Kirtan and mantra

https://kripalu.org/resources/beginners-guide-kirtan-and-mantra

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As an added benefit, it creates a sense of flow. When you participate in kirtan, you may experience a few different stages of consciousness, says David. At first, when the kirtan leader sings a mantra and you (along with the rest of the audience), sing it back, you probably hear your own voice in relationship to the voices around you. But as time passes and you relax into the chant, you may notice your voice in harmony with everyone else’s. The third phase is the most alluring: Suddenly your perspective shifts, and it sounds as if there’s a single voice singing. You’re no longer aware of your own voice or others’; there may be 50 people in the room, but only one collective voice. At this stage, Newman says, “Your sense of ‘me’ or ‘I’ can literally dissolve and you realize you’re part of the river of life—you’re not separate from it.” Some people experience this as a sense of joy and ecstasy, while others describe it as a sense of boundlessness or timelessness. “You’re just in a very spiritual, untethered, unselfconscious place,” he says. Suddenly, “no matter what’s going on in your life, you know that at a very fundamental level, everything is going to be all right.”

Steve Edwards about.me/sitivi