How Mindfulness helps musicians
If I had to name the most important thing I learned in the past year, it is how mindfulness can strengthen musicianship.
In my study and practice of Zen, I have encountered many things that relate to artistic production, and many things that affect musicianship. One of the most difficult teachings I had encountered in Buddhism was the concept of no-self. In this article I want to unpack what I have learned about that, and show how it has affected me as a teacher, creator and musician. In doing so I hope this will help others see the connection to their art and incorporate mindfulness training in the coming year.
Three Kinds of Creation
How does mindfulness relate to art?
In the collection of talks called Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, master Shunryu Suzuki (a coincidence of names with Shin’ichi Suzuki) says there are three kinds of creation: 1. Selfing 2. Acting 3. Making. (These are my simplified titles.)
Each of these flows from the practice of meditation, and each happens in the course of our lives day-to-day. “When you get up from meditation,” Shunryu Suzuki says, “there you are! That is your self, now present.” Then you might have breakfast, wash the dishes, and so on. This is your action. Then you might make something, some kind of work that puts something into the world. This is creation in the more conventional sense.
But each of these things, Shunryu Suzuki says, the appearance of self, the appearance of daily tasks, and making of art, is a form of creation. And each flows out of the silence and emptiness of meditation practice.
Let’s look at each in turn more closely and how they relate to meditation and to music.
Selfing
Selfing is the way you put your SELF together. It is what jumps into your head as the defining “you” when you wake up in the morning. It includes all your memories, your sense of identity, your story, along with all the things you believe and value. Your loved ones, your responsibilities, the “thread” of your life. I think of it as a large river, whose current is pulling you forward, giving you specific challenges and experiences during each day.
Here’s the thing: This SELF is an act of creation!
We don’t usually consciously recognize this. The being that you think of as “you” is a construct that your brain is designed to produce. It is one of the most important features of the human brain. But it also limits us in important respects. Whenever we try to cling to our sense of self, we contract, and we don’t experience life to the fullest.
The being that you think of as “you” is a construct that your brain is designed to produce.
The fact that the self is a construct doesn’t mean it isn’t real. You are not nothing, and not fake, and not a lie. This self is actual.
In fact it can be enlivening and reality-enhancing to realize this about yourself. This is because it is so liberating not to have to fear for and protect that self.
When we are overly protective of ourselves, it makes us fearful. In music, the way this comes out is fear of performing in front of people. (It may also manifest in other ways, such as aggressively competing with other musicians.) So letting go of the idea of a constant, permanent self is helpful, because I don’t need to fear what someone else thinks if that is just a construct anyway. There isn’t anything there to be protected!
This is a difficult thing to grasp. I am convinced it actually cannot be “grasped” in the sense of grabbing ahold of something, but rather experienced or received. That’s why meditation is so important. Only in the silence and stillness of meditation did I discover the reality that I don’t have an essential SELF. I didn’t get there by analysis or by trying hard. I only received it through instruction from meditation teachers and through opening to what was present in silent meditation.
The impact this made on my musicianship has been profound. It has helped me, paradoxically, put more effort into practicing with my whole body, and then showing that to my students. This is a vulnerable thing to do, but I have found space to welcome it into my life by meditation practice.
The more I let go of the essential SELF, the more I express a self that others can receive and relate to.
The more I create from this space of emptiness of self, the more artistic and musical I become.
Letting go of the fear of losing something essential about yourself is liberating, whether that means your reputation, your sense of worth, your abilities, your looks—or your talent on violin!
Without that fear a different kind of self comes forward. One that is more free for the next two kinds of creation.
Acting
The next thing that happens out of the no-self is a freed sense of action. I can receive more openly what comes to me as tasks and activities for the day, when I have already received some spaciousness and support from meditation.
I can receive more openly what comes to me as tasks and activities for the day, when I have already received some spaciousness and support from meditation.
The way this has translated for me in the past year is an increased willingness to handle more responsibility, and to give more of myself to my teaching and my studio business. Ironically it is in the practice of emptying the mind of all those myriad tasks, that new energy comes to do them.
