About Dada Veda
Dada Veda is an unusual singer-songwriter, as he is also an orange-robed
meditation-yoga teacher and a social worker as well.
Dada was born in New York City in 1946. During his childhood he listened to
the pioneering rock ‘n’ roll songs of Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, the Everly
Brothers, Buddy Holly and many others
He graduated from Colgate University in 1968 with high honors. It was during
his college years that he began to play the guitar. Shortly after
graduating, Dada hitch-hiked to California attracted by the allure of the
“counter-culture” and the then-flourishing hippie movement.
In California Dada met an Indian monk who taught him meditation and Dada
became an avid practitioner of yoga and meditation. After only six months of
yoga practice, Dada left his job as library assistant at Stanford University
and became a full-time volunteer for the Ananda Marga yoga society.
Dada worked for the society in Los Angeles, Wichita, Kansas and in
Washington, DC.
During his time as a yoga volunteer, Dada immersed himself in the devotional
songs (“bhajans”) and mantra chanting (“kirtan”) that play an important role
in his meditation-yoga practice. Dada often led chanting sessions, playing
his guitar and singing.
Dada is also a skilled writer and editor and published a monthly newspaper
for the yoga society from 1972-1976. In 1976 Dada went to Sweden and entered
training to become a full-time yoga monk. Dada graduated from the training
in 1977.
Upon graduation, Dada became an orange-robed monk of Ananda Marga. His name
“Dada Veda” is a shortened form of his full monastic name Acarya
Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta. “Dada” means respected elder brother.
Dada’s first assignment as a yoga-meditation teacher was in France, where he
spent five years. In subsequent years Dada worked in the Far East (Taiwan,
Japan, Korea and Hong Kong), then several countries in Western and Eastern
Europe. Dada is currently based in Albania where he teaches yoga and
meditation and runs a kindergarten and other educational programs in a needy
neighborhood.
Although Dada has been playing the guitar and singing for the past 40 years,
it was only in the past six years that he tried his hand at composing his
own songs. In 2003 he recorded a CD, Brighter Than The Sun, and has
performed his songs in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.
He has composed more songs and another CD is in the works.
The songs are acoustic based folk music whose lyrics weave together
spiritual, ecological and social justice themes. There is also a touch of
country in the songs, and one listener dubbed the blend as "Country and
Eastern Music."
While Dada's lyrics deal with serious themes, Dada's lighthearted style and
humorous delivery have won him fans ranging in age from toddlers to baby
boomers.
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