Deva Premal's spiritualized music
by Maya
If there were a rock star in the yoga world, she would be it. Internationally renowned chant-euse, Deva Premal, and her partner in life and onstage, Miten, are set to grace Vancouver stages in October with their own blend of contemporary and sacred music.
The popular duo, who have charmed everyone from the Dalai Lama to Cher with their chants, are known for their live performances, where they engage the audience in song and request a collective silence in lieu of applause. Their a capella singing is blended in with harmonies, acoustic guitar, and Indian instruments. In Vancouver, a Bansuri, a flute from the Indian sub-continent, will enhance Deva and Miten’s resonant sound.
For the readers who may not know you, would you please share with us a little about yourself?
I’m 35 and was born in Germany. I have been a vegetarian since birth and was born to the sound of my father chanting the Gayatri mantra. Through my childhood, I chanted the Gayatri as a bedtime song. Since the age of 11, I have spent my life under the guidance of my spiritual master, Osho.
When I was 20, I met Miten, my partner in life and music at Osho’s ashram in Pune, India, and through him, I discovered the gift of music, using my voice in song and chant. At the age of 28, I released my first CD, The Essence, and since then have released three more: Love Is Space, Embrace, and Dakshina. I have also released three in partnership with Miten: Satsang, More Than Music, and Songs for the Inner Lover. One of the most significant moments in my life was being invited to a private audience with HH the Dalai Lama, where Miten and I sang for him.
From a very young age, you happily chanted and meditated due to your family upbringing. What did you love about it when you were a little girl?
I have to admit that I didn’t actually “chant and meditate happily” when I was growing up. I just simply went along with whatever my parents gave me. Fortunately for me, it was something worthwhile. It was something normal to me, although I have to say there were also many moments when I would have rather been like my school friends, leading a more conventional way of life.
We never even had a TV! As a child, I didn’t really get the meaning of what we were doing—singing the Gayatri mantra every evening, chanting the Bhagavad Gita, reciting the Ten Bulls of Zen before every meal—but their teachings, and the Eastern way of looking at life and death, influenced me deeply.
How would you define enlightenment? What does it mean for you?
Enlightenment, to me, means a state of Oneness, where there exists no identification with the ego . . . no split in myself, no struggle within. When there is love, there is love. When there is anger, there is anger. Both feelings are equally blissful and none better or worse than the other. Judgment is suspended and acceptance of “what is” becomes the reality. I’m still working on it!!
Could you please share with us a little about your current musical path, why you choose to sing sacred chants, and what it does for you personally?
It just comes naturally. What I love most is bringing people together to sing with each other and to enjoy the benediction that it brings. Actually, it is my spiritual path rather than my musical path. I see myself as much as a spiritual facilitator as I do a musician.
When you and Miten sing together, there is a wonderful balance of male and female energies. Do you feel that your music has the potential to heal personal relationships and transform dysfunctional families?
From the e-mails and the personal feedback we receive, it would appear so. We hear that our music has a healing power for many people. Miten and I are often in tears, reading the messages as they come through. We both feel humbled and, at the same time, inspired by them.
We have actually watched an extended family grow around the music—no “us and them,” but a real-life sangha where friends and lovers come together to celebrate life in all its many dimensions. No matter what state our life may be in at a certain time, the music will always lift us beyond those states into a space of Oneness.
Original interview from deekshas.com. Reprinted with permission. Deva Premal performs Wed., Oct. 4, 7:30 pm, St. Andrews-Wesley Church.
