Greetings everybody,

Happy Birthday!!!!

“What? Why’s he saying happy birthday?”

Well, because today is the birthday, or the appearance day, of Lord Ramachandra, the great blue-skinned ‘avatar’ of Lord Vishnu, the supreme source of all. On this very day, many many years ago, God came to the Earth as a human being to restore harmony in all the three worlds and to slay the ten-headed demon king, Ravana, the embodiment of evil. Along with his beloved, eternal consort, Queen Sita, his three devoted brothers, the awesome monkey-god Hanuman, and a cast of thousands, Rama enacted a divine drama illuminated with the radiance of a million suns and moons. This story, known as ‘The Ramayana’ or ‘The Ramacharitmanas’, has been awakening devotion in the hearts of embodied and disembodied beings from time immemorial. Passion, ecstasy, anguish, bravery, faith, love, confusion….. All these moods and more are portrayed by the actors of this eternal play.

But the question remains: how can He who is unborn, deathless and eternal, who is, in fact, the very cause of birth and death, actually have a birthday??? Well, I certainly can’t answer that one, but I can say that his birthday gives us yet another opportunity to simply remember him, praise him and sing his name. My Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, said that by taking Ram’s name the impossible becomes possible, everything is possible by saying Ram. And doesn’t everyone like a birthday party?

As a birthday gift to Rama, here’s another free download for you all:

‘Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’, performed by me, Daniel Paul (tablas and voice) and Prajna Viera (kartals and voice). This was recorded by our good friend Lou Judson just two nights ago at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California.

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You can right click here to download.

Peace and love, and JAY JAY RAM!!!!!