by Trishula Das
There is a magic, a beauty in Baul, I can not explain it, it is the magic of
the Lineage of Jai Nitai.
I have become a Mad Women, now I understand what is wrong with me,
I am trying to be normal and it is impossible because when my beloved Babu (Krishnendu)
sings and I forget everything.
I enter another mystical world of Jai Nitai
Where it is impossible to function in a world where the mind lives.
I have listened to teachers for over 40 years,
I have been to every western Kirtan although beautiful,
this it is not where the Baul lives.
It is not the same as the Mad Men and Women of the HEART.
How do I explain, perhaps you can understand the soil is different in India.
The energy is different when you travel to sacred sites.
The air is full of Shakti, well it is the same with Baul, they are
from the Soil and Soul of Birbhum Bengal India and Shakti full, filled with Shakti.
I have spent years singing "Western Kirtan"
with some of the best Western Kirtan Mystics or shall I call them singers?
I have wandered India and this Baul has captured me, Baul has made me a MAD Women.
I could not understand the reaction Babu would recieve in India when he sings.
I thought these people are Mad, the Women touch me and thank me.
I thought what is going on? Are these Mad Women too?
I have mantra-ed, studied and read the scriptures in a western sense and have learned there is a big difference between a western book tradition of personal opinions of copy and paste,
it does not even come close to the original meaning, the original Rasa or Bhava is different,
Baul is from a esoteric oral living lineage.
Baul has taken me beyond into the madness of the HEART.
I can use words like Ananda, Bliss, Ecstatic, Exalted, blah blah blah, but
that does not even cover it.
Words will never explain what this Baul is?
The Bauls are the Men and Women of the HEART,
Masters of the HEART of what we call BHAKTI YOGA
that is what they do but authentically.
BAULS have the key,
NATURAL AND SPONTANEOUS SAHAJA THEY ARE.
they know the formula from thousands of LIFETIMES of BAUL sadhana,
you can listen to Bauls on "Youtube" or on a CD this DOES not compare to the magic,
LOVE SPELL, ADDICTION TO LOVE ONE FEELS when you hear, A LIVE WIRE BAUL FROM BIRBHUM.
Bauls of Birbhum are an Ocean of Bhakti,
they not your regular singers or dancers.
Their's is the dance of LOVE OR THE HIGHEST PREMA,
Magical Mystical Mystery of Love.
They are the Living Lineage of Jai Nitai known as Gosai,
thank Krishna for hiding them from angry English men and thousand of years before.
Baul is a current of LOVE that sweeps you off your feet and out your mind,
it fills the air from thousands of years of the history of Love.
Baul singing!....Baul Kirtan ...
If I could bottle it I would be THE GENIE OF LOVE.
It is rare and that is why in some ways I prefer to keep him to myself.
I can write about Baul but that is just mere words full of the mind.
I am a mad women, oh my God what will I do??
I hear Babu start the drone of the EKTARA or GOPI YANTRA,
oh no there he goes again,
how will my mind survive another day of this, after all I have a Western
Mind, I have work to do, I have a sanity to maintain, then it happens my mind is
gone for another day as he starts to sing.
I am a lost hopeless a Servant of the Heart,
another day of not knowing time of space. Oh God I am a madwomen of the
heart. There is no logic to this place.
NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY BAULS ARE CALLED DAS & DASI.. Masters of the Heart they serve all HEARTS.. with kind words and acceptance of all, they do not like the rules and regulations of the orthodox and prefer to be a bird flying free... they do not like to walk they like to fly.
Tears steaming down my face not knowing what to do, I have nothing to hold
onto, there is no ground under this, I am grateful beyond the depth of my being.
What did I do to deserve this, now I know after a lifetime of karma good and bad
there is also GRACE
This is the biggest Grace to be a Madwomen of the Heart, at least it is just
a glimpse but it is something, it is pure Gold never to be worn..the gold glow
of the Heart.. a Heart of GOLD.. To be born a Baul is the greatest gift that God
can give to any Bhakti wanna be THAT IS ME, I am sorry I PREFER to keep him to
myself.
I have become a MAD WOMEN of the HEART.
When I read what some scholars have
written about Baul, I think they just don't get it.
It is not about anything you write, Man or Women it is about the HEART!
I PREFER to keep him to myself BECAUSE I HAVE BECOME A MAD WOMAN OF THE HEART
By Trishula Das