“People think they have to sing fancy tunes, and change them around so many times, and try to control the kirtan to make it work. The Holy Name is a person. You have to be patient and let Him manifest the way He wants to, when He wants to. It is actually maya to think “I’m doing this”. The kirtan will build if we are humble, patient, and receptive to the Holy Name.” – Gauravani telling me the secrets, NYC Rathyatra

“You gotta have ‘the funk’. You guys have a little, some funk, but you gotta have it.” -Aindra Prabhu telling Vish and me the secrets, K.B. Mandir, Vrindavana

“What’s your meditation?” asked Madhava Prabhu. And Badaharidas Prabhu said, “Well..I just sort of..I realize that I am completely helpless and I can’t do anything right, but somehow, by Krsna’s mercy..I just ask Krsna, ‘I’m here, this is for you, please engage me somehow in your kirtan,’ and I see the devotees, and I see..it’s by their mercy..that’s what I think of.” -N.V. 24 Kirtan

“I just take shelter of the devotees. It’s only by the mercy of the devotees..Sometimes, if I think, “Oh I’m doing something”, my finger slips on the harmonium, or I mess up somehow. So Krsna is always there to check me.”; -Madhava Prabhu telling us the secrets, N.V. 24 Kirtan

“Sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah. If the mantra is not given from the acarya then it will not work or have any effect.” -Jayadvaita Swami telling me the secrets, Gainesville, Krsna House

“Can anybody just follow?” Ananta Govinda quoting Jayadvaita Swami in Kirtan

“You know how I approach mrdanga? It’s truly a service.. Make it sweet. Make it simple..You have to understand the mood..How can you cry, how can you beg, how can you serve..with pride?” -Ananta Govinda telling me the secrets, D.C. Chant For Change

“Who’s this mofo?” -Ananta quoting BB Govinda Swami in kirtan, NY RG Mandir

“BB Govinda Swami is a pure devotee.” -Indradumna Swami telling us the secrets, NRR Alachua

“I was on the altar actually touching the Pancatattva Deities, preparing..And I didn’t feel anything. My hairs didn’t stand on end..It was only when the curtains opened, and I saw the devotees roaring and chanting..Then I felt the bliss. It is only the mercy of the devotees” -Sri Prahlada Prabhu telling us the secrets, NRR Alachua

“The etymological root of kirtan is ‘kirti’. Kirti means to make famous. So kirtan is spreading the fame of Lord Krsna. -Chandramali Swami telling me the secrets, NV 24 hour Kirtan

“They’re calling you, They’re calling you. Hear Their call. They’re ready to embrace you. Run. Run. You understand. Today. Beg for Their mercy. Cry before Them. Then everything will be alright.” – Gaura Govinda swami tellings us the secrets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GgiTlW0ciw -Gaura Govinda Swami

“I love you more than you can possibly imagine”, said Radhanath Swami, 9 inches from my face. “Your love,” I said, “is what is keeping us alive in this movement.” “My love is just a reflection of your guru’s love,” he said. I told Maharaja, “My Gurumaharaja instructed us to accept you as our siksa guru.” Radhanath Swami, the walking perfection of humility, chuckling, said, “You can call me whatever you like. I am your servant.” -more secrets, LA Kuli Mela

“The Kirtan should be mainly the Maha Mantra. Like, sixty, seventy percent. After Gaura Aroti, the pranams and the Pancatattva Mantra, the Hare Krsna Mantra should be the majority of the Kirtan.” -Pragosh Prabhu telling me the secrets, NT back in the day.

“Confusing..Intrusive..Destructive.” – Ananta Govinda telling us what happens to kirtan when there is false ego

We were standing next to each other in front of Sri Sri Radha Madhava. Jananivasa Prabhu then leaned over to me and said, “He’s really there..you know?” -Mayapur Dham

“He’s really there.” -Sachinandana Swami telling us the secrets.

I asked Lokanath Swami, “What should I do (for Thakurani)?” He said, “Music. Teach her music.” -Mahahara is the secret, Atlanta Panihati Festival

Have you ever been in Lokanath Swami’s kirtan when he keeps the kirtan going after the kirtan ended, and as he is doing the “Jay Om” mantras, with his hands, he signals for everyone to pay their obeisances even though the kirtan is still going, and then during pranams for class the kirtan’s still going, and then he starts singing a bhajan, and then in the middle of class he busts out the kirtan, and then at the end of class he sort of jump starts the kirtan again..And he does the finger twirl thing, and the little head bob. You know what I’m talking about, son. -yeah

“No ego.” -one of Kish’s, Actyuta’s, Ananta’s, and many other’s many amazing kirtan secrets

We have to keep the goal in mind. Whatever happens, we must keep the goal, Radha and Krsna, in our minds as our only objective. They are the supreme goal. -Mother Malati telling me the secrets, Phili Rath

“What was your realization during the kirtan, Maharaja?” Without waiting a second, and with sincere humility he said, “I realized I have no taste for the holy name..We must develop a taste for the holy name. Otherwise..nothing but trouble..Hare Krsna.” -Kavichandra Swami, Phili Rath

“Just be friends and have fun.. Some people have some idea of what a vedic wife or husband is suppose to be. It doesn’t work like that. You can’t force. Be patient. You have to appreciate each other for who you are. Have fun. If it’s all work, then there’s no fun. Also we are not perfect. We’re not Krsna. We don’t need to depend on each other for everything. There’s friends, deity worship.. What I’ve found to work and is the best thing to do is to try your best to keep Krsna in the center of your relationship.” -Ravindra Swarup Prabhu and his wife who’s name I forgot, telling me the secrets, Phili Rath.

