WHAT IS SACRED MUSIC?
"There is something in music that transcends and unites. This is evident in the sacred music of every community.... music that expresses the universal yearning that is shared by people all over the globe.”
-His Holiness The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Hearing this call for the creation of sacred music festivals, we aspire to dissolve the boundaries that isolate us by presenting a diverse array of sacred music. Sacred music music achieves this aim by invoking a state of openness to the Beauty in other beings, other cultures, other life-forms and life-systems. We seek to inflame ourselves with the emotional rapture of the body-mind that allows us to intensify our love for the spirit within the mundane world, within its inhabitants and within each moment.
We recognize that the phrase "sacred music" is redundant and we acknowledge the irony of asserting a false divide between sacred and profane while seeking the mystic's view. We feel that the calling to come to the Divine should be a unifying force in humanity, not a source of division and alienation.
"Sacredness" is a quality of attention. The careful details of a tea ceremony serve to focus the full awareness upon the steeping and partaking of the leaves. This elevates a seemingly mundane act into a space of rapturous appreciation, into sacredness. This loving mindfulness is the key to the realm of the sacred within the shared world of the mundane.
Devotion to a source of inspiration brings out a special quality in art or music that is produced under its influence. This quality infuses those who join in with the overflowing hearts of both musicians and dancers. In this way, each individual has a chance to be shown the love from which the music comes, rather than merely told.
Through dancing in devotion to the many names and forms of the Mystery that animates us, a special heat is generated. With this sacred fire, we melt through the physical, mental and emotional obstacles that prevent us from fully embracing the living presence of ourselves, each other and the world. The enthusiasm that propels many of us into the journey through the intimate darkness of the night into the triumphant renewal of the sunrise is a near-universal theme.
Across the planet, for many centuries, the experience of sacred music has very often been through a dance-till-dawn ceremony. From the Bacchae dancing with Dionysus, to the Gopis dancing with Krishna, to the Yorubas dancing with the Orixas, the communion of many devoted dancer-lovers with the Presence of The Beloved has been consummated in all-night rituals.
We aspire to emulate these traditions in our Saturday night all-night dance ritual. We encourage all participants to embrace this very special part of the offering of Beloved.
We recognize that the phrase "sacred music" is redundant and we acknowledge the irony of asserting a false divide between sacred and profane while seeking the mystic's view. We feel that the calling to come to the Divine should be a unifying force in humanity, not a source of division and alienation.
"Sacredness" is a quality of attention. The careful details of a tea ceremony serve to focus the full awareness upon the steeping and partaking of the leaves. This elevates a seemingly mundane act into a space of rapturous appreciation, into sacredness. This loving mindfulness is the key to the realm of the sacred within the shared world of the mundane.
Devotion to a source of inspiration brings out a special quality in art or music that is produced under its influence. This quality infuses those who join in with the overflowing hearts of both musicians and dancers. In this way, each individual has a chance to be shown the love from which the music comes, rather than merely told.
HOW IS "TECHNO" SACRED MUSIC?
Through dancing in devotion to the many names and forms of the Mystery that animates us, a special heat is generated. With this sacred fire, we melt through the physical, mental and emotional obstacles that prevent us from fully embracing the living presence of ourselves, each other and the world. The enthusiasm that propels many of us into the journey through the intimate darkness of the night into the triumphant renewal of the sunrise is a near-universal theme.
Across the planet, for many centuries, the experience of sacred music has very often been through a dance-till-dawn ceremony. From the Bacchae dancing with Dionysus, to the Gopis dancing with Krishna, to the Yorubas dancing with the Orixas, the communion of many devoted dancer-lovers with the Presence of The Beloved has been consummated in all-night rituals.
We aspire to emulate these traditions in our Saturday night all-night dance ritual. We encourage all participants to embrace this very special part of the offering of Beloved.
