• Sit on the floor in a comfortable position that allows you to keep your back straight. Relax. Breathe deeply, ,inhaling through your nose, exhaling through your mouth. Stretch the breath out as long as you can without gasping for it. Feel the breath pull your body erect. Feel your ribcage expand, front and back. When your lungs are full, hold your breath for a few seconds before you begin to release it. When you have emptied your lungs, wait a moment and begin the cycle again.
• As you continue this cycle and become comfortable with it, be aware of your thoughts. He ar yourself ramble on inside, keeping up a flow of words. There may be memories passing through. Maybe music. Spend a few minutes listening to yourself think. Your thoughts may turn to themselves.
  
• Listen to yourself think about your thoughts. Are you thinking about how hard it is to stay relaxed? Are you thinking this is a stupid exercise? Let the thoughts keep coming.
• As your thoughts go by, take a step back so that you are silently observing, rather than actively thinking them. Don't follow their logic. Just listen. Continue to feel your breath coming in, holding, going out, and waiting. If you feel sleepy, let the sleepy feeling flow away from you. If you become aware of muscles that are tense, let them relax. Sink deeper and deeper into the peacefulness you feel. When you are ready, let yourself resurface.

      Meditation is a discipline that is practiced in many different areas of the world as a path to self awareness. In meditation, the ego, or "I" lets go of the consciousness, letting more of the self emerge. Meditation techniques are excellent training in one-pointed concentration and physical relaxation, two skills that are essential to the performing musician.

      The ego is a complex psychological structure. For my purposes, it is enough to define the ego as that part of your consciousness that names things. The ego is not your consciousness or individuality. It is the part of the mind that says "I am conscious," "I am an individual." It is the voice of left brain, Logos consciousness.

      The ego is often experienced as a voice that provides a running commentary on what the individual is experiencing. In doing the meditation exercise, you may have discovered that the voice in your head didn't want to go away. It may have used all sorts of tricks to keep itself present in your consciousness. You may have successfully stopped the voice momentarily, only to have it come back and say "Hey, this is working," or "this is stupid." The ego doesn't like to be disregarded. It is the ego who says "I am," constantly reminding you of your individuality. When the ego, in meditation, lets go of consciousness, you seem to lose some of your individuality and there is a sense of merging, of completeness. Persuading the ego to let go allows the whole person to expand and feel the connections between himself and the world. What meditation has brought me is a heightened sensitivity to my environment and a realization that I am affected by things around me. The ego is a very powerful force in mainstream music. Music is used as a tool to further the power and importance of the person who writes it and the people who play it. It is the musicians and composers themselves who are being sold at concerts and on records. The anonymous ballad is gone and has been replaced by the copyright act. It's not just a song - it's my song. The recording industry has lost sight of its purpose - to make widely available a piece of music or a performance that otherwise would never be heard by many people - in other words, to connect people to one another through the shared experience of listening to and feeling a piece of music.

      Rather than achieve this connection, the modern record industry serves to separate people from one another, primarily the artist from his audience, but also the artist from his own individuality.

      The important thing to a record executive is to promote his artist's image, regardless of whether the music speaks to us or has value. In some cases, it is not even necessary for the artist to have written, or even performed the music attributed to him.(1)

      As these artists become more popular, they become objects of admiration for younger musicians, and consequently objects of emulation. The young musician wants to be "just like" so and so, and he applies all his ambition to that goal. When these musicians sell records, it is because they do sound just like so and so, which makes it possible for them to rise to the same level, where they inspire yet another generation of young musicians. It is a system that discourages musical individuality.

      Because we live in a society where being "just like so and so" is a virtue, the ego, which likes to feel important, drives us towards conformity, something that is in direct opposition to its proper task, which is to represent our individuality. This is where meditation is helpful. Becoming free from the constant control that the ego exerts over consciousness allows deeper parts of the mind to emerge; parts that balance the ego with Eros qualities and that express the creativity and uniqueness that are essential parts of individuality.(2)

• Do this exercise in a group of three or more. Find a quiet place, as free from outside noise as possible, where you will not be disturbed.
• I) Sit facing each other and clap your hands together in a constant rhythm. Use aural and visual clues to keep your clapping together. Count to yourself "One, two, three, four" in time to your clapping.
• II) Sit back to back, or in a way that allows you to have physical contact without looking at each other. Sit for a while and let your mind clear. Start to clap your hands without making any effort to keep a constant rhythm or to clap along with each other. Let your rhythm come by itself. Listen to everyone else's clapping and the way your clapping mixes with theirs. Try not to analyze what you're doing. If you are clapping in time with each other, let that happen. If you drift apart, let that happen.
• III) Repeat II, but sit in different parts of the room, as far as possible from each other.
• Discuss the differences between the three situations. How did it change the experience to have your eyes closed or opened? Bodies touching or apart? Listening to yourself or the group?

