MAKING THE RECORDINGS
MAKING THE MEDITATIONS & MUSIC
Lalitha Krishnan
In the 1990’s, during the Hindu-Christian Inter-religious dialogue, Sister Margaret Mary Funk and the Indian Advisor to the board, Lalitha Krishnan, visited the SRF retreat centre at Encinitas in California USA, to dialogue with those who were experiencing a monastic way of life, which combined the spiritual teachings of East and West.
While walking in the beautiful Japanese garden at the Encinitas retreat centre, Lalitha Krishnan received guidance that her prayer for world peace needed to go deeper, be inclusive and universal and be shared with others. Soon after, she discovered a copy of the SRF Worldwide Prayer Circle which reinforced her own inner message.
In 1992, Lalitha was connected to a group in India where she was requested to share her experiences of a deeper understanding of the scriptures and a spiritual way of life, in a universal way. During this time, a Sarva Dharma symbol was used and a guided Light Meditation was read out for the first time.
In 2002, a new group emerged who related to the formless aspect of the Divine. They began to meet regularly, leading to the weekly prayer meeting on LIGHT.
In 2004, they professionally recorded the Prayer and Light Meditation for World Peace on CD. Subsequently copies were made in the US to be shared with earnest seekers.
Sri Daya Mata:
Image Courtesy of
Self-Realization Fellowship,
Los Angeles, California
Since the initial guidance came at the SRF centre in Encinitas, a copy was sent to Sri Daya Mata, President, SRF; in love and gratitude and also to seek her permission to include copyrighted material from the SRF worldwide prayer circle. In Sept 2004, Sri Daya Mata acknowledged and blessed the CD.
Later, two more CDs were recorded: Love, Peace and Joy for universal prayers and affirmations, and All is One which has the 10 guided meditations of Swami Paramananda of the Vedanta Centre, Boston.
The Music for Meditation CD was created as an instrumental version of three iconic songs, played for our recording by a well-known Indian flautist. Two of the songs were Mahatma Gandhi’s favourites, Vaishnava Jana and Raghupati Raghav Rajaram, and also performed by renowned sarod player, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in 2016 to represent the message of non-violence, peace, harmony and togetherness.
In 2007 the Prayer and Light Meditation for World Peace CD was recorded in 7 Indian languages. This website was created so that the meditations and music could be made available to like-minded individuals and groups all over the world.
In 2014, the guided light meditation was translated in French and recorded in Belgium. The English and French versions are now part of the archive at Auroville. Auroville is a community that aligns with our vision of harmony, inclusiveness and unity.