“I can see the X on your head. You are marked for destruction. Where is your shelter? Think about this question. Where is your shelter? What can you do against this? We are here in the land of rebels who have left the Lord, and our future is already sure. There will be the worst birth. There will be aging, becoming older. There will be diseases. And then there will be death. When Prabhupada was preparing his way to the kingdom of Godhead, and he was lying there, devotees were crying, “Oh no, oh no.” And Prabhupada looked at them and said, “Don’t think that you will not be like this. You will also be like this.” Where is the shelter? I’m asking you this question. Where is the shelter? Where is your shelter?…Krsna is the shelter.”
- Sachinandana Swami telling us the secrets on his Vyasa Puja. Youtube it, son.

“Just try to hear yourself chant sincerely” -Jayadvaita Swami telling us the secrets, quoting someone who was quoting Srila Prabhupada

We were just outside Tirupati, and my Gurumaharaja Jayapataka Swami was holding my hand from his seat in the car. It almost became the thing that happened before he was driven away. He would sit and role down the window, and put out his hand for me to hold. He told me,”Srila Prabhupada wanted us to have a fixed number of rounds…I want to put you on the fast track, and take you back home.” And he was driven away. -Gurumaharaja is my secret

“If Krsna consciousness is going to be in every town and village, shouldn’t there be some adjustments, like what illicit sex is.” Leaning forward, Jayadvaita Swami didn’t wait to answer the question. “Adjustments? What is the need? You’re either in bed with her or you’re not. What’s so hard to understand? Yes, Krsna consciousness is there for everyone to take and follow as they can, but maybe initiation isn’t.” – The secrets with the sauce, baby.

Have you ever been in Bhaktiswarup Damodara Swami’s kirtan. You know, when he does the MC thing with his whole arm and churns the kirtan up and makes butter out of it. Yeah. He’s the freakin secret.

“The high side of the drum is like the feminine energy. And the low side is like the masculine energy. So by playing the mrdanga you are worshiping the Divine, or Radha and Krsna, the Supreme feminine and masculine energy.” Vish was telling some dude the secrets. I asked him about it later. He said, “Divine revelation.” -Vish is so sexy. You know it. Don’t try to deny it. Kish too. Bali too. Shit! I’m missing out.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam Srila Prabhupada says that Maya is a product of the mind. -Kish telling me the secrets

One time Akincana accidentally bumped my mouth with the mic during Rath. It wasn’t even hard and didn’t chip a tooth like some guy did to Acyuta. Still, if you know Akincana, he was so apologetic and sweet in the middle of everything. How can you be upset at him? Even if my face fell off somehow, it’s Akincana. He’ll do kirtan anywhere, anytime, and always with Bhakti. He knows the secrets. So does his guru. -gopi dot power

“I realized I can’t not dance when Lokanath Swami sings. One realization I had was that I want to leave my body in Kirtan..And when I wake up, I will be in Kirtan, like on some kind of higher plain of Kirtan.” -Chandramali Swami telling us the secrets, NY Rath

“Japa increases the quality of your kirtan. That’s a fact. Japa is so important for your kirtan. And home cooking. Eating out every day is horrible. There’s nothing like home cooking..it’s so important.” -Jai Uttal telling me the secrets, LA Venice Beach

“I wish the gurukulis in the movement had the same enthusiasm they have for kirtan, for their japa.” -Radhanath Swami telling us the secrets.

“A bona fide spiritual master chants the holy names-Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-and the transcendental sound vibration enters into the ear of the disciple, and if a disciple follows in the footsteps of his spiritual master and chants the holy name with similar respect, he actually comes to worship the transcendental name. When the transcendental name is worshiped by the devotee, the name Himself spreads His glories within the heart of a devotee. When a devotee is perfectly qualified in chanting the transcendental vibration of the holy name, he is quite fit to become a spiritual master and to deliver all the people of the world. The chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it gradually establishes its supremacy above everything in the world. The devotee who chants it becomes transcendentally situated in ecstasy and sometimes laughs, cries and dances in his ecstasy. Sometimes the unintelligent put hindrances in the path of chanting this maha-mantra, but one who is situated on the platform of love of Godhead chants the holy name loudly for all concerned. As a result, everyone becomes initiated in the chanting of the holy names-Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. By chanting and hearing the holy names of Krsna, a person can remember the forms and qualities of Krsna.” – Srila Prabhupada, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya Ch. 18: The Conversations with Prakasananda

Don’t criticize devotees. And chant Hare Krsna. -Mom