Spiritual Music

I can no longer find this discussion online, but I once read that when Ravi Shankar was asked if his music was "psychedelic", he could not answer and even seemed confused at the question.  A participant in this discussion pointed out that perhaps the questioner should have asked if the music was "spiritual" - the response might have been very different.

I was narrating this story on an online group, and a classical music fan wondered how Beethoven and Debussy would respond to the same question?  Perhaps they would consider their music spiritual, but to me, their music is very  different to a class of music that includes Shankar's work as well as improv jazz and the Grateful Dead.

We humans seem to be programmed with a "spiritual / religious" mode that can be switched on with the use of a few well known devices. 

First, we need a location that sparks our sense of wonder and awe.  The ancient Greeks held religious ceremonies in deep underground caves lit using torches. Gothic cathedrals with their immense ceilings and stained glass windows do the trick as well. So do ornately decorated Hindu temples.

Second, we bring in chanting or music, whether this is the organ and chorus in a church or the bhajan in the Hindu religion or the recitation of the Quran in melodic tones (Tilawat). 

Third, we hand out mind altering substances.  Think of wine,  bhang (cannabis with flavored milk) or peyote.

Fourth, we need movement such as the dancing of the dervish, or back and forth rocking as in Jewish prayer.  

These devices are even more powerful when several people perform them in a coordinated manner.  Imagine the dervishes dancing with each other or the rhythmic, repetitive chanting of a cult.

Now our spiritual mode is triggered, and we are much more receptive to new ideas, ideas that we may reject when we are in our normal, skeptical state, which keeps us safe from many dangers.

So one of the devices we can use to trigger our  religious / spiritual mode is music.  But what kind of music is best designed to invoke this mode.  This is where what we call religious / spiritual / psychedelic music comes in. I consider this to include much improvisational jazz and Indian classical music and even some tracks from the Grateful Dead.  The Dead borrow much from improv jazz, especially from the John Coltrane trio, and the way they played off their great pianist, McCoy Tyner. 

All three forms of music above are different from Beethoven in their improvisation. A raga or a jazz piece could last for 3 minutes or for an hour if the musicians are so inclined at the moment.  In their altered state, musicians can almost telepathically anticipate each other's moves and counter-moves. And the audience, in their altered state, sense both the telepathy between the performers and a shared consciousness with each other.

All three forms of music are associated with mind altering substances.  Jazz musicians are famous for their use of cannabis going back all the way to the birth of jazz. Indian ragas are strongly associated with religion and Hindu religious festivals often involve bhang.  And Deadheads, of course, are well known for their pot and acid.

Why do we have this mode?  I don't know but I suspect it's as intrinsic to us as religion.  All cultures in our history have developed forms of religion and religious ceremonies.  Perhaps religion makes us less liable to do things that hurt the collective, and our pre-programmed mode makes us more likely to accept new religious ideas, protecting our tribe from our unfettered selfish interests.

In any case, it behooves us to learn to exploit this mode, so we can, at least temporarily, achieve a sense of sublime joy.