Krishna Das Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Krishna Das

• He grew up as a middle-class Jewish kid on Long Island in the 1950s and 60s.

• When he was young, he was a basketball player and musician. He developed an early interest in Eastern spirituality and psychedelics.

• In June 1967, some high school and college students on Long Island in New York formed a rock band called Soft White Underbelly, which later became Blue Öyster Cult.

• Jeff Kagel, a student at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, briefly became the lead singer of the band but left before the band was even named.
  

  An old picture of Krishna Das

• Before going to India, Krishna Das worked as a bus driver and had long hair and a beard, showing a strong interest in spirituality.

• In his early twenties, Jeff Kagel met Ram Dass, a spiritual teacher who had returned from a pilgrimage to India.

• Ram Dass introduced him to Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, known as ‘Maharajji,’ whom he had taken as his Guru.

• He got inspired by Ram Dass’s stories about Maharajji and felt a deep interest in visiting India.

• With limited money, he managed to travel to India and found Maharajji at Kainchi Ashram in the Himalayas.
  

  Krishna Das and his mother, Sylvia, at Kainchi Ashram in India in 1972

• In 1970, he became a follower of Neem Karoli Baba, who gave him the name Krishna Das.
  

  An old picture of Krishna Das with Neem Karoli Baba

• Krishna Das wanted to stay with Maharajji in India forever, but Maharajji sent him back to New York after a couple of years.

• Within six months after returning to the U.S., Maharajji passed away, leaving Krishna Das to adjust back to life in America.

• The inner longing that Krishna Das felt for Maharajji remained, and he found comfort in music and bhakti yoga.
  

  A young Krishna Das while practising meditation

• Krishna Das started offering kirtan, a devotional singing practice from Kainchi Ashram, to connect more deeply with Maharajji.

• In 1994, Krishna Das began a long-running kirtan residency at the Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York City, where he led chanting sessions.

• He soon co-founded Triloka Records/Karuna Music, a label that later became popular in the music world.

• Triloka Records featured Krishna Das’s early recordings and music artists like Jai Uttal, Ali Akbar Khan, and Jackie McLean, a jazz saxophonist.

• The label also produced media projects with many spiritual teachers such as Ram Dass and Deepak Chopra.

• In 1999, he was featured in a video titled ‘Open to the Infinite: Live at the Inner Directions Gathering’ with Ram Dass, Bertram Salzman, and Matthew Greenblatt.
  

  Krishna Das (down) on the poster of the video Open to the Infinite Live at the Inner Directions Gathering

• In the early 2000s, Bernie Glassman, founder of Zen Peacemakers, asked Krishna Das to create a melody for ‘Gates of Sweet Nectar,’ a traditional Japanese Buddhist chant that Glassman had translated into English.

• After composing the melody, Krishna Das realized that it would also fit well with the Hanuman Chalisa because both chants expressed devotion. ‘Gates of Sweet Nectar’ is about offering one’s heart, and the Hanuman Chalisa is about gaining strength to complete a task.

• In 2001, he was featured in the documentary Ram Dass, Fierce Grace.

• In 2007, he published a book titled Flow of Grace: Chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
  

  The cover of the book Flow of Grace Chanting the Hanuman Chalisa

• In 2010, he released another book named Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold.

• In 2010, Walter Becker of Steely Dan played bass and co-produced the song All One with Krishna Das. The song featured Rick Allen from Def Leppard (a rock band) on drums and Steve Gorn on flute.

• Ty Burhoe, an American musician, often played the tabla in several music albums of Krishna Das.

• Once, Rick Rubin, an American record producer, produced his song Breath of the Heart.

• In 2011 and 2012, a documentary about Krishna Das was filmed called One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das.
  

  The poster of the documentary film One Track Heart The Story of Krishna Das

• The documentary was directed by Jeremy Frindel. It featured interviews with Krishna Das and others about his life and spiritual journey.

• In late 2012, Zeitgeist Films chose the documentary One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das for distribution in the US, and it was released in May 2013.

• The documentary included songs by Krishna Das and a film score by J Mascis and Devadas.

• Krishna Das also recorded songs with Baird Hersey and Prana, a group blending Western music with overtone singing, on an album called Gathering in the Light.

• Krishna Das’s music album Live Ananda was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 2013.

• In the same year, he performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony.
  

  Krishna Das performing at a Grammy Awards ceremony

• In 2013, in an interview with a media house, he shared that he had once connected with some old friends, who imported hashish, to a banker. After many years, he was contacted by the FBI about his involvement.

• Krishna Das described this experience as ‘one of the most liberating experiences’ of his life, saying it freed him from having to keep any secrets.

• In 2013, he narrated the voiceover for the video game ‘The Ramayan Wars’ for smartphones and tablets.

• In April 2014, he released his album Kirtan Wallah under his music label, Krishna Das Music.
  

  The poster of the music album Kirtan Wallah

• In the same year, he helped establish the Kirtan Wallah Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to sharing the teachings of his guru, Neem Karoli Baba.

• Later, Krishna Das composed the melody for an Anusara Yoga chant, Om Nama Shivaya Gurave, at the request of John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga.

• Krishna Das has contributed tracks to compilations like Taos Hanuman: The Neem Karoli Baba Hanuman Temple Collection of Chalisas and A Bhaktimala for Ram Dass.

• He has collaborated with several musicians such as Trevor Hall, David Nichtern, Nina Rao, Ty Burhoe, Devadas, and MC Yogi.
  

  Krishna Das with Nina Rao

• Hans Christian has played multiple instruments on two of his albums, and Sting, an English musician and activist, appeared in his music album Pilgrim Heart in 2015.

• In 2018, he appeared in the documentary Mantra: Sounds Into Silence.
  

  Krishna Das on the poster of the documentary Mantra Sounds Into Silence