Letting Go
by Konrad Plendl
For centuries Zen has been an integral part of Oriental Martial
Arts. Many modern musicians are also discovering that they experience
a Zen like state when improvising rock or jazz music. Mastery of
these practices cannot be expressed in words and can not be taught
from a book, despite the many books which claim to teach them. In
order to reach the higher states of these arts one must let go of the
ego and act without analysis.
Bruce Lee was a respected martial artist, movie star and the
founder of the school of Martial Arts known as Jeet Kune Do. Although
he trained for years in various types of Martial Arts to achieve his
level of proficiency, he was also influenced by Oriental Philosophy.
Selctions from his notebooks were published in the book The Tao of
Jeet Kune Do:
I'm moving and not moving at all. I'm like the moon
underneath the waves that ever goes on rolling and rocking. It is
not " I am doing this" but rather an inner realization that "this
is happening through me" or "it is doing this for me." The
consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper
execution of all physical action.
Despite his extensive training, Lee did not feel that it was his
outer self that was carrying out the moves of Martial Arts. His real
skill was the ability to let go and act without thought. If One
clings to self-preservation, shows fear or backs down, the opponent
will see his weakness and strike him down.
In The Zen Way to the Martial Arts, Taisen Deshimaru Roshi
talks of the training that is required to master Martial Arts (Budo)
or music and the wisdom that is needed to become proficient:
In Budo, consciousness and a action must always be one.
When you begin . . . you repeat the wasa, techniques, over and
over, and the kata, the forms. . . .until forms and technique
become a habit, second nature. At first, when you're learning
them, you have to use your personal consciousness.
It is the same in learning to play the piano or drums or
guitar. In the end you can play without consciousness, there is no
more attachment, no more reference to the principles. You play
naturally, automatically. this is a kind of wisdom, and out of it
something fresh can be created.
A concert pianist who plays the notes without expression sounds
dull and uninspired. In Jazz and Rock the real stars are the men and
women who can improvise off a song or chord structure, letting go of
preconceived notions of what music should be and playing from the
soul.
Micky Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are the drummers for the Grateful
Dead and its follow up group the Other Ones. The drum solo has always
been a high point of the "Dead Show." Hart and Kreutzmann incorporate
percussion instruments from around the world into an expression of
the spiritual in rhythm.
In an interview with journalist Doug Heselgrave, Hart talked of
the relationship between skill and playing naturally:
Well, it’s a combination. You have to have skill.
That’s the basis. That’s the foundation. And, then you
have to forget everything, or much of what you’ve ever
learned because we want to be in the moment. It’s a
meditation. You don’t want to be too strict. You want to
caress it, make love to the clave and the beats as opposed to
playing them strict. It’s a sonic yoga. It takes years to be
able to get friendly and get loose, and still stay accurate and
fulfill your mission as a Rhythmatist.
From The Vibratory
World: An Interview with Mickey Hart
Martial Arts and music are different types of practices, yet they
both can be used a vehicles for an expression of the inner self. Zen
can be practiced sitting on a cushion, but it can also be practiced
in action and art. In his road journal from the 2000 Other Ones tour,
Micky sums up the relationship between Zen, Marital Arts and
Music:
Music making is a very Zen experience--being here and in
the now. It also is very much like martial arts where one's energy
is used as a center, and balance is power. When we are at full
throttle we are very calm inside even though it looks like we are
beating our instruments to death. The motion is smooth and there
is no thinking going on. You are in the moment, in the flow of
creation, and are possessed by a great spirit or energy that
somehow allows this all to take place. After the experience you
sit and wonder how you did that. This is one sure way to know that
you have had a transformational moment and that trance is possible
and has been achieved.
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