The Bobby Rock Newsletter #33 (11-11-2021) - A Love Supreme
The Bobby Rock Newsletter #33 (11-11-2021) - A Love Supreme
Hey Everyone -
Good to have you guys back. Whaddya say we go deep today? Got some timeless wisdom and holy music for ya. Let’s do it!
In this Issue:
- A Conversation with the World’s Wisest Man? Enjoy another slice today from my book, Zentauria. We delve deep into some big-time life stuff, and how WE get to choose the meaning behind everything that happens in our experience here.
- Into as of Late: This is music I’m into all the time, not just “as of late.” Nonetheless, we give the master his due with a quick look at “A Love Supreme,” a record I continue to obsess over decades after first hearing it.
- Trane - a poem: From the archives... an older piece of writing inspired by the main man.
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Here’s an excerpt from my book, Zentauria: My Season in the Warrior Utopia. The book is essentially an 11-week documentation of life with a secretive utopian community, on a small island off the east coast of Africa. I wrote it journal-style, with a conversational narrative, but I believe the themes, experiences, and insights covered throughout might be useful or even inspiring to others.
Evening Hour With The X-Man: Session I –
The Art of the Moment
Day 9 – 1:30 AM (Guest Quarters)
This excerpt is from a series of conversations I have with a 92-year old monk named Exle (aka “X” or “The X-Man,” as I often refer to him), who I consider one of the world’s most evolved humans.
Regarding our first session… I have figured out pretty fast that the Zentaurians are all about living in the present moment; the Eternal Now, if you will. So I really wanted to kick things off by exploring the finer points of the “moment” with the X-Man today. I’ve been a huge Thich Nhat Hanh fan through the years, and I’ve studied other philosophies that deal with the idea that it’s all about the present… all about finding the ecstasy in each moment. But I was curious to explore Exle’s take on the Art of the Moment and to also get a sense of how this related to our past and future.
We pick up the conversation just after Exle talked about the Law of Polarity, and clarified how the meaning of anything in life is ultimately defined by the meaning we choose to assign to it… and how even this can shift over time.
+ + + + + + +
Me: Wow. Heavy duty, X. (Pause.) So what’s the meaning behind this conversation?
(Exle smiles.)
Me: Oh, I get it. There is no absolute meaning because my perception of this conversation—as I reflect on it from the filter of any future moments—could shift from one moment to the next, right?
Exle: Now you’ve got it.
Me: Well… it certainly is a liberating perspective on the one hand, but on the other, how would we live without having an opinion or some kind of evaluation about everything?
Exle: Very comfortably, thank you.
Me: But doesn’t the joy in life come from our being able to discern certain events as happy ones through our evaluation of them?
Exle: Sure… until you run into an event you discern as unhappy. And again, in this world of polarities, these are not great odds.
Me: So are we to somehow always strive to be joyfully indifferent?
Exle: Joyfully indifferent to outcome, yes. This is the way of non-attachment, of liberation from desire. Because, again, what’s the point of making an evaluation on something when the inherent meaning or cause-and-effect result can shift over time? But “indifferent” is not a word I would use to describe anything you might care to engage in the present, because everything is created out of the present; so we really want to be “present” for the present and experience all of its layers. To acknowledge the joy and beauty in each moment… this is the way of enlightenment.
Me: I think I follow. But does this mean we just sit around and be indifferent about everything since the meaning behind anything we might care to do could shift in the future?
Exle: No. I’m saying all the meaning behind something lies in the present moment.
Me: Okay… but how does all of this work in the real world as we engage polarities on a daily basis?
The Old Chinese Farmer
Exle: There’s a classic parable about an old Chinese farmer and his prized stallion. Perhaps you’re familiar with it?
Me: (Joking.) Possibly, but go ahead and tell me since my initial hearing of it was likely skewed by a filter of perception that was undoubtedly lesser evolved than my present filter is.
Exle: You’re a funny guy.
Me: I try to amuse. (Both of us laughing.)
Exle: It goes like this:
There once was an old Chinese farmer who was barely able to earn a living. His prized possession was a magnificent stallion, who he kept in a corral. He had always dreamed of obtaining another one so he could breed them and start a lucrative business. But with his limited resources, it didn’t appear this was ever going to happen.
One morning, as he was starting the day’s chores, he noticed that the stallion had escaped from the corral during the night and run away. The farmer’s neighbors gathered around and expressed their deepest condolences. “We can’t believe your prized stallion ran off,” they said. “This is terrible!”
And the farmer replied, “Maybe.”
Several mornings later, the farmer was heading out to feed the pigs, and he couldn’t believe what he saw in his corral. Not only had his original stallion returned, but he had brought back another dozen beautiful stallions with him. The neighbors came by to have a look and said, “What a lucky man you are. This is incredible!”
And the farmer replied, “Maybe.”
