The mission of Vancouver Community Kirtan is to spread the message of the goodness of an All Loving God.
Throughout all our life, there is a beneficial force guiding and protecting us.
The truth of this grace can be obscured through societal programming, trauma and mental busyness.
I’m Harreson. As a hungry ghost, I was constantly thirsting for any kind of nourishment. Fortunately, Spirit guided me to lead kirtan.
Since 2016 when I first started Vancouver Community Kirtan, unbeknownst to me, it was intended to be a journey of bringing us all closer to God.
Vancouver Community Kirtan was, and is, a purifying fire to cleanse the depression, sloth, confusion, doubt, fear, anxiety, etc that covers our hearts.
As purification continued over the years of offering Vancouver Community Kirtan, greater clarity came.
Vancouver Community Kirtan is to:
1. provide a safe multi-faith non-sectarian space for community to remember and celebrate the goodness of an All Loving God
2. provide training to souls interested to carry on the beauty of kirtan by learning how to lead kirtan
3. give back to Mother India by supporting children in India in education and everyday life necessities.
Spirit guided me to develop an innovative music teaching methodology for Westerners.
Although I had a brief (and intense) introduction in South Indian Carnatic music, my own difficulties of learning music led me to question how to teach music in a way that might be somewhat easily understood and practiced by beginner students wanting to connect to the energy of kirtan.
Spirit guided me to the creation of an innovative teaching method to help students quickly learn how to play the harmonium, sing on pitch and on time through the use of Western music scores and technology.
There is zero requirement for students to learn how to read music scores because of the instructional videos which take one through a music score without needing to read one. You just have to follow the moving blue line.
Progress, not perfection
Kirtan is not a music performance although it’s wise for us to constantly improve our musicality so that we become more attractive to more souls looking for nourishment.
Kirtan is God/Spirit calling to our hearts and souls to remember our true nature and our intimate connection with a good, compassionate, beneficient and loving Universal Energy.
As such, the standard of perfection has no space in my way of teaching. Instead, I will encourage you to be your best at this current time. And applaud you for making whatever effort you are able.
Progress is more important. Your soul has some plan for you regarding kirtan. If you feel some urge towards kirtan (which I think is one of the most wholesome things we could ever do for ourselves), please, please, please, listen to that gentle urging. Perhaps it is your intuition pointing you to your highest good.
Currently, I am providing free mentorship to my graduates who want to do their kirtan debut at a Vancouver Community Kirtan event.
I know from personal experience the struggles of gaining confidence and experience to be able to lead kirtan with any level of competence without a mentor.
My goal is to obey that which I believe that Spirit is guiding me to do: develop more kirtan facilitators who will help glorify the Most Loving and the Most High in all Its names and forms.
If you have any faint urging or calling to lead kirtan, know that there is a direct path with my offerings to do so, and with supportive mentorship for this limited time so that the journey is both quick and relatively easy (hah!).
My own kirtan journey started initially with satsangs with Baba Hari Dass at his ashram on Mt Madonna, California. Then the journey continued through the beautiful universal kirtans offered by Amir O’Loughlin of the Inayati Order of Vancouver. Their spiritual Head, Hazrat Inayat Khan advocated a multi-faith openness, to which I abide.
Thus in VCK events, there will chants from the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Sufi and Zoroastrian traditions, as well of course, the Hindu tradition.
I offer kirtan trainings in a 9 week in-person training and will be soon releasing my online kirtan course which will feature many chants all taught with great detail in regards to playing, singing and leading. I would be honoured if you decided to join me in one of these teachings.
Your direct path to leading kirtan in public
