Music to my ears... or rather my heart!

[Basstian]

Music to my ears.... or my heart!
We live in an era where music is heard everywhere instantly released on the web and viewed by as many as millions. I for one think its great. I am no longer limited to what I can afford at the record store or what is being played on the radio.

I have noticed though that I seem to getting more from the musical messages I hear now than from the voice speaking from behind the pulpit. That feeling that really grips your heart and brings you to a state of worship or closeness with God.
I dont see anything wrong with that but I wonder... Would the voice crying out in the wilderness need to be set to music these days in order to be heard?

What are your thoughts and how does music affect your faith?

 

[wil]

I don't know if you are talking about 'religous' musical groups and songs or conventional songs that provide a message to you.

Some 'Christian' music doesn't do anything for me, some is very uplifting ... it varies.

 

[Basstian]

I am thinking any music of any genre. It just seems the messages that reach me best now are set to music of some type.

I seem to "get" more from music than I do a speech of the same length on the same subject.

 

[Dream]

but I wonder... Would the voice crying out in the wilderness need to be set to music these days in order to be heard?

Different music appeals to different people. Some people like Radiohead, and some people don't. Some people like Lynard Skynard. There are some people who can listen to 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' all day repeatedly. They are 'Cheeseburger Zombies.' This may shock some people, but I usually don't like listening to the Beetles.

 

[DT Strain]

It seems to me the purpose of music in spiritual practice is that it is one means by which we may have profound experience (some call it religious experience). Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, the tones and arrangements of music add far more subtle tones of meaning to a few simple words. Further, this mode of communication touches many more 'receptors' in our mental pantheon than does straightforward text. It touches our emotions, our creativity, it stimulates our memories, and so on. This creates a holistic conception of the message that runs much deeper and broader than mere words can embody. As such, when music is appropriate, it can fulfill many of the spiritual functions of the profound experience.

What is the function of profound experience? In my practice it is to help *internalize* principles, values, and concepts on a more deep and intuitive level. This breaches the line between 'head knowledge' and 'heart knowledge' - the difference between simply agreeing with a value system, and conditioning our character to it. This is, in fact, the best use of all ritual and practice in my view.

If music has been chosen poorly, it can likewise instill unwholesome values and responses more deeply.

 

[Etu Malku]

It is certainly wonderful to have at our disposal millions of tunes at any given moment, but I am a believer in music being experienced live. The vibrations, the melting of consciousnesses between performer(s) and audience. The reverberation of the hall, walls, chamber, etc. Visually watching the emotion from the performers as well as the audience all sweeps one away into a bliss of pure emotion!

None of this is adequately, if at all, captured on a recording, especially the millions that are being spit out daily with low quality bedroom production values.

Quality not quantity.