Acting as creating in the everyday sense also helps me balance my work and home life. If you’re like me, you have many roles and responsibilities, with your spouse, your kids, and your job. You have many desires and aspirations, and you also belong to various groups and organizations that have their own rhythm. All of this can get incredibly complex to manage.
Sometimes we feel as though we are going crazy, that we can’t manage it all.
But this is when coming away from the self helps. When that self is caught in a loop of anxiety or overwhelm, it doesn’t do any good to prop it up with false optimism or to soldier on through the tasks in hopes of getting everything done once and for all.
What helps the most is to still that self, to quiet it, and to recognize it as an appearance in your mind. This allows you to realize that you can let everything be as it is. There is just this moment. And this moment is enough.
There is just this moment. And this moment is enough.
This is the place from which we can act and create with a sense of peace and ease.
CREATING
Letting go of an essential self also means letting go of judgment. That critical devil that sits on your shoulder? That notices everything wrong in you and others? What would life be like without that voice being so strong? What could you create if you weren’t afraid of the consequences?
When I let go of essential self, I don’t have a critical voice creating noise. Then I can truly create art.
When I let go of essential self, I don’t have a critical voice creating noise. Then I can truly create art.
Sometimes our creative art lies in relating to others. I am a better partner, and a better parent, when I can access my creativity without fear. My own awareness of what students are going through, especially their own critical voice, is more sensitive. I can create better tools and resources for the studio when I don’t fear the opinions of others, and when I am naturally open to inspiration.
Creative inspiration comes from an intuitive voice within, as well as from unexpected places without. My students bring me so much creative energy, in every lesson! I could not keep up with it, unless I had a way to continually open more space to it.
Creativity is about becoming a channel for what the universe is bringing. If it is bringing a painting, I paint. If it is bringing a blog, I blog. If it is bringing a new approach to the business, I open my computer and notebook. If it wants me to dedicate time to a specific student’s needs, I do that.
In this way my “selfing” blends into my “acting” and “creating” and the effect is highly satisfying.
But again, none of this is possible without the emptiness/fullness factor of meditation.
How does this relate to teaching and Suzuki method?
For me, the practice of meditation influences every aspect of my playing and teaching. The loss of SELF and its subsequent recreation - in being and acting and creating - this is at the center of music, and all art.
Almost every lesson now, I am asking students to open up, move their body, experience the sound. As we practice, they begin to let go of prior sense of themselves and move into new territory. Their awareness expands, and mine does too. They teach me as I teach them.
They begin to let go of a prior sense of themselves and move into new territory.
A beautiful exchange begins to happen, between us and the music, between our violins and our hands, and finally between an audience and us. Every step of the way, we are painting sound on a canvas of silence, making movement out of stillness.
Specifically I see students letting go of prior narratives about themselves whenever they play as a group, when they play more challenging music than they thought possible, and when they overcome previous notions of limits. They can practice more, play higher, faster and so on, than they ever thought.
Meditation is not about doing one more thing
Probably the most important thing I’ve learned in applying meditation practice to music is that of non-doing.
It’s the art of doing nothing.
There is a saying from the Tao Te Ching: Wei Wu Wei. It means Doing the Not Doing.
You might think this is nonsensical. But you know what it feels like, when you get into flow and it feels like you’re no longer the one doing it! This happens in music all the time.
The thing that happens with meditation is you realize that state consciously, without some external activity to focus on. You begin to experience meditation as doing itself. You just get to enjoy it, go along for the ride.
May the blessing of this discovery find its way to you today, and throughout the coming year. Release your attachment to self, and see how it transforms you as an artist.
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If you’re interested in getting the book I referenced: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.
I would also highly recommend the Zen courses offered by Mountain Cloud Zen Center. These have made an enormous difference in my life and enriched my music and art in ways I cannot even put into words. Henry Shukman has a unique approach that makes meditation attractive. Be sure to check out his Original Love series.
AND - I’m planning to do more videos and audios on this subject. Be sure to subscribe to @FiveMinuteViolin on YouTube so you don’t miss anything.