This is an old Bengali chant, included in Cosmic Chants in translation. This is one of the most advanced chants in the book. The chorus is basically a chant in and of itself, so in SRF kirtan you can sing just the chorus. The long version adds a verse section in time and then a verse section in free time. The free-time part has trills and complexities that are very advanced, and not many people know them, so someone would need to really practice and be adept to present it in the chapel, aware that it will be challenging for people to follow unless it is done really well.

Song Form

Long version

Verse (in time) My life is for the Lord, for the Lord, who is untouched by desires of His worlds; He whose enchanting image is beyond compare And who is Joy personified, who is Joy personified. Wonderful Light of our universe and the universe beyond phenomena,

Verse (free time) The Life of my life is You. Wonderful Light of this universe and Life beyond.

Pre-chorus The Life of my life is You. x2

Chorus (repeat as desired)

A What lightning flash glimmers in Thy face, Mother!

A′ What lightning flash glimmers in Thy face!

B Seeing Thee, I am thrilled through and through.

B′ Seeing Thee, I am thrilled through and through.

Notes

• The chorus can be treated as the entire chant, so the song can be rendered without the verses at all.

• The time signatures are non-standard, even on the chorus. A and A′ are a slow 3/4 (4 bars in all). For percussion purposes, B can be counted as a bar of 9/8 and B′ as a bar of 10/8. The in-time verse is in odd time signatures, and the pre-chorus alternates 6/8 and 4/8.

• Even when doing just the chorus, the percussion is very challenging: a slow 3/4, then 9/8 and 10/8. See What Lightning Flash (chorus, tabla form) and the cymbal pattern options.

• The book gives two versions of the pre-chorus (the second is marked Optional Variation). Either can be used in place of the other, or one and then the other. The pre-chorus can also be sung x4; in that case, a nice option is to sing the other variation for the second two.

• The chorus can also naturally be sung as A, A′, B, B′, B, B′. The main thing is to be consistent about what is treated as the standard form in a given rendition, so people can follow.

• A nice way to do the whole chant is to sing the in-time verse, then the free-time verse, then the pre-chorus, then loop the chorus. When looping the chorus, you can spend extra time repeating A and A′ in multiples of two, or B and B′ in multiples of two.

• You can end on either the A or the B section of the chorus.

Listen to SRF Recordings

Videos on YouTube

• 2021 Convocation Monks' Kirtan (3-hour)

Audio Recordings

• What Lightning Flash (Br. Bhaskarananda), from the album Come Out of the Silent Sky
  Spotify · Apple Music · Tidal

• What Lightning Flash, from the album In the Temple of My Heart
  Spotify · Apple Music · Tidal

• What Lightning Flash (Paramahansa Yogananda), from the album Songs of My Heart
  Spotify · Apple Music · Tidal