Official Social Network of The Theosophical Society in America
Music, Dance, and Theosophy
THEOSOPHY AND THE ARTS PROGRAM - 6 WEEKS
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Myth: A Once and Future Map to the Inner Landscape - John Algeo
Theosophy’s Influence on Visual Artists - Pam Lowrie
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
Creating a Personal Mandala - Pam Lowrie
Theosophical Principles in the Healing Art of Therapeutic Touch - Marilyn Johnston
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Imagination, when used in a spiritual context, may well be the key to spiritual evolution. Art is the practice and expression of combining intuition, creativity, discipline, and intellect holistically, in a balanced way. Spiritual art combines these elements with the aim of celebrating the Divine and/or enhancing spiritual growth. This program focused specifically on Music and Dance (movement) as spiritual tools. Sound, and especially music, plays a preeminent role in the creation stories of many contemporary and ancient cultures. The power of music lies not just in the fact that vibrationally it reaches us at so many levels simultaneously, but that it also appeals to our sense of spiritual beauty, which seems to work as a reminder of our divine nature. As Friedrich Nietzsche put it, “I can only believe in a God who knows how to dance.” Similarly, the physicality of spiritual dance helps to bypass ego and intellect to point directly to growth opportunities. The intelligence of the body is profound and it will guide us to a deeper path if we learn to listen to it with a discipline of meditative movement and an experienced teacher. This sort of spiritual movement can help to create a heightened Vipassana experience.
Download handouts:
Music, Dance and Theosophy
Spiritual Listening Exercises
Theosophy and Music Have Much in Common
Self-knowledge Through Movement
Discussion questions
(For general discussion questions on Theosophy and the Arts click here)
1- Do you think there is such a thing as spiritual music and non-spiritual music?
2- Many musicians who speak of music as being a primary component in the future of spirituality have said that spiritual music must use instruments made of natural materials (drums, guitars, flutes, etc., made of natural materials). Why do you think many musicians are relating spiritual music with naturally made instruments?
3- Have you ever used music as part of a meditation practice? How would you describe the experience?
4- Why do you think that music—not just sound or a spoken word—but music, plays the key role in so many creation stories throughout the world?
5- What have you noticed about the effect of music on you—your emotions, thoughts, or body? (Not necessarily in a formal meditative context, but any time.)
6- If you had an intuition that the ultimate meaning of the universe, as far as we can understand it, is a sort of song rather than an intellectual concept, how would that change your spiritual practice?
7- Have you ever used movement as part of a meditative practice? How did it differ from your other meditative practice?
8- What do you think Friedrich Nietzsche meant when he said, “I can only believe in a God who knows how to dance”?
Proposed activities
1- Do a brief, 5-10 min. silent meditation, then listen to some percussion played on a natural drum for a couple minutes (by anyone in your group) and then, right after, listen to a couple minutes of electronic drums. Discuss the difference the effect that these two different forms have on your emotions, body, and/or thoughts.
2- One aspect of spiritual listening, of listening involving a disciplined practice, is learning to listen to music with a state of precision. Find a piece of jazz or classical music with multiple parts. Begin first by meditating in silence for a few minutes. Have a facilitator with a predetermined list of the parts of the music guide the group that is in meditation by alternating every couple minutes on a different instrument to focus on. (For example, focus now on the drums; focus now on the guitar, focus now on the flutes, etc.)
3- Let your group have a drum circle. They’re very easy and very fun and freeing.
4- Especially if you consider yourself “non-musical” spend a week in which you try to, at least every other day, go to a place where you are alone and unselfconscious, and play music—either sing or an any instrument, with abandon for 15-20 minutes. When you play the music, make the only goal to be the uncensored expression of emotion. You might also try journaling for a few minutes before and after each of your music sessions.
5- Make movement a conscious part of your meditation for a two week practice. Use either Vipassana walking meditation or a predetermined slow, concentrated deliberate dance movement as described by Juli in her presentation. Use the movement-meditation as a way to view your own reactions to your thoughts and body and emotions. Journaling after the meditation would be especially helpful.
