No. 139: The Singing Animal

When the Singer begins to observe that she is indeed an animal, a singing Creature born not only of body but of a sort of "Music-Spirit" which composers, in their knowledge of this Creature's existence, have pulled from the very depths of Who She Is, she starts to see the sparks of her True Self. It's like seeing the flash of a Bengal tiger's eyes in the jungle: She does not know where the Creature has been or where It is going, but she can guess...oh yes, she can guess, at It's power. This guess is the voice of timelessness which speaks back from when she was made of stardust, her voice floating on the silent winds of the universe. The spark in her eye is the spark in the tiger's eye, for It lives inside her, owns her, brings her to life with a Truth that lives only in open, timeless, wilderness. In the absence of pretense, in the place where hunger is raw, the bowing, the worship, the Love expressed toward Music transforms from mere gratefulness into awe...and Music becomes not only Music but the stuff which makes up Life Itself. And suddenly she is running alongside the tiger, not knowing where they are going, but beginning to know why.

Quote of the Day: The Ultimate Spiritual Practice

The ultimate spiritual practice, as I teach it, is facing everything and avoiding nothing. When you truly face everything and avoid nothing, you will no longer be afraid to stand tall—before your own conscience, before others, before God. This is because you are no longer hiding anything from yourself. Through this noble practice, you will cultivate integrity and discover the kind of soul-strength that only comes from fearlessly facing the truth. The instinctive defense mechanisms that the ego hides behind will crumble, and your self and soul will become a transparent vehicle through which the evolutionary impulse can work in this world.

~ Andrew Cohen

Quote of the Day: A Creative Flow

Think about your experience of those moments when you are most creatively engaged. What does it feel like? Being in a creative “flow” can be ecstatic and, simultaneously, there is an often surprising sense of urgency to bring into being that which you can sense is possible. That’s why great artists or scientists will work day and night, neglecting to eat or sleep. They are driven by a vision, something just beyond their reach that will not let them rest until they have brought it into reality. That drive is the very same impetus that caused the whole universe to burst forth, fourteen billion years ago, and is now expressing itself through the body, mind, heart, and talents of an inspired human being.

When you feel that creative flow, often you discover a part of yourself you are not normally aware of but which feels more like your “self” than the person you usually think you are. It’s like plugging in to a deeper source of energy and passion that transcends whatever limitations you ordinarily assume. A deeper, more authentic part of your self is creatively released. That’s why such moments are so fulfilling—it’s not just the creative work you produce, but the experience of being more alive, more connected, more in touch with a sense of meaning and purpose.

~ Andrew Cohen

No. 138

What if we and the music we make are made of One and the same thing?  Are we ready to embrace that possibility? To own the love we feel, the passion which these creations, inanimate until we breathe through them,  inspire in us?  Are we willing to release control, to surrender to the unknown as music takes over who we are, even when we are not singing it?  Are we aware of what music can teach us? Of how much It understands the world we live in, the lives we lead, indeed where we came from?  Could we ever grasp the chance, the shadow of a dream which says that music itself is alive?  That music embodies qualities to which we can aspire? That to answer to music is the same as answering to God Herself?  Will we do this in all knowing?  I believe that we are doing it all along, and that life is simply our birthing toward knowing It!

Quote of the Day: Das Selbst Befreien

Wenn wir darüber sprechen, eine neue Kultur an der Leading Edge, der Vorfront der Bewusstseinsentwicklung, zu gestalten, jenseits des Status quo, in den wir eingebettet sind, dann wissen wir nicht unbedingt, wie das aussehen sollte. Das ist verständlich – schließlich ist diese Kultur noch nicht entstanden. Und wir müssen auch nicht genau wissen, wohin wir gehen werden. Aber wir müssen wissen was es bedeutet das Selbst aus den Strukturen herauszulösen, die unser Potenzial für den vertikalen Aufstieg behindern. Und wenn wir uns in dieser Weise befreien, werden wir inmitten dieser Entwicklung sehen, wohin wir gehen. Aber zunächst einmal ist es entscheidend wichtig, das Selbst zu befreien, damit es zu dieser heroischen Reise bereit ist.

Andrew Cohen

Quote of the Day: Rumi

"Out beyond the ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing there is a field.  I'll meet you there." 

No.137

The teleology of the singing organism is to be free.  What shape the journey to freedom takes in the singer's life is as infinitely variable as the differences between us.  However the "It", das Es: the factor which keeps us searching and which is our reward from the time we sense It to the time we can allow It fully in our lives through our voices, is always and ever the same.  It is what we recognize when we hear greatness. It is what we yearn for because It is not only our blood and our breath, but the very life force which sustains us.  When we realize this, a whole new kind of camaraderie is available to us.  We are no longer just singers, but the embodiment, the instruments, the mouthpieces of God.  It is at once a profound calling and a simple one.  But a calling it is: deeper than the individual soul itself.

Quote of the Day: Freeing the Self

When we speak about creating a new culture at the leading edge, beyond the status quo that we are embedded in, we don't necessarily know what it is supposed to look like. That's understandable—after all, it has not yet emerged. And we don't need to have a completely clear picture of where we are going. What we do need to know is what it means to disembed the self from that which is inhibiting its potential for vertical ascent. And as we free ourselves, in the midst of ascending, we will begin to see where it is that we are going. What is necessary, first and foremost, is to free the self to make this heroic journey.

~ Andrew Cohen