Enlightening Entertainment
 
Ghana’s Golden Heart, Musician Rocky Dawuni    Part 1   
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I stood upon a rock, on your holy mountains, beholding your beauty, overcame me like a song. My cup overflows with joy, hearing sound of prayers and bells My faith was once weak, but now you make me strong.

Greetings celestial souls and gracious hearts, welcome to Enlightening Entertainment featuring international singing sensation from Ghana, West Africa, Mr. Rocky Dawuni. He has been likened to legendary vocalist and peace-seeker from Jamaica, Mr. Bob Marley. Rocky is a true inspiration. He chooses to use his God-given musical talents to promote humanitarian causes. He also empowers people to change their life to help make our world a better place.

We have the power
To change the world
Whenever we want to

Spirituality, an open heart, and inspiration run deep in the world of Rocky Dawuni.

My inspiration comes from life, and humanity. And life and humanity, I believe is centered within God. So ultimately, God inspires me. So I find music wherever life is and that is what really inspires me. And I also try because from my onset, coming from Africa, I was very fortunate to grow up in a very spiritual family. My family was steeped in the traditions, African traditional, religion.

But then as I grew up, I also made it a point to really study from Christianity to Islam, and read some, Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita. And through that, what I realized was that the concept of God was just one within every culture and every place, and it’s just the interpretation that usually gives it its uniqueness. So with that, my inspiration comes from life as it is, everywhere.

In 2003, Rocky established his own musical venue in Los Angeles, California, USA called “Afro Funke” to promote and celebrate the beauty and oneness of African music. Rocky’s sincere heart and pure motives have attracted legendary superstars such as Prince and Stevie Wonder to visit his club.

The thing is that I don’t look back, you know what I mean, because there’s always challenges ahead. My all-ultimate thing is the unity of Africa and then peace on Earth. So that’s a really tall order. Every generation and every time and every day comes with its challenges, and what I think is that music, because it’s really a living thing, once you put it out there, you inspire people within their hearts. They shine their light, and in so shining their light too, they help others to shine their light.

Saying if you’re going the same direction Oh children! Zion train is coming our way Get on board now Woo! Zion train is coming our way

Rocky’s shining soul radiates wherever he goes. He uses meditation as a way to gain wisdom and maintain focus.

For me, meditation, it’s one of the means by which you get to know the Self. You also get attuned with the Self, and as you tune with the Self, you tune with the oneness of the universe, and that oneness is where we all belong to. So I see meditation as a very important component of what I do, in order to also eliminate all the clutter and the chatter that’s going on around, to be able to focus what is most important. And I feel that it’s also the soul of the world, when you meditate, you tap into the soul of the world, and you draw from a very powerful wellspring of God and nature and humanity. So meditation I feel is of prime importance to everything that I do.

Closely tied to Rocky’s spiritual beliefs of oneness and universal love is his choice of a diet mainly without meat. As reggae artist Bob Marley once said, “You can have more tender meaning toward a cow… you have other things that you can eat to get the same things like meat protein has… I don’t exactly like big dead flesh in front of me.” Next, Rocky Dawuni shares his thoughts on vegetarianism.

My belief in vegetarianism is that love makes everything run in the world. And the only way you can really experience love in its purest form is if you can extend that love not only to yourself, and only to people of your kind, but every aspect of creation. And so when I see an animal, with blood, with life, that moves, I feel that it behooves on me as a person, because I feel that God gave man dominion over the Earth to be a caretaker, you know what I mean? Being a caretaker, you have to have compassion for everything within your domain. And so I feel that preservation of life of other creatures and animals is also a fundamental responsibility of humanity.

In his youth, Rocky would help his father, who from a peacekeeper became a farmer, on the farm. Cultivating vegetables to grow full of vitality, Rocky has inherited a joy and celebration of life on and off stage.

You can’t fake reality. You can’t fake the truth, and if you profess love, I’m not saying that people who eat meat can’t give love, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that personally, for me to really be able to feel that divine almost to that level, I feel that I have to extend, I have to extend my consciousness way beyond just humanity, and in doing so to when I stand on stage and I talk about love, I feel that it comes from a very deep place. It’s just my journey to, to really find the truth within myself, and the truth without of myself.

Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television. We’ll return soon with more on the gifted Ghanaian reggae artist Rocky Dawuni.

Yeah! Right this morning I just wrote this song In the evening and I will be strong. Yeah! Right this morning I just wrote this song In the evening and I will be strong.

