Evening before Shri Krishna Puja. Cabella (Italy), 19 August 1995.

It was really a surprise to see this combination of two great artists. they come from 2 different religions as we call them gharanas.  That shows that Indian music is such a harmonious thing, built in the oneness, the unity of understanding that, whatever tradition they come in, they can play together so well, support each other,  and melodies can be mixed up so beautifully. I’m happy that you understand this music and enjoy it very much. I saw you all absolutely engrossed. There’s a saying that when Krishna used to play his flute, then it’s said that (chitra ….),  everybody was like a picture, eyes were not moving, hands were not moving, nothing, just chitra. Like that I saw today, all of you so much engrossed and I’m so thankful to all of these artists for bringing out the beauty of this great art of music. Now also you can see that it’s a combination of east and west because this bansuri, flute, is from the east and the violin is from the west. But the way it combined together shows that there is a harmony even in the instruments, the way we play and the way we manifest the beauty of music.

Music is very important for Sahaja yoga as you know that, through music the vibrations spread very well and one can go very deep into your own meditation through music. I am very happy that they have taken out a CD now, both of them, and we have got those now, those who want to buy can buy from Guido.  It’s a nice thing, I appreciate, because they are very young, very young people coming up in Sahaja Yoga gives me such a great hope, that, one day, these artists will rise so much higher and that this music will spread all over the world. It’s very important that young people should take to music because the older Johnnies are now practically…none of them are willing to come, even to Cabella I think, it’s too far for them.  But we have these second generation which is doing so well and learning music even from their mother and father, and also from very old artists of India.

It’s a very traditional art, no doubt, but it has so much of Eternal Joy that it cannot be called as something of the past or of the present but it is also of the future.

I think you all have appreciated very much and I must thank Americans for organising this programme in their own understanding of the music. America is taking to music now, Indian music also, and are coming up into a proper shape I think in rendering something that is extremely spiritual. Though sometimes I find it’s very noisy, but somehow or other they are taking to harmony and to a question of rapport with the people who are going to listen. I mean if they are just going to jump and dance and not to listen to the music then how is it music? I can’t understand. If you have to just jump to the tune all the time in a particular manner so it cannot be music. Music has to be listened to, otherwise it goes in the skin I think. It works the other way round. So, I’m just saying because the American music is now taking over, I think.