The Way of the Gong™

After following his exploits for the past 20 or so years, and reading probably every word he has written on Gongs and Holistic Resonance, I finally had the chance to meet Gongmaster Don Conreaux this weekend. Not only that, but I was able to play with his Mysterious Tremendum in both Milwaukee and Chicago. It was a meeting of minds, metal, and differing philosophies.  2 Gongolier I was contacted months ago about possibly hosting an event here in Milwaukee. Since Don is now 80 years old, I felt like it was necessary to be a part of this. I first encountered Don somewhere around 1985 when I was doing research on Gongs. I probably found him on the internet during its early days. I remember reading his theories on sound, and ordering some of his CDs and a video tape that was from a cable access TV show in NYC (do you remember all those old cable access shows?). I found him to be an interesting character. We exchanged a few e-mails and I kept up to date with his activities. Com...

“There's nothing you can do that is more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way, you will find, live, and become a realization of your personal myth.” Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss Follow your own path…  What are you looking for? What takes you deeper into both yourself, and everything else? What happens when you surrender to the sound and the silence? They are everything. If you would stop and be still for a moment—forget about all your multitasking, forget about rushing around, never taking a breath. Just stop, pause, and listen.  What do you hear?  What do you feel?  What do you experience? Be still and connect with the Universe around you. Strike your Gong/Bowl/Bell/Fork and listen. What is the sound telling you? We can only hear  the answers when we stop and listen, not when we strike, yet keep moving, keep thinking, keep projecting into the future. Be still. Be in the mo...

I had a whole different post ready to go, when this great article came across my wavelength this week. It really addresses what I was saying in the 2 previous posts on  The Myth Of The 2 Week Master . Please read the article first: Selling the Sacred: Get Your Master's in Native American Shamanism? What is important here is respect. Respect for the native/tribal/indigenous traditions. And in today's society, respect has often been thrown away. You can't just read a book, or take a course, and become certified in any sort of tradition. Yes, you can learn some things, but that's only skimming the surface. And by doing that, “It’s cultural trespassing.” A Crow sweat lodge—Museum of the American Indian The other side of things is that it takes years and years to apprentice and learn these things. “Practicing ceremonies without understanding is dangerous,” she said [Swift Hawk]. “We see so many deaths.” And there have been deaths, like in sweat ...