Tag archives: kirtan

Music Notes
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 1, 2020

Jaya Lakshmi and Ananda – the Oregon-based mantra music mavens who have performed their popular blend of kirtan, healing mantra music, original compositions in English and Sanskrit, and Kirtronica (a fusion of kirtan and electronica) at several venues in Santa Barbara – have a much-anticipated new album ready for release. But due to pandemic restrictions […]

Letting Go (and Catching Sticks) at Lucidity
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 11, 2019

My first experience at the Lucidity Festival came early on a Saturday afternoon, when I wandered into a workshop from Peace Sticks. The activity – led by brothers who make their home in Ojai – was a simple one: pass the sticks back and forth with a partner. Some of them were balanced ones that […]

Soothe Your Qi by the Sea
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 24, 2019

With the stress and extravaganzas of the holidays a few weeks in the rear view mirror, Qigong and Tai Chi instructor Jessica Kolbe is collaborating with her yoga instructor husband Ray Kolbe in a daylong immersion this weekend for people to nourish and pamper their bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits. Among the activities beyond practicing […]

Finding Spirituality at 1st Thursday
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 6, 2018

The monthly downtown art-and-culture tour is generally focused on visual art, performances and imbibing glasses of wine, not so much on seeking meaning and higher connection. But the holiday season brings time of reflection, so the December event, which takes place on December 6, has a couple of choices that might be a bit uplifting.  […]

Kirtan with a Master
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 8, 2018

Laguna Beach native Baba Bhagavan Das – the master kirtan wallah and orator, bhakti yogi and shakta tantra adept – first traveled to India back in 1963 to find his gur, and became the first American to live in the jungle of the Himalayas as a hermit-sadhu. Bhagavan Das was given the Holy Name of […]

Oh, Hi: Halifax Returns with Words
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 18, 2018

Joan Halifax is the rare Zen Buddhist visionary whose background and education traverses Western and Eastern practices and study, and it’s an astonishing background that has brought her to where she is today. Among the many early accomplishments of the activist, author, caregiver, teacher, and Zen Buddhist priest, who will be the subject of the […]