The Gong Elegy is a Shruti song. Shruti songs are words we put to voice. They can be certain stories you will always remember, affirmations and poems, accompanied by a Shruti box. The Shruti is a scaled down version of the Indian harmonium which is commonly used in kirtan chanting.
The Shruti box emulates the pentatonic scale of the piano, with the black keys on top, and white ones on the bottom. It cuts off the end tones, so you just get the mid-tones. This allows our voice to interweave and merge above and below the overtones, giving freedom of expression to the voice, and liberation to the throat chakra.
The Elegy is another standard in the gong community, and is offered during a Gong Bath to help give solace to those who may be in mourning. In my own life, I came across this poem very early on through my father, who found it in the newspaper. He gave it to my mother, and asked her to read it at his passing. When that time inevitably came, my mother made copies for all of us, and it immediately lifted us out of the depths of our grief into a more open hearted understanding of oneness.
Over 20 years later, I came across the poem again (which is actually attributed to an old Druid gravestone inscription), while attending a workshop with my long time teacher, the great gong master Don Conreaux. It was printed in his 2nd volume of Magnum Opus of the Gong, and it was the first time I had ever heard of a Shruti song, a phrase coined by him.
I could not be more grateful to Tracy Bonham for coming in and rocking this recording. We actually added her vocal on the day after the tragic bombings in Paris in 2016.
Special thanks to Susanna Raven for her amazing didgeridoo. I am every grateful for her support, which extends to so many areas of my life.
lyrics
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn’s rain
When you awaken in the mornings’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
So, do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there; I did not die
I’ll never die, no I’ll never die
credits
from The Pearl Within,
released April 20, 2017
Lea Garnier - voice, gong ands shruti box
Tracy Bonham - voice
Susanna Raven - didgeridoo