Chanting For Healing, A Spiritual Voyage

By Author: Paula Gilbert
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Paula Gilbert, one of the main artists and the producer of the Chanting For Healing Music CD tells her spiritual story of how the album was made. The album benefits global unity causes such as OxFam, RAWA, Twin Tower Orphan Fund, Global Exchange, and Food Not Bombs.
Paula is a performance artist, songwriter and teacher who founded the Cloverdale School of Music in 1994. After 9/11 she attended a Shamanic (Native American) mask making class that she had been attending every year for the past 7 years. The purpose of the class was to create a vision for the following shamanic year which begins each year in November. In the class, the participants worked together with a facilitator to create their vision through several guided meditations and journaling. The class took place late in October following the attack on America. During one of her meditations she had a vision. Paula says, "I became fluid and went into the earth. I saw myself dressed as a bear going around a table with children. I also saw a stone ...
... mouse from my Mother’s table that we had made together up in the mountains when I was young. Then I saw birds flying through the light above me and I felt the Bear merge with me and tell me that he would be there to help me with strength in the coming year. Then the bear said we would need some birds for spirituality and a blue bird with a black head appeared and told me to gather the chants from all over the world, especially Afghanistan and to put them on a CD for healing and prayer." There were other parts to the vision telling her to use not just her own renditions but also to do the research and to include a chant for the children and the soldiers.

After the class, Paula went home with her mask and began the research and started collecting the chants. She told her mother about her vision and her mother offered to help out. She wanted as many chants from different cultures and languages and possible. Once she had collected several chants, on December 16, 2001 the recording began at Joe Hoffmann Studios in Occidental, California. Paula Gilbert, and local artists/musicians Tory Rotlisberger and Mal Tornay started off the recording with their beautiful rendition of Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai, Ram Om which means "I am, you are, we are one". The recording continued on December 30th in a beautiful mansion on top of a hill in Sonoma County with a large group of people including local musician Zackary Miller on dijiridu (one of the oldest instruments on the planet). Mal Tornay again brought his wonderful drumming ability along with his daughter, a beautiful singer, Elise Tornay. Katy Ketchum a local artist from Sebastopol brought her healing voice and impeccable piano playing and her husband Mike, a local poet, who also added to the vocal team. Local performance artist, Tory Rotlisberger again brought her healing voice along with her friend and vocalist Joanna Noble of Noble Designs in Healdsburg, and more friends and vocalists Karen Wallace and John Faulkner. Rick Mariani of Wolf Coffee with his twin sons Nicolas and Mitchell added to their vibrant vocal mix as well. Paula’s family also participated in this recording session, with her Mother, Pat Gear, two Brothers, Karl and Rodney Sanchez, her sister-in-law Bethany Sanchez and her neice, Crystal Sanchez. "It was a great healing adventure to all sing together. I remember it was pouring rain outside. It was like the skies were raining all the tears of grief we felt for the victims of the 9/11 attack."

The spiritual adventure of creating this CD continued with several other recording sessions adding more cultures and more voices. Local artist Lisamarie Kirkess added a beautiful, healing Quan Yin chant. Carol Levy offered her beautiful vocal with two Jewish chants. Jamie Lampert, Chelsea Thompson and Quincy Wise, all students of Paula’s, added their vocals to the children’s chant, Funga Alafia.



Then in March of 2002 Paula happened to meet Hans Jurgen Kary (Hansadutta dasa) through her good friend and local teacher Jim Seymour and the adventure continued. Hansadutta, a local Swami from the Hare Krishna faith offered a complete Kirtan (chanting and eating tradition). The Hare Krishna chant was recorded in April of 2002 with 6 Krishna devotees, Nakula dasa, Vishwambhara dasa, Lokanatha dasa, Gadadhara dasa, Jim Seymour and Radha Towle. They were joined by Pat Gear, Paula Gilbert, Rick Gilbert, Tory Rotlisberger, Crystal Sanchez, and Mal & Elise Tornay. Hansadutta spent time with The Beatles in the 60’s when they were in India learning about Krishna. After each chanting session (even at the recording studio) we all ate a wonderful vegetarian dinner prepared by Hansadutta and the devotees.

After some more time passed and the graphics were created for the CD, Paula added the "I Love You Chant" by Chanara, her teacher and friend now living in Santa Fe, NM, and the final recording session was done by Paula Gilbert with her beautiful rendition of the Shiva mantra in Sanskrit which translated means "I honor the divine within".

The album was recorded, edited and mixed by Joe Hoffmann Studios, Occidental, CA. The photographs were done by Joe Hoffmann, and the CD graphics manufacturing were done by Paul Bacon of KABA Audio Productions — www.kabaaudio.com. The website was created by David Rose of d2m interactive web design in San Jose.

The album has been selling well in local stores and on-line at www.chantingforhealing.com. This year they have raised enough money to do a good donation to each charity beginning in January. Next year they hope to give even more.

Chanting is a wonderful way to relax; chanting calms and clears the mind of random thought. It is also very interesting to note that every culture chants, every culture is interested in communing with their divine self and every culture strives for inner peace and has a name for God. Paula believes, as we create this peace inside each one of us, so shall the world be peaceful.

We all came together in hope of creating a statement that says — We all want to get along — We all want the world to get along and we know this is possible.


About the Author Paula Gilbert is a performance artist, songwriter and teacher who founded the Cloverdale School of Music in 1994.