Welcome back peace-loving viewers. We were just listening to the heart-lifting song, “Sweet Bright Day,” from Rocky’s 1998 album, “Crusade.” With his passion for constructive change and gifted singing voice, he has received many favorable reviews in the media such as this one from LA Weekly, which said: “Few artists in town have a more positive spiritual attitude than Rocky Dawuni… he deeply, truly believes in the power of music to effect progressive change in the world.”

His latest album was released in October 2009 entitled, “Hymns for the Rebel Soul” with his band “The Revelation Project.” Rocky discusses a beautiful song named “Jerusalem” and the profound effect it had on his life.

I was in Israel last year, and it was a culmination of a spiritual journey because I’ve been a big student of the Bible. I really studied the Bible since I was a little kid, and I’ve studied the Qur'an too, and the Gita.

So Jerusalem has always held a very special place to me, because it’s also the place, the three major religions, and even other religions that are not part of the three major religions, all profess as to the divinity of Jerusalem. So, when I got to Jerusalem, there was really a certain, shall I say, feeling and awareness and consciousness that swept over me. I stood upon a rock, on your holy mountains. Beholding your beauty, overcame me like a song. My cup overflows with joy, hearing sound of prayers and bells My faith was once weak, but now you make me strong.

I can’t forget you, Jerusalem. I can’t forget you, Jerusalem. If I forget you, I forget my right hand I can’t forget you, Jerusalem.

Up in the hills men and angels sing. Oh what a beauty when their kingdom come I’ll say it again and again This time has come for us To rise and be the control of Babylon.

So here I am with the voice and the sound Walking your streets like a king who’s found his crown. I can’t forget you, Jerusalem. I can’t forget you, Jerusalem. And if I forget you, I forget my right hand I can’t forget you, Jerusalem.

Though you sit in isolation You are the whole world’s inspiration I can’t forget you, Jerusalem.

May peace be within your walls, Amen. I can’t forget you, Jerusalem. I will answer every call Asalam Alakum (Peace Be Upon You) I can’t forget you, Jerusalem.

I think that song really summarized my journey, my spiritual journey and my spiritual quest, that you go forth just to discover the Self, you know what I mean? And Jerusalem really, really, really helped me on my path to discovery, self discovery.

Interestingly, Rocky perceived the 2008 US presidential election as a sign of the start of a new transformation on Earth. During this time, he was recording “Hymns for the Rebel Soul.”

In churches in Israel, in mosques in Israel, just the movement of people, you could see that we’ve reached a certain precipice in terms of our human journey, and that we were just getting ready to step into a new era of spiritual awakening. We are in an age when things, changes, profound changes are going to come.

So I think it’s not a change that we’re waiting to receive and it falls in our hands. It’s a change that we have the power to make it what it has to be. So I feel that this is why my work becomes important because my music is towards upliftment of people, and also making people positively oriented. You know, they have to realize that everybody who is born is a miracle. We have to see ourselves as really special and that specialness has to make us also appreciate what we have, that if we realize how special we are, then we can realize how special we can be.

And I think not realizing that is also a limitation of what our power and how we can be. So by this age is that the playing field is all being leveled for us to really create this new world. It’s up to us to make it what it should be. So people like me who are going through time and space and stages and bringing positivity, we want the change to be positive.

We want it to be that kingdom that we all aspire to, that kingdom that humanity can celebrate, that kingdom that’s no war. People will put their swords down, and know that conflict and war belonged to an age when we were still in the darkness, but this will definitely be an age of light and progress and upliftment of humanity.

To find out more about Rocky Dawuni, please visit:

Beloved viewers, this concludes part 1 of 2 of our interview with Ghanaian singing sensation and peace advocate Rocky Dawuni here on Supreme Master Television. Please tune in again tomorrow for our conclusion as we discuss more in-depth Rocky’s musical and humanitarian endeavors. Now, please join us for Words of Wisdom, next after Noteworthy News. May your heart sing with serenity and gladness. See you next time!
Cleanliness is next to godliness, so you better keep your neighborhood clean, my friend. Cleanliness is next to godliness, so you better keep your neighborhood clean my friend.

Halo again, beloved viewers. Welcome back as we continue our interview with reggae star Rocky Dawuni, the musical golden heart of Ghana. Today, the noble artist shares about his commitment to an array of social and constructive causes.

