Official Shiva Prayer Music Video

bhakti yoga kirtan education Jan 06, 2022

IN THE WORDS OF MIKE COHEN

Fire & Destruction

December 30, 2021 was a terrifying day in Boulder, Colorado, where my partner and I live. Ninety percent of Boulder County was in severe or extreme drought, and we hadn’t seen substantial rainfall since mid-summer. In the morning the wind blew gusts up to 100 mph, taking down power lines which lit several grass fires.

The first fire (Middle Fork Fire) was in our North Boulder neighborhood a mere 2000 feet from our home. Skilled firefighters got this fire under control pretty quickly. Yet an hour later I SAW the flames of a second fire, just south of the first fire.

Firefighters say, “if can you see the flames, get out!” As I hastily gathered key belongings for evacuation a fire truck arrived and within 10 minutes I could no longer see the flames. We were very, very lucky as no structures or people were damaged.

Unfortunately, the Marshall Fire (#MarshallFire) on the Southeast side of Boulder was not so easily tamed. An urban fire such as this one is horrific and my heart breaks for the people and animals that have been impacted. 35,000+ people were evacuated and 1000 homes and businesses were lost.

Making Sense

In a challenging time like this it’s hard to make sense of our experience. And yet, sense making and meaning making are critical human activities that allow us to accept what is, and to take right action.

From the Hindu/Yoga/Kirtan perspective, destruction is the domain of Kali and Shiva, and a necessary part of the cycle of birth, life and death. When we experience loss and endings - in our lives, or vicariously - we can be thrown into despair. We ask, How could this happen? What kind of world do we live in?

These ancient teachings around Kali and Shiva invite us to accept that terrible and inexplicable things do happen, and life goes on. In fact, destruction, understood this way, is the mechanism that opens up space for re-birth in a deeper and more beautiful way.

Shiva Prayer

This is the theme of the Official Shiva Prayer music video I released on Winter Solstice 2021. It feels even more appropriate today. Acclaimed filmmaker Roger Ingraham and I created this music video to acknowledge our gritty challenges and point to the ways prayer and right action can help us during challenging times.

I invite you to watch the 4 1/2 minute Shiva Prayer video so you can be with any sorrow you have for those who are hurting (including yourself) and find inspiration for, and commitment to, deep prayer and right action.

Music produced by Ben Leinbach, video produced by Roger Ingraham. Female vocals by Sandy Griffith.

Click HERE to watch this 4 minute transformational video.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

No words. I cried. It is so very beautiful and heartfelt.

An acknowledgment of both the hopeful and the heartbreaking, and a calm invitation to sit with that. Very moving images so softly interwoven. Thank you for this gift.

Powerful, heart breaking and heart opening. Beautiful!

This very beautiful video is filled with compassion, tears, hope and love.

Gorgeous & powerful!!!

IN THE WORDS OF FILMMAKER ROGER INGRAHAM

Today is the worldwide release of the Shiva Prayer music video, performed by internationally renowned Kirtan artist Mike Cohen, directed by myself.

Near full moon today on Winter Solstice is one of the most auspicious powerful times for intention of the year according to Vedic tradition. This video is our powerful intention.

Mike and I collaborated over several months to edit and refine the visionary message in the music video. There were 7 quite different edits. The first edit leaned too heavily, in many ways, towards my frustration and anger with the world events, environmental and social. This anger, although maybe understandable, was unproductive and even energetically destructive.

Click HERE to watch this 4 minute transformational video.

Mid-editing, I (as well as my partner Antonia and friends) got Covid-19. We made it quickly through 3 days of cold-like physical symptoms (using the I-Mask+ protocol). Then I was hit with 2 and a half days of deep and dark energetic pressures that led to emotional and ancestral purgings. The emotional trauma loop of those 2.5 days was one of the hardest experiences of my life.

One of my golden lessons I extracted from that experience, embodied in this music video, is that NOW more than ever, it’s vital for those of us who know the power of vibrational thought to CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE to not energetically fight with the current regime + circumstances, but to hold an exalted hopeful vision of the future world stage. This doesn’t mean to pull the wool over our eyes: these are truly dark challenging times. But it does mean to consider how we respond to it.

I was reminded how POWERFUL each one of our visions, energies, and intentions are. I was reminded that it’s a choice to hold daily a response, understanding, and vision of hope, inspiration, and possibility. The world stage is currently unstable, chaotic, and rapidly shifting. It’s a time of great change. And it’s a choice to not devolve into fear or anger towards the evils but to seed, create and act towards worlds of good.

The visions Mike I and chose to share by edit 7 of this music video reflect that commitment: global prayer and intention, inspired united action, a future of environmental regeneration, healing racial and social trauma, the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, the power of entheogenic medicines, faith for beloved future generations, and an unbreakable commitment to the Earth. All those messages are held in the fabric of the video. It's a reminder: each of us has more power than we may realize. Our choice to hold and act on a positive vision of the future WILL serve as a refuge for ourselves and others, as a mental-emotional and action-based climate for possibility and inspiration.

I would be honored if you'd take 4 minutes to watch this labor of love, this transformational prayer melding sacred chant and image. If you enjoy this piece, please share it with your friends and loved ones. If it touches you, please let us know how it makes you feel.

Click HERE to watch this 4 minute transformational video.

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Mike Cohen

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Mike Cohen, MA is founder of Kirtan Leader Institute. Since 2010 he has trained and apprenticed thousands of Kirtan Leaders across the globe, from total beginners to dozens he has guided to create/release Kirtan albums, play at festivals and tour nationally.

Official Shiva Prayer Music Video

Learn Kirtan with KLI

The KLI Approach

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Sacred Chant Mentorship

Author

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