Resources:
(For general resources on Arts and Music click here)
Books
- Campbell, Don G., Music and Miracles, 615.85154 CAM MM
- Campbell, Don G., Music Physician for Times to Come: An Anthology, 615.85154 CAM MP
- Hodson, Geoffrey, Clairvoyant Investigations, T H669 CI
- Jansen, Eva Rudy, Singing Bowls: A Practical Handbook of Instruction and Use, T294.32 JAN SB
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
- Berendt, Joachim Ernst, The World is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness, 780.1 BER WSNB
- Campbell, Don, Healing Powers of tone & Chant, AR 4645-2
- Freeman, Richard, Yoga Chants, CDA 0091
- Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music, I298 KHA MSM
- Kellogg, Joan, The Healing Power of Music, AR 4770
- Sufi Choir, The Best of the Sufi Choir: A Jubilee Selection, CDA 0126
Videorecordings
- Das, Krishna, The Yoga of Chant, DVD 0006
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Myth: A Once and Future Map to the Inner Landscape - John Algeo
Theosophy’s Influence on Visual Artists - Pam Lowrie
Mystical Poetry and Theosophy - Dan Smolla
Creating a Personal Mandala - Pam Lowrie
Theosophical Principles in the Healing Art of Therapeutic Touch - Marilyn Johnston
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music, Dance, and Theosophy - Juliana Cesano & Dan Smolla
Imagination, when used in a spiritual context, may well be the key to spiritual evolution. Art is the practice and expression of combining intuition, creativity, discipline, and intellect holistically, in a balanced way. Spiritual art combines these elements with the aim of celebrating the Divine and/or enhancing spiritual growth. This program focused specifically on Music and Dance (movement) as spiritual tools. Sound, and especially music, plays a preeminent role in the creation stories of many contemporary and ancient cultures. The power of music lies not just in the fact that vibrationally it reaches us at so many levels simultaneously, but that it also appeals to our sense of spiritual beauty, which seems to work as a reminder of our divine nature. As Friedrich Nietzsche put it, “I can only believe in a God who knows how to dance.” Similarly, the physicality of spiritual dance helps to bypass ego and intellect to point directly to growth opportunities. The intelligence of the body is profound and it will guide us to a deeper path if we learn to listen to it with a discipline of meditative movement and an experienced teacher. This sort of spiritual movement can help to create a heightened Vipassana experience.
Download handouts:
Music, Dance and Theosophy
Spiritual Listening Exercises
Theosophy and Music Have Much in Common
Self-knowledge Through Movement
Discussion questions
(For general discussion questions on Theosophy and the Arts click here)
1- Do you think there is such a thing as spiritual music and non-spiritual music?
2- Many musicians who speak of music as being a primary component in the future of spirituality have said that spiritual music must use instruments made of natural materials (drums, guitars, flutes, etc., made of natural materials). Why do you think many musicians are relating spiritual music with naturally made instruments?
3- Have you ever used music as part of a meditation practice? How would you describe the experience?
4- Why do you think that music—not just sound or a spoken word—but music, plays the key role in so many creation stories throughout the world?
5- What have you noticed about the effect of music on you—your emotions, thoughts, or body? (Not necessarily in a formal meditative context, but any time.)
6- If you had an intuition that the ultimate meaning of the universe, as far as we can understand it, is a sort of song rather than an intellectual concept, how would that change your spiritual practice?
7- Have you ever used movement as part of a meditative practice? How did it differ from your other meditative practice?
8- What do you think Friedrich Nietzsche meant when he said, “I can only believe in a God who knows how to dance”?
Proposed activities
1- Do a brief, 5-10 min. silent meditation, then listen to some percussion played on a natural drum for a couple minutes (by anyone in your group) and then, right after, listen to a couple minutes of electronic drums. Discuss the difference the effect that these two different forms have on your emotions, body, and/or thoughts.
2- One aspect of spiritual listening, of listening involving a disciplined practice, is learning to listen to music with a state of precision. Find a piece of jazz or classical music with multiple parts. Begin first by meditating in silence for a few minutes. Have a facilitator with a predetermined list of the parts of the music guide the group that is in meditation by alternating every couple minutes on a different instrument to focus on. (For example, focus now on the drums; focus now on the guitar, focus now on the flutes, etc.)
3- Let your group have a drum circle. They’re very easy and very fun and freeing.
4- Especially if you consider yourself “non-musical” spend a week in which you try to, at least every other day, go to a place where you are alone and unselfconscious, and play music—either sing or an any instrument, with abandon for 15-20 minutes. When you play the music, make the only goal to be the uncensored expression of emotion. You might also try journaling for a few minutes before and after each of your music sessions.
5- Make movement a conscious part of your meditation for a two week practice. Use either Vipassana walking meditation or a predetermined slow, concentrated deliberate dance movement as described by Juli in her presentation. Use the movement-meditation as a way to view your own reactions to your thoughts and body and emotions. Journaling after the meditation would be especially helpful.
Resources:
(For general resources on Arts and Music click here)
Books
- Campbell, Don G., Music and Miracles, 615.85154 CAM MM
- Campbell, Don G., Music Physician for Times to Come: An Anthology, 615.85154 CAM MP
- Hodson, Geoffrey, Clairvoyant Investigations, T H669 CI
- Jansen, Eva Rudy, Singing Bowls: A Practical Handbook of Instruction and Use, T294.32 JAN SB
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
- Berendt, Joachim Ernst, The World is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness, 780.1 BER WSNB
- Campbell, Don, Healing Powers of tone & Chant, AR 4645-2
- Freeman, Richard, Yoga Chants, CDA 0091
- Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music, I298 KHA MSM
- Kellogg, Joan, The Healing Power of Music, AR 4770
- Sufi Choir, The Best of the Sufi Choir: A Jubilee Selection, CDA 0126
Videorecordings
- Das, Krishna, The Yoga of Chant, DVD 0006
Read our Guide to Community Features to learn your way around!
Also, check out our Guidelines for Community Conduct to review our rules.
Have a question or issue to report? Send a message to the moderators and let them know.
Do you enjoy using this site and other online resources provided by the Theosophical Society in America? Would you like to contribute to these efforts? Click below to make a monetary donation. Your support is appreciated and will help us to add to the resources we offer online.
Events
© 2009 Created by The Theosophical Society
