Church of Rock

Welcoming the muse in all of us I am posting an excerpt from a dialogue with Ken Wilber and Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and a link to an international video, Peace Through Music.

"...We all seek meaning. We all seek relationships. We all seek communion with the world around us. We all seek happiness, pleasure, and sensual embodiment. And at one time or another, we all seek change, transformation, and self-transcendence. These are all distinctly spiritual impulses, and, for many people around the world, are being fulfilled through the temple of iTunes more than any other source, religious or secular.

And so---to every artist bobbing for muses by dunking his head into the murky waters of the Mystery; to every listener who uses the song to hear the silence behind every sound; to every stadium-sized congregation of faithful frenzied fans; to every rhythm, melody, and flavor of noise to ever seduce the human ear: you are all part of the Church of Rock!  Where Spirit no longer needs to hide---where we can all see God dancing in the math, in our relationships, and in our hearts--and where together we slowly awaken to the universe as it always already is: a Uni-Verse, One Song, forever rippling through the eternal silence behind this and every moment."  Ken Wilber

Peace Through Music Video:  http://www.flixxy.com/peace-through-music.htm

 

edwardkemper's picture

hi tricia,

that's an amazing peace! (piece) it first aired on PBS and the schools are starting to appear. every time i watch it i get a bit teary eyed... to think that we can heal ourselves so simply. i grew up in southern texas and was strongly influenced by local blues artists like lightnin hopkins and mance lipscumb. when i played that music the old black woman who took care of me as a kid would dance that exact same shuffle that the women in the township in south africa were dancing in the video...

wow! small world!

i have attached a picture of a band i was working with in europe the last few summers. the shot was made in leipzig in the former east germany while openning act for the who . if you look at the faces in the crowd you can see that innocent wonder, as if they are in a holy place. and who's to say they were not?

love

edward

~3e

ChrisBowers's picture

The first words spoken on the video made me instantly think of the spirit of Hendrix, so here is one of my favs in honor of the spirit of Jimi and Buddy Miles called, Them Changes....

YouTube - Them Changes (RIP Buddy Miles 1947-2008)

and one more

YouTube - Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys - Power Of Love

and the video also reminded me, in dramatic fashion, of the inherent and magnificent power of the square root of 1% (of any population) mentioned by Gregg Braden in the Divine Matrix interview with Coast to Coast....

Thanks for posting it Tricia!!

Love/Light, Chris

edwardkemper's picture

hello fellow rockers!

as luck would have it shortly after reading and replying to the church of rock post i received the following email from the non profit organization founded by the creator of the video. it is called playing for change...

i thought i would post it here for any who might be interested in their mission...

love always

~3e

___________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled to announce our involvement with
the (RED) campaign!!!

Starting TODAY, December 1st, Playing
for Change
will be featured as part of the launch of (RED)WIRE -
Project(RED)'s brand new online Music Magazine! This new
digital music service is co-founded by Bono, and promises fans
exclusive music by major artists, including Playing for Change! You
can attend the launch party RIGHT NOW to help the global fight
against AIDS in Africa by clicking here!
Check it out - it is amazing! Be sure to share with your
friends and family!

As most of you know, PLAYING FOR CHANGE is in the
process of completing its very first music school in the township of
Gugulethu, South Africa. Together, organizations like Playing For
Change
and Project(RED) are proof positive that we can change
the world through music. Please join Project(RED) today by clicking here!

We
are also pleased to announce the opening of the our STORE! Many of you have been asking how and where Playing For Change merchandise will be available - well now it is and just in time
for the Holidays.  We have t-shirts and hats available for
purchase now and we will be adding
music/video downloads to our store very soon! You can purchase the merchandise here.

A
portion of every purchase will benefit the Playing For Change
Foundation
, which is committed to building music and art schools all
over the world. To learn more about how you can take part, visit www.playingforchange.org.

Playing
For Change
is your source for amazing music and videos featuring
musicians from all over the world as well as tons of other exclusive
merchandise that can only be found at www.playingforchange.com.

Please
know that we will have both a CD and a DVD available through Hear
Music
in the Spring of 2009. There will also be plenty of exclusive
Playing For Change products being released over the coming months!!!
We encourage you all to become part of the Playing For Change multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music!

One Love,
The Playing For Change Family

There is so much soul in those music videos and the older I get the more I appreciate roaming Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans when I was 18, staying in flea bitten hostels, but able to wander in and out of the doors of the clubs while Al Hurt, Miles Davis and the influence of Robert Johnson, jammed and practiced. I'll never forget that Delta Blues and Jazz soul that seems to have taken up residence in my bones.

Art is not just about the history of culture, its about the mood of the times, how people actually felt. Something no history book can convey. AHHH the Crazy Wisdom of the artists!!!

Tricia

Thanks Edward for this information. I am so moved by this project even though I'm not a musician, music is a thread inseparable from my lifes wanderings. From rock, R&B and the big cottonwood drum of the natives of the Southwest, I meander the avenues of my memory.

With this project I feel more connected, as if I can feel the pulse of a great sweeping movement.

Namaste my new friend,

Tricia

davelambert's picture

i grew up in southern texas and was strongly influenced by local blues artists like lightnin hopkins...

I grew up in San Diego in  the 60s.  I was deep into blues and folk, and only discovered Hendrix in the 80s.  There used to be several small folk music houses in San Diego.  I don't know how many times I watched Lightnin Hopkins play, sitting about 10 feet in front of him and watching the magic.  Other folks who I heard included Mississippi John Hurt, Dock Boggs, and others who are long gone.  What a time.

8-D

edwardkemper's picture

hey dave,

yes man! those where the days...

i used to go to a small residential area near the fourth ward in houston (old black area of town part of the 'underground railroad') there were two old spinsters who shared a home miss phylis and miss irene. they ran a blues club in their living room that was part of the chittlin' circuit. all the big names came through there. stage the size of a postage stamp, makeshift bar that served two brands of beer, pearl and falstaff, and had two five gallon jars on top. one with pickled eggs the other wiht pickled pigs feet.

the men would sit around playing a very violent form of dominoes involving a lot of shouting and slamming down the pieces and the women would sit and talk. that is until they heard a song they liked. then they'd hop up and start shuffle dancing by themselves. i will never forget that time and that place...

it was a window into another time. eventually johnny winter found out about it and billy gibons it stayed cool for a while becuase most white people where afraid to come to that part of town...

one night i backed my car in the ditch as i was leaving. it high centered and i couldn't get out. the whole club emptied out to push me back on the road! and i mean everyone including lightnin'...!!!

love takes many forms. there are tears in my eyes as i recall that night...

~3e

--- Post removed at author's request ---

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