Sam speaks with mediator and Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton. They discuss Diane’s “powerful confrontation with life and death” as a teenager; her experience studying with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Genpo Roshi; the all-too-frequent disconnect between spiritual insight and ethical behavior; recognizing vs. learning dharma;
transmuting vs. relinquishing emotional energy; the growth model vs. the awakening model of personal development; the possibility and promise of stabilizing non-dual insight; the moral importance of conceptual knowledge; psychedelics; meditation instructors vs. conventional gurus; mental states vs. psychological traits; the liability of spiritual teachers as organizational leaders; the power of cultural incentives; and other topics.
Philopher, neuroscientist and celebrated speaker Sam Harris, is the author of five New York Times best sellers.
As the world takes another ‘tour’ around the sun, choirs and a multitude of musical artists are still waiting for theirs… since health warnings still loom for public gatherings, and especially singing. There was a glimmer of hope before Omicron, and as the director of a community choir, I know how much the group was looking forward to reuniting for some jubilant outdoor holiday singing after canceling last year. Fondly known as the “Street Angels” annual event, the choir traditionally takes a spin around town on a yellow school bus, singing for seniors, serenading at the Stamford Town Center, and jingling at the Palace Theater as children gleefully emerge from the Nutcracker. This has always been a special outing, where the choir is not under pressure like at a concert venue, doing what they love, and having the unique opportunity to share joy and surprise passersby – a gift that never gets old.
And then, once more, heartbreak set in, as we needed to cancel yet again. Of course, this melancholy postponement can never be compared to the despair of Covid’s real life losses, or to urgent issues such as addressing the emotional toll of isolation on children and/or seniors. And while isolation for any and all of us impacts society as a whole, this is more of a reflective “note” on how when this beloved musical treasure seemed indefinitely missing, the human spirit rose up with clever solutions to conquer this saboteur, or musical “Grinch” if you will.
I’m speaking about the new world of “virtual choir videos”. When the ban of public singing sank in, taking a million breaths away… like many other producers, I donned my parachute and took a leap of faith into this new world – even launching a new division of my production company called “Virtual Sanctuaries”, to help support music directors and choirs across the country. By now most folks have likely seen this phenomenon on social media – and for sure, it really helped soften the blow, providing some refuge for the time being. Choirs met on Zoom to practice, albeit muted, but at least connecting, and working together on music to record. Ok, alone… in a quiet room… but then VOILA! Modern technology brings it all together… and before you knew it, in an unexpected harmonious twist, virtual choir videos slowly became a new powerful, inspirational tool used by choirs worldwide. Kind of like a new era of “MTV”… choir version.
Perhaps well said by the now world famous “virtual choir” genius Eric Whitaker, “the virtual choir would never replace live music or a real choir, but the same sort of focus and intent and esprit de corps is evident in both, and at the end of the day it seems to me a genuine artistic expression.”
If you’ve ever had the experience of singing in a choir, you’re not a stranger to its power. And/or if you happen to be an admirer of this art form, you’ve likely been moved in the presence of its majesty – be it Gospel, American Classical or Pop, Theater ensembles, or Mormon Tabernacle-ish, just to name a few. So what is this power magnifique? What is this Je ne sais quoi ingredient that brings on the goose bumps? The words I’ve most often heard to describe this experience by both choir and audience, be it secular or religious repertoire, is deeply “spiritual”. And I’ve come to understand that people use this word to describe that which is indescribable. And, perhaps, if we had to name it, we might describe it as universal love.
Music, can spontaneously transform an unbearable moment of despair into an unexpected joy. And, in particular, expressed by a chorus – young and older, can shine a light on the glorious connection that is innate in human beings. Here’s to the wonder of it all – and the hope that we get to experience that spiritual, indescribable, magic up close and personal in this new year!
I had the pleasure of presenting the main research of CSE at the Symposium on the Spirituality of Children hosted by Virginia Theological Seminary in late October 2021. While I often present our research, and our work is often well received, this particular presentation felt like a spiritual community. The people who were together shared from their own practice, and felt that our research reflected what they had seen in their classrooms over the last several decades. That, too, felt aligned, as our research was conducted by interviewing and observing master educators to understand what they did. It truly felt as though we were co-creating a spiritually supportive conference space, one where everyone felt seen, known, and valued. It was a profound experience for me! You can view the recordings from the Symposium here.
