Present Moment Mindfulness and Interdependence
Todd Brown, a meditator in our group, just emailed me about his experience in attending a symphony:
"The symphony (Mahler’s 2nd – Resurrection) was beautiful and powerful. While listening and watching I thought of the experience. Each musician had to have their attention completely focused, not on the notes that had already been played (even if those previous notes still resonated in the hall), not on the upcoming notes written on the score (of which after rehearsing they knew instinctively to be forthcoming), but only on the one fleeting note being played. No matter what the length of the note being played by each musician on his or her particular instrument, full attention must be given to the moment- creating the correct note, tone, timbre, attack, and sustain, to produce the magnificent singular sound of the orchestra. Existing in the suchness of each moment, of each note.
The symphony itself unfolds within the moment. The unfolding of sound, action, observance, and thought is only possible with the involvement of everyone and everything present. And the dynamics of the shared experience can only be as it is through the combined interaction of all participants- musicians, audience, staff, and composer (not to mention the craftsmen who made the violins, the sand in the cement of the building foundation, ect.). It was a microcosm of Oneness, each participant dwelling in the magnificent Now.