58 ~ The Healing Power of Sonic Vibration w/ Soma Kirtan

Episode of Seekers of the Eternal · January 10, 2025 · 1 h 31 min

Host Palehorse talks with Kalpa, Robert Ryan and Vasudev of the kirtan group Soma about kirtan, bhakti, hardcore roots, sonic healing and upcoming releases.

Summary

Host Palehorse interviewed three members of the New Jersey kirtan group Soma: Kalpa, Robert Ryan (Sivanesh) and Vasudev. Kalpa and Ryan recounted meeting as teenagers in the skateboarding and hardcore punk scenes, visiting the Hare Krishna temple in Brooklyn, and later reconnecting through kirtan programs at Ryan's Asbury Park studio; Kalpa described a mushroom ceremony that transformed his life. Vasudev described meeting Kalpa at a Bhagavad Gita class after a food share.

The guests described kirtan as participatory devotional chanting and compared it to hardcore shows, with Kalpa calling it a counterculture movement dating to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They discussed maintaining bhakti while playing bars and concert halls, their refusal to proselytize, their mixing of Vaishnava and Shaiva traditions, and Kalpa's hope, borrowed from a friend, that kirtan become as familiar as reggae. Vasudev recalled singing beside the Manikarnika cremation ground in Varanasi for a young man who had just cremated his mother. The group discussed vibration and healing, with Kalpa invoking the Hermetic principle that everything is vibration.

They explained the title of their album Burning Is Learning, announced summer 2025 dates opening for Tyler Childers including the Hollywood Bowl, and a forthcoming five-song 10-inch record with artist David D'Andrea recorded largely live in an Episcopal church. The episode closed with tributes to the devotional painter Syamarani Dasi, a teacher to both the guests and the host, and a reading from Paramahansa Yogananda on chanting.

