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America's First Kirtan
It was exactly 100 years ago that Yogananda introduced the eastern style of chanting to the west - he tells the story below:
"I was giving a series of lectures at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1926, and at that time I first suggested to some musical friends the idea of my singing one of these chants, asking the whole audience to join in, without previous rehearsal. My friends thought the chants would be so alien to American understanding that they warned me to expect overripe tomatoes as a possible commentary on my innovation.
I protested that music is the universal language of the soul’s devotion to God and that all soulful people, whether familiar or not with Eastern or Western music, would understand the divine yearning of my heart during chanting.
The next evening, while my friends sat behind me on the platform, fearing for my safety, I started to chant “O God Beautiful,” and asked the audience, who had never before heard the song, to join me in chanting it. For one hour and twenty-five minutes, the thousands of voices of the entire audience chanted, without discord, “O God Beautiful,” in a divine atmosphere of joyous praise. Even when I left the stage, the audience sat on, chanting the song. The next day, many men and women testified to the God-perception and healings of body, mind and soul which had taken place during the sacred chanting, and numerous requests came in to repeat the song at other services.
This experience, which occurred in Carnegie Hall, the musical temple of America and scene of the triumphs of many great singers and artists, was a spontaneous tribute to the universal nature of soul-music and to the untutored understanding of East and West regarding spiritual aspirations.
Since that first evening, I have used these chants thousands of times with large American audiences and have seen infinite divine benefits showered on the sincere devotees who chant the Lord’s name with love".
– Paramhansa Yogananda
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