namaste friends
we had the best ever time at this years omega ecstatic chant weekend.
sometimes the bhav just sweeps you off your feet and sends you flying...this, in a nutshell is what happened to the 500-plus participants and the musicians this weekend.
god happened!
speaking personally, it felt like everything deva and i wished for came to fruition on the stage.
it was all so perfect.
and i feel it was the same for all our fellow-chanters.
magic was running through the whole event.
i've seen jai uttal sing many times, but never in such great voice as this.
snatam kaur and guruganesha brought me to tears.
wah rocked the house and shyam das was...well..shyam das...unique, inspirational, hilarious, informative and his kirtans are to be seen to be believed.
carioca and his band blew the fresh winds of the amazon rainforest through the gathering, and when krishna das took the helm, we all held on for dear life!
as for the participants, they made the event what it was.
you guys gave us everything - your singing, your participation, was truly inspirational.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
here are some pics
omega looked particularly beautiful this year
the gardens were in full bloom
a perfect setting for the yogis and yoginis who travelled from all parts of the usa to be with us.
here's deva on stage with snatam kaur.
we always enjoy to invite friends on stage with us, especially snatam, who joins us whenever possible.
deva paid back the compliment by joining her and her band for their monday morning concert.
it is very beautiful when musicians come together.
we found real friendship this weekend among the musicians.
manish vyas (left) is a great tabla player, osho devotee, and long time friend from our ashram days - he is the composer of brahma nandam, and now travels worldwide with snatam.
guruganesha (right) is snatams musical partner and a great guitarist/singer/songwriter in his own right.
snatam, as you probably know, is the angel next to deva.
here they are taking a bow at the completion of the concert.
there is a beautiful friendship blossoming between deva and snatam
i was due to join them, but there was nothing i could add to the perfection of their music.
i just sat by the side of the stage and cried instead.
far left is leylee, our festival devi.
next to her is ramdas, who plays keyboards and clarinet for snatam.
the the omni-present manose is standing between guruganesha and myself.