A week later, the farmer’s only son insisted on helping him tame one of the strongest male stallions, despite his repeated warnings. “Don’t worry, Dad, I can handle it.” Sure enough, the stallion threw the boy to the ground with such force that he broke nearly every bone in his right leg. Again, the neighbors gathered. “So I guess it wasn’t such a great thing that the stallion returned with all of those wild horses. This is horrible, what happened to your son!”
And the farmer replied, “Maybe.”
One month later, as the boy lay in his bed with his leg still in traction, the Chinese military rolled through town to impose a draft. In those days, being drafted meant a thirty- to forty-year obligation to the armed forces, so it wasn’t likely that one’s son would ever be seen again. Many of the neighbors were trying to hide their sons or dress them up as girls… anything to avoid the draft. But the military knew all the tricks, and one by one, many boys from the community were recruited for duty. When they came into the old farmer’s house, however, they saw the condition of the boy’s leg and figured it would take months for it to heal, rendering him useless to them for the draft. So they left the house and kept on looking.
Later, all the neighbors stopped by and said, “Good fortune continues to rain down on you! I guess it turned out for the best that these stallions came around and your son hurt his leg. This is great news!”
And the farmer replied, “Maybe.”
Me: Cool. Okay. To me, this parable represents a full-circle encapsulation of our experience here on earth:
We live as consciously as we can in the present moment and witness the various events that are ultimately born from it.
These various events of our lives have only the meaning we choose to assign to them, at the time that we choose to assign it, because…
Everything is in flux, constantly unfolding around us, based on the ever-changing shifts in energy going on, both individually and collectively, which means…
The meaning we assign to these various events is always subject to revision, based on the filter of our current, in-the-moment perceptions, which brings us back to…
We live as consciously as we can in the present moment.
Exle: Fine. Let this parable mean what it’s supposed to mean to you right now. Because in another moment, it might mean something else.
Me: Of course.
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A Love Supreme
I still maintain, if I were ever stranded on a deserted island and could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life, it would be master jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane. These days, Trane remains in my regular year-round rotation, and here lately, I’ve been revisiting his classic A Love Supreme, a four-part suite he recorded in ’65 with his classic quartet of McCoy Tyler on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums.
I've been listening to this record for 40 years now, and yet, it remains something of a spiritual experience to hear it even to this day. Granted, such is the case for most of his records, especially the 60s-era solo stuff with this particular line-up, which is certainly one of the most heralded in all of jazz history. And on this record, everything with this band coalesces, peaks, and synergizes, as the four become one in a musical statement that is simply not of this earth.
Warning: This music isn’t for everyone. Jazz? Uhhh, sure. But this particular brand is probably an acquired taste for most folks. It is adventurous as hell, with lots of raw, aggressive textures, some dissonant edges, and an elastic, at times bombastic, feel that, well… is so much of its own vibe that it will either resonate with you or it won’t. But if it does, it will forever play out in an intricate sort of grandeur—like your favorite masterpiece of a film or novel—and you will discover something new about it with every subsequent listen.
Honorable Mention
In the early 2000s, Branford Marsalis and band took a crack at memorializing “Supreme” on a couple different recordings, one studio, the other live. I have a bunch of Branford’s records as well… big fan. But when I first heard about these recordings, it struck me as sacrilegious. Do a Coltrane song—even “Giant Steps”—fine. But the full A Love Supreme suite? Should be illegal.
And then I heard the fucking live version. Good Lord, Branford and band slayed that shit, recording a compelling and worthy addendum to the "Coltrane canon” that was truly inspired. How ballsy and impressive that Marsalis and co.—Joey Calderazzo: piano, Eric Revis: bass, Jeff Watts: drums, with Branford on tenor—would take on such an epic work and do it such incredible justice. And you can even watch these guys play it, as the full set was originally released on DVD (and is now on YouTube). Riveting. (The studio version on Footsteps of Our Fathers is bad-ass, as well!)
Of course, it would be pointless to try and compare the Coltrane/Marsalis versions, and fortunately, we don’t have to. And yet... that unmistakable Trane tone of the original. Man. To me…. and at the risk of overindulging my love for this music... it remains the closest thing any human has come to replicating the actual voice of the Divine.
Which leads us to…
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This is a poem I wrote about Coltrane back in the mid-90s. Why? Who knows why. But I just recently spotted it in the archives and figured, what the hell?
Trane
Trane, in an airy prayer,
Blowing designs, spilling shapes
like battery acid
Stinging the senses
Captivating, relentless
Burning like bourbon
Rumble the bones
Stronger than heroin, lighter than air
I’m there
In a smoke-soaked sanctuary
Golden Buddha in a lotus
strike and hiss
like a cobra
Saliva mist
through a brittle reed
Weaving magic
Wreaking havoc…
on cotton candy ears
Desensitized
to the very voice of God
to the very voice of God
A priest
(or witchdoctor?)
Squealing and screaming those
Black magic mantras
of spiraling fury
in tongues unknown
Crack the soul
with a sledgehammer blow
Salvation, eternal…
Elation
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Thanks again, everybody! Connect next week...
Until then,
BR
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