FanFaire: Evelyn-Glennie - Hearing profoundly (1)

                  EVELYN GLENNIE

                    Hearing Profoundly (I)

"Let go of the ear, and the whole universe is                                                                    nothing but the ear."
- Daido Loori Roshi, 21st century Zen Teacher

Encountering genius, unique talent or exceptional skill can leave one awestruck in much the same way that experiencing natural wonders does.

In either case, our consciousness takes a quantum leap into depths of being - parts of ourselves that have always been there but were previously inaccessible. Awe liberates by knocking us out of the stupor of our lifelong conditioning - it is a function of both religious practice and art. Literature, the visual arts, theater and dance are all vital to the enrichment of human experience.

But it is music by its very nature- sound surrounds and permeates- that most immediately, powerfully and profoundly impacts and dilates our cognitive capacities. The "sound of the unstruck" is the cosmic seed in the Hindu concert-myth of creation; descriptions of enlightenment often contain passages about hearing this primal, waking sound. Between cradle and grave, for most of our earthbound ears it is human-made music that attunes us, if only momentarily, to our eternal origins.