John Baker wrote:
> I answered. Is it evil to have an opinion? My answer
Now now! No opinion is altogether evil and yours no more than mine.
Suppressing one is. My opinion was not about adopting the culture from
where an object comes from.
I was talking about seeing the object from the perspective of the
culture that created it. I'm not from Japanese culture. I'm from a
culture that I believe has the most difficulties being anything else,
and I'm a prime specimen in that matter. Some beautiful things come from
my culture, but nothing as beautiful as the Shakuhachi. I'm interested
about how it came to be, but to understand it I use the very definition
of compassion, the ability to see through another's point of view. I
want to see what the culture that created the Shakuhachi sees. This does
not threaten me or my way of life. Or anybody's.
Yes, it would be easier just to borrow a book from the library next door
and only utilize information that fits my existing conceptions, but
there is no such book, so I'll do it the uncompromizing way.
The sound of the Shakuhachi is beautiful, yes, but I want more than just
a pretty tune. The sound is infinitely more beautiful when somebody who
has mastered what I want, plays it. I want the sound that does not
originate from the flute.
BTW: I bought mine too, there's nothing wrong with that (although I am
interested in making one as part of the process I described earlier).
-- "There are so many things a reboot will not fix!" -Jani _____________________________________________List subscription information is at: http://communication.ucsd.edu/shaku/listsub.html
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