Feeling especially appreciative of tonight’s choir rehearsal and reflecting on the reasons why…
Well, the choir is making a lot of progress musically, and it’s always a joy to hear the music coming into fuller expression. Plus, the music itself can be counted on to leave me with uplifted energy and feeling better than when I arrived. And it’s always fun to spend the evening with a choir full of dear friends, with lots of laughter, shared insights, and sense of accomplishment.
But most of all, I’m deeply grateful for that “thing” that can happen in almost any musical ensemble, when a group of people puts aside–to whatever degree possible–their individual selves in order to join their energies in creating something bigger than the sum of their parts. When each person’s mind is focused on the collective goal: contributing concentration, building magnetism, and uniting in ever closer attunement and connectedness.
Of course, all this is largely overt and conscious for an Ananda choir. I mean, our entire lives are dedicated to transcending our little “self” in order to better serve the higher “Self”.
But this kind of experience is not exclusive to devotees. I vividly remember many “peak experience” moments that occurred throughout a wide variety of musical experiences…from jazz bands to drum & bugle corps to musicals to orchestras to chamber music to a gig for a Jewish religious convention!
I grew to live for those moments when the energy of the music would sweep me away so I could feel at-one-ment with “something” bigger. And that’s what is starting to happen more and more with our choir. What a joy it is!
