The Way of the Gong™

We've all had that day, the day we feel too tired, or too busy, or too scattered, or too…name a thousand things. I go through that. I go through that with Yoga, with music, with meditating, with writing, with all the things I do. But when we're too tired, or busy, or scattered, that's the time we need our practice the most. The practice is enough in itself. I resist. I make excuses. I procrastinate. I tell myself lies. Yet when I finally say yes , I am grateful. I am grateful because I am doing it for myself. Too often our modern society makes us feel guilty if we take time for ourselves. Other people tell us, “You really need to do this for me right now.”  Right now.  Well, right now is for me. Right now is my time. If you were drowning, I would stop to save you. But have you ever stopped to think that I may be drowning inside? That maybe I need to save myself?  I drown a little bit everyday. I drown little bit everyday and no one sees it but me, bec...

“The art of the Tea Way consists simply of  boiling  water, preparing tea and drinking it.”  Sen no Rikyū (1522-1591), Way of Tea  Simple  advice—boil water, prepare tea, drink it—but not always easy to do. The world has become such a fast paced place. Our modern existence owes much to being connected, being scheduled, and, being busy. Sometimes part of that is making things more complicated than they need be. We've become so used to things being busy, being complicated, that we forget how to let go and let things just be . In his time, Riky ū  took what what had become an elaborate and ostentatious tea ceremony, discarding everything he felt was not needed and detracted from the essence of drinking the tea itself.  This new tea style owed a lot to the simplicity of Zen thought, as well as the Japanese idea of  wabi-sabi. The idea of  wabi-sabi is to make things simple, natural, and serene. For Rikyū, this meant ridd...

First off: this is blog post number 101 of The Way of the Gong ™! Little did I know some 2  ½  years ago, that I would even reach 100 blog posts, let alone still be writing this. Thanks for all your questions, comments, and most of all, for reading these past 100 posts. Here's to the next 100! The Gong Has No Religion While Gongs, Bowls, and Bells have been around for hundreds, even thousands of years, to label any of them as belonging to a religion/spirituality, or exclusively to any one tradition, is a dangerous claim. The instruments themselves are made of metals dug out of the earth, and forged into form by fire and hammering. They have no built in meaning or value, as they are merely objects. Any sort of meaning we find attached to them is assigned to them by man.  This is an inanimate metal object For example, the Singing Bowl. It is often associated with Tibet, monks, monastaries, and secret rituals that are unknown to the Western world. While th...

I was recently out in California where I had the chance to play with a fantastic sax/woodwind player. He also happens to be a Gong & Singing Bowl collector, so I was able to use his instruments, instead of having to bring anything out there with me (except a bag of mallets). Being in a situation like this really tests you. On one hand, I wasn't able to go to my usual sounds and ideas. But on the other hand, I was free to come up with new sounds and ideas. It was also the first time we had played together, so I was starting from a blank canvas in many ways.  Now in retrospect, I can look at what I really brought with me, which was years of practicing and performing in many situations, as well as years of searching and experimenting with sounds. The launching point for everything I do musically, is that I was trained as a percussionist. I can't help that because percussion is me, is in my blood, is in my soul. I say this because I realize that a lot of people who play Gongs...

Someone had asked a question about how do you approach playing the Gongs/Bowls/Bells, especially for others. I came up with these basic thoughts: Always leave your ego at the door. Listen to your sounds more than anything else. They will always tell you what you need to know. Listen to/feel out the people you play for as they will tell you what they need. Explore your instruments and learn how to make good sounds. Study, read, listen, learn, repeat. It's a lifelong process and you will never know it all, but keep learning and improving. Stay humble. ~ MB Chop Wood / Carry Water / Play Gongs™

Everything in life is a personal journey, and no 2 person's journeys are the same. We can talk and write about it all we want, but our journey always remains our own, because we see and experience it from the inside , while others only see outward manifestations of our experience. Life is very much like watching a film. We can experience the story the film is telling, but we can't experience being the actors making the film. Walking the Path It is much the same with sound. As players, we each have our own, unique journey making the sounds. And as listeners, we each have our own unique experience hearing the sounds. The player cannot have the same experience as the listener. So too, no 2 listeners can have the same experience. We can all have similar experiences, but not the same.  Don't ever assume that what you  are  experiencing is the same as others. This blog is about my journey. You may have similar experiences, you may have completely different experie...

Being one with the sound. Losing yourself in the vibrations. These are noble aspirations, but are they practical and attainable? Yes, you can find a way to merge with the sound. In this blog post, we will look at various steps to deepen your practice of playing Gongs/Bowls/Bells, whether for yourself, or for others. Breathing It all starts with the breath. While breathing is perfectly natural, when we are often trying to do something, it becomes unnatural. I have found that many times when a student is trying to accomplish something new or difficult, the first thing they do is hold their breath, or at least alter their breathing pattern. The minute you hold your breath, you introduce tension into your body. The longer you hold your breath, the more the tension builds up, until you finally have to quickly suck in another breath, and then the whole process starts over. Before you start your practice, relax and take a deep breath. Let it out fully and then take another. As you let e...