Join in Hindu chanting Saturday in Miramar
Coastsiders are invited to chant with others at the Sun Center for Well-Being on Saturday, February 11, 7:30pm. Kirtan (Hindu chanting) is "a joyful, heart-opening meditation", according to organizer Elizabeth McLeod. Uma Reed and friends will lead the call-and-response chants. Words and explanation will be provided. No experience or singing voice required. Just come with an open heart and a willingness to have fun.
The Sun Center is a beautiful geodesic dome beside the ocean in Miramar, at 1 Mirada Road (at Medio), Half Moon Bay [Google map]. Visitors are requested to park on Medio Avenue. Suggested donation is $15. Please RSVP and contact Elizabeth with questions at
Click "read more" for information about the kirtan leaders.
Uma Reed has traveled the spiritual path for thirty years, studying with various teachers. She has sung and led kirtan since the 1970s in numerous ashrams and yoga studios. She leads kirtan on retreats with Ram Dass and others in the U.S. and abroad, and with "Uma and Friends," she currently leads several regular chanting groups in northern California.
Shivaya spent many years in India, and lived some of those years as a sadhu (wandering spiritual seeker). Evenings often found him sitting by a dhuni (fire) with other sadhus, shaking his chimta bells and singing the names of God. The stories of his experiences and encounters during that time are profound and magical, and are a highlight of each kirtan event.
Gangadhar (aka Mark Gerhard) studied tabla with Ali Akbar Khan, Shankar Ghosh, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, and Swapan Chaudhuri. He also studied baul sangeet with the bauls (ecstatic street singers) in Bengal, and has recorded and performed with Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, Bhagavan Das, and others.
Matt Packard has played music all his life, beginning with the Suzuki violin method at age 4, and switching to guitar at 14. He has studied and played in many musical styles, and enchantingly imparts the spirit of bhakti through his music.
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