I’ve re-discovered vinyl. You remember don’t you? Wax? Those plastic platters with circular grooves spinning out the soundtracks of lives…yes, that’s it…records. Well in my attempt to merge the archaic with the temporal, I decided to start ripping my records onto my computer and into MP3s and when I dove back into my record collection I found a surplus of material that had set the stage for today’s global renaissance in sacred and spiritual music, the likes of which Deva Premal and Jai Uttal are making to the delight of many.

In my dusty old collection I happened to find Journey In Satchidinanda by Alice Coltrane, featuring Pharaoh Sanders. Alice Coltrane was the wife of St. John Coltrane. Alice was an accomplished organist and harpist, deeply involved with the life and work of Sathya Sai Baba. The album also features Cecil McBee and Charlie Haden, both on bass, along with Rashied Ali on drums. Satchidananda or “Sat-chit-anan-da” represents the energetic state of non-duality, a manifestation of our spiritually natural, primordial and authentic state. Coltrane’s lilting harp amidst Sanders’ luminous flights of improvisation on the tenor sax and the omnipresent and ancient drone of the tamboura make for a buried spiritual treasure — sacred-sounds that merge the worlds of free jazz and contemplative raga.

It’s the not the only record I discovered. There were my two Shakti records as well, featuring the fiery acoustic fretwork of John McLaughlin, the soaring violin of Shankar and the inspired by tabla play of Zakir Hussain. Shakti was in many ways McLaughlin’s pinnacle project, merging his love for Indian music with the sense of oneness he had found in meditation and yoga, at times under the spiritual tutelage of Sri Chinmoy.

McLaughlin and Carlos Santana teamed together on an album inspired by Chinmoy and Coltrane as well. Santana brought it all full circle with the pairing of himself and Alice Coltrane on Illuminations where the two of them, inspired by their own gurus and the spirit of John Coltrane crafted a minor masterpiece of sacred jazz fusion.

There were more: Beaver and Krause’s Ghandarva recorded live at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco was another brilliant foray into the realm of deep ambience and extended minor chords.

My own journey into the stereo archives of my musical past yielded the eternal fruit of listening pleasure and a reminder of the spiritual groundwork that was laid down by these trailblazing artists, often during times when their record companies demanded that they create more mainstream work to sell to the masses. Next time a sweet chant wafts across the yoga studio as you prepare to stretch and breath, think about this pithy profundity courtesy of Carlos Santana, “I am a beam of light in the mind of God.” That’s a message as timeless as the music itself.