After our respective life, music and spiritual journeys, we met at the side of the stage after separate performances at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Brisbane in June 2008. Samjjana evolved out of our union, our music, people's response to our music and our mutual dedication in service to Spirit.
Just two months after we met, we headed overseas on a one-way ticket. In November 2008 Pratika-Sahayak had a D drone Native American Indian flute sent to us in Italy to match the hang and for the first time we were able to play our instruments together.
In early January 2009 we formalised our music union with branding as we found ourselves in demand in Costa Rica. Our first official paid performance was 26 January 2009.
A series of little miracles unfolded with elegant synchronicity and we found ourselves performing many times, sometimes as a duo, sometimes with other musicians who flowed into our sphere with effortless ease ~ including some very famous and popular Costa Rican/musicians including Manuel Obregon, and also Edin Solis and Carlos (Tapado) Vargas ~ from the Grammy award winning band, 'Editus' (Manuel and Tapado also being members of another famous Costa Rican band, 'Malpais').
All the musicians we performed with are conscious/spiritual and play their music from the heart. (At some stage we intend to return to Costa Rica for more magical musical collaborations.)
Due to constant requests for our music, we fast tracked our plans to record and produced two albums during the eight months we lived in Costa Rica. (One of them includes guest musicians Edin Solis and Tapado.)
After returning to Queensland's Sunshine Coast in September 2009, we took delivery of our first CDs and settled into our new lives as full time musicians. We busk regularly at various Sunshine Coast markets and perform in concerts, festivals, at weddings and other events. We have performed at Mind Body Spirit Festivals, New Earth Festival, Music By The Sea and Queensland Multicultural Festival. We also offer workshops and Sound Spas.
When Prem and Jethro (Devotional music duo Sacred Earth) heard us play in November 2009, they invited us to join them in concert. We performed with them at the Perth New Earth Festival in March 2010, and on Queensland's Sunshine Coast it was our privilege to be their special guests, opening their Maleny and Eumundi concerts in July 2010.
In September 2010, we were invited by two of the Brisbane Conservatorium's Doctors of Music, Nicholas Ng and Kim Cunio, to perform with them and others in 'Music of the Other' - a themed, narrated and animated concert at the Conservatorium.
Our third CD 'Peace Within' was released November 2010.
Our fourth album 'Follow your Bliss' was released December 2011. This concept double album represents a big shift in gear for us and we are elated to share it.
We are in awe of the rapid unfoldment of our musical journey and we feel very blessed to be able to touch people's lives in this way. We are totally dedicated to continuing this service.
"Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life,
Bringing peace, abolishing strife."
Kahlil Gibran