Friday, July 19, 2013

Hanuman Happy Birthday

My little baby is ONE year old!  It's so unbelievable.  What a beautiful, strange, exhilarating, exhausting, frightening, joyous, thrilling, phenomenal year it has been.  The best of my life and without question the most transformative.

She dances and loves to look at the world upside down (she does a LOT of baby downward dog).  She giggles and laughs all the time and has a real sense of humor already.  The world and everything in it is completely amazing and amusing to her.   I could not be more grateful or feel more blessed to be celebrating this huge milestone and the magic of this beautiful little being that has come into our world.

Speaking of magic and beautiful beings, I really love Hanuman. He's always been one of my favorites in Hinduism.  Often known as the "Monkey God," he helps out his BFF Rama when Rama's wife Sita is kidnapped.  But, beyond loyalty and devotion, I really like that Hanuman has no idea of how powerful he actually is.  The son of a wind God, he has to be reminded of his magic and strength (by a bear).  And then he uses that power to help those he loves, powerfully leaping across the Indian ocean to find Sita and bringing back medicines for Rama's dying brother.   He may not be overtly the sharpest tool in the shed (there are some funny moments in the Ramayana that point to this), but Hanuman is the one you want having your back.  He is genuine, loyal and I mean, come on...he's a monkey!

And speaking of monkeys, if you continue through Daniel Tucker's lessons, you'll find that in addition to squirrels playing guitar, his wardrobe also includes (drumbeat....) sock monkeys playing guitar!   I think I am as intrigued to keep up with the lessons for his whimsical fashion as I am learning the harmonium! :)  

After a few weeks of learning and practicing all the scales, sarghams, learning the basics, I ventured into the actual kirtan chants last night.  My very first song I chose was Babu Hanuman, from Krishna Das' album. It is so beautiful - the melody speaks of a long standing devotion.

Last night after Bodhi went to sleep, I was able to begin playing this for the first time (about 3 minutes into the video is the section I am learning).  It felt truly exhilarating. I still am shy and unsure about my voice (embracing my non singing voice is a whole other scary, but liberating aspect to this journey) but I am working on it and just trying to let the truth and the light shine through.


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