How I Changed My Life - Hare Krishna and Hip Hop

How I changed My Life - Hare Krishna and Hip Hop
by Jason Fladlien. For more information go to http://www.kaliyugademolition.com

Hare Krishna.

Those two words changed my life and inspired me to create the "Kali Yuga Demolition Vol. 1" CD, an upbeat hip hop album.

I was a 20 year old college drop out. My purpose in life was to see how drunk I could get without killing myself. Or maybe subconsciously I did want to kill myself.

Alcohol was my medication for my daily panic attacks. These panic attacks came from a depression that I had carried with me for 8 years, and had driven me mentally insane.

My whole life was out of balance. It's not normal to walk down the street and have an overwhelming feeling that at any second you could fall off the earth. l was 80 pounds overweight, cynical and spiritually bereft. I choose atheism because I found comfort in believing that soon I wouldn't have to feel at all.

Then by chance I found out about Hare Krishna.

I was online one night researching vegetarianism, killing time while getting drunk. That's when I found a book called the Bhagavad Gita, translated by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

I read the introduction and that was enough.

Srila Prabhupada's writing spoke not to me but to my soul. I felt his self realization in every word. I had never met a self realized soul before, and naively had concluded that none had existed.

Until now.

You could understand my attraction. He said that the perfection in life was to chant Hare Krishna, and I believed him.

I chanted Hare Krishna as strongly as I could. Within three months my panic attacks went away. I had lost 100 pounds by eating a very natural, meatless diet and I had quit drinking.

Most importantly, I found my meaning and purpose in life.

When I was 8, I had a walkman I would rap into. At 12, I was performing rap and dance routines in the stands of local high school football games. By 16 I was writing songs.

But you lack aim in your life, sometimes you don't even realized when you've discovered your passion. As such, I didn't realize how to cultivate my desire of making music from a mere wish to an actual reality. It took self discovery, which I found through Hare Krishna, to help me realign myself with my passion in life.

I decided I would make a hip hop album.

I spent 10 to 14 hours every day working on it. I would rise at 4:30 am every morning and chant Hare Krishna for about an hour. Then I would devote the rest of my day to working on the "Kali Yuga Demolition Vol. 1" CD, stoppinig only to eat or chant Hare Krishna to refresh myself.

And that is how the "Kali Yuga Demolition" CD was created.

I did this rigorous schedule for about 8 months and never felt more fulfillment in my life. You see, there are things in life that are just waiting for you discover them. There is something out there that resonates perfectly with your being and if you find if then you should cherish it and never let it go.

It was the sublime phrase, "Hare Krishna" that did it for me.

I hope my inspiring story will help you search for your meaning and purpose in life as well.

All glories to you!

Jason Fladlien is a 23 year old Hare Krishna devotee from Iowa City, Iowa. He creates upbeat yet wicked hip hop under the name Straiht Wikid Crew. Visit http://www.kaliyugademolition.com for more details.