Kazoo Player And The Symphony
El/la intérprete de Kazoo y La Sinfonía--por Daniel Ingram
Imagina que hay una gran orquesta sinfónica en una gran sala de conciertos y, frente a ella, como una comedia absurda, se sienta un músico de kazoo claramente nervioso sin ninguna partitura musical frente a él. Comienza la introducción orquestal, y el pobre intérprete de kazoo, que no tiene idea de qué pieza se tocará, trata de hacer su mejor ejecución de la sinfonía elegida por la orquesta. Va medio segundo detrás de ellos, tocando las notas justo después de escucharlas. Como es un intérprete de kazoo, solo puede tocar una nota cada vez, por lo que su imitación de la orquesta es muy vulgar, al tocar ciertos aspectos destacados de la melodía, creando una versión muy pequeña y muy simple de la rica e intrincada partitura de la sinfonía que la orquesta está tocando bellamente en todo su esplendor.
Ahora, imagina que algunos miembros de la audiencia hayan sido maldecidos a creer que solo pueden escuchar la sinfonía después de que el intérprete de kazoo haga su ejecución. Los meditadores principiantes están casi todos malditos. Observamos como el músico del kazoo, y, finalmente nos damos cuenta de que nos aferramos a las notas del intérprete de kazoo, deleitándonos con su actuación, tan vulgar, lineal y simple como es.
Sin embargo, en algún momento, algun@s de nosotr@s nos damos cuenta de que también podemos escuchar la sinfonía tal como es, sola, que el tejido de sonidos también viene de la sinfonía, y esto se sabe sin que el intérprete de kazoo tenga que hacer una copia limitada, absurda, fuera de tiempo y retrasada.
Pronto, a algun@s de nosotr@s, l@s asistentes al concierto, comenzaremos a encontrar al intérprete de kazoo tonto, como una especie de broma que arruina la majestuosidad de la sinfonía.
Finalmente, imagina que alguien pone la música de repente delante del músico del kazoo, de modo que se une a la sinfonía, se convierte en una parte más de la melodía, perdido en gran parte en medio de la grandeza de los cientos de otros músicos que lo dan todo. [Nuestro despertar] es así, ya que finalmente simplemente estamos atrapad@s en la actuación, sin tener que sentir que necesitamos un pobre intérprete de kazoo que toque e imite la sinfonía para nosotr@s, y definitivamente sin tener que sentir que tenemos que estar en el escenario siendo el/la intérprete del kazoo nosotr@s mism@s.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la metáfora del autor de despertar y ser uno más de la melodía? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de una ocasión en la que sentiste que podías escuchar la sinfonía más allá de tu intérprete de kazoo? ¿Qué te ayuda a reconciliar la necesidad de un intérprete de kazoo con la majestad más grande que te rodea?
Daniel Ingram es un maestro de meditación, y el extracto de arriba es de su libro Mastering the Core Teaching of the Buddha.
Daniel Ingram is a meditation teacher, and the excerpt above is from his book, Mastering the Core Teaching of the Buddha.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the author's metaphor of awakening to the grand sweep of the melody? Can you share a personal story of a time you felt you could hear the symphony beyond your kazoo player? What helps you reconcile the need of a kazoo player with the bigger majesty that is all around you?
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8 Past Reflections
On Mar 2, 2019 Kurt Becker wrote :
However, at some point, some of us notice that we can also hear the symphony just as it is, just on its own, that the weave of sounds is coming in from the symphony also, and this is known without the kazoo player having to make a limited, absurd, out-of-time, delayed facsimile of it.
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On Feb 28, 2019 Bill Miller wrote :
“… without having to feel like we need some poor kazoo player to interpret and imitate the symphony for us,”
Not having read the book, I took the metaphor as a suggestion to not become overly invested in any particular guru or teacher’s philosophy of life and world, but to always measure it against one’s own immediate experience.
Not having read the book, I took the metaphor as a suggestion to not become overly invested in any particular guru or teacher’s philosophy of life and world, but to always measure it against one’s own immediate experience.
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On Feb 26, 2019 Rajul Shah wrote :
In the meditation, in the beginning there is a noise or traffic of one's own thoughts which maybe initially disturbing, but with practice, one learns to observe them without being one with them, eventually as the practice gets deeper, these thoughts becomes few and one is in this ' no thoughts' space even if for a while. To me, this space of no thoughts is the bigger symphony. Pseudo-self with its thoughts is the kazoo player. To go to that 'no thoughts' space, initially one has to observe one's own thoughts without evaluating or judging much like birds coming in and out of a tree or clouds passing past vast sky. Going past the microcosm to be part of macrocosm...
1 reply: Me | Post Your Reply
On Feb 26, 2019 sandip sheta wrote :
The artist works with a concentration of his whole personality, and the conscious part of it resolves conflicts, organized memories, and prevents him from trying to walk in two directions at the same time.
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On Feb 24, 2019 David Doane wrote :
My first thought was that I don't relate to the metaphor, and I thought of Nietzsche's saying "And those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music," which quote I can relate to and even like to relate to. My second thought was that I don't want to be one part of the grand sweep of the melody, largely lost among the grandeur of the hundreds of other players. My third thought is that I want it all, that is, I want to be my own unique individual kazoo player and be part of the grand sweep. Sometimes in a close present encounter with another, I hear the symphony beyond the kazoo player, and while connected to the kazoo player I also feel connected to the symphony with a sense that the symphony is larger than us, it takes priority, and we are part of the bigger majesty of the symphony, and it is very special.
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On Feb 23, 2019 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
As a meditator, I have noticed how my mind gets distracted by the external world of sound and sight as well as by my internal world of sound and sight. As I consistently practice Mindfulness Meditation, my mind slowly and gradually gets less distracted. In this quiet and open space I hear the majesty of symphony effortlessly.This is like awakening from my conditionedmind which was bound by my un-awakened or sleepy state of mind.
A few years ago, I wentto a weekend Zen retreat. During one our Mindfulness Meditation, I dozed for some time. I was awakened by the hitting by the stick on my back by the Zen master. This awakening experience taught me an importantlesson of awakening myself from my conditioned state of my mind, my un-awakened sleepy sate of mind. It opened up my mind space in which I can hear the grandsweep of the Divine melody, the music of the sphere with no boundary. It creates deep joy, wonderment and harmony.
Living everydaymindfully with this awakened state of mind helps... [View Full Comment]