Jagadisha’s name was given to him by his teacher and means Lord of the Universe.  “Every time someone calls my name, it’s a wake-up reminder to think of God,” said the classically trained musician who teaches chanting and nada yoga, the ancient science of sound vibration.

Born in New Jersey as Joseph Rotella, Jagadisha met Swami Nadabrahmananda at a San Francisco ashram in 1976 when the Indian mystic was being sponsored in the U.S. to teach nada yoga, a spiritual practice that uses the voice, simple instrumentation and the counting of rhythm cycles.  “It’s meditation in action. It’s meant for driving you inward,” Jagadisha said.

Swami Nadabrahmananda, who was 72 when Jagadisha first met him, played the tabla drums in such a meditative state that he was able to suspend his breath and no brain wave activity could be measured by those who studied him, Jagadisha recalled.    “He said to me, ‘take a lesson; if you like it you can stay.”  It was an exchange that appeared simple enough, but was one that changed Jagadisha’s life.

Already becoming disillusioned with what he saw as the burn-out lifestyle of a concert musician, Jagadisha, left school, where he was majoring in flute.  He gave up playing in local orchestras and teaching flute to study with Nadabrahmananda in the U.S. and India.  Working as a mason, a house painter, and a security guard to pay for travel expenses and classes, he learned to accept “divine providence.”

“I got my degree from him and it took many years,” said the son of a concert pianist and a jazz musician/barber.  When asked ‘how many years,’ Jagadisha paused and answered modestly, “I’m still studying.”  He added that nada yoga also involves self-development and psychology.

Complimenting his lifestyle as a householder with a dedicated practice, Jagadisha began creating bonsai, a Japanese art form of growing miniature trees and plants in containers for the purpose of contemplation.   An accomplished cook, he learned to prepare macrobiotic-style food and engaged in a self-study of tea, including the Japanese tea ceremony.

Jagadisha, who has a grown daughter from an early marriage, moved to Floyd from Tennessee a decade ago with his wife Sarah McCarthy, who he met at a health food store when she purchased one of his bonsai plants. McCarthy, who came to Floyd to work as an intern at a local Community Supported Agriculture farm, is a potter and the Contemplative Education teacher at Blue Mountain School, where the couple’s 7 year-old daughter goes.

Today, Jagadisha teaches environmental education at Apple Ridge Farm. He has an ongoing nada yoga class that began two years ago and currently consists of five students.  Recently, Living Light Studio and Sanctuary hosted him to lead a workshop on chanting, titled Nectar of Chanting.  With a focus on call-and-response chanting, slow mantra repetition and reciting Sanskrit verses to simple rhythmic accompaniment, the workshop was designed to be an introduction to an upcoming 8 week class.

“The nature of the mind is to wander.  Chanting is a way to settle it on something beautiful,” Jagadisha told the group of 10 participants.  “The chant has a current. You can get your boat on that current and take a ride.”

Some chants continued for 20 minutes to the circular drone of the harmonia, a pump organ played by Jagadisha.   Also played at the workshop by other nada yogis were the tabla drums and the tempura, an ancient long-necked 4-stringed instrument made from a gourd.  Some workshop participants kept the rhythm by clapping hands or hand cymbals.

One participant asked Jagadisha what to do if her chanting went on automatic pilot and he answered, “Sing more.  Sing louder.  Listen.”  He advised to let thoughts arise without struggle but not to give them attention.  “It’s just a choice to give attention to the singing.   Inside there is a witness of the mind.  As we sing we want to get immersed in the witness.  I’m here playing the harmonia but I’m also watching Jagadisha play.”

Jagadisha explained that Sanskrit is an ancient sacred language that is thought by some to be the mother of all languages.  The chants and verses are non-religious, more like prayerful blessings that appeal to the “consciousness of infinite goodness.”

One verse sung in Sanskrit translates to English as: “May the Lord protect us. May the Lord grant us enjoyment of all our actions.  May we be granted strength to work together on all actions.  May our studies be thoughtful and faithful. May all disagreements cease.

Meditation has been found to be beneficial to the body mind and spirit.  Like other meditation practices, chanting and nada yoga focuses the mind and has a calming effect.  “Once you taste the clear mind in the music, you have a choice to bring that in your everyday life,” Jagadisha said.   ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com .

Note: Floydians can contact Living Light Studio and Sanctuary at 745-LIVE for information on chanting classes. ~The above first appeared in The Floyd Press on April 7, 2011.