(Mostly written whilst drinking chai from  a small plastic cup in the dingy basement canteen of the Seema Dental Hospital in Rishikesh.  I am waiting for 15 year old Naveen to complete his root canal treatment.)

When I was at the Expanding Light yoga retreat  in California I met Cindy, a singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel.  When I first heard her sing I thought  -  Wow! a cross between Joni Mitchell and Sarah Brightman. I had bought a book of Yogananda's poetry called Songs of the Soul. Some of the writing is very reminiscent of Shakespeare which is pretty amazing for an Indian writing in English.  Cindy held the book in her hands and asked that the spirit of Yogananda give her a message.  She opened the book at a random page and, lo and behold, there was the poem At The Fountain of Song. 

On one level the poem is about the creative process. After Cindy had read the poem she exclaimed that it exactly descibes her own songwriting process - a spark of inspiration, now brightening, getting bigger, now fading, getting lost and reforming until gradually it blazes into the full expression of the song.

For me great art, poetry, or music is an expression of the Divine.  So it is with Cindy's voice.  Cindy is simply the channel.   There is a special quality to her voice over and above the purity, vocal range, and power.   When I hear Cindy sing I feel it in my heart. I am in awe of this God-given talent. Cindy wrote a melody and edited the poem for singing.  We recorded it (thanks John) in a small room at the EL retreat  with Cindy on vocals and me on guitar.  You can hear the song by going to http://www.myspace.com/cindylitton  (You may have to cut and paste this link), then click on "DIG".  The full version of the poem can be found at http://stonegulch.com/atthefountainofsong.html

When you hear the words or read the full text you may think that it describes more than the creative process.  In fact it also describes the spiritual path - a glimmer of light, then fading; an inspiration, a sudden understanding; a feeling of deep peace or great joy, or of expansive love; and gradually experiencing those feelings more and more. We all have these experiences of being "in the zone". But the more I meditate the more I have these experiences.

In fact, during meditation you may experience any of the 8 aspects of God - power, light, sound, love, peace, calmnes, wisdom and joy. These qualities are already in us; and if only we can still the body and quiet the mind we can access that inner reality. And when we do that regularly we can bring those qualities to our outer world - the other reality. I love the Ananda affirmation that goes with the yoga asana vajrasana - hero pose. It reads, "In stillness I touch my inner strength....". You may add  "...and peace and wisdom and joy and love and..."

I hope you enjoy DIG. Play it again. Close your eyes.  Be still. Go inside and see what you find.

Love as always
Stan