Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Vibrate the Silence

I am in the process of completing Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann and found this gem in one of the final chapters :

    ... that tone which vibrates in the silence, which is no longer there, to which only the spirit  hearkens, and which was the voice of mourning, is no more. It changes its meaning; it abides as a light in the night ...

What a lovely aspiration - to vibrate the silence.

Last night I wanted to explore this notion in my guitar practice. On some level this is the aim for my playing. I did see that I can not think myself into this, nor feel my way in. I definitely can not will my self to this place;  I just need to be. So elusive, very very elusive. Can this vibrating the silence be practiced?  Perhaps, to date my experience suggests this is a space arrived at through attention to the present moment.

While doing my Qi Gong practice this morning I saw there are other ways to vibrate the silence. May the aspiration continue to assist the search.

2 comments:

  1. if i may relate this quote re: silence to another, from agee/evans "let us now praise famous men," the first paragraph of this chapter:

    http://books.google.com/books?id=qrmm6yNCZysC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=%22light+in+this+room+is+of+a+lamp%22&source=bl&ots=MCcLVJaz8y&sig=Al85_GnTbSp0y8pypYthwsnB82s&hl=en&ei=v2GeS4SkJIL68AaJ2PS6Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22light%20in%20this%20room%20is%20of%20a%20lamp%22&f=false

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