      Playing music with other people can take total sensory involvement. You're watching for when their hands move, listening to make sure all the sounds come at once. You're feeling the movement of bodies and the vibrations produced by the music. All of this is being processed by the brain and fed to your muscles to produce the sounds and keep them synchronized. If you're using your ego to process this information, it is a nearly impossible job. The conscious part of your mind doesn't work fast enough to process this information and make it useful because it is busy naming things. That's its job.

      In meditation, you begin to feel less separate. You can accept that you and the other musicians are connected. The music is something you are doing together, and it tunes itself. You become the composition, and the music is composing you, rather than the other way around.

      What's happening is that you are letting the n6nconscious portions of your mind deal with the problems of timing and intonation. Those parts of the brain not reserved for logical thinking do this faster and more efficiently, and are able to respond to sensory signals that are far too subtle for the ego to perceive or name.

      Because the logical ego cannot put labels on what is going on, we perceive the experience as mystical or ineffable. The music seems divinely inspired, or the product of a higher consciousness. As I have stated before, this is normal when you come into contact with Eros energy.

• If possible, do this exercise with the same people with whom you did "Group Clapping I." If you're with a different group, repeat that exercise so as to have the same experience for comparison.
• I) Sit in a circle and join hands. This helps to emphasize the connection between members of the group. Perform the basic meditation from Page 1-2. Different people will resurface at different times. If you're the first, be patient. Let your mind stay clear. Remember that it is the ego that is getting impatient.
• II) Begin to clap as a group, but focus on your own clapping. Let it be relaxed. Let the clapping flow naturally from your center. Let it choose its own pace regardless of what the others are doing.
• III) Let your attention shift to the total sound. Use all your senses. Your eyes should take in everyone in the circle with your peripheral vision rather than focusing on any one person. Try not to think about the exercise. Let your concentration on the sound you are all producing take up all your attention.
• IV) Begin to clap again. Close your eyes and listen. Remove your concentration from your hands. Let them keep clapping. Try to imagine the sound as separate from you. All of you are sitting listening to a sound coming from the center of the circle. Let the clapping be autonomous. Let it choose its own tempo and volume. Rather than guide the sound, listen to it. let it guide your clapping to suit it.
  
• Discuss your experience. Did the different ways of focusing attention change the sound? Did different people have different reactions? Did it "work" for some and not for others?
  

      Cooperation is an important aspect of music that can be complicated by the ego. To be effective in a group, a musician must play many roles, sometimes leading, sometimes supporting. A person with a strong, confident ego might have a hard time playing a supportive part, or cooperating in a situation where all parts are equal. The temptation to show off - to be louder or appear more skillful than the others - or to lead the group, can be irresistible, even if it is inappropriate to the music. A person with an insecure ego might shrink from leadership or play in such a way as to disappear in the musical texture even when their individual contribution is useful or desirable. Both of these attitudes ban be found in abundance in amateur choral groups where they become problems for the director to overcome. Choral music, perhaps more than any other type of ensemble music, requires cooperation and equality between the musicians. The showoffs need to be quieted, and the shy singers made to sing out. it is important to remember that it is the musicians job to do justice to the music, not the other way around. A musician who has learned not to be at the mercy of his ego is free to evaluate and perform his appropriate role in the group..

Silence

      Ultimately, music has its roots in silence. Music cannot exist without it, for without silence there can be no contrast between sound and no sound. I have heard it said, and I agree, that music is not the notes, but the spaces between the notes.(3)

      The goal of meditation is to stop the ego's voice, completely; to enter into a state of complete silence in which reality is no longer defined. This state of utter silence can take a lifetime of discipline to attain.

      For many people, it is extremely difficult to even begin to release the thoughts that flow through the mind. For me, there have always been times when this happened spontaneously, but there are many people who have never experienced this quiet state and for whom it is inconceivable. It is a significant step merely to step back and observe thoughts without identifying with them, and this will help you to focus and tune your musical skills. For those who can approach it, complete inner silence is the place where music is born.

      Another way to approach meditation is as complete concentration on one thing. The internal dialogue is a distraction which must be removed before that concentration can be achieved. The concentration learned through meditation is a valuable musical tool. Unbidden thoughts or an itch behind the ear can prove devastating to an otherwise skilled musician who lacks the power of concentration.

• Find a place where you will not be disturbed, and where you can make a lot of noise without feeling self-conscious or disturbing anyone else. Dim the lights or light candles. Sit or -kneel on the floor in a comfortable position that will let you slump over without discomfort.
• Be aware of all the tension and noise in your head. Listen to the voices blabbering away. Let the tension build. Let any emotions you have bottled up rise to the surface. Try to be conscious of all the turmoil.
• Take a deep breath. Then, yell at the top of your lungs, trying to expel all the noise in one scream. Kick the floor, writhe. Expel all of the tension inside you at one shot.
• Immediately relax your entire body and be silent. Let your body slump over and fall to the flour. Assume a fetal position - curled over yourself, but relaxed.
• Imagine your body entirely hollow: it is a quarter inch shell surrounding a pitch-dark empty space. Explore each part of that space. Explore the total silence and darkness.
• What you have just released by screaming surrounds your body as a cloud of smoke. In order that none of the smoke re-enters the inner space, you activate tiny blowers all over your body surface to dissipate the smoke and keep it away from your skin. As the smoke dissipates into the air, sink deeper and deeper into the center of your dark space. Be aware of where that center is. Is it inside or does it lead outside? Where? How? Why?

