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To Palomino's observations about Zen and Zen Amps, I think these lucid music experiences we speak of illustrate how Zen Amps can stimulate Zen Mind.
It seems we are all speaking of noticing seemingly extraordinary perception.
I have been involved in Zen practice a long time, and thought maybe a traditional description of it could be useful in this conversation???
Zen came to Japan mainly from China and "Zen" is the early Japanese way of saying the Chinese term Chan. Likewise, "Chan" is a Chinese way of saying Dhyana, a Sanskrit term in the language many Buddhist teachings travelled to China with. Dhyana translates as meditation, or meditation consciousness. So "Zen" is literally meditation or meditation consciousness.
Calming down our conditioned, thinking mind's dominance, Zen practice is designed to reveal other aspects of Mind that we tend not to notice much, and understand less. Gut mind and heart mind are some descriptors, and since these are not as fleshed out as thinking, they can seem mysterious.
Relative to our musical experiences, thinking-mind functions in word-time, the pace we talk or write…Linear, mechanical, and slow. It cannot possibly take in all that music offers in a single phrase. Comparatively, Heart-Mind, from the Zen view, integrates all aspects of perception and consciousness and is very, very fast, allowing us to process loads at once...like a group of musicians playing with all the complexities of interacting note structures, tones, timbre, ambience and on and on.
A foundation of Zen practice is noticing and integrating broader perception as a means of expanding consciousness. When we experience spontaneous lucid listening, this is a Zen experience. Zen practice is practicing to allow the expanded experience more often and more deeply.
I like "Open-Mind" to describe unbiased, and unlimited consciousness. How we intuitively roll as we fall in order to protect our head is an example of Open Mind….taking in loads of information and processing it in a flash. Or those moments that pass "out of time"… like absorption in songs or albums and being shocked to notice the clock some time later…
Zen is not about killing thinking mind, it too is clearly a useful tool of consciousness. It is more about seeing what else there is under thinking mind, about waking up the rest of Mind.
Imagine our many levels of involvement with music... from not really noticing anything else but our being captivated by it…to being deeply absorbed and fleetingly noticing a brittleness…..then maybe the mind shifts to, "I might try that other power cable or tube to solve this," …then back to awe of absorption by the beauty, no thoughts, just the music.
Sound familiar? Adding the intent to notice, develop, and "practice" the functions of perception and consciousness, experientially exploring how the Mind works, this is Zen practice.
So what makes Zen Amps Zen?
Since Zen is a "study" of the experience of Nature, the Zen Amp had to start right. It had to have a sound we can innately gravitate toward. Even order harmonics and overall natural voicing of Zen Amps enable the possibilities of complete involvement with music. If the listening experience is not how we hear things in life, our Mind notices and is repelled. But when the sound is natural to our body, we can relax and enjoy. Add to this finesse from excellent tonal and dynamic voicing, and then add a synergistic blend of really good system parts and room, and the music can feel/sound better than it did in the studio in many cases. Finally, luckily for us, natural presentation of music can stimulate our experience of harmony with the music. Zen experience.
As importantly, Steve is an artist. With accomplished artists, technique is always developing, but also a comfortable arena from long practice. Not having to focus as much on technique, the artist can let deeper exploration enliven the art. As focus on creative process causes conditioned concepts and definition to soften, a fresher, freer mind is better able to "be there," better able to perceive the vast complexities of music. Process enlivening the art becomes normal, naturally bringing insights.
I think this is the nature of creativity. Rather than being ruled by dominance of habituated thoughts, concentrated process and a quest for finding something really better, we are open to what we don't already know. At the same time, the intensity of process and inquisitiveness opens our Mind to what is right here in the moment. This sets us up for new discoveries. Then, changing the baseline, broadened and more complex, discovery creates a new starting place, a place from which to explore further!
Discovery stimulating exploration, and exploration leading to discovery, the Creative Cycle starts to roll. Within it, the tendency is to get deeper and deeper into a less biased, less complicated consciousness. And a simpler, less distracted Mind is more Open, more capable of perception, setting the stage for insight and innovation. Finally, since Creativity stimulates Open Mind, it is natural Zen, natural meditation.
As it rolls on, it can go places we never really imagined. Whether it is experiencing the expression of Steve's art in our rooms, or Steve practicing the art in his, Zen Mind participates and contributes...Very useful whether designing, or listening, or adjusting our system/room.
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