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BHNN Guest Podcast – Ep. 167 – Serving the Multitude with Nani Ma and Nina Rao

Nina Rao interviews Nani Ma about her deep devotion to serving her guru and her service work with Ganga Prem Hospice.

If you are interested in donating to Ganga Prem Hospice, you can do so through a donation to End of Life Care International with a memo specifying you would like it to go to Ganga Prem.

About Nani Ma:
Nani Ma is from the United Kingdom and sought spiritual enlightenment at a very young age. One day, she realized that serving the multitude and helping the needy is also an aspect of spiritual practice. So, she started taking care of the terminally ill cancer patients in the hospital, guiding the people who are suffering from pain and death to embark on a new journey. Together with Dr. A. K. Dewan, she established the Ganga Prem Hospice. Ganga Prem Hospice is a spiritually-orientated, non-profit hospice for terminally ill cancer patients. The Hospice has been constructed at the foot of the Himalayas on the bank of the river Ganga.

“When we watch our breath, it slows down. The breath and the mind are connected. Either the breath slows down and the mind slows down, or the mind catches hold of one thing, which is the name, and the name has its power by itself. The name has its own power.” – Nani Ma

Raghu Markus – Mindrolling – Ep. 528 – The 21 Taras with Nina Rao & Chandra Easton

Raghu, Nina, and Chandra spend this episode discussing:

  • Chandra’s Buddhist upbringing

  • The deity Tara and the sacred feminine

  • Nina and Chandra’s collaboration with chanting and mantras

  • An acapella chant offered from Nina

  • Tara for harmony

  • Tantra and spirituality for the people

  • The 21 praises to Tara

  • Durga, Saraswati, and other feminine deities we can invoke through mantras

  • The eighth Tara as a fierce and invincible embodiment

  • The mara of doubt

“The main purpose of doing this aspect of the 21 Tara’s practice through chanting and more of a kirtan style is to uplift people, just like kirtan does. To bring joy, open people’s heart to the blessings of these Taras and to Devi and to the universal way. And also to help them remember the mantra, because some of them are pretty long they can be a little challenging to remember.” – Chandra Easton

Raghu Markus – Mindrolling – Ep. 528 – The 21 Taras with Nina Rao & Chandra Easton

Melodies Of Chanting And Navigating The Spiritual Landscape | Nina Rao and Radhika Das

“My grandfather's harmonium melodies were the soundtrack of my childhood, carrying the spirit of devotion that would later resonate through my own life's journey. As I sit down with Nina Rao, a celebrated Kirtan leader, her stories echo my experiences, weaving a tapestry of spiritual connection rooted in the vibrant chants of Kirtan. We delve into the essence of communal chanting, finding joy and peace within its harmonies, and discussing how these practices cultivate emotional and spiritual fulfillment. Nina's narrative transports us from the Satsang of her youth to the dynamic Kirtan circles of New York, highlighting the profound impact of community and shared devotion on our paths to inner happiness. Our conversation takes an introspective turn as we navigate the role of women in spiritual practices and the melding of Eastern traditions with Western consciousness. I share my own pilgrimage back to my roots, studying Vedic chanting with a teacher in India, and how this journey illuminated the significance of feminine voices in these sacred spaces. The episode unfolds further insights into the evolution of bhakti and kirtan in the West, the reverence for sacred texts, and the shifting perceptions of spirituality and the Divine in our modern society. We are humbled by the legacy of those who have cleared the way for us, acknowledging the profound gratitude for the spiritual inheritance that enriches our lives today. Finally, we embrace the transformative power of daily spiritual rituals, discussing how they enhance compassion, foster an enlightened mind, and contribute to a holistic sense of well-being.”

GoOD Friends w/ Nina Rao and Curly Nikki - The Power of Mantra, the Real Meaning of Ram, and the Hanuman Chalisa

"I'm here because I followed the path of practice that my Guru laid out for me." - Nina Rao
In this chat she shares about her Guru, Sri Siddhi Ma, her powerful and anchoring experiences on the pathless path, the real meaning of the Ram mantra, and the importance of service and constant God remembrance. She leads us in to Presence by chanting Sri Ram Jai Ram and the Hanuman Chalisa.
Show notes:
Vinayaka Always (the track featuring her grandfather) (Antarayaami - Knower of All Hearts, 2013)
Sri Siddhi Ma: The Story of Neem Karoli Baba's Spiritual Legacy
Nikki's favorite kirtan w/ Nina - Sri Ram Kirtan Sadhana
Flow of Grace (book by Krishna Das about Hanuman Chalisa)
Hanuman Chalisa in English (PDF)
Chant the Hanuman Chalisa w/ Nina - Free Course
Learn the Hanuman Chalisa w/ Nina via Insight Timer

*To claim your free gift, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, screenshot it and send it to me at nikki@curlynikki.com!

