Music and The Musician
Excerpted from a talk “Music—the Flow of Life” by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, October 1, 1975, Iowa
“The purpose of music is to create or to generate those very delicate impulses of bliss we call emotions. And let that most delicate value of life be a direct experience. And with this, let every aspect of life be nurtured. Music, or the upsurge of fine emotions, serves to life as fertilizer, serves to freshen all the leaves and branches in tree—the whole thing. So, very delicate impulses rising in the heart is the beginning of the melody of life and that’s what music is…”
“In the life of the musician, the most important aspect is the developed delicacy of his own emotions. And as the stress is dissolved, as the purity of consciousness grows, the heart begins to flow more and more. Emotions begin to swell more and more because the material of consciousness when it is pure, it gives rise to very delicate impulses—and they come to direct experience. The purpose of the music that is heard from outside is to touch the deep core of the heart, eliminate any coarseness from there, and develop more refinement in the heart….”
“So the purpose of the musician is the purpose of a purifier in society. He purifies his own emotions, and then he is able to pulsate in that most delicate value of life which, of course, in its character of being transcendental, unseen, behind the scene, becomes a positive experience on the level of those tender impulses of music. It’s a beautiful medium to purify life. And when music is played or sung after meditation, it is like trying out how much of refinement has been gained in the heart, how much refined is the value of life. If one can get the swing of music absorbed (in) one’s emotions, then the music is successful.…”
“It’s the tenderness of emotions developed through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation that makes a musician successful and music very penetratingly delightful.…”
