Evolved, at peace with himself, and successful today beyond his wildest dreams (he has been called “the Pavarotti of chant”), Krishna Das presents himself as a man who has studied furiously, fallen away, brushed himself off again, and tried to stand tall or, as he says, “show up.”

We have a ten-month-old puppy at home and he responds very favourably to your music.

Aaaoouu! (like a howling dog)

No, really! When we play it, he looks at us as though something very significant is happening. So what is it like now that people are thanking you for your music?

Well, I’m just reflecting the love that my guru has and all the presence that he is, and they are reflecting that right back to me, so it feels great.

The fact that anybody comes [to hear me] at all is always a miracle as far as I can tell. Because I’m just focused on singing whatever I’m singing in that moment. I’m doing my spiritual practice.

Do people ever tell you that your music heals?

I get a lot email from people who thank me for the CDs who’ve just gone through chemotherapy, surgeries. So believe me, I don’t take this lightly.

But I don’t do it for other people. There are no other people. It’s just us. We are one. If I was just performing, that presence, that grace wouldn’t be in the voice for people to feel.

It would be something else. Who you are is what you transmit. No matter what you’re doing. So you might as well get that right.

What does chanting literally do?

The way I look at it is that these chants come from a place of being inside of us that’s deeper than where we spend most of our time. So when we turn our attention to them, it brings us deeper into ourselves.

Along with that inward motion may come a lot of experiences — happiness, joy — but essentially, those are side products of moving deeper into ourselves.

Das was interviewed by Belifnet.com’s Amy Cunningham