words and the gods he is singing to. People feel that. And the divine knows that his holy singing is has no ego intentions.

The divine connection can only come if you really only want to serve the divine world and bring the love of the divine in the world, and only want to sing for the divine (in you and outside you) and let go of 'what is in it for me'.

We know: it’s not easy. This will take time of course. It depends on the expansion of your consciousness, your unselfish love, your most inner connection with the divine, the awareness that service is the most powerful way to go by. With Sanskrit you go the way of the divine. Not the way of the world. In the words of Jesus: 'You can not serve two Masters.' So you have to make a choice. Everybody in this world has to make this choice, which Master you want to serve. And especially when you sing in Sanskrit you have to be careful, because it’s not just a worldly language, but a holy language. It demands an other attitude.

May your compass always points to the divine.’

From this conversation, something in me began to open and change… like something deep within, that is free from the noise and chaos heard, and remembered.

In another conversation, a friend working on the film with me said,

‘At some point the world will realise that we are all connected in vibration and the closest phenomena we have available to us is present in the chanting of Sanskrit. I truly believe that this is the way that we can establish harmony, one chant at a time. This is a huge subject as Vedic culture was prevalent all over this planet in fact this reality itself was birthed from the primordial sound of Sanskrit. You are a very lucky lady to have this in your heart G . All blessings to you and that which works through you Ohm Tat Sat.’

WE'VE NOT SCRATCHED THE SURFACE

There is a HUGE journey to undertake, we're just at the very beginning. In fact this is just the walk to the station, we haven’t even got on the train yet. Just wait until we get on the train and stop at each station! It will blow you away with the variety, and humble you in the dedication. We have only just begun and I am honoured, excited and so glad to be on this pilgrimage. For it is not just an outer journey I undertake, it is an inner one, where I learn about myself, ideas I hold fast to, and I hope that these are knocked away, and I am free from them, open in the moment to what is.

What is clear, that in moments of despair at the human condition, there is a collection of gems under my nose, but they are only visible to enjoy, when a little digging is begun. Once the work is undertaken, the depth of the quarry, the amount of gems, it is inexhaustible. But if no digging begins, it can seem like living in a desert with no water and no beauty. So here’s to the excavations and what is uncovered!

And as we continue, it becomes clear to me that this is more than a film about Sanskrit in the British Isles. It is the story of what people yearn to connect with, what people yearn to understand, what unites us all, through seeming difference. It is the story of ancient cultures, sacred sounds, and the links that tie them undoubtedly together. It is the story of something that has stood the test of time, and will stand the test of time, that is eternal and universal, sanātana dharma. It is about good vibrations, divine vibrations, the power of sound to transform, heal and bring about that which we may have thought impossible. Sonar.