Van Morrison
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#1530 - Thursday, August 21, 2003 - Editor: Jerry
This issue is dedicated to the music people listen to.
Ben Hassine
NDS
Hello people,
Music can have a real liberating and refreshing quality. It
can even take you beyond/out of your normal state of
consciousness, at least that is what I sense. Anyway, would
you like to share some of the songs or compositions that
lifted you out of yourself into the Other?
Hope to hear from you,
Ben.
PS One of my contemporary "elevator songs" are: Van
Morrison
- Into the Mystic, Abyssinians - Meditation Dub, and Neil
Young - Out on the Weekend
Van Morrison
Freyja
Music, to me, is the quintessential language.
There is nothing like it and its infinite
combinations and the unique way it communicates
and its being
cannot be captured by words.
I like almost everything, but here are a few
that come to mind
Leonard Cohen - Ten New Songs CD
Jean-Pierre Rampal and Claude Bolling - Suite for Flute and Jazz
Piano CD
R. Carlos Nakai - Island of Bows CD
Hemi-Sync Metamusic - Spirit's Journey CD
Clannad - Landmarks CD
John Barry - Dances With Wolves CD
Prem Joshua - "New Kafi"
Chinmaya Dunster & Vidroha Jamie "Wandering
Way"
Al Grommer Khan "Agori Dance"
Ustad Usman Khan "Raga Hansadhwani"
Deuter "Sunlight Dancing"
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon CD
so many more...
i'm glad you asked, i'm enjoying
seeing what speaks to everyone else
Freyja
Hur
this is a good point.
i've felt that those who have never discovered
the conceptual teachings of nonduality, have always known it when
they listen to music...they just didn't have a word for it.
asking for songs? almost any song on the radio till it's
played so
much that i cannot stand to hear it.
hur
ps. though i'd disagree with the concept "into the
Other." i'd like
to think of nonduality as the disapperance of the imaginary
Other.
no Other to cap from the children of lesser gods, the lower case
letters. i don't type in lower case letters to make any
point. i'm
just too lazy to cap anything.
Tarah
In order of preference (although all of these are
"tops" for me):
1. B-tribe !Spiritual, Spiritual!
The entire CD is fantastic - totally lifts one. Dramatic flamenco
guitar, moody, wordless vocals...it's music as mood, mood as
music.
2. Novus Magnificat - Constance Demby
This one takes you away...floating continuously. You drift, soar,
cry, laugh and become totally emersed....
3. AEterna - Constance Demby
All selections are great...but, #5 - Eternal Return is one never
to
be forgotten.
4. Ten New Songs - Leonard Cohen
Many have addressed this one. It is special.
5. Moroccan Spirit
This one starts out very, very "earthy". Starting with
the 6th
selection, Midunya, one can barely hold onto their seat, it is
that
elating. It moves on into #7, 8 & 9 flowing one into the
other...and
then...#10 - impossible to describe. Real, real drums...the beat
is
haunting...it takes one away...and leads into a nice finish with
#11
& 12. One is just not the "same" at the end of the
listening as at
the start. Now I must warn you, it may take several listenings to
become totally emersed into it.
6. Enigma - MCMXC a.D.
There are two versions out, one is the "regular" and
the other has 4
extra versions of previous selections. I first purchased
the "regular" because I did not know whether or not I
would like
it...I ended up buying the pricey extended version. Another
wonderful CD.
7. Kitaro
I like Kitaro's earlier CD's. My favorite (which appears to not
be
available any longer - used are sometimes available - $150) is
the
Silkroad Suite played along with the London Symphony Orchestra.
The
orchestra adds a sense of depth that is awe inspiring. Other
Kitaro
favorites include Oasis, India...and the list goes on.
8. Mystere - Cirque du Soleil
If anyone has had the opportunity to see this performance live,
they
know what I am talking about here. This goes beyond the body. A
friend, who died, was adament about having the #9 selection
playing
at his death. I made up a special CD that just played this song
over
& over...titled Kalimando. He envisioned his death as this
song,
especially the ending of the song where he stated it was nothing
but
sound and light. He got his wish.
Of course there are many, many more great selections. These are
the
ones I keep returning to play over and over.
It is great getting new selections from others. I will have fun
trying them out.
Constance Demby
Greg Goode
--DRIFT, by Arthur Dent and Deeper Than Space.
--TRANCES AND DRONES, by Robert Rich.
--Anything on http://www.globalsoul.net/
Terry S.
...Leonard Cohen; Ten New Songs
Pink Floyd; Dark side of the Moon
Philip Glass; Songs of Liquid days
Miles Davis; In a Silent Way
Gene Poole
- 21st Century Jesus/Messiah (play it LOUD)
- Oxygene/Jarre
- anything by Bach
- Boston/Boston
- All she wants to do is dance/Henley
- Been a long time (since rock 'n roll)/Led Zeppelin
- Take On Me/Ah Ha
Nina
Hi, Ben, in the late 90s, a bunch of us here in Asheville were
neurolinguistically programmed to move out of our wee selves to
the
beat of Anugama's Shamanic Dream CD. This has been confirmed by
hysterical (read: funny coincidence) post-hypnosis consensus. No,
this was not a super secure government experiment, it for all of
us
the result of attending a particular yoga teacher's class here in
A-
ville. She played that CD in every class, so, we all came to
associate it with that relaxed blissed-out nothin'-doin' feeling
that
comes with practicing yoga under the tutelage of a smooth-talkin'
buddhist yogini. Anytime I hear that CD, I drop right back into
that
room with the resilient blue-grey sports floor, am surrounded by
a
bunch of slack-jawed and bright-eyed yogis and the slight smell
of
bleach solution combined with Sandalwood.
