Meditation

Kristina has also taught meditation classes for 25 years in the U.S. and Nepal. Director of Portland’s new Kundalini Yoga Meditation Center, Kristina teaches classes most evenings at no charge. The Center is located at 8700 SW 26th Avenue, Suite F, Portland (off Barbur Blvd.). If interested, please call Kristina at 503-819-6429 for a free introductory meditation lesson. Here, Kris shares her story of spiritual work and how she feels it intimately relates to her singing.

In 1972, I met my first metaphysical teacher, Dr. Patrick Fay, my music theory teacher at Portland State University where I attended classes. Pat introduced me to the mysteries of how music works, and more than that, showed me and my fellow students how a professional musician uses theory in their everyday work. Pat was a French horn player, principal in the Oregon Symphony. I liked and respected him and on one never-to-be-forgotten day, found him in his office and asked to speak to him. Very graciously, he invited me to sit down. I burst into tears, “I’m never going to get this! I can’t figure out how to do it!” Pat helped me through a few elementary theory problems, and the light dawned. Then he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small red book. “Here,” Pat said, “take this and read it. I think you’ll be very interested in it. But bring it back to me, cause I need it!” The book was “Karma Yoga” by Swami Vivekananda, the main disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. I was fascinated. Pat and I became good friends. He took me to hear great teachers, to read spiritual books, to look within. And most importantly, to realize that music was my path and that my life was spiritually based. Together, we met our teacher, Stuart Perrin in 1980.

Stuart Perrin (website: StuartPerrin.com) is a remarkable man.

A quiet person with a very deep soul, Stuart gave us invaluable training in how to access Higher Creative Energy through meditation. Through the use of a simple technique that he learned from his teacher, Rudi (Swami Rudrananda), Stuart taught us about the chakra system, how to breathe correctly, how to break down blocks of tension and turn every experience into fuel for our inner lives. As he put it, “It takes years of study to become a master chef, a neurosurgeon, an artist, musician, writer, furniture maker, electrician, or plumber. The most difficult task of all is to master one’s inner life. Why do people think they don’t need teachers to help them along the way?” (Moving On, Finding Happiness in a Changed World, Stuart Perrin, Hampton Roads, 2004)

One of the things Stuart taught me is how to access the Om sound – the sound of Higher Creative Energy making manifest all phenomena in our world. As I worked with the techniques Stuart gave us, I gradually realized that I had been aware of the Om sound since childhood. As long as I could remember, I would go to sleep with the Om ringing in my ears. I was always singing some little tune to myself, anything from a Beethoven symphonic theme to a cat food commercial.

I also began to realize that there is an absolute bridge between singing and meditation. 

The temple of our physical body includes the spiritual and psychic muscle system known in Asia as the chakra system. In learning Stuart’s meditation, I was beginning to learn how to use energy more consciously – that is, how to open my chakra system, how to release and surrender tension, how to develop detachment, a more open heart, and a greater sense of happiness. I was also learning that sound can be channeled through the chakra system and that this is what happens when we sing. Using breath and vibration, we can align our physical body to transmit sound simply and effectively. Most importantly, we can experience the healing Om sound and feel ourselves “being sung.”

– Kristina Jones

Copyright 2011 Kristina Jones. All rights reserved.