The Arizona Sangat was strongly represented at the 2008 summer solstice celebration in Espanola, New Mexico.
Playing as the solo featured gong artist at Peace Prayer Day (the 15 minutes of fame promised to all by Andy Warhol!), 3 days of white tantric yoga, 6 nights of sadhana, seva on the Yogi Tea Team, and a deeper love for spicy mung beans. These were highlights of my first Summer Solstice experience and it offered way more than I could wrap my arms around. A special highlight was visiting Yogi Bhajan's ranch the final Saturday and participating in kirtan led by Dev Suroop followed by 3 amazing musicians from India whose leader is part of a family that extends back 12 unbroken generations in devotional chant.
I also attended a gong workshop with one of my mentors, Mehtab Singh from Texas, who wrote the book Gong Yoga. Gong sessions were sampled from three different gong players I haven't heard before. I learned something valuable from each of them.
This was one high-powered camping expedition that coincided with the release of Ong Gong Journey, my first gong cd release which has sold well and continues to inspire accounts of deep journeying from users who are able to float in the gongtones more often than if they were to only attend live events.
2009 brought about the opportunity to sponsor two visits to Arizona by renowned gongmaster Don Conreaux, the latter of which included an amazing concert that was recorded and is being studio-mastered into my second CD release. Don gave me the opportunity to produce this project, and I pursued it learning lessons from the past. Recalling the old adage: "measure twice, cut once" I took the time to mull, meditate, and manifest an absolute gem. I hope you will give this program a spin to learn why I am so blissfully happy with it, besides the fact that I got to collaborate with the world renowned master of gong. I personally have never heard a program on CD more effective than this one, and I have heard a lot!
2010 has a host of great events lined up (see events calendar), and the times are needing the gongtones more than ever. As calamity and consciousness collide into a new age of cooperative oneness, I can't help but feel incredibly blessed to be used by the universe in this way! Happy 2010 gongtones to one and all.
2011 News: Yogiray Moves To Atlanta & Plays Summer Gongs In Georgia & Arizona!
- Wednesday August 17, 7 – 8:30pm Gongbath Deep Immersion in Atlanta w Yogiray at Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore 5531 Roswell Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30342, $15 in advance; $20 at the door, register by calling the bookstore at: 404.255.5207 or 1-800-597-6800 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Think with the heart
Renew your creative license before it expires (photo: www.jwestphotography.com)
The Gong: Ancient Tool For Modern Times
The symphonic gong is a tool for readjustment and transformation. Used by oracles, healers, and yogis for thousands of years, it is historically steeped in secrecy and associated with royalty and other elite members of society. To this day the finest gongs are individually hand-manufactured by skilled craftsman at factories that guard the details of production closely as competitive secrets.
It is an ancient instrument thought to release negative emotional patterns in the body. Other attributed benefits include acting upon the circulatory system to increase flow and reducing stress through inducing a state of profound relaxation in participants. These effects are created through vibratory sound waves that penetrate the organs, tissues, and blood chemistry with healing energy. It is a full body experience, not principally a concert for the ears. Acousticians tell us that what the ears do hear in the presence of the “combination undertones” pulsing forth in non-linear fashion from this unique instrument is completely subjective for each person as an “inner sound” created in the inner ear. People will claim to have heard bells, harps, human voices and all manner of sounds that are not present in the outer sound. Yogi Bhajan, who brought the technology of this instrument to the West along with kundalini yoga, commented simply about the gong: “The gong is the only tool with which you can produce this combination of space vibrations.” [The Aquarian Teacher, Third Ed., copyright 2005, pub: Kundalini Research Institute, Espanola, NM]
He also endorsed it as the only instrument the human mind cannot resist. The mind is a pattern-seeking device that is befuddled by overtones and undertones that defy prediction. It is set aside within “three-to-ninety seconds” as the potential for inner journeying and introspection fills the void. The gong is regarded in many Asian countries as far more than a metal device: it is revered as a soul-bearing portal to the infinite universe. Words fail to capture an experience that at best can be hinted at and poetically described. A prominent spiritual leader once said: “You will never taste sweetness by licking the word HONEY on the page of a book.” There is a huge variety of individual perceptions after a gong experience, and the only way to truly understand what the gong is for you is to embrace the experience.
Both mantra and gong are vibratory experiences. Chanting out loud or mentally creates consciousness-changing effects with these special keys that unlock the code of complete happiness at the highest level of your being. Thoughts have frequencies that may be high or low. Mantras are very elevating frequencies that when repeated over time uplift you to their vibration. Gong waves also uplift by clearing out negativity and providing a new opening where you can be more present and conscious. Used together, these vibrations amplify spirit. High vibrations!
It is an ancient instrument thought to release negative emotional patterns in the body. Other attributed benefits include acting upon the circulatory system to increase flow and reducing stress through inducing a state of profound relaxation in participants. These effects are created through vibratory sound waves that penetrate the organs, tissues, and blood chemistry with healing energy. It is a full body experience, not principally a concert for the ears. Acousticians tell us that what the ears do hear in the presence of the “combination undertones” pulsing forth in non-linear fashion from this unique instrument is completely subjective for each person as an “inner sound” created in the inner ear. People will claim to have heard bells, harps, human voices and all manner of sounds that are not present in the outer sound. Yogi Bhajan, who brought the technology of this instrument to the West along with kundalini yoga, commented simply about the gong: “The gong is the only tool with which you can produce this combination of space vibrations.” [The Aquarian Teacher, Third Ed., copyright 2005, pub: Kundalini Research Institute, Espanola, NM]
He also endorsed it as the only instrument the human mind cannot resist. The mind is a pattern-seeking device that is befuddled by overtones and undertones that defy prediction. It is set aside within “three-to-ninety seconds” as the potential for inner journeying and introspection fills the void. The gong is regarded in many Asian countries as far more than a metal device: it is revered as a soul-bearing portal to the infinite universe. Words fail to capture an experience that at best can be hinted at and poetically described. A prominent spiritual leader once said: “You will never taste sweetness by licking the word HONEY on the page of a book.” There is a huge variety of individual perceptions after a gong experience, and the only way to truly understand what the gong is for you is to embrace the experience.
Both mantra and gong are vibratory experiences. Chanting out loud or mentally creates consciousness-changing effects with these special keys that unlock the code of complete happiness at the highest level of your being. Thoughts have frequencies that may be high or low. Mantras are very elevating frequencies that when repeated over time uplift you to their vibration. Gong waves also uplift by clearing out negativity and providing a new opening where you can be more present and conscious. Used together, these vibrations amplify spirit. High vibrations!
23rd Peace Prayer Day (2008)
Yogiray Opens The Portal To Deep Relaxation As Featured Gong Artist At The 23rd Annual Peace Prayer Day Celebration in Espanola, NM (Above Photos: www.Damarisphotography.com - 6.21.08)
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