Let's see, here are some more:
Kronos Quartet's CD Astor Piazzolla: Five Tango Sensations
Flaming Lips' CD Yoshini Battles the Pink Robots
Yo Yo Ma's CD Soul of the Tango
John Adam's CD Shaker Loops (not dependable - sometimes annoying)
Mark Otter
Hi Ben,
Any of the holotropic breathworks sets I've ever breathed to.
R. Carlos Nakai and Nawang Khechog - Winds of Devotion (I
breathed for
hours to this CD once, playing it over and over, while asking
"Who am
I?" repeatedly, until I was left laughing with great joy at
the answer
"I am the question asking itself in infinitely many
ways". Yum. The
music is an intersection between Native American and Tibetan
Buddhist
traditions and is just amazing.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party - Devotional and Love Songs (or
anything
else by him...) Play it loud!!! (and dance - very celebratory)
Byron Metcalf - Helpers, Allies and Guides. Byron's a shaman, and
makes music for journeying. He has some more recent albums as
well, in
collaboration with Steve Roach, which I don't know quite as well,
but
are also for journeying. There is some darkness in much of this
music,
which can be very effective in helping "stuff" arise to
be seen and
let go of.
Any of the "Yoga" series by Russill Paul. I like Shabda
Yoga best, but
there are several releases, all wonderful.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ben
Hi Mark,
I also listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sabri Brothers and other
qawalli
groups. I play it loud as well, the neighbours think I am a
muslim
fundamentalist now :-) I tried to explain to the old lady it's
not allowed
to listen to music for fundi's -it wouldn't help.
That's why I also play Klezmatics very loud now and then to add
to the
confusion...
Did you ever hear of Mercan Dede? It's Turkish sufi music with
dance/electro
flavor. Very nice.
I listen to Steve Roach as well. "Structures from
Silence" is amazing. My
cat Teddy likes it as well. My girlfriend doesn't....
Nina
Mark wrote: "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party - Devotional and Love Songs (or anything else by him...) Play it loud!!! (and dance - very celebratory)"
Hehe! Oh, Mark, the images that brings to mind!
Hey, I remembered another one: Deva Premal's CD... uh... the one
with
the two versions of the Gayatri Mantra on it. Not only did it
take me
into 'the Other', but it granted me the minor siddhi of 'traffic
control' during a long road trip. I had been listening to it
nonstop
on repeat and noticed that my invitations to left-lane bandits to
kindly get out of my way were being headed without fail or
hesitation. Then I tried it out on right lane bandits and it
worked
on them, too. It was quite a happy experience, as I sped along
10-20
mph above the speed limit on curving mountainous roads that had
taxed
the creative minds of armies of engineers. "Blessings on my
fellow
travelers!" I beamed at each car as Deva chanted song after
song.
Talk about being transported. LOL!
Nina
Melody
Pandit Jasraj's rendition of "Om" is
beyond description.
You can hear it, and others at:
http://www.the-covenant.net/JukeBox.html
To be more specific, Om, is the name of
the collection which includes his rendition
of each of 4 states. What is found at
the URL below, is his rendition of the
4th.
Jerry
I like music to be attached to an emotional experience in my
life or to a
performer that creates an emotional experience. Otherwise I can't
get into
the experience of simply listening to a piece of music or a song.
A Newfoundland girl named Jenny Gear is creating an intense
following with
her artistic sensibilities and emotional impact. I like music
that comes
from a source like Jenny: http://www.deathbrand.com/jenny/.
Jenny
Gear
Gyan
Renaissance music performed by the group Pomerium,
The Mass in B Minor by J.S. Bach ( and its Agnus Dei
section ),
Some devotionals songs by Deva Premal, Miten and Milarepa.
John Lennon's 'Instant Karma'.
'Oor Es Mayr Eem' sung by Isabel Bayarakdarian from the ARARAT
Original
Soundtrack.
Sarojini and Nina
Nina: I want to thank you for mentioning the music by
Anugama. I had never heard of him before and so went to the
Site and listened to it. It is wonerful. I use music in the
Yoga classes I teach and some of it would be absolutely
perfect. It's just so mesmerizingly soothing isn't it? Thank
you so very much for this information.!
Peace and Love Always, Sarojini
Hi, Sarojini, you're welcome. I like the heartbeat and breath
woven
into many of Anugama's extended songs. For a while, I was looking
for
CDs that highlight sounds of nature to use in classes. It's not
as
easy to find them as one would think - so many of the 'nature
sounds'
CDs incorporate really distracting new age music. However, I did
find
one that I can recommend, 'Dolphin Dreams' by Jonathan Goldman.
It is
an aural journey from the beach into the ocean over the course of
65
minutes. The instrumentals are not at all distracting, and the
sounds
are so perfect that when I play it in the YWCA classroom, I have
the
uncanny urge to look for hidden seagulls. LOL!
http://www.banns.freeserve.co.uk/dolphins/music.htm
Sarojini, in which style do you teach? What other music do you
use in
your classes?
Nina