I found the discussion interesting and the chanting to be very powerful, I wish we had time to go longer with it. First of all, the introduction of the poet Rumi really connected with me in the brief amount of time that we spoke about him. I will definitely will be reading more of him in my spare time, which at the moment is almost nil. I found the imagery of his words very appealing and his philosophy connected personally; it was only an introduction, but intriguing none the less.
I feel I gained some insight into the Islamic Sufi culture, specifically why men and women hold different positions in society/ what their roles are. I don’t think I realized, as some others in our class, the extent to which we would be delving into other cultures, religions, and practices, and spending time on social justice issues. The last time I was at University was about 15 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Personally, I think I’m slowly starting to get what we’re after here. Simply put, as community music facilitators our role is not only to get some people together to play music, there is a much bigger picture, and the music is just the vehicle to grow, learn, and heal ourselves as a community. We ‘need’ to broaden our perspective and our awareness of the world around us and in order to do that it might get uncomfortable at times. How can we foster an inclusive environment without knowing anything about the diverse backgrounds of the people within it? Understanding where people are coming from (and I don’t mean just physically) is vital to creating a safe, inclusive space for everyone. No longer are we able, if we ever were, to ignorantly think that what we want and need is what everyone else needs. If I don’t try to grow and learn in this way my own biases will direct the facilitation and it will end up being exclusive. That’s just the beginning I believe; a starting point for growth…
Speaking to what I could see was some others reaction to the class…I can only say, from my own perspective that I am not at all bothered by discussion and participation in religious cultural activities, but being asked to participate in certain religious acts may go to far for me, but I don’t feel it has reached that point in class yet. It does bring up the question, is what we were doing sacrilegious? It didn’t really feel like we praying to me, so I was fine with it. Trying to connect with a higher power/ the universe/ god in a mystical way is real, it can be done because I have felt it. It is like Sparks said, talking and studying something will only get you so far, but empirical knowledge is really is true knowledge; participating in the chanting is the best way to gain an understanding of it. I don’t have any strict religious beliefs, so I just look at these activities as an outsider getting a peak into another culture, and while I’m doing so I’m trying to learn something of the essence of it so that I can have some perspective and use that to engage people in the future as I described earlier. I think just being open minded is important. We all have our own beliefs, even not believing in something is a belief, and I think we have all showed tolerance and acceptance. I have been impressed by the fact that we have been able to do what we have done in class considering that we are a diverse group with different beliefs. We all need to reach out to each other, help each other, and learn from each other. If we can’t then it doesn’t speak well to our futures as community musicians.
Hiya Luke,
I love how you delved into what our role as community music facilitators may be, and highlighted our responsibility to those around us. I think Gerard does a great job helping us broaden our perspectives and awareness, and even go the step further and confront our own reserved ideas on these topics.
My favourite part though is that you called it “a starting point for growth…” I think that is the best way to approach this course, but our futures as well. We are respecting that there is so much in this world and so much more that we have yet to discover or learn from.
As for the question of sacrilege, I’m of the mind that if we were voluntary led by someone who is a carrier of that knowledge and belief system, we are okay. I think that, had it been sacrilegious, we would never have been allowed to chant in the first place.
Thanks for writing, I really enjoyed your post!
– D
Thanks Dylan. Yes, he was our guide so it would be his responsibility to make sure we weren’t doing anything inappropriate I suppose. I could tell that everyone had their comfort level with it. We participated in whatever way we felt was appropriate, and that was interesting to see too because it is a reflection of how each individual feels about it.
Good points, Luke. My understanding and perspectives have definitely broadened and I like that we can go as far as we are comfortable, which may not be far at all. As
You say, it is a peek into the world of someone very different than our norm.
I posted a Rumi poem during reading week. It’s entitled “Don’t go back to sleep” if you want to look for it on my blog. My choir sings it and it is quite lovely.
Thanks Fiona, I will check it out
Really well written Luke, thanks. You wrote what I was thinking better than I could have, I think! I love your last two sentences. “We all need to reach out to each other, help each other, and learn from each other. If we can’t then it doesn’t speak well to our futures as community musicians.”
As one who is a teacher, in a position of ‘power’ over my students, this really speaks to me. It is so important to know about the diverse backgrounds of my students and to be open to discussing them. Learning about some of the many ways people think can not only make us better teachers and community musicians, but simply better humans. I think this group has a wonderful and diverse range of perspectives and I am learning so much from you all.
I think it is part of the bigger picture Gerard is trying to unveil to us. He is giving the power over to the group and with that power we can direct the learning, but it is our responsibility to make sure no-one is left behind.
I had the opportunity to do a similar exercise with Jason in the MU100 class I am TA-ing. It was an hour long session at 8:30am with music students (specifically not CM undergrads who were off doing a different exercise) who had read a disclaimer ahead of time about the content of the tutorial. Students could excuse themselves from the tutorial or choose to observe and not participate.
One of the differences between our graduate session and the morning session with the undergrads was the amount of time Jason took to locate himself and answer questions in the morning session before introducing us to the exercise. Jason wove a wonderful story of his life growing up in a multicultural neighborhood in Montreal – the sights, the sounds, the tastes and smells, and the rhythms. It was very evocative. He also talked in detail about his spiritual practice as a Sufi Muslim making sure to be clear with us that he was devoted to his religious practice and did not espouse a polytheistic worldview when it came to his understanding of his beliefs.
Students participated much as we did, in a circle that surrounded Jason who stood and lead us in chanting. It was a profound experience. The students gave feedback online and were universally positive about the session. Their feedback ranged from quite interested to wildly enthusiastic.
I’m not sure exactly what contributed to the deep “success” of the morning session with the undergrads, but I have been trying to reflect on it: something about the pace maybe, or the quietude of the morning, or the time spent in conversation, or the circle we made with care in the very centre of the room… maybe it was the intentionallity of our shared preparation. Whatever it was, we shared an experience and – for my part – I was totally surprised by it. And in the surprise was joy!
Thanks for the comments Nathan. I think we missed something in our class experience. We were rushed for time and didn’t get to experience the entirety of the process as you described, and perhaps the time of day has an effect on how receptive people are to such an experience.