Message #17366

[Jitendra Hydonus]

Mccoy i have done many performances for SRF and Amma's groups. The music I played at these ooccasions might be classified as spiritual in nature. However I also have done many performances at nite clubs, dinner clubs, festivals, funerals, colleges and weddings. I  am not sure what this man was listening to but there is much rock in roll that i do not listen to nor play. I do believe that music and sound have a power to affect our chakras, our spiritual life and all aspects of social life. I have also not played music for long periods of time while living in monasteries and around them. Personally I have found no noticeable difference in meditation. But perhaps I also need to be more sensitive about the music I play and listen to.... not sure about this.

There are many things people say, including Brother Anandamoy, that we reserve our opinions about because we are not sure of the reasons such comments were made or the circimstances. i have found, as a musician, that people who listen to music often put music into rigid categories. Musicians, on the other hand, realize much more how music overlaps and is often difficult to classify into for instance classical, jazz, rock in roll, blues, folk, new age etc. We as musicians often draw from many sources.

i will venture to say this though. I have seen very 'dark' elements in music of all classifications as well as uplifting qualities in all areas. So i would be hesitant to make sweeping statements about any type of music. However the advice given in your story was for an isolated situation and given to one person.

It may seem ironical to you but I found just as much or perhaps more immorality among classical musicians (when I taught music at colleges and had an education there.) then the contemporary social scene that surrounded the late 60 ' s and early 70's. What i noticed is that classical musicians hid these behaviors whereas the hippies and jazz beatnik and jazz hipster crowds openly addressed them. There is good and bad to be found in all social surroundings. i suspect all young generations are influenced by raging harmones.

The openess of the hippies led to a surge in interest in meditation and spirituality. In that sense i was fortunate to be a part of that generation and I am grateful to have grown up in a period when India's culture and various other spiritual cultures affected the youth so strongly.