Prashant Michael John
Mantra & Sound
Kinetic Mantra
Prashant has performed and chanted at ashrams and studios with Kirtaniyas (chanters) in the East and West.
He has studied and practiced various meditational methods in India and Canada for the past forty years.
He has performed and recorded for the prolific charities of his spiritual preceptor and world teacher, humanitarian and recipient of the 2003 Gandhi-King Award, Mata Amritanandamayi. He has been graced with the physical Darshan of Anandamayi Ma among other well known and hidden spiritual masters.
Prashant offers Deep Listening, Concerts and Kirtan/mantra chanting (participatory), Live music for yoga as well as workshops in Worldmusic, Kirtan and Mantra.
The mantra is the oar of the boat; it is the instrument you use to cross the samsara of your restless mind, with its unending thought waves. - Amma
Kirtan (Indian devotional chanting) originated in India and was popularized in Bengal by Sri Chaitanya - considered to be Krishna in the form of his foremost devotee - in the 16th century as an ecstatic devotional chanting practice to concentrate the mind on feelings of devotion. Chanting works at breaking the shell of the ego and expanding the heart and consciousness. Many great souls have reached Self realization just through this practise. Today it has become diverse and cross-cultural and also includes mantra. The instrumentation has evolved from drums and finger cymbals (karatal) and later harmoniums to guitar and Western and world instruments. A lot of the power of kirtan can be attributed to the repetition - the mind gets more and more concentrated with each repetition and creates an intensity of deep devotion. One pointed concentration is the goal of all yogic practices. Concentration or Dharana leads to meditation or Dhyana which leads to Samadhi (state where there is no subject or object, one is not aware that one is meditating - even the witness disappears). Although kirtan enhances an uplifting and wonderful sense of community, it has a deeper and more important personal value - that of stilling the mind of it’s chatter and discursive thought and tapping the primal wellspring of intense and causeless Love within each one; allowing healing on all levels - physical, mental and causal.
Prashant’s Mantra & Sound website
Singing or chanting are very beautiful and beneficial ways of channelling emotional energy
- Swami Rama (Yoga International)
Kirtan is a form of purification. The mantras sensitize us, polish away the clutter in our
heads and melt the numbness in our hearts, so we feel clear, awake, and brilliantly alive.
- Sean Johnson
If there is anything at all that can change the heart very quickly it's music and dance
- Swami Sivananda
A Sample of chanting the Beej (seed) mantras of the chakras (only the 2st and 2nd chakra here)
For mantra meditation and chant, workshops and Deep Listening
See event page for upcoming dates
For more on Kirtan, Mantra and Sound go to
Prashant’s Mantra & Sound website
Prashant: Bansuri (Bamboo Flute)