The change that I feel is coming is all about how fast we can really polarize ourselves. So if we polarize ourselves positively, by really starting to go forth and do good works, toward good energy, starting to heal, where there’s war, we find peace. Wherever there is greed, we go there and we find equitability, or equality; wherever there is injustice, we bring justice; wherever there is pain and suffering, we bring peace and happiness. Wherever we heal all these strifes, we keep on polarizing this change towards being a positive change.

Rocky Dawuni has partnered with such noteworthy organizations as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the US-based Carter Center, and the European Union. He is dedicated to raising awareness on important health and humanitarian issues in and out of Africa.

My mission as a musician was to really utilize this music as a means to really create very important and sustainable changes in people’s lives, be able to influence people’s lives. So I saw the charity work of using my platform and my celebrity in turning that light into focusing on the issues. And in so focusing on the issue, that issue is discussed, and then the right solutions, sustainable solutions, are found.

So that has led me into advocacy work from water, malaria awareness, AIDS, girl/child education. Everything that I feel that is really important to uplift our communities in Africa, and at the same time, the communities outside of Africa, I feel like it’s my mission as much as humanly possible for me to do.

For Rocky, helping a cause isn’t just about lending his image and name, but he also rolls up his sleeves and gets involved in the discussions and coordination needed until communities are assisted.

We take an issue, and we go, we bring press, we bring NGOs who focus on this issue, and then we go to the village, meet the communities, meet the people, meet the leaders. And then we try to find solutions through a Town Hall like meeting set, throw ideas until we find ideas that we feel are going to work. And then we find the NGOs who are doing work in relation to these and how they can solve it; and how the solution, too, can be sustainable.

Holding water as sacred, keeping it clean and pure is an African tradition, but today, with the impacts of industrializing and climate change, water has become polluted and increasingly scarce. This has resulted in the suffering of millions of people in Africa. In 2007, Rocky went on a humanitarian mission to Ghana coinciding with UNICEF’s World Water Day to see the situation for himself.

Rocky’s field trip to the north with UNICEF was a three-day visit and he went to three communities in the northern region of Ghana, which is the most impoverished region in the country.

On the trip North, I felt it would be great to write a song that will inspire people to action.

Cleanliness is next to godliness, so you better keep your neighborhood clean, my friend. Cleanliness is next to godliness, so you better keep your neighborhood clean, my friend.

We went to Tolon-Kumbungu, Yendi and Gunbonayele. We will go to the villages and meet the traditional chiefs, the government representatives, and the people. We were able to hear the problems from the developmental partners, UNICEF and the Carter Center. They brought us up-to-date with their public health efforts. Finally, we exchanged ideas on how we could help get their messages to the public because we all share the dream of clean water for Ghana.

Rocky Dawuni is also originally from northern Ghana. Through this mission, he had a chance to reconnect with his roots and express his feelings about his experience.

This is such an incredible time for me. This is my people, my village, where I'm from, my roots. This is where my ancestors all came from. So being back here, it's just, it's indescribable. I can't even speak it in words. It's really amazing. And since my dad passed, my daddy was there, the chief, the king of this place and since he passed, this is the first time, I've come home.

Clean water. Everybody must know the truth. Clean water. Everybody must know the truth. Clean water. You cannot deny the fact, Cleanliness is next to godliness, so you better keep your neighborhood clean, my friend. Clean water. Okay! Clean water.

Our interview with Ghanaian artist and humanitarian continues, when we return. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Lord you have to save us all Save us all Lord you have to save us all Save us all Some are saying it’s the final call Save us all Lord you have to right the wrong Stop them all

On March 6, 1957, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to establish her freedom. During his speech declaring independence, Ghana’s first Prime Minister Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah expressed his wish that all of Africa would too be liberated. This same philosophy of a strong and vibrant Africa also resides within Mr. Dawuni as he encourages his fellow citizens through song.

Africans we have to learn Africa has to learn (We all will be one)

Rocky has teamed up with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson to raise awareness on AIDS. He was also invited to collaborate on the “Playing for Change” peace project and had his music featured on primetime American television. To further his humanitarian efforts, Rocky Dawuni founded “Africa Live!” It’s a non-profit organization established to promote a resurgence of Ghana’s rich musical history and restore pride in the people. In addition, he has been awarded “Ghana’s Cultural Ambassador” and his song “In Ghana” was voted Reggae Song of the Year in 2000.

Time now for jubilation. O God I wish I had an answer. ‘Cause in sweet love, our spirits will grow.