Chapters

0:27
Introduction of Soma
Palehorse introduces Soma and reads the group's bio.
1:38
Origin stories
The members recount the skateboarding and hardcore roots, temple visits and reconnections that led to the band.
12:08
What kirtan is
The guests define kirtan as participatory chanting and compare it to hardcore shows and a counterculture movement.
21:13
Bhakti on stage
The members discuss keeping devotion while playing bars and clubs and liken mantras to gift cards and seeds.
28:10
Memorable performances
Stories include Alex and Allyson Grey dancing and singing by the Varanasi cremation grounds.
34:47
Art, universality and accessibility
Discussion of ego in art, kirtan's universality, purist critiques and making kirtan as familiar as reggae.
48:05
Vibration and healing
The guests discuss whether sonic vibration heals, Hermetic principles and a five-sense diet.
53:27
Burning Is Learning and ancient songs
Robert Ryan explains the album title from Varanasi street slang and the ancient origins of the songs.
56:03
Touring with Tyler Childers
Vasudev announces summer 2025 dates with Tyler Childers and discusses Childers' spiritual influences.
1:00:13
Mixed devotion and new record
Kalpa explains the Vaishnava-Shaiva blend behind Mishra Bhakti and Soma, and the band describes its upcoming 10-inch with David D'Andrea.
1:10:29
Tribute to Syamarani Dasi
Host and guests share memories of the devotional painter who influenced them all.
1:19:55
Closing and Yogananda reading
The guests offer thanks and Palehorse reads Yogananda on chanting.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Kalpa
Kalpa recounts that his first mushroom ceremony, led by Robert Ryan, changed his life.
“He had invited me to a mushroom ceremony that we had done together, and that had been my first one”
Listen from 6:05
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan describes kirtan as participatory chanting in which the audience matters as much as the musicians.
“the singing of the holy names in a completely interactive situation where the audience is just as much as important as the people playing the music”
Listen from 12:42 · Kirtan
Kalpa
Kalpa argues that the kirtan tradition was essentially the punk scene of an earlier era.
“it just dawned on me i was like this is the this is like the beginning of this was the punk scene on another timeline”
Listen from 15:12 · Hardcore punk
Kalpa
Kalpa likens giving a mantra to a gift card whose use is up to the recipient.
“the mantra is like a gift card you just it's not up to you what the person does with it once you give it to them”
Listen from 24:24 · Mantra
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan states that Soma does not seek to convert anyone.
“we're not trying to proselytize at all. We're not trying to convert anybody to anything because there's nothing to convert to”
Listen from 30:02 · Soma (kirtan group)
Vasudev
Vasudev recounts a young man who, after cremating his mother at Manikarnika, was drawn to the group's singing.
“I just got done from basically like performing the rights to my mother leaving her body”
Listen from 31:08 · Manikarnika Ghat
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan acknowledges purists may criticize Soma's mixing of traditions but says he does not mind.
“to a lot of purists in the kirtan world um i don't care personally um but i do you know i could see where”
Listen from 37:00 · Kirtan
Kalpa
Kalpa relays a friend's view, which he shares, that kirtan should become as familiar as reggae.
“the objective of kirtan now is to make it as popular as reggae music in the sense that so whether you love it or hate it”
Listen from 39:53 · Kirtan
Linked moment · 48:05Skip to 48:05 using a listen link in the info box.
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan is unsure anyone has been healed at a Soma show but believes kirtan sets people on a path toward healing.
“I'm not sure if anyone's ever been healed from one of our steps, but I think it's definitely put people on a path towards healing”
Listen from 48:39 · Sound healing
Kalpa
Kalpa claims the Hermetic principle that everything is vibration is supported by quantum physics and string theory.
“the third principle is that everything is vibration so and that's that's backed up by modern science that's the whole theory behind quantum physics and string theory”
Listen from 50:05 · Sound healing
Kalpa
Kalpa recommends a 'five sense diet', arguing that what one takes in through all senses shapes one's output.
“we have like a five sense diet. You know, the diet extends to the five senses. It's not just what we put in the mouth”
Listen from 51:18 · Bhakti
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan claims some songs on the album are thousands of years old.
“There are songs on that album that are definitely over 2,000 years old, probably 5,000 years old”
Listen from 54:44 · Burning Is Learning
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan explains the album title as a lesson that failing to learn from pain leads to repeated pain.
“Like if you don't learn the first time you get burned, you just continue to get burned”
Listen from 55:03 · Burning Is Learning
Vasudev Partly true
Vasudev announces that Soma will play the Hollywood Bowl in June with Tyler Childers and Medium Build.
“We'll be playing at the Hollywood Bowl there with with Tyler and another artist named Medium Build”
Listen from 57:06 · Soma (kirtan group)
Kalpa
Kalpa explains that the name Mishra Bhakti means mixed devotion, reflecting his Vaishnava and Ryan's Shaiva practices.
“our first kirtan group mishra bhakti was actually a play on words mishra meaning mixed it's actually a bengali word”
Listen from 1:00:13 · Mishra Bhakti Kirtan Sangha
Vasudev Came true
Vasudev says a five-song 10-inch record with David D'Andrea should be released around spring.
“so we'll be releasing a uh a 10-inch record with david i believe sometime you know maybe in like make the springish area”
Listen from 1:05:20 · Soma (kirtan group)
Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan says roughly three-quarters of the new recording was tracked live before overdubs.
“I would say about 75% of it was recorded live initially”
Listen from 1:09:47 · Soma (kirtan group)
Kalpa
Kalpa considers Syamarani Dasi a modern master of religious art.
“She's literally like a modern master. Like, absolutely just a modern, modern master”
Listen from 1:14:42 · Syamarani Dasi's devotional art

People

In the conversation

PalehorseArtist and host of the Seekers of the Eternal podcast, also referred to as Chris
KalpaMember of the kirtan group Soma, harmonium player, tattooer and longtime ISKCON practitioner
VasudevMember of the kirtan group Soma, formerly involved in mutual aid work in Asbury Park
Robert RyanMember of the kirtan group Soma, also called Sivanesh; painter and tattooer who practices Shaiva and Shakta worship

Discussed

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu15th–16th century Bengali saint credited with founding the modern kirtan movement
Syamarani DasiDevotional painter, formerly Jadurani Dasi, disciple of Prabhupada and teacher to the guests and host
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaFounder of ISKCON
Tyler ChildersAmerican country and folk musician touring with Soma
Paramahansa YoganandaIndian yogi and author whose writings the host quotes at the episode's close
David D'AndreaArtist and letterpress printer known for band artwork, running Samaritan Press
Alex GreyVisionary artist who danced at a Soma show