Dear All,
I just subscribed to the list. Having a bit experience in zazen and
related things (and western music with sax and piaono) I'm new to
shakuhachi, just about 1 1/2 year. Actually, I had to look up the word
"Hocchiku" to find out that it possibly describes the kind of flute I'm
playing (built by my teacher)... let me join some ideas to Riley's posting:
>If the point of playing hochiku is to do blowing Zen, then the question
>is: Why would someone want to listen to 'blowing Zen' anyway, live or
>recorded? That would be like watching someone meditating.
When my teacher listens me playing during the lesson, he looks like
doing meditation (actually, while enduring my horrible performance, it
doesn't seem to bother him at all) ...
Some time ago I attended a public performance he gave, and most of the
audience apparently joined in that specific way of listening/meditation.
To my impression, there was less nervous tension and noises as usually
heared during concerts ... and no clapping hands afterwards. A very
silent, very special experience ...
Maybe the point about this kind of music is not watching/listening, but
joining the meditation?
>I suppose
>that doing so can be a calming, meditative experience, and if it helps
>one meditate, then that's great.
Yes, I agree. I suppose, it is a very direct way of helping you to
meditate, maybe better than words and explanations. But it might be
different from person to person ... I find it very interesting to merge
my zazen practice with shakuhachi practice.
>One could argue that listening to a teacher play his/her hochiku helps
>one become better at playing one's own hochiku.
I experience that listening and playing along with my teacher as a kind
of common meditation ... very different from the music lessens I took
for many years just to improve sound and performance.
I guess, becoming a better player is not the point of listening, even
when listening to your own teacher ...
>In general,
>you don't get very good at meditating by watching someone else play a
>flute.
Of course not ... it just can be a support. I experienced it being very
helpful to join other / more advanced people's practice (opposed to
sitting alone), and that hochiku play is just a special way of being
together, an easyer way of catching you teacher's mind or energy or so ...
>It can be meditative watching people meditate, but likewise, it can be
>meditative listening to music. Observing spiritual practice isn't very
>rewarding as a spectator activity. Listening to music however, is.
Yes, there is a difference between just listening to music or joining
meditation (which can be joining someone playing hocchiku) ... but
listening to meditation is just boring, I guess ...
Actually I can imagine it might be very disappointing if you want to
listen to some (shakuhachi) performance and end up hearing someone doing
his meditation stuff ... and vica versa (just heared Yamaguchi Kenji
playing "sanya" last week :-( ... while I really enjoyed the rest of his
musical performance with partially very modern peaces).
>With spiritual practice, it DOES NOT matter what sort of bamboo flute
>you blow into, and really it might be just as well if you threw all of
>your pieces of bamboo away as just more distraction, and got on with
>meditating.
A good point ... I sometimes wonder if shakuhachi practice is not just a
distraction, if you actually want to do meditation ... but I just love
it, it's so beautiful.
>Music making can be spiritual practice, and spritual practice can
>include the making of music. They are, nevertheless, two distinct
>activities.
Yes ... but one can happen to include (or end up becoming) the other,
though it is not of significant importance (being spiritual when playing
music or playing in a skillful way, when doing meditation).
>They work under different rules. Confusing the two can
>result both in bad music and ineffective spiritual practice.
Sometimes both at once, I'm afraid. I guess it's just important to be
clear about what you want to do and not to mix up things ... at least
for the sake of your audience ;-)
Best wishes,
joerg
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