On Saturday, November 10th we had our third evening in the Ananda Concert Series, entitled Inner Awakenings. Held once again at the Crystal Hermitage Dome, we played and sang to a full house of long time devotees and newcomers alike, with music and interspersed guided meditations from Swami Kriyananda’s book, Awaken to Superconsciousness.
Melody, it has been said, symbolizes the aspiration of the heart, and words are thoughts crystalized – combining the two creates an incredibly powerful experience for a listener. In this program we tried to tune in to the vibration, the consciousness behind each guided meditation, and then chose music that fit that same feeling. If you’d like to listen for yourself to Swami Kriyananda reading two such meditations with music, I’d highly recommend the CD Meditations to Awaken Superconsciousness, available from Crystal Clarity Publishers. I will also be posting some of the audio from this concert very soon!
I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking about inspiration and the music, and the mystery of why music can affect us so deeply. Why can one piece inspire us, while another just leaves us flat? There aren’t any notes in music that are better than others, and after all, music is only a collection of sound waves. But is that truly all it is?
We are realizing that music is a vehicle for conveying states of inspiration, great or small. By consciously attuning ourselves to the inspiration of each song and consciously projecting that inspiration to the audience, we can create a very powerful experience to those that have ears and hearts to hear and feel. Here at Ananda, we are striving to become an example of musicians who perform with consciousness. Our singers here may not be on the same technical level as those in professional singing groups, but what we have to offer in the way of inspiration has truly changed people’s lives.
As the program progressed that evening, the audience went deeper and deeper into states of higher awareness. It was wonderful see faces in the audience filled with bliss! I’m hoping that the concert was not only a pleasing aural experience, but more importantly a direct experience of inspiration.
To listen to one of the guided meditations, click on the play button below:
https://www.ananda.org/a-place-called-ananda/audio/2007-11-meditation-on-the-moonrise.mp3
At the conclusion we were faced with a very interesting problem: how do we honor those who would like to stay inward, while allowing others to share their appreciation? You can’t stop people from clapping, but perhaps as the cycles of time progress, we will find another way of sharing appreciation and thanks.
Our next performance will be Christ Lives: an Oratorio on Sunday evening, Dec 16th, at the Expanding Light Temple. Hope to see you there!
