Description

Lucile Grieder, executive producer

Taos, New Mexico evokes magic, mystery, art, multiculturalism and majesty.  Taos became world-renowned, not only as an art colony, but as a microcosm and as a beacon for a synthesis of ideas.  Taos Mountain itself serves as the anchor for the diverse cultures, religions and perspectives in the area.

Habib Chishti (Patrick Arthur Lee) was born into a Jewish and Catholic home thanks to parents from both traditions.  He found himself living alone in Taos when he was 13 years old.  The Lama Foundation community looked after Patrick until he was informally adopted by a Tiwa family at the Taos Pueblo, further enriching his spiritual and cultural environment.  Patrick entered a Sufi Order that same year.  When one meets Habib Chishti today, one meets a huggable bear of a man sharing the infectious twinkle in his eye.  He looks like a wandering ascetic on a Himalayan path, yet well fed.  His all-encompassing affection for humanity and the world helps one appreciate Habib’s multiple religious backgrounds and current thinking.

Habib has been practicing Hinduism and Sufism for over forty years, and was recognized as a Shaykh, or teacher, in the Chishti Sufi lineage.  Part of Habib’s mission as a teacher and Shaykh is identifying and sharing the core similarities between religious traditions in order to encourage friendships and collaboration.  Habib lives his life as a seeker of truth, no matter whether he is perceived as Jewish, Catholic, Hindu, Agnostic, or Muslim.

The album opens with three cycles of the Hanuman Chalisa from the Hindu tradition, and migrates toward three cycles of Sufi dhikr worship.  Please read more about these traditions and the music here.

The full album on YouTube is about one hour of music in nine tracks:

1. Hanuman Chalisa cycles 1 and 2 (Habib’s son Salman Hanuman Lee joins Habib Chishti in cycle 2)
2. Hanuman Chalisa cycle 3 in E Flat (with Salman Hanuman Lee)
3. Frame Drum Trance (Habib Chishti)
4. Opening verses of the Quran (Habib Chishti)
5. Call from the Minaret (Habib Chishti)
6. Second Song, poetry by Shaykh Ibn Al Habib (arranged and sung by Habib Chishti)
7. First Sufi Dhikr
8. Second Sufi Dhikr
9. Third Sufi Dhikr

For all three Dhikrs, Habib leads and is joined by Salman Hanuman Lee, Shawnina Good Road Woman and Michael Carl Rosell.

The two tracks available in high resolution:

1. Hanuman Chalisa cycles 2 and 3 (Habib Chishti and Salman Hanuman Lee)
2. Second and Third Sufi Dhikr (Habib leads and is joined by Salman Hanuman Lee, Shawnina Good Road Woman and Michael Carl Rosell)

YouTube