I’m a musician, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved music. Growing up, most evenings I would lie in bed late at night with headphones on, listening to music. Sometimes the music would move me deeply, would bring my soul such a deep sense of peace that I would feel “music is God.” But then, inevitably, the music would fade and so would that sense of divinity.
When I was beginning my second year of college in New York, my longing for something higher led me to attend my first Siddha Yoga satsang at the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in New York City.
That evening, I chanted God’s name for the first time and went into a dreamlike state. It seemed as if I wasn’t in the meditation center at all. I felt that I had become a calm serpent and was swimming down a river. The river shimmered in golden light, and as I swam, I felt one with this light. I felt a warmth, a fullness in my heart. Though I had no words to articulate this fullness, I recognized it as my true nature—the state I am meant to experience all the time.
Since then, chanting God’s names has intensified both my love for God and my love for music. As this love has expanded, I’ve come to experience God and music as interwoven into the fabric of my existence. Each moment feels like a gift, an opportunity to perceive new textures of beauty. Each day, my life feels brand-new. I experience God’s grace in my thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and the countless circumstances that arise as a constantly unfolding symphony.
Pennsylvania, USA