About Steven

Music from the silence
Musical Satsang with Steven Walters

Steven Walters is a master of sound emerging from silence. With great sensitivity and humor he sings of our everyday challenges, reminding the listener of the simplicity of being in the here and now. His music combines elements of American folk, rhythm & blues, mantra, and virtuoso guitar improvisations.

Upon returning from India in 1993 Steven was diagnosed with Leaukemia and was told he had six months to live. Amazingly he became strong enough to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant. During his recovery he discovered the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, and the music just started pouring out. He now performs in America and Europe sharing his gift of conscious music.


Workshops with Steven 
"We do not work and it's not a shop" Steven says when asked about his workshops, "they are rather a joint journey into the unknown". In a present and protected space, each participant is invited to arrive and Be with all that is. Gatherings will include song, stories, spontaneous music, group singing, laughter, stillness, silence, and God knows what else!

Movement and dance are also becoming important elements of this shared journey. Steven would like to invite each participant to find their own true expression in the course of the day....with an emphasis on learning to trust the natural movement of the body.

Following the teachings of Adyashanti; the first step is always to allow everything to be as it is.




Recent Interview with Steven

You play a lot during satsangs. What is your experience? 

S: Satsang is by far my favorite place to play. The silence, the stillness, and the heart of the Sangha seems to pull out the best in me.

What are the effects of your music? 

I play many different kinds of songs in Satsang so the feeling is always changing, but the sweetest thing is when I stop playing...and there is no movement or applause...just the stillness that seems to say "let us savor this moment and rest here where no words are necessary."

Tell us -- how did it happen that you came to be a spiritual musician? 

I remember being very young (maybe four or five) and just loving everyone and everything. It seemed to take a long time for me to develop any sense of a boundary between myself and the so-called outside world.

I started playing guitar and singing at age seven and made my living with music all of my life. In my early twenties after reading one of Ram Dass's books about Neem Karoli Baba I began having his darshan in dreams. I would wake up with tears in my eyes, my heart aching from the sweetness. These experiences just blew me wide open, and I started having the experience once again that there really is no boundary between myself and everything else.

After returning from a trip to India in 1993 I was diagnosed with Leukemia and was told that I had six months to live. A week later I suddenly developed complications and was told that I had twenty-four hours. I sat up in bed and started meditating, slowing my breath and concentrating on a very still and silent point inside. A week later I left the hospital and a month later received a bone-marrow transplant.

During the transplant I remember making one on those deals with God that sounded something like ..."you get me through this one and I'll really do the music that I came here to do."

While healing from the transplant I met Gangaji at a Satsang in Santa Fe, New Mexico and realized she was describing and being this truth that I had always known. I started following her wherever she went and performed at many of her Satsangs. (She put my song "So Many Blessings"on her River of Freedom Video.) The music just kept pouring out. I experienced a truth that was bigger than all of my concepts about it. And I guess it's just natural to sing about what you love.

What are the most remarkable encounters you have had as a spiritual musician? 

I remember being on retreat with my present (and absolutely wonderful) teacher Adyashanti, and about 150 others in Satsang. I had performed a song on the stage and then sat back down on the floor. But the song suddenly started singing itself. I didn't think about it. It just came out. Adya came down off the stage, laid on the floor with his head in my lap while looking up into my eyes as the song and the tears continued to flow. There was the simultaneous experience of singing to myself, to everything, and to nothing, all at the same time.

I enjoy looking out at the Sangha while I'm performing and just taking in the whole scene. It's almost blinding-there's so much light and love. I can see and feel the cumulative attention of spirit shining through everyone's eyes. Any dust, ego, etc., shows up very quickly in this clear light. It's a very hot fire and a wonderful gift.


© StevenWaltersMusic.com - Prajna Music


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