… the huge twelve foot radongs form the basis and the starting point of the orchestral music. They are always in pairs and are alternately blown in such a way that the sounds of the one merge into the other without breaking its continuity and at the same time producing the effects of gradually swelling and ebbing tides of an ocean of sound. And on the surface of this ocean, the breeze of individual life creates and plays with a multitude of waves and wavelets which, like the high pitched tremolo of the oboes, add vivacity and melody to the vastness of the ocean, whose sound seems to be that of the all embracing OM, the prototype of all mantric sounds.
[Lama Anagorika Govinda: The way of the white clouds (part1. Ch7)]
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Thank you for sharing , Bert. Interesting post
groetjes, Francina
you are very welcome, groeten!
Reblogged this on Niki.V.all.ways.My.way. and commented:
watching now …
🙂
As a joke once, because engineers can all too often forego the human element of working for months on a shared objective, I wrote an internal procedure for celebrating the completion of a project. The idea was that Tibetan horns should be blown triumphantly when design documents have been completed and plotted, because really, what is there that is not sacred? Got a hearty laugh from a colleague. This reminded me of that- one moment in one drop of the river of humanity long passed, evoked and recalled, engendering a smile. Surely not your intent. How could you have known? How do any of us know? This seeming distance from each to each, is it not a mirage?
Memory is a strange thing. The evocation of a tune or a smell from childhood …
I’m happy that these horns made you remember a funny thing, and I’m grateful you shared this story here. Thank you.
Great story, Michael! My association with this post was in a sense similar to yours, as also related to the ‘corporate world’. It was not Tibetan horns, but Tibetan gongs that were used by external moderators that tried to motivate us (IT experts) to “brainstorm” in a company meeting … that was funny in a way not intended 🙂
🙂
Oh, Bert, this was great!! Really like the associations with the ocean. It breathes the secrets of life.
When they are well played, both of them, they indeed sound like Lama Anagorika Govinda described. Many rituals have a deep meaning, that most have never heard of. In such a way, a detail on a thangka becomes a miracle in itself.