Jaya Lakshmi's
Story
A Musical & Spiritual Youth
I grew up in a beautiful place in central New Jersey near the coast. It was a very lush and pastoral area, with lots of horse farms and historic estates. I was fortunate to have a horse of my own. I went to high school in the 80s. I rarely listened to music of the 80s except for Rush. I much preferred music from the 60s and 70s (esp. British) Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Clannad, etc. I embodied the 60s aesthetic and shared those flower child ideals of peace, love and cosmic spirituality.
I was drawn to the spirituality of India at a young age. My parents would take me to Indian restaurants, and they were my favorite, especially when there was a sitar and tabla player. During my teens I would go to the library and take out albums of traditional Indian music, blast them in my room and burn incense. My mother thought I was weird. She was an amazing pianist and piano teacher who loved classical and jazz and could play all those well-loved popular songs of the decades.
I grew up in a musical family: at seven I started taking piano lessons from my mom. My brother was a drummer in a local rock band. My dad was always playing opera in our house and trying to get me to appreciate it. He would bring us to New York City frequently, to the opera at Lincoln Center and to Broadway musicals. He wanted to expose us to culture and would take us out to fancy restaurants.
In 1971 my parents took me to see Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway when I was 6 years old, and again when I was seven. I fell in love with Jesus. He had long hair and a beard and for some reason became that archetype that I felt enchanted by. We bought the album, and I learned every word of it. My favorite part was when Mary Magdalene sang, especially I Don't Know How to Love Him. We had the London version—it had Yvonne Ellman as Mary and Ian Gillan from Deep Purple as Jesus. Their voices were so epic! To this day, I feel no singer compares to Ian Gillan's classic rock scream.
From a young age I was very drawn to sacred music and stories. We weren't a religious family – my parents were more intellectual, which gave me a lot of freedom. I wasn't raised with the notion of sin and hell. I had a very open mind and found myself interested in different faiths and spiritual customs.
Introduction to Mystical Contemplation
When I was about twelve, I started doing psychedelics, which totally changed my relationship with everything. Granted, I was at the beginning of adolescence when that shift from childhood is inevitable, but I had a wave of initiations most kids my age at that time did not experience. I went to a junior high school ‘across the tracks’ and every day before and after school all kinds of things were passed around or sold: pot, mushrooms, acid, mescaline. I was a bit daring and very curious, so I ended up partaking. It certainly opened me up, in mind, body and spirit albeit I believe a bit too much for one so young, as I was already such a sensitive person. I did my best trying to make sense of life and to integrate all that was being revealed to me, yet I had no one I could talk to about it. Yet, I can say that if I hadn't had those experiences, I wouldn't be who I am today.
I had a lot of visions in my teens, of the future of humanity, of the earth, of what my role might be in the awakening and earth changes, past life memories, galactic dreams and ancient witchy wisdom sparking through. My eyes had been opened to a greater matrix of life and all the different dimensions concurrently existing. It drew me into shamanism and contemplating my experiences of spiritual realms.
I managed to graduate high school and I even formed a band with some friends and we sang four-part harmonies and covers of CSNY, Fleetwood Mac and other similar groups. I sang and played guitar. I was in a few plays and painted colorful surrealist murals around the school.
An Unconventional Path
I went to college at the University of New Hampshire. My dad wanted me to be financially independent and successful but more of the doctor/lawyer/CEO sort. Yet I knew I was an artist, musician, philosopher, and soul adventurer. My parents planted that belief that one cannot earn a living as an artist, therefore I must get a degree and get a real job and just do music and art as a hobby. The best thing I could think of to major in was anthropology. I was fascinated by other cultures, especially tribal cultures that were hardly touched by the modern world. I loved studying their art, music, society, beliefs and spirituality. I was really into gender studies and learned a lot about how different cultures differentiated by sex, their rituals, and perceptions. I learned about the world of his-story and wondered a lot about her-story.
I didn't want to continue with a masters to teach, so I followed my dream to head out west inspired by the golden-haired Grateful Deadheads I'd connected with at shows on the east coast and so many songs like California Dreamin', Going to California. I pursued the advice of Timothy Leary, “Tune in, turn on and drop out,” and after a short adventure in California beginning in 1988 at the Grateful Dead show in Monterey I ended up in the forest outside Eugene, Oregon with my new partner homesteading on a friend's land, living in a tiny magical cabin complete with a crescent moon window and crystals hanging from the beams.
I became pregnant and I had my daughter in that cabin in November 1989, with no plumbing or electricity, all natural with midwives who were quite courageous. I had a nice 12-string guitar and I used to play and sing while my babe was sleeping, looking out into the misty forest. When my daughter was two, I decided it was time for a big change, so we moved to the Big Island of Hawaii, sadly parting from her father.