Dr. Dan Tomasulo, SMBI’s Academic Director, wrote a new book: “Learned Hopefulness: The Power of Positivity to Overcome Depression” which has been named one of the best books for depression in 2021. Dan shared: Hope is the only positive emotion to require negativity or uncertainty to be activated. Learned hopefulness demonstrates how hope can be taught and cultivated, and how doing so gives us the ability to become more resilient in the presence of daunting obstacles. As a result the new science of hope is improving outcomes in medicine, education, psychotherapy, and business—and this is only the beginning of understanding its potential.
Link to Dan’s book: “Learned Hopefulness”:
Read the article about the best books for depression HERE.
Over the holidays you might have caught the new satirical science fiction film called “Don’t Look Up”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as two American astronomers who find themselves having to go on a giant media tour, trying hopelessly to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy civilization… all the while our government (Meryl Streep plays the POTUS!), is wayyyy out to lunch.
The film has a fun, tongue and cheek tempo to it, attempting to use this metaphorical meteor plowing towards earth (i.e. climate change?) while we’ve been slowly spiraling hypnotically into the depths of a redundant, mundane, social media pseudo cyber world, and governments seem not to hear or care, despite the pleading of doctors and scientists around the globe for us to “just look up” as the actual, factual, visual, physical proof is RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES. Sigh… Hence the insane movie title – reflecting the shouting chants among the conspiracy theorists “don’t look up”. Which is funny, not funny… as here in “real life” we may have the luxury of a few more minutes and another bucket of popcorn before impending doom ensues… or do we?
Since Covid emerged, I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling as though a giant comet hit the world; my world – impacting life and the day to day rhythm of just about everything I didn’t realize I took for granted. That said, there have been a few, pleasantly surprising, meaningful, pearls of wisdom.
As a producer, composer of spiritual music and director of a community interfaith choir, most of my work got put on hold indefinitely, basically blasting a big intergalactic hole in my annual calendar of ‘feel good’ events. Throughout the year, I would normally be collaborating with diverse houses of worship, clergy and local government leaders to gather people of many backgrounds together. I miss hearing the choir sing songs about love and world peace, watching the interaction between them and the community – and the sharing of a uniting, inspirational experience. Boo. But then.. it happened. One evening, sitting outside on a rock.. I ‘looked up’.
Gazing at the stars, taking in nature and the universe… I sat quietly, becoming deeply present to the majesty all around me. I also thought about how I loved astronomy, reminiscing about the courses I took in college, but have since not paid attention to it, not really – and I began to fall newly in love with science. Wow… so much has happened since I was 12.. ;)!! Suddenly, I found myself listening to podcasts and immersed in YouTube videos of some of the great thinkers of our times. I even began to challenge some of the foundational ideas I’ve based most of my life on – and consider, that perhaps I have been so focused on my ‘good deed doing’ and choral sheet music, that I too, had slowly become oblivious to the world around me; that it was time for me to expand my view – and yes, I probably would’ve missed a giant meteor coming towards me. And maybe this was an unexpected gift that I so needed.
Through the years, I’ve engaged in myriad conversations on spirituality with individuals from many walks of life. That said, since my events are known as ‘interfaith’ gatherings, and since the choir members and concert attendees are usually connected to various faiths whether they are observant or not, most describe their experience of spirituality as a meaningful connection to something greater than themselves and typically use language such as their ‘connection to God’ or a ‘Divine energy’, or a ‘higher power’. The spectrum is wide… so I thought, but I now realize (here comes the comet…), that I have been ironically ‘tone-deaf’ to a segment of people who are equally devoted to world peace, moral integrity, love and compassion – yet express spirituality sans a ‘supernatural’, or ‘cosmic’ power as the source. I’m speaking of the estimated 14% of human beings who identify as secular humanists, atheists, free thinkers to name a few; (thank you Sam Harris* for your exquisite writing, teaching and inspiration for this blog/reflection) – people who I have overlooked and inadvertently excluded for years, all the while intending to be the most inclusive, multi faith, multi-cultural, LGBTQ, safe space for all people to come together “in the name of love and unity” … dang it! So, full speed ahead, the wording of “interfaith”, is ready for it’s overdue face-lift. Thank you unexpected, humbling, metaphorical meteor for helping us draw this new, hopeful, authentically inclusive, spiritual line in the sand. As we set sail into 2022, here’s to looking forward, and looking up.
*Sam Harris – philosopher, neuroscientist, podcast host, author, and a leading intellectual voice of our time.
Beth Styles is an award winning composer/producer/artist, whose work has been celebrated in diverse houses of worship across the country and performed by some of the great artists and cantors of our time.