Guest guest Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:14:37, Spiritpathpress wrote: >> I only take issue with the notion that the most relevant truth is to be found in the past or needs to be referenced to the past. Freedom has no history. There's clearly no absolute necessity that mastery come through historical or literary study. Some are gifted or incarnated with vision and healing powers. For most, however, the path entails cultivation, and tradition can be seen as accumulated hints and shortcuts that nurture cultivation. And there's a notion of freedom called " positive " freedom, as distinct from " negative " freedom; or the " freedom of having a capability " vs. the " freedom from some restraint " . The example used when I was first exposed to this, many years ago, was the freedom to be able to read classical Greek (e.g. poetry or philosophy). The parallel with classical Chinese medical writing readily jumps out. Also, the kind of freedom realized through a meditative practice when one becomes able to reliably " relate " to perception/experience rather than only " react " , for most people is a function of long, arduous cultivation. But, again, not necessarily so. Back when I studied music history, and followed history into the present (in co-study and camaraderie with composition students), there was tension between those who undertook the classical path of intense training and first mastery and imitation of prior compositional techniques before attempting to freely express themselves, and those who just wanted to be immediately free and " creative " . Again, there are people like Mozart, who had to study just enough to learn where the keys were and how to write notes, and whose late masterworks seemed to just roll off his pen. But most were more like Beethoven, who studied for years with Haydn, and labored endlessly through sketch books and multiple versions and refinements to arrive at the late quartets. Some of the earliest masterworks of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern were orchestral arrangements of organ works by J.S. Bach, nuanced with orchestral sophistication and mastery on a par with Richard Strauss and Debussy. With the freedom of mastery, one can experience history as a component of the present (as in Carl Boehm's " Implicate Order " ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Right On! Shanna Chinese Medicine , <@w...> wrote: > Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:14:37, Spiritpathpress@a... wrote: > > >> I only take issue with the notion that the most relevant truth is to be > found in > the past or needs to be referenced to the past. Freedom has no history. > > There's clearly no absolute necessity that mastery come through historical > or literary study. Some are gifted or incarnated with vision and healing > powers. For most, however, the path entails cultivation, and tradition can > be seen as accumulated hints and shortcuts that nurture cultivation. > > And there's a notion of freedom called " positive " freedom, as distinct from > " negative " freedom; or the " freedom of having a capability " vs. the > " freedom from some restraint " . The example used when I was first exposed > to this, many years ago, was the freedom to be able to read classical Greek > (e.g. poetry or philosophy). The parallel with classical Chinese medical > writing readily jumps out. > > Also, the kind of freedom realized through a meditative practice when one > becomes able to reliably " relate " to perception/experience rather than only > " react " , for most people is a function of long, arduous cultivation. But, > again, not necessarily so. > > Back when I studied music history, and followed history into the present > (in co-study and camaraderie with composition students), there was tension > between those who undertook the classical path of intense training and > first mastery and imitation of prior compositional techniques before > attempting to freely express themselves, and those who just wanted to be > immediately free and " creative " . > > Again, there are people like Mozart, who had to study just enough to learn > where the keys were and how to write notes, and whose late masterworks > seemed to just roll off his pen. But most were more like Beethoven, who > studied for years with Haydn, and labored endlessly through sketch books > and multiple versions and refinements to arrive at the late quartets. Some > of the earliest masterworks of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern were orchestral > arrangements of organ works by J.S. Bach, nuanced with orchestral > sophistication and mastery on a par with Richard Strauss and Debussy. > > With the freedom of mastery, one can experience history as a component of > the present (as in Carl Boehm's " Implicate Order " ). > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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