Pujya Sri Swamiji in Seattle - Anahata Raga Sagara - McCaw Hall
Pujya Sri Swamiji in Seattle
Anahata Raga Sagara
12-17 September 2019
Pujya Sri Swamiji arrived Seattle from San Jose on Thursday, September 12 for a five day visit. The same evening, Sri Swamiji set sail on the boat Good Time III for a cruise in Elliot Bay, serenaded by the jazz quartet ‘The Torch’. As the sun set on Mount Rainier in the distance, the aura of Sri Swamiji’s presence lit a fire in the hearts of the fifty devotees present on board.
The next day, Sri Swamiji and the Celestial Message Troupe, boarded a seaplane to Port Ludlow, on the shores of Puget Sound. Sri Swamiji walked to Burner Point to view the totem pole carved originally from a 720-year old western red cedar tree to commemorate the history of the local S’Klallam tribe, reflecting as He did on the Native American ancestry of the Seattle region.
On Saturday morning, Sri Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja at the Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Temple in Redmond. The over 300 devotees gathered there witnessed this divine sight while immersed in a soundscape of the lilting tunes of His bhajans played by the renowned Violin Maestro Ganesh. In His anugraha bhashana, He explained the significance of the pyramid like structure of the terms Mata - Pita - Guru - Daivam. Mata or mother, His Holiness explained, is the person who introduces the child to his father, Pita. The mother and father then introduce the child to the Guru and the Guru is the conduit for the seeker to reach God. The seeker finds His Guru without prompting, His Holiness said, it is an intuitive recognition that cannot be taught or learned. Sri Swamiji spoke of the temple C.V.S. Rama Rao, Sarvani’s father, had been instrumental in constructing in Pondicherry in which there is no god other than Sri Swamiji, where the only idol is a life-size image of His Holiness. Sri Swamiji said that just as the body (or deha-alayam) is the temple of the Atman or the seat of the divine (deva-alayam), the temple made of bricks and mortar is the necessary site for concentration on God. Moved by the humility of the LV temple priests and overcome by love for the seekers gathered in His presence, Sri Swamiji, in an unparalleled gesture of magnanimity, made a gift of $10,000 for the construction of a new temple.
The same evening, His Holiness led a packed hall of over 500 persons in Divya Nama Sankeertana. Singing bhajans in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Sri Swamiji conducted those present into a trance-like state, intensifying it with a session of Om chanting, the reverberations of which could be felt distinctly as a unifying force in the room.
The next day was the big day - Sunday, September 15 - when Sri Swamiji graced Seattle by performing Anahata Raga Sagara - His Music for Meditation for the first time ever in the prestigious McCaw Hall in Seattle Center Tthe lobby decorations included picture cubes reflecting the rich legacy of Sri Swamiji as a composer, lyricist and performer. Photographs of His Holiness playing different instruments, of His album covers, of His lyrics in different languages, of the concepts of His healing music, and of the Guinness World Records His Holiness has been the recipient of were displayed alongside an ice sculpture of the human form with each chakra marked out in its identifying color and element. A huge red-carpeted picture wall marked out many of the over 350 venues across the world at which Sri Swamiji has performed His music for meditation and healing. His Holiness was welcomed on stage with a garland by C.V.S. Rama Rao, retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service and a devotee of Sri Swamiji for over five decades. Senator Manka Dhingra, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Steve Strachen, and Microsoft Corporate Vice-President Jordi Ribas honoured Sri Swamiji with bouquets. The Master of Ceremonies, Kamaniya Sathish, said no introduction of Sri Swamiji could begin anywhere but with His storied smile, which had the power to redeem the recipient from the ineffable loneliness of the human condition. The emcee spoke of Sri Swamiji’s musical lineage and accomplishments in classical music, while describing their force as magical - she said Sri Swamiji’s music forged a communion between the human and non-human, the self and the non-self, offering a true glimpse of human freedom, closely akin to the Anahata chakra which is the zone of communion between manifest and spiritual energy, human and natural environment and described Sri Swamiji’s music as a veritable encyclopedia of nature, expressing moods as deep as the ocean, as playful as a gurgling brook, as mellow as summer rain, as fierce as a thunderstorm, as many hued as autumn, but above all as loving as only His Holiness can be. This theme was reflected in the stage decor, designed by Kurt Walls, Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Puget Sound, which brought the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, enfolded as it is by mountains, surrounded by water and covered with forests and parklands, alive on stage. The seating on stage resembled rock-like formations in a forest and was complemented by scenic videos of the elements projected on the set background.
Sri Swamiji set the auditorium on fire with His music, transporting the 1100 persons present, and the thousands across the world who tuned in on the livestream, beyond human consciousness to the region of the sublime, offering them an experience impossible to put into words.
Pujya Sri Swamiji played
Pranava Swarupam - Rushyaketu Priya Raga
Palaya Palaya Sri Lalite - Hindola Raga
Anahata Raga Sagara comprising of three Ragas
Yogini, Lalita & Natha Bhairavi
Dance tune - Dheera Shankarabharanam
Raga Ragini Mangala in Sama Raga
After the concert Smt. Sarvani and Sathish Kumar Manivannan, presented Sri Swamiji with a Swarovski crystal image of the Macaw bird to commemorate the concert at McCaw Hall and to honour Sri Swamiji’s deep and abiding love for birds for which He has been awarded a Guinness World Record. Violin Maestro Ganesh, Dr. Andrew Friedman of Virginia Mason and the Director of the International Ballet Academy Vera Altunina honoured the members of the Celestial Message Troupe.
Speaking after the concert, Sri Swamiji expressed His pleasure in the stage decor by saying He felt as if He was enfolded in the natural beauty of Mekedatu, His birthplace, and congratulated Sathish on the excellent arrangements, blessing him by saying He would return to Seattle soon to perform again at the McCaw Hall.
On Monday evening, Sri Swamiji attended a ballet performance by the International Ballet Academy at the Meydenbauer Center. The Director of the Academy, Vera Altunina, welcomed Sri Swamiji to the performance saying how she experienced the movement of her soul in His music and that she wished to make an offering to Him of the spiritual expression of the body that characterised the art of ballet. Fourteen-year old ballerina Sreya Sathish spoke before the performance to say how His Holiness had entered her life when He named her, but how He was actually her roots, her foundation, given He was in her life even before her mother was born, her grandfather having been introduced to His Holiness by his grandmother. Sreya spoke of His Holiness as a true connoisseur of art, equally passionate about all the performing arts. In his vote of thanks, Sathish Kumar Manivannan spoke of the visionary imagination of Sri Swamiji in building the world class auditorium, the Nada Mantapa, in His ashram in Mysore, India at which leading artists from across the world have performed and spoke of the great honour His Holiness had bestowed on the artists that evening by witnessing their performance. The Ballet school presented a part of the “Sleeping Beauty”.
His Holiness blessed the performers by predicting a bright future for them and conferred upon them a singular honour by inviting them to perform in the he Nada Mantapa.
Sri Swamiji departed Seattle on Tuesday, September 17th 2019.
