Image by Gerhard G. from Pixabay
A trumpet calls out
sound birthed into dying
conceived in silence.
Examining how sound comes into being is a reflection of creation at its core. Sound is birthed from silence into being, it has a life span, and dies back into silence. As a meditative concept this is immensely useful as it points us to the underlying constant in all creation, the place where it all stems from, the silence.
I think that music reflects the complexity of the human experience even more fully than say the Zen maxim of a tree falling in the forest. The same analogy could not be said for music as to create the patterns inherent in music, there needs to be at least one observer/creator. Therefor great realization can be reached through the act of making music as the creator (the musician) is part of the process, and it has been my experience playing guitar that it is more often an act of body rather than thought.
I often drift off while playing, losing myself to the music. What this means? Simply put, that thought stops and being takes over. This effect can also be observed in listening to music, where emotion overwhelms through the music. I think that this emotional reaction is often a cause of switching of the analytical and allowing being without the filter of thought. In this state emotions are felt more keenly, in the body as well as the mind.
Ancient cultures prescribed great power to sound and its application. But all we know is often based on oral storytelling traditions, which become more and more analogous with each re-telling.
Mayan legends says that the temple of Uxmal in Mexico was built by a race of dwarves, which apparently only had to whistle and 'heavy rocks would move into place'. It is said that if a person stands at the base of the pyramid-like Temple of the magician and claps their hands the stone structure at the top produces a 'chirping sound'.
Source: www.ancient-wisdom.com
I think that it is entirely possible that many stories of the supernatural power of sound are a metaphor for the transformation of soul that these ancient people felt through sound. The beat of a drum unifying soldiers in battle, the rising tones of a hymn in church bringing everyone together to a single focus of words, the uplifting sound of the dawn chorus in spring; all of these are examples of the power of sound to change consciousness.
To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my post: Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form
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