What is Essential
We are currently staying in an apartment in Delhi that we share with our dear friend Nayaswami Dhyana. She has recently taken up playing the esraj, a bowed Indian instrument. A person of great enthusiasm and energy, she personifies these three qualities. She has a strong desire to learn to play the esraj, partly for the sheer joy of playing music, but also so she can play the chants and songs of Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda as an aid to her attunement. Next, she practices two hours a day without fail. And, finally, she takes regular lessons from a teacher, Kashif, a master musician who himself started playing Indian classical music at age five and has practiced for hours each day for over forty years.