Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau on the sublime
RECOGNISING SOMETHING WILD AND UNBRIDLED
FROM HIS LIFE AS A MUSICIAN
Brad Mehldau considers the sublime
Mehldau on YouTube reflecting on The Beatles’s music (photo: YouTube)
The sublime … something that’s very related to beauty but very different in the sense that it is something you would behold through music – but maybe through film or any other art – that would almost give you a sense of fear because of its greatness.
And something almost foreign to you in your finiteness, but at the same time kind of recognising something in yourself in that. Something wild and unbridled. That was a good place to begin for jazz for me because it was really wild … a powerful kind of emotion.
Brad Mehldau gave his thoughts on the sublime in this interview with Kate Molleson for BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters.
Then download and read Meditation originates and culminates in the everyday sublime by Stephen Batchelor as a PDF. ⁂
What are your thoughts on ‘the sublime’? Do please leave a comment.
MAKING MORE OF TUWHIRI’S BOOKS FREELY AVAILABLE
Do you borrow books from a library?
Are any of Tuwhiri’s books in your local library’s catalogue, or that of the library of your educational institution? If they’re not to be found there, do please ask them to buy a book, or two.
When you get Tuwhiri’s books into your local library or educational institution library, many more people will have an opportunity to discover a secular approach to the dharma.
If it helps, let the librarian know that Tuwhiri’s books are available through Ingrams – https:/ingramcontent.com/libraries. ⁂
ONLINE COURSE FOR ARTISTS
Self-creation, self-surrender: art & dharma
Sherre DeLys and Roz Driscoll (photos from BCBS)
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies will be offering a new, short online course In September. Titled Dharma in the studio: self-creation and self-surrender, it is aimed at artists, and will be run by Roz Driscoll in Massachusetts and Sherre DeLys in Sydney.
Keeping close to our practices in the studio and in meditation, they state, participants will explore how a complex interplay of self-creation and self-surrender play out in our art making, our creativity, and our lives.
The course will run on 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25 and 29 September. Find more info and register on the course web page. ⁂
SECULAR BUDDHISM – THE BASICS
Stephen Batchelor & Noah Rasheta in conversation
Stephen and Noah meet on screen for a robust discussion
From the September 2017 episode of the podcast, ‘Secular Buddhism’, here’s an excerpt from a conversation between host Noah Rasheta and Stephen Batchelor:
Noah Rasheta: What role does the mythic play in Buddhism in general, and does it play a role?
Stephen Batchelor: The danger with a secular approach is that you might read a story about the Buddha, like for example: he grows up as a prince and he leaves the palace and he sees the sick person and the old person. It’s a beautiful, mythical story, but it’s very unlikely anything like that actually happened. The danger is that we would then say, ‘That is no longer relevant’.
What we’re doing there is making a category error, basically. We’re taking a myth, judging it as though it were historical, and because it doesn’t live up to our standards of historical truth, we therefore discard it. Myth works very well on its own terms, and we need to be constantly reminded that it’s not history. It’s something else.
After graduating from the Bright Dawn Way of Oneness Buddhism Center in Coarsegold, California as Lay Buddhist Minister Noah Ma-yo Rasheta, Noah now teaches mindfulness and Buddhist philosophy online. Author and secular Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor’s books and talks will be well known to News from Tuwhiri readers.
Watch their conversation on YouTube, or download and read Stephen Batchelor and Noah Rasheta in conversation in PDF format. ⁂
BOOK READING GROUP
What is this? Ancient questions for modern minds
The next What is this? online book reading group will start in September 2024. Interested? To register your interest send us an email.
When you register we will send you a code giving you 10% off the price of What is this? – paper or digital – bought in Tuwhiri’s online store.
Download an excerpt from What is this? ⁂
POEM
Practising the art of being
by Lynne Frith
Wind section in the mist – photo: Jim Champion (Flickr)
You could learn the art of being,
The doctor said,
As an antidote to feeling useless.
Being still,
Being quiet,
Being present.
It’s a hard learning,
So imprecise and not easily measured.
Your graduation ceremony
Will be your last breath.
Lynne Frith is a Methodist minister in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
FREEING OURSELVES FROM ADDICTION
A secular dharma community for people either in recovery or seeking recovery from addiction
Suitable for people who are looking for a non-theistic spiritual framework that emphasises pragmatic, ethical and mindful living as tools for overcoming addiction, ELSA Recovery is a new peer-led community in which practical applications aimed at recovery from addiction are blended with the teachings of secular dharma.
ELSA Recovery will hold free weekly Zoom meetings for people who are suffering from, or in recovery from, addiction. You are invited to take part in these online meetings in which we will explore ELSA in a recovery context, alongside your usual recovery meetings.
ELSA Recovery offers a holistic, structured path in which ancient wisdom is integrated into a modern, secular format, helping people to not only recover from addiction but also live meaningfully and contribute positively to their communities.
By developing skills rather than focussing on belief claims, participants are empowered to free themselves from the grips of addiction, and cultivate a life filled with purpose, and care for others.
Photo: Florian van Duyn on Unsplash
As a mutually supportive, caring community, we will be working towards developing a deeper understanding of our reactivity, behaviours and thought patterns, with a view to sustainable recovery from addiction.
We will be developing the skills to embrace life, to respond ethically and creatively to our triggers and adverse life events, rather than blindly and reflexively react with old unhelpful patterns of thought and behaviour.
Find more info at https://elsarecovery.org. ⁂
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JUST ONE MORE THING
Tuwhiri’s next book
Will be announced in next month’s News from Tuwhiri.
And don’t forget…
When you buy a Tuwhiri book in our online store, we pay for the postage, worldwide. ⁂
We’re so, so grateful to you
When you read this newsletter, buy a book, let others know about Tuwhiri, or decide you’re going to pay for your newsletter, know that you’re part of the community which helps us to publish innovative secular dharma books. ⁂
Ngā manaakitanga,
Ramsey Margolis ❖ Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
for Tuwhiri
It is probably a thought not directly connected to the theme of the sublime but more to that of creativity. Mehldau in a more recent interview described the creative process as motherhood.
The mother has no direct control over the pregnancy, there is no clue as to what will happen, and the result is a total surprise. This process seems very similar to what happens when you meditate with complete openness, without following any instructions. Complete surrender to a process not directed by expectations, complete trust in the mind, which is no longer an enemy to be tamed but a force to rely on, whose nature you learn to follow.