Sales Motivator and Extraordinary Guitarist Guru Ganesha - Review

March 28, 2007

Last night, Tuesday, March 27, Guru Ganesha Singh Khalsa, with Indian

tabla master Manish Vyas and up-and-coming classical musician Ram Das

Singh Khalsa, performed in a kundalini workshop in Reston, Virginia,

called " Yoga and the Art of Happiness. "

It was unclear what attendees could expect as they arrived, with one

hatha student behind me even asking quietly, " Will there be any yoga

in this workshop? " Indeed, even Guru Ganesha admitted that in part he

didn't even know what was going to happen that night.

But as we kundalini yogis can always expect, we got at least the

basics - a nice workout with a kriya, some relaxation, deep

meditation, and soaring mantra.

With Guru Ganesha, however, as well as his accompanying musicians, we

got a lot more than the basics. We also heard amazing guitar work,

amplified with electronic embellishments from sound engineer Krishan,

and some amazing story-telling from a yogi who prior to this conscious

lifestyle was in a band opening for the Allman Brothers and organizing

Grateful Dead concerts.

One sad story was a fact of our current society - discrimination

against humans who wear turbans. Recently while Guru Ganesha was in

Texas, he was approached in an intimidating way by a big, gun-toting

country Texan. Wonderfully, however, the good-natured Texan didn't

make a despicable anti-Arab/Moslem " towelhead/Osama/terrorist " (take

your pick) insult; rather, he asked GuruGanesha, " Do you know who you

remind me of? " Using yogic breathing to prepare for the latest act of

barbarity, Guru Ganesha answered, " No, who? "

" ZZ Top! "

(For those yogis sheltered from society, ZZ Top is a jamming Texas

Rock n Roll band whose leaders wear long beards).

It's nice to know there's humor in this world still.

An early treat in the workshop was Manish's tabla beating as the

attendees got through three sets of sat kriya, at three minutes each.

It was helpful how Guru Ganesha used this asana to set the tone for

his motif - " Set aside your duality and make the most of your

experience, whether it's a job you only partly like or a relationship

in which you're not fully committed. Whatever your situation, commit

110%, or find something else until you can give everything you've

got. " With such inspiring words, most of the attendees got through

the Sat Kriya, when in many cases they otherwise would have quit.

And yes, Guru Ganesha had us to 54 frogs - thanks a lot!

Not only did Manish give us real professional tabla beating during

asanas, but also Ram Das played the clarinet during some of the

exercises. Apparently, Ram Das already is playing with the Carnegie

Youth Symphony in New York - very impressive.

During one relaxation Guru Ganesha et. al. played an instrumental

version of " While My Guitar Gently Weeps, " by George Harrison and the

Beatles.

Regarding happiness, Guru Ganesha discussed what he said leads to

happiness - using mantra to control the mind's " committee; " an

alkaline diet; and giving 110% to every situation so it becomes more

enjoyable.

A surprise treat at the end of the workshop was the arrival of local

chiropractor and early 3HO song-writer, GuruTrang Singh Khalsa, who

brought a cake and yogi tea. Yesterday was his birthday. YESTERDAY

ALSO WAS GURU NANAK'S BIRTHDAY - SAT NAM, JI.

Folks can check out his latest CD, " Pure Ganesh " at

http://www.SpiritVoyage.com, and see him with Snatam on the Celebrate

Peace Tour. Its schedule also is at this website.

Sat nam,

Amar Atma

March 30, 2007

Sat Nam Amar Atma,

Thank you for the article - I'm glad the experience was so positive. As a friend and as one who has played lots of music with "Ganesh", I wouldn't expect anything else from him. Always positive, always uplifting, and NEVER dull!

As a proud parent, please allow me to indulge in a couple of minor corrections - In high school, Ram Dass played with a youth orchestra that was invited to play at Carnegie Hall. Also, "Dass" is with 2 s's. When he was born, I called Yogi Bhajan and left a message asking for a name. The next morning, I walked in the door from the hospital as the phone rang. The MAN himself was on the phone, not a member of his staff. His words were "Ram Dass with 2 s's. Let him follow the path!" My wife and I have been truly blessed to have Ram Dass in our lives.

Okay, parental indulgence over!

Amar Singh