I am so pleased to learn about this workshop! Thank you to those
of you who included the information here. Since there haven't
been many replies to the topic - and I don't remember reading
anything about this before - I would like to take this opportunity
to ask some of you to weigh in on the subject. You see, Mary
Lu's articles "The Bamboo Way" and "Playing Honkyoku, Praying
Honkyoku" have been a very important part of my experience. I
have not been on the Shakuhachi path very long and I also do
not live in an area where there is a teacher to accompany me
on my way. To complicate things even further, when the flute
called, my ego answered. I have a book;I can teach myself."
I did not make much progress and I felt embarrassed and defeated.
I wanted to forget I had ever heard of Shakuhachi - and I tried
- but I couldn't stop hearing the sound in my head. Instead of
playing, I listened to recordings and read as much as possible.
When I read "The Bamboo Way," the section about Goal-oriented
attitude and Mirror-attitude (following) got my attention!
The "Mirror" Attitude is about studying our chosen discipline
with awareness, using the experience of the new learning as a
mirror to see ourselves in the process of learning as we meet
with difficulty, the longing for the goal, discouragement, fatigue,
disappointment, doubt, fear, frustration, anxiety, and resistance
to seeing and hearing. We will also surely meet criticism, success,
and failure. We will be awakened to the need for discipline,
for perseverance and for constantly nurturing the sound. This
new undertaking offers us a chance to see ourselves in a very
different, fresh, new situation and the awareness and self-knowledge
gained here can be clearer because the experience is so different
from our ordinary life. Then this new self-knowledge, if we are
willing, can be applied to the other areas of our life which,
because we are used to them, have become blind spots.
Following the "Way" our ideas of our own identity are challenged,
e.g. I am not a musician; I can't play music.
Our ideas of how we learn are challenged, e.g. I am a fast learner;
by this time I "should" have already mastered this.
Our ideas about what we already know are also challenged, e.g.
I already know how to hear, breathe; I already know myself.
Copyright c)1998 Mary Lu Brandwein, Donkeroo Studios
I don't know exactly how to verbalize my thought process in the
days and weeks after I read the article except to say that I
began to realize I was primarily existing in the momentum of
goal-oriented attitude. Not a pleasant discovery! It led to many
positive changes however. One of which - Kundalini yoga - has
had a completely unexpected effect on my Shakuachi journey. Kundalini
yoga combines physical posturing and meditation with breath
control to awaken your intuitive mind and teach you to live in
the present moment. The connection seems so obvious to me now
but I certainly did not see it when I began taking the class!
The second blessing (which I have only recently realized) is
that in many ways I do now have a Shakuhachi teacher. It's just
that he blows zen into thin air. I had to earn to learn.
I hope some of you will respond with further thoughts about this.
I feel I have only touched the surface of what I need to learn.
I would also like to know if anyone else has combined yoga with
Shakuhachi.
Sincerely,
Deana Dearry
Deana L. Dearry
Accounting Software
Eastern Computer
6711 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN 37919
800-588-6491 ext 258
865-588-7822
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