Waiting For Grace with Nina Rao Finding Harmony Podcast

It is with great pleasure that we introduce our esteemed and most honorable guest: the beautiful, humble, and one might say, divinely inspired human, Nina Rao!
What Nina enchants us with is an opportunity to reflect more deeply on what it means to cultivate a spiritual practice.
And, the shadow side, which is to examine just how often we fail at this noble endeavor. As she reminds us, this too is OK -- even part of the path. We all have families, obligations, children, and the whole point is that we keep trying to do better every day. Even when we can’t always be at our best.We also had a wondrous opportunity to talk about cultural appropriation and our earnest efforts to have an authentic experience in a post modernist world of self construction.
For those of us not born into a specific lineage, we have the gift and freedom to resonate and choose different spiritual paths and practices.
However, there is something to be said about digging a single well and going deep. Discovering what insight lays buried within the repetition. True learning. And, in the end, we touch something beyond this behavioral reality — we begin to transcend our ego-selves
As Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaji) said, “Go on chanting your false “Ram, Ram” some day you’ll get it right.” And, perhaps you’ll also find yourself running across the lake after your guru seeking to get the pronunciation exactly correct as you embark on your chosen path to enlightenment.
Spiritual practice is something that’s continually evolving as we grow and change as ‘spiritual beings having a human experience.’ And it's our birthright -- It's our dharma!
(A side note: The movie referenced in the beginning of our conversation was For the Benefit of All Beings.)

Also available on Spotify:

David Nichtern – Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck – Ep. 39 – Chanting, Music, & Sri Siddhi Ma with Nina Rao

Nina Rao joins David to share the clarity and wisdom of her Guru, Sri Siddhi Ma, and discuss chanting, music, Maharaj-ji, the Goddess, and Hanuman.   
“It’s all about purifying. The practice is helping us drop all the stuff considered obscurations or kleshas to seeing clearly. If we see clearly we can understand. If we understand we can have a compassionate heart. With that compassionate heart we can feel our interconnectedness. Then what else is there to do in this body but feel that interconnectedness, feel that love, and share.” – Nina Rao

In this episode Nina and David discuss:

  • How all aspects of our self and life weave together

  • Nina’s relationship to Sri Siddhi Ma, Maharaj-ji (Neem Karoli Baba), and Hanuman

  • Sri Siddhi Ma as a fully integrated being of wisdom, clarity, love, and presence

  • Meeting Maharaj-ji through Krishna Das’ chanting

  • Nina’s life-changing first darshan with Sri Siddhi Ma

  • Western culture, Eastern spirituality, and cultural appropriation

  • Kirtan, chanting, music, and creativity

  • Goddess, Shakti, and the Divine Feminine

  • Connections between Bhakti and Buddhism

Lama Live! Lama Tsultrim Allione with Special Guest Nina Rao

Please enjoy this recording from Lama Live! offered on August 14th, 2022 with Lama Tsultrim Allione and special guest Nina Rao.

The event opens with Lama Tsultrim Allione welcoming everyone and reminding us of the importance to truly understand what our intention is to come together in this way as a group. Lama Tsultrim then begins the prayer requests and states that a prayer is “mind energy” and that we are sending this mind energy with intention as prayer to be of benefit to the individuals in need. Lama makes a special request to include fish and other beings that live in the Oder River which runs through Poland and Germany that is currently being impacted by an unknown toxin. The focus for this event is on the 12th Tara, who is the Tara connected and most suited to help with the impacts of climate change. Special attention will be given to these deceased fish that are washing up on the shores of the Oder River. Lama Tsultrim leads us in an expansive loving-kindness meditation to come home to our bodies and to heal both ourselves and all beings with this ambrosia of loving-kindness. Lastly, Lama introduces our very special guest, Nina Rao, who offers teachings, shares past experiences and provides details about important environmental projects she is engaged in. Nina shares that she is dedicated to preserving the precious habitats on earth that are remaining, planting native species and urges us to be careful about what we are putting into the earth as a way to help Tara’s activities to reduce climate change impacts. Nina then leads us in chants of the mantra of the 12th Tara. We close the event with an invocation to the goddess as a dedication of merit.

BHNN: Healing at the Edge – Ep. 84 – Mantra Repetition with Nina Rao and Dale Borglum

Published on Aug 15, 2022
Nina Rao joins RamDev Dale Borlgum to share in the simple yet powerful devotion of repeating mantras. 

Both Nina and RamDev share in the magic of repeating mantras. Nina says that even just repeating the name Ram is enough to ground you into the moment and offer clarity. We can let go of obstructive thoughts and emotions when we put all of our focus onto the mantra, over and over again. We do not even need to think about what the mantra means, just saying it is enough.