      "Centering" is a meditative task that is valuable in all areas of life. Also called "focusing" or "grounding", it is a way of getting in touch with yourself; of balancing your body and mind.

      There is a point in any object where the weight of that object is concentrated. In the human body, this point is in the abdomen, a few inches below the navel. Concentrating on this spot and letting the weight of the body settle there helps the body to relax, feel natural, and be balanced.(4)

      The physical body is the container of, and foundation for, the spirit and the mind. It is the spirit which brings music into the world, and the mind that sets it in its final form. If the body is not grounded, then the spirit has no foundation, and there is no fit vehicle to receive the gift of music.

      Centering serves music in two ways. first, it allows the body to be grounded and relaxed. Second, it lets the mind clear, providing an inner silence into which music can flow. In this way, it is like clearing a desktop so you can work on it. When the desk is cluttered, there is no space to work.

      Often, in the course of the day, I will find myself running from place to place, task to task, without taking the time to center myself. Without the conscious effort of relaxing and going within, my mental desk never gets cleared. In this state, I feel frantic, confused, cluttered. I am unable to work efficiently. I have difficulty thinking clearly, originally, and creatively. If I stop working on one task and go to another, I will continue to think about the first task while doing the second. I am in a state I think of as being ungrounded. I have no firm foundation no solid connection to the ground that I stand on. Centering helps me clear my mind and pave the way for clear, original thought.

      If I try to play music without first centering myself, the music comes out stale, uninteresting. It is only when I am in contact with myself and. my surroundings that the music is a fresh and genuine expression.

• Remove your shoes and stand on a flat, warm, level surface. Spend a few minutes shaking out and relaxing your arms, shaking out and relaxing your legs, and generally relaxing and limbering your body. Let your breathing become deep and slow. Use the breathing exercise from the basic meditation.
• Let your arms hang at your sides, and place your feet about shoulder width apart. Bend your knees slightly. Imagine that your feet are rooted to the ground. Imagine that they are part of the earth itself.
• Place your concentration on a spot about two inches below your navel. Try to feel where your weight is focused. If it feels higher, relax and let it move down into the abdomen. Standing straighter and bending your knees slightly more may help.
• Shift your weight onto your left foot, without picking either foot off the floor. You will need to bend the left knee slightly and slide slowly sideways until your weight is supported by that leg alone. Continue to focus your attention on your center of gravity.
• Moving slowly, without letting your attention stray from that spot, lift your right leg so that the foot is suspended just above the ground. Let the toe of that foot trace a straight line, just above the ground, towards your left leg. follow that line up your left leg as high as you can without losing your balance.(5)
• Hold this position for a moment. Then, follow the line backwards, keeping your right toe pointed towards your leg, then along the ground. Set the right leg down in its original spot without letting your weight fall on it.
  
• Return to center, with your weight evenly over your legs. Then, shift your weight to the right leg and repeat the exercise, with the left leg tracing the line. Repeat both sides until you feel calm and physically centered.
  

      Any time you feel frantic or cluttered or out of touch with yourself, taking the time to stop what you are doing and center yourself is essential. Doing so helps to clear the mental desk and prepares the mind to concentrate on the task ahead. It also helps to relax and soothe the body, which frees the mind to concentrate on things other than tense muscles or an uncomfortable chair.

      Breathing is important. Proper breathing keeps your brain and muscles supplied with the oxygen they need to function, and physically stretches and limbers the joints in your body to keep them at optimum potential. Most of all, it relaxes and centers. If you are tense and distracted, the music you play will reflect tension and distraction. Being comfortable and relaxed makes it easier to keep time and play in tune. The energy you release by relaxing is immediately available for playing your instrument, making difficult passages more accessible. On most instruments, it is impossible to produce correct vibrato, or in some cases, a clear tone at all, when tense or anxious.

      1. 1991 saw a glaring example of this when it was admitted that the group Milli Vanilli neither wrote nor performed any songs on their Grammy - winning album.

      2. Some might argue that conformity is in the realm of Eros. It is important to realize the difference between being connected, which allows individuality, and identifying with another, which makes you an identical copy.

      3. This can be taken too far, as John Cage has amply demonstrated. Cage's composition 4:33 consists of exactly four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. An interesting thought-piece and revolutionary for its time, it does not stand the test of time as a musical composition.

      4. This point corresponds to the second chakra in the aura or energy body in Indian philosophy

      5. If you are not grounded in your center of gravity, this will be impossible.