From the deep voice
NANDINI NAIR
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At the release of his album Chant Master Lama Tashi talks of the significance of chants.
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The holy will stay holy, wherever you put it.
Photo: V.V. Krishnan
THE SYMMETRY OF SOUND Lama Tashi (second from left) in performance.
The album "Tibetan Master Chants" popularises a religious practice into music. Sa Re Ga Ma HMV recently released the album sung by Lama Tashi. It was nominated in the category of Best Traditional World Music at this year's Grammy Awards.
Dressed in maroon and yellow robes he is essentially beatific. He explains the album. It is divided into three parts. The first is the homage to a specific deity. The second is the Mantra itself. And lastly there are dedications. All are in Sanskrit. Leaning forward he explains a mantra. Its translation is, "Jewel in the lotus", but its significance is, "To perfect oneself you need to balance wisdom and compassion. Wisdom without compassion is harmful, compassion without wisdom is dumb."
Essence
While mantras are abbreviated teachings, chanting is essential to Buddhism and stands for the entire practice. "The sound itself pacifies. The vibrations bring the mind to rest and stabilises it. It reduces stress, which is important as when one gets upset, one loses oneself."
He explains how his music reached the West. Having befriended Jonathan Goldman, a musician and authority on "sound healing" he agreed to record the chants. "It was just playing with Goldman's instruments, more than recording an album," he recounts. One copy was sent to the Grammy and it got nominated. It is important to him as it has given him recognition, "At 32, I feel that it is one of the things I have done in my life." In the West the difference is that his multi phonic singing is considered a "complete musical sound and not just a devotional chant." Asked if the nomination could be politically motivated, he says simply, "For the West, it is not political. Musicians are in their own world."
He has performed with Patti Smith and at Carnegie Hall with the likes of Sheryl Crow and Michael Stipe, the lead of R.E.M. With a gregarious laugh he says of the performance, "It was very funny, Patti was singing in front and I was chanting at the back." But don't such fusions risk diluting his music? He replies gravely, "The holy will stay holy, wherever you put it."
The profile
Today Lama Tashi is the Principal of the Central Institute of Himalayan Cultural Studies in Dahung. He has also been the Principal Chant Master of the Drepung Loseling Monastery, his own alma mater. Hailing from the Monpa tribe, he was born in Thembang in Arunachal Pradesh "The first time I saw a car I was 13 years old. The only transportation we knew was by foot and horse." At the age of 15 he heard His Holiness the Dalai Lama and decided to join the local monastery. His attitude toward chanting changed from incredulousness at the sound to imitation of the other monks. One day the head chant master walked up to him in the shower and asked, "Do you want to join chanting?" Though inclined, the prospect of more work deterred him. "In a monastery we sleep only from 2 to 5a.m." But on his master's advice he decided to join. From pupil he is the Master today.
The album costs Rs.295 and comes with a detailed and insightful booklet.
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