CBD 2023: UPW Guided Practice: Kirtan, bhajan and abhanga: An Introduction to the contemplative practice of Indian devotional music with Kenneth Lee

Kirtan, or keertan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts, connoting a musical form of narration or shared recitation, particularly of spiritual or religious ideas, native to the Indian subcontinent.  With roots in the Vedic anukirtana tradition, a kirtan is a call-and-response style song or chant, set to music, wherein multiple singers recite or describe a legend, or express loving devotion to a deity, or discuss spiritual ideas. It may include dancing or direct expression of bhavas (emotive states) by the singer. This kirtan will be structured to invite everyone to either repeat the chant, or reply to the call of the singer. 

This session is part of a two-session series in Stanford Memorial Church featuring Kenneth Lee offered as part of the 2023 Contemplation by Design Summit. Attendees are encouraged to register for one or all of the sessions. 
The first session, also on October 29, is his talk titled, Love as Meditation: Devotional Poetry and the Contemplative Practice of Love. This talk will be delivered during the University Public Workshop in Stanford Memorial Church.

Kenneth Nacario Lee (Kula Pradipa Das) is one of Stanford’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life’s Flourishing and Faith Chaplain Associates.  Prior to being at Stanford, he served as a purohit/p?jari at the Bhakti Center NYC (Sri Sri Radha Murlidhara Mandir), a spiritual and cultural center in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With a background in Hindu ritual and temple worship (p?ñchar?tra), he regularly performs traditional ceremonies (samskara) marking the junctures of life for his religious community.  He received his chaplaincy training at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, with the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training (ICPT) in conjunction with the Spiritual Care Association (SCA). More recently he has worked as a Hospice Care chaplain for the Visiting Nursing association (VNA). 

CBD 2023: UPW Guided Practice: Kirtan, bhajan and abhanga:  An Introduction to the contemplative practice of Indian devotional music with Kenneth Lee is part of the free Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 20-Nov. 3, 2023.

The full Summit schedule is posted at: http://contemplation.stanford.edu/summit. All events are FREE and online.

Registration opens September 12, 2023