Mirabai Ceiba’s Markus Sieber took some time to talk to Spirit Voyage about their new CD and their upcoming workshop and concert at Sat Nam Fest East.
Q: In your new CD, “Sacred Love Meditations” each song really opens the heart and connects the listener to the infinite. What was your inspiration for this CD and why did you choose these particular mantras?
Markus: The inspiration for “Sacred Love Meditations” came from Angelika and my long time relationship with each other, our kids and family, and our busy daily life. What we have realized in our relationship is that it’s very important for a couple to find space to nourish love, compassion and understanding. We wanted to share this gift with the world, and give people a tool to open space to forget about daily worries, stories, and arguments, which can really build up. We just want to connect with each other on the soul level.
Originally we had just the intention to offer a Meditation Cd for couples. We started meeting with some Kundalini Yoga teachers who have really inspired us over the years, and we asked them to advise and coach us in our project. We did some research about possible meditations that would work, and we collected a variety of mantras and meditations. Then we started to write the music and consulted again with our teachers to confirm that the rhythm and melody would support the specific meditation.
Q: Do you have a favorite song on this CD?
That’s really difficult to say. We’re especially pleased with Ang Sang Wahe Guru, and also Mera Man Loche , which is an excellent interplay between the voice and the violin. Bogdan Djukic, the violin player, went into the studio without listening to anything beforehand. The first time he heard the music, he played along with it and that’s what we recorded. His connection works beautifully with Angelika’s voice and opens the heart chakra.
In reality, with all of these tracks, the more you listen the deeper you go because there’s so much you don’t catch with the first listen.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the song “Blissful Night”? It’s a little different than the other tracks because it’s partially in English.
Blissful Night is not a mantra but it’s a tiny piece of a shabd. The English verse is a translation of the Gurmukhi that comes later in the song. This translation was done by Prabhu Nam Kaur. This track was actually supposed to be on our previous CD, Between the Shores of Our Souls, which was recorded at the same time. We saw both CDs together as taking the listener on a path to love. Not just love for your partner, but also a love for life, for nature, and for everything around you.
Q: What experience have you had using this album for personal practice?
Of course when you meditate to your own music on a CD, first you have to let go of all the thoughts about the music and production. We have had experiences of a profound connectedness by doing the meditations, and it brings a completeness and inner peace into the relationship, free of doubts and questions.
Q: Can you give us a sneak preview of your workshop at Sat Nam Fest East this year?
The workshop is dedicated to the sacred love meditations. It’s not a workshop for couples, but we will consciously try to open this space of love and understanding, in the sense that we surrender to the divine flow of life instead of trying to control everything.
Q: You’ll be accompanying Mahan Rishi’s class again this year at Sat Nam Fest. Can you speak about the experience of playing live music during a Kundalini Yoga class?
We really love playing with Mahan Rishi. In fact, there’s a DVD of the class from last year’s Sat Nam Fest.We love to play live music in classes. It feels like the music and the yoga belong so much to each other. It’s an incredible experience for a musician to support the space of a yoga class and of each exercise with the music. And it also works the other way around—the passion of the people in the class nourishes the music as well. Then when we go and play in a concert the music is charged with the Kundalini energy.
Q: What do you have upcoming that you’d like to share?
We look forward to seeing everyone at Sat Nam Fest in September, and we hope that people will be joining us in our tour of the West Coast, including Pranafest in Oregon. We’re very happy to be able to keep sharing our music with people all over the world.