In 2001, Dawuni created his first annual “Independence Splash” concert in Accra, Ghana, to honor and celebrate his country’s freedom. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) said, “The Independence Splash was a first-rate example of how music and development can work together for the unity and advancement of the people.”

For Ghana’s 50th Anniversary in 2007, Rocky’s “Independence Splash,” brought together tens of thousands of people and was broadcast to millions.

“My Independence Splash” started in 1999 when my song, “In Ghana” jumped off the charts all across the country. It became like a new national anthem.

Oppressor man running (running), while we jumping (jumping) We’ll be jamming today. So say it’s love from Rasta. In Ghana. We’re stopping all the suffering. (Alright!) In Ghana. We’re stopping all the suffering. In Ghana. In Ghana. In Ghana, I’ll say it’s love from Africa, in Ghana.

So say it’s love from Rasta. In Ghana. We’re stopping all the suffering. In Ghana. I’ll say it’s love from Africa. In Ghana. Jah seals and signs and delivers.

Yes, he seals and signs and delivers. Right on top of Mount Zion With gladness I wipe my tears. Lord raise my flag, red gold and green So I can sing a song for Africa with honesty The peoples you know

I believe music, it’s the beat of life, you know what I mean? The day that music dies is the day life stops too. So you always need the music. That’s why in Africa, when there’s birth there’s music, when there’s marriage there’s music, when there’s celebration, every kind of celebration, there’s music, when even there’s death there’s music, because it encompasses life.

It is the common man’s time now to make it. O Mama, O Papa, come let’s face reality. Where you gonna go? Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna go? When this music comes for you.

With the growing number of climate change problems affecting countries around the world, we asked Rocky about his thoughts on global warming and possible solutions.

Every problem on Earth, if it’s a physical problem, there’s a spiritual component to it. We are spiritual beings living in a physical world. That’s why when somebody passes away you can see the body, but you can’t see the spirit. What makes the person the person, is not there. So we have to approach everything to that way. Global warming, is a culmination of certain misguided directions that humanity collectively, all of us, have taken. Our material evolution has been great, it’s led us through into so many things, it’s made us grow in leaps and bounds.

But what we lost through this material evolution was that, it lacked the spiritual dimension to compliment it. We consume without care for the environment. We plunder like we are the last generation on Earth. And we pollute the oceans with no thinking of that the ocean has the largest mammals from Earth, the whales are in the ocean. So if you look at all these repercussions of all these actions that we’re taking because of our march, or should I say our run toward progress, our march to progress, that we are not taking care of these things, obviously there’s going to be blowback, because to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

We need to change right from here! People need to start changing, and we need to bring that consciousness down and know that, okay, I need to do this, I need to take care of the Earth because if the Earth stops taking care of us, there will be no us. So we can’t dispute that. We can’t dispute the fact that if the oceans are polluted, or the rivers are polluted, that we are going to, in the end, drink that polluted water.

So it’s all about a matter of really an expansion of our consciousness, that we need to confront this, but we have to first start from us. Because if we can change ourselves, it will permeate the whole universe, it will be a domino effect. This global warming wouldn’t even be a big problem if we can really focus to really make a change within ourselves.

O Mama, O Papa, come let’s face reality. Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go? Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna go? When this music comes for you

Hey! You youth of Congo (Catch it! Catch it!) Hey! You youth of Liberia (Africa!) Hey! You youth of Cote D’Ivoire (Catch it! Catch it!) Hey! You youth of South Africa (Africa!) Hey! You youth of Zimbabwe (Catch it! Catch it!) Hey! You youth of Ethiopia (Africa!) Hey! You youth of Africa (Catch it! Catch it!) Hey! You youth of Ghana too (Africa!)

Thank you Mr. Rocky Dawuni for your enchanting reggae-roots music and courageous love-filled messages. With wishes for your continued success, may our shared vision for an elevated future come true.

To find out more about Rocky Dawuni, please visit:

Lovely viewers, thanks for being with us on today’s Enlightening Entertainment. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, up next after Noteworthy News. May you be immersed in celestial light and melody.

Dr. Mario Beauregard of Canada has received international recognition for his pioneering work on the neurobiology of mystical experience, particularly for an experiment where his team measured the brain activity of nuns in deep prayer or contemplation

This experiment was the first one done in neuroscience to understand the neural basis of spiritual states. The nuns reported the impression of being absorbed by something much greater than themselves.

Please watch “Searching for God in the Brain: Canadian Neuroscientist Dr. Mario Beauregard” Monday, January 18, on Science and Spirituality.

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