"N Kaz" anyone's listening…

Ch. 12: Managing Conflicts through Music: Educational Perspectives

Kjell Skyllstad,

Education for Empathy

The Resonant Community: A project created to address increased social tension and incidents of harassment in Oslo’s inner city schools with mixed ethnic populations.

1. To spread knowledge and create understanding for the values that reside in the culture of immigrants by presenting live music and dance for children.
2. To counteract racism by contributing to changes of attitude towards various immigrant groups through cultural differences.
3. To bring out the musical resources that lie in the various immigrant groups in Norway, as well as to provide external professional support through performers from the immigrants’ home countries.
4. To case the process of integration for immigrants through multicultural interaction.

The following approaches were chosen:

1. Listening to live performances of music from Asia, Africa and Latin America facilitating a positive response to the cultural heritage of migrant students.
2. Organizing music and dance activities, with special emphasis on improvisation, in order to foster group cohesion and integration.

Listening: A Transformative Experience

Maslow’s term “Peak Experience” refers to “encounters that involve a deep, structural shift in basic premises of feelings, thought and actions”. He also describes how ‘Peak Experiences’ can “lead to a new relationship with others and a change in world outlook”. (Maslow, 1968, p.101 in Skllstad p. 174)

In the Resonant Community project, “it was decided that dance activities should become a central arena for developing empathetic competence….the listening experience was described by many as becoming one with the music, living in expanded time and space, as well as experiencing a strong feeling of community.” (p. 174-175)

Ensemble Playing: A Key to Social Learning

“Research has shown that musical activities, especially in social settings, lowers the concentration of the hormone inducing aggressiveness-testosterone in men together with other behaviour-regulating hormones, thereby preventing social conflicts…Some tests indicate an increased production of oxiton, a hormone that strengthens social bonding between men and women and ensures greater group cohesion.” (p 176)

“In the face of conflicts in the local as well as the global arena, the rediscovery of the socially bonding functions of music is a pressing need. The musical ensemble may retrace its role as a central space or workshop for co-operative cultural and social learning, for problem solving, for developing a sense of “collective affectivity” and shared emotions, and for celebrating diversity.” (p. 177)

Building a Resonant School Community

18 Schools involved, targeting pupils ages 10-12 years:

• A Schools-6 schools to participate in an intensive arts education program (music, dance, performing arts) concentrating on immigrant cultures
• B Schools-6 schools to participate in an intercultural school concert program
• C Schools-6 schools to function as control schools

Results:

• “Considerably greater increase in the A-Schools (as compared to others) from 1989-1992 in the number of pupils who report that they have no personal problems with harassment or mobbing… The tendency towards better social relations and diminished ethnic conflicts is confirmed by reports from the teachers.
• “Attitudes towards immigration seem to have remained unchanged in the A-schools while there was an increased degree of negative attitudes found among the pupils in the B- and C-schