An eclectic mix of beats, layers, and chants.

In 2005, I first had the good fortune of meeting Bhakti Marga Swami, otherwise known as The Walking Monk. In the past couple of decades he has walked across Canada three times and is currently in the middle of his fourth trans-Canada hike.

He was recently in Vancouver and we managed to arrange an exclusive interview with him during his stay. In this interview he talks about his life as a monk, and how it was that he came to start walking. He explains the process of chanting mantra and how it fits into bhakti yoga, tells a few stories, and talks about connecting to our natural surroundings by walking the land.

The interview is interspersed with some impressive musical layers and tunes. To mark the last week of Kartik, hailing from Japan, Vic De Cara’s new band Ter Kadamba Mandir give their rendition of the Damodarastakam or eight verses dedicated to Damodar, followed by a brief explanation of it’s meaning. We also hear from Mahasukha from his release Soulful Spirit with the remix of the track Rushing, a beautiful south-african inspired sound in which he shares the message “Slow down .. and savour“.

Next up is DJ Drez and Breath of Life Tribe’s Deepak Ramapriyan with a track entitled Shri from the Jahta Beat release Lotus Memoirs. And later in the interview, new music from the illustrious Marti Walker, an innovative rendition of the 16th century Bengali verses known as Nama-Sankirtan, which she calls Tribal Naam.

We cap things off musically with another track from Ter Kadamba Mandir which features the Maha-Mantra. Other music layered into the interview comes from Chinmaya Dunster, Eastern Sun, Dave Tipper, and Shaman’s Dream.

Alternate MP3 Link – Mantra Radio – Nov 15th 2012.mp3