Buddhism Now
It is worth knowing that one can get hypnotized into thinking that there is only one way to do a thing correctly—it’s the Right Way, and there are no other ways.
At All-India Radio, where I worked for a time, I used to see Indian violinists. My father was a professional violinist, one of the best of his generation. He led at the Covent Garden Opera for several years, and for a good time after that for Sir Thomas Beecham. So, I felt I knew something about violin playing. I was watching an Indian violinist in an AIR studio, playing in the orthodox way with the violin tucked under his left chin. It is axiomatic that the instrument must be held firmly in that way. At the very beginning, a pupil is made to hold the instrument like this, and even to take away the supporting left hand. The instrument has to remain sticking out there, held firmly by the pressure of the chin. It has to be absolutely steady, supported between the chin and the bent left arm, because the movements of the left-hand fingers are the fastest precise movements that can be made by humans—sometimes sixteen changes in a second. Unless there is absolute steadiness, it cannot be done. (more…)
Filed under: Buddhist meditation, Ch'an / Seon / Zen, Trevor Leggett | Tagged: All-India Radio, Covent Garden Opera, Jan Kubelik, Mischa Elman, pianists, Sir Thomas Beecham, Tangen Harada Roshi, Trevor Leggett, violin, violinist, Zen | 2 Comments »
Previously we spoke of emptiness metaphorically as a special kind of power or force that can look in any direction. We spoke of a certain hermit with fiery eyes. Whatever direction he looked, with his fiery eyes popping out, everything would be burnt to a crisp so that direction was completely cleared. I’d like to use this as a metaphor for understanding emptiness.
If we are constantly
