THE STORY BEHIND THE EP First of all, this limited edition EP entitled INTO THE BEYOND is dedicated to Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. May my heart, my speech, my mind, and my actions always be aligned with his. When I learned that His Holiness was going to be visiting New York in April 2015, I decided to fast-track the three Buddhist mantra songs from my forthcoming album BEYOND THE BEYOND. Beyond the Beyond, an offering of Buddhist and Hindu mantra music, has been in production, off and on, for the past two years and will be released in Summer 2015. While logic said that fast-tracking these three songs was a crazy idea�the tracks are elaborate, and still needed a great deal of work back in February when I made this decision�my heart told me to go for it. And so we did. I humbly offer this music to His Holiness and all listeners everywhere, imperfections and all. May all beings benefit from the healing vibrations of this mantra music. INTO THE BEYOND: Modern Renditions Of Ancient Buddhist Mantras �Dedicated to His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa and featuring Lamas Karma Drodhul and Karma Thendup from Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery, this much-anticipated debut EP from kirtan artist Lee Mirabai Harrington delivers high-spirited renditions of ancient Tibetan Buddhist mantras. Known for her rich, powerful and deeply healing voice, Lee sings with devotion, Dharma and love. Each track has a distinctly different feel, ranging from the foot-tapping groove of �Chenrezig�s Jam� to the soaring, jubilant vocals of �Beyond the Beyond,� which features a gospel group and guest artists Gaura Vani and gospel singers John James and Keith Fluitt (backup singers for, among others, Stevie Wonder, Mick Jaggar, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Celine Dion). The epic three-part song �Homage to Green Tara� is a journey onto itself, with hypnotic instrumentation, a lush female choir, and the ethereal vocals of Tibetan artist Drukmo Gyal Dakini, who sings the �21 Praises to Tara� in Part II of this track. This song is a sonic landscape of healing and transformation�you�ll step into the vibrations of the 21 Emanations of Tara and emerge cleansed. Contributing musicians include the Grammy-award winners Steve Gorn (flute, soprano sax), John McDowell (piano, African drums) Hans Christian (cello and sarangi) and Anthony Molina. Perfect for yoga classes, foot-tapping mantra recitation practice, heart expansion, and meditation. Playing these mantras in the background will clear your environment of any congested energies.
Into The Beyond: Modern Renditions Of Ancient Buddhist Mantras, Lee (Mirabai) Harrington , CD, 2015, $11.00
Lee (Mirabai) Harrington is a Devotional Mantra Music artist based in the Hudson Valley (a/k/a the Bhajan Belt) of New York. She has been on the Mantrayana (Vehicle of Mantra) path of Buddhism since 2002. Her passion for�and commitment to�the healing power of mantras has led her to explore ancient mantras and chants from many other traditions, including Hindu, Sikh, Native American, Shamanistic, Taoist, Sufi and ancient Christian; and she counts among her teachers His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Amma, Meher Baba, Shyamdas and Yogi Bhajan. Her daily practice, however, remains rooted in Buddhism, Green Tara and the Divine Mother in all Her forms. With a musical background in rock and roll, sacred chant and gospel, Lee loves to lead high-spirited, uptempo kirtans, combining the metta and wisdom energies of Buddhist mantras with the heart-opening euphoria of the devotional Bhakti tradition. Soaring, exalting, hypnotic, other-worldly and soulful are some of the words used to describe her rich and powerful voice. Because she has received so many Buddhist transmissions and empowerments in this lifetime, her mantra music carries the pure vibrations of the Buddhist stream and the Kagyu lineage. In fact, she only leads chants for which she has received the empowerments and permissions to do so. She has been blessed to sing or record with such kirtan luminaries as Gaura Vani, Ilan Chester, Brenda McMorrow, Adam Bauer, Anthony Molina, SRI Kirtan, Steve Gorn, Irene Sol�a, Radharani, Drukmo Gyal Dakini, Chimey Lhatso, and many more. The biggest blessing of all has been to chant for the past eleven years with her weekly hometown community kirtan sangha in Woodstock, NY. Her debut album, Beyond the Beyond�an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Hindu mantra music�is being released in 2015. In the meantime, a limited-edition EP of the Buddhist tracks from this album, entitled Into the Beyond: Modern Renditions of Ancient Buddhist Mantras�was released on April 18, 2015, in honor of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa�s visit to the United States. The EP offers three tracks featuring the vocals of Lamas Karma Drodul and Karma Thendup of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, as well as Tibetan singer Drukmo Gyal Dakini. The EP is dedicated with love to His Holiness Karmapa, and the whole project has received the special blessings of the Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. May all beings benefit from the powerful healing vibrations of mantra music. Born into a musical family, Lee has little formal training as a vocalist, preferring to learn by intuition, by ear, and by sheer unencumbered enthusiasm. (Much of her childhood was spent holed up in her room, belting out songs by The Who and Led Zeppelin at the top of her lungs, much to her father�s chagrin.) When she lived in New York City, Lee sang with the famous Riverside Church Inspirational Choir�an exuberant gospel choir in Harlem�and with the occasional short-lived rock band. Any music sung with love is sacred. These days, most of Lee�s vocal training has come from the sound healing perspective: she has studied harmonic singing and vocal toning with David Hykes, Timothy Hill and Jonathan Goldman. She has taken sacred voice workshops with Silvia Nakkach and Simrit Kaur. Endlessly enraptured with the healing power of sound in all its forms, Lee has also studied many modalities of sound healing with such maestros as Don Conreaux (gong), John Beaulieu (tuning forks) and Philippe Pascal Garnier (bowls) at the Sage Academy of Sound Energy and the New York Open Center. She believes that the voice is one of our most potent instruments for self-healing�and healing others. She also believes that chanting mantras should be done for the benefit of all beings and has studied Tibetan medical mantras with Dr. Nida Chenagtsang of the International Academy of Traditional Tibetan Medicine. For her day job, Lee is a critically-acclaimed author, freelance book editor and professor of creative writing at New York University. Her first book�a memoir entitled REX AND THE CITY�was published by Random House in 2006 and reissued by Diversion Books in 2014. She writes for such diverse publications as Bark, Salon, Huffpo and SpiritVoyage.com. She is also working on several book projects. One of these days she hopes to complete that memoir about her year living at Buddhist retreat center in Colorado and working as a decorative painter for the Great Stupa of Dharmachakra. A dedicated vegetarian, animal advocate, and Crazy Dog Lady, Lee serves as a volunteer at animal shelters, where she offers energy healing and sings mantras to rescued dogs. Her dearly departed dog Chloe (nicknamed Gopi) was a big fan of mantras and it is her honor that Lee volunteers. Lee is also long-time student of Kundalini Yoga, energy healing, and Animal Reiki. She dedicates the merit of all her spiritual practices for the benefit of all sentient beings.
1. OM MANI PEME HUM (Chenrezig's Jam) 10:52
2. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (Homage to Green Tara) 13:53
3. GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE SOHA (Into the Beyond) 10:32
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