Sita has been leading chanting in the US for the past 20 years, and has lead evenings of chanting in Singapore, Ubud, Bali and India. Sita started within the Hindu tradition of kirtan and then expanded out to all traditions to reach broader audiences. She blends sacred poetry into her evenings, weaving a tapestry of chant and spoken word that is both powerful and celebratory. She has been a teacher in the art of chanting for the last three years. Her classes allow people to become more fluid in their own ability to sing. A native of Ireland, she feels that her voice comes out of her Celtic roots; its full resonance harkens to an ancient, earthy form of song. She is a disciple of Neem Karoli Baba and has performed with Krishna Das, Ram Dass, and Baghavan Das.
"I work with chants from every tradition because it allows more people to relate to what I do, and also reveals that the chants all come from the same source, the same wellspring. Chanting is a devotional practice in that it makes conscious the longing in all of us to be united with the Beloved. At somepoint we realize, especially if we chant for longer periods of time, that there is no separation between ourselves and the deity or the energetics that symbolize the Beloved in our psyches.
"Chanting is like dropping a vessel into a deep well and bringing up an overflowing source of nourishment. This nourishment of sound feeds the soul as water and food feed the body. Through the chant we can pour all our longings, frustrations, grief, and joy into this mystical container called life, so it can be transformed into a nectar that is both sweet and powerful. "