It takes a few minutes to adjust to the heat, the smell of incense and the idea of chanting Hindu gods and goddesses names. I don’t think kirtan is for everyone. Tonight I had my first taste and it was with Jai Uttal, one of the world’s most beloved kirtan artists. I wouldn’t have gone tonight except that I interviewed Sharon Salzberg, a Buddhist meditation teacher, a few weeks ago. During our meeting she mentioned Jai Uttal and how they’d been friends back in the 70s. I realized then that a lot of the old guard (Western) spiritual teachers are aging. I got an email saying that Jai Uttal was coming to town and I decided to go.

Kirtan is devotional chanting that sounds more like singing as the night wears on and people split, quite naturally, into minor thirds and harmonies that shake the room. We chanted the name of Shiva, the goddess of destruction (suddenly, flames in my mind and tears in my eyes recalling the power of Shiva the night of the fire). Some people danced. I mostly let the music wash over and through me and felt I was being taken to another plane.

If you have an opportunity to see Jai Uttal or another kirtan performance, do go. Even if the idea of chanting in another language is foreign. Sometimes speaking another language is our passport to another place. Border control is your heart.