Dada Veda's Yoga Blog

More From California

dadaveda — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:51:17 +0000

Here is a video from my performance at the Red Rock Cafe in Mountain View, CA

California Tour is On

dadaveda — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:23:57 +0000

I have been in California for the past two weeks and have played at Country Joe’s Open Mic in Berkeley, the Cafe Espreso in San Jose, at a house concert in Los Altos Hills, and most recently at the Red Rock Cafe in Mountain View. Here is a video from San Jose:

I’ve Moved to the Midwest!

dadaveda — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:46:46 +0000

For the past year I have been in NYC (though I did travel to many places all over the US) but now I have shifted my home base to Urbana, Illinois. I live a the Ananda Marga spiritual community in Urbana, Illinois. It is a three hour’s drive from Chicago and it holds the main campus of the University of Illinois. Our center here is very beautiful, sitting on ten acres of land and is part of the Ananda Liina eco-village.

I have already started my work here, giving yoga and meditation workshops as well as performing music for children and adults in two centers for people with special needs.

In addition the quiet rural location is great for recording and video recording. Here is my first video which was made at Ananda Liina, it is a cover of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind.

Mary Travers, RIP

dadaveda — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:53:37 +0000

This week one of the icons of folk music passed away. Mary Travers was a member of Peter, Paul and Mary and throughout her life she worked for various social causes. Her music many people and she will be sorely missed. However, the music lives on in recordings and in video. Here is one of her inspiring performances:

European Summer Tour, in Progress

dadaveda — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:19:22 +0000

I am in Poland at the beautiful Ananda Marga center near Jelenia Gora. It is a 46 hectare organic farm. We are enjoying a yoga conference.

My next stop in Denmark for another conference and then to Stockholm for a concert. Here is a poster for the concert.

About the Songs on “Love is the Best”

dadaveda — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:40:27 +0000

In Case anyone is wondering what my new songs are all about. Below are some capsule comments that explain what I had in mind when I wrote each of the songs on my new CD.

About the Songs on “Love is the Best”

We Are Never Alone or Helpless

This was inspired by my spiritual teacher who said “You are never alone or helpless the force that guides the stars guides you too.” The whole philosophy of yoga is contained in this sentence.

From Zero to Hero

The difference between success and failure is very small. We all have the capacity to turn the “zero” into “hero.”

Liberate Your Mind

We’ve got to break free from narrow ideas whether they are in the political, social or religious spheres.

I Know You Can’t be Far

This is a spiritual love song (bhajan) and describes the fleeting nature of mystical experience.

I’m Waiting for That Time

A song of longing for a time when we have social justice and harmony on this small planet.

A Better Deal

The ethical side of vegetarianism is the subject of this lighthearted tune.

My Heart Will Go on Loving You

This was written as a spiritual love song, but it can be enjoyed on other levels as well.

Open My Heart Wide

A spiritual love song (bhajan) done in the style of 1950s rock ’n’ roll. A first?

Love is the Best

This song was originally written for my kindergarten kids. Now it has been transformed into a song for kids of all ages.

Good Old Kiirtan

This is a song that can be played, listened to and sung before silent meditation. The meaning of the words (mantra) is “Love is all There Is.”

Kiirtan Remix

Mantra music with the beat of today.

You can order the CD now at : http://www.dadaveda.com/dadavedamusic.html

New CD coming soon!

dadaveda — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:25:42 +0000

The newest CD, Love is the Best, should be ready by July 1, 2009. You can hear four tracks on my MySpace profile. The first four tracks on my music player will be on the new CD. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Spring Update

dadaveda — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:53:37 +0000

I have been on two tours of the South East states in recent months. In between those tours I have been in NYC, where I am currently based. In New York I am working very hard on a new CD and hope to have it ready in the month of July. I was not able to send out a newsletter in recent months due to some technical problems but will have one out soon. One more piece of news is that another vegetarian podcast is featuring my song “I Don’t Eat Meat” on their site. Visit www.meatfreeradio.com to listen to it and to enjoy the podcasts. They are going to interview me on a podcast this summer. More is coming later.

Sneak Preview of New Song on Vegcast.com

dadaveda — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:14:45 +0000

For the past few years I have been trying to put out my second CD. Now it looks like it will really happen as I have found a good engineer-producer to work with. We started work on the CD and have one track that is finished (with several others in progress).

The first track that we did is “Better Deal,” a song about vegetarianism. The song has already been featured on Vegcast, a popular vegetarian podcast. You can go to www.vegcast.com and download podcast number 59 if you want to hear the song (which is played during the 25th minute of the podcast. Or you can download the podcast directly here.

Let me know what you think of the new song.

New York City Has Really Changed (for the better!)

dadaveda — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:55:17 +0000

For the last few weeks I have been playing at “open microphone” sessions at various places in Brooklyn and Manhattan. One thing I am struck with as I travel around New York City is how much it has changed since I was last living there forty years ago.

In those days New York was a dangerous place and you couldn’t ride the subways late at night. I’ve been coming back from the open mic sessions at 12:00 midnight without problems and lots of people are out late enjoying themselves. The East Village (on Manhattan’s Lower East Side) is now a pleasant residential area and I enjoyed playing Banjo Jim’s on Avenue C and 9th Street this past Saturday. Avenue C and D just near the river used to be quite dangerous areas but now they are nice streets.
New York was always aninteresting place, but it is a lot more fun now and a pleasant place to be.

Another landmark that has changed for the better is Tomkins Square Park in the East Village. This is the park where the Hare Krishna movement began, but in the late 1960s it was a scruffy place. Once I met Abbie Hoffman (the revolutionary) in Tomkins Square Park. He was a visionary in a sense. He looked around at the park and insisted to me “This place is beautiful.” Well, in November 1968, it was definitely not beautiful. It was kind of bare and there was dog excrement everywhere, but he just closed his eyes and insisted that it was beautiful. I guess he was trying to be very positive and to bring about a new reality just by the power of his thought.

Well, if he were still living he would be happy to know that Tomkins Square Park is indeed a beautiful place these days with a great playground for kids and good landscaping. It looked beautiful in the snow this past Saturday and in the summer a lot of people like to sit in the sun.

I hope that all the other troubled spots on this planet will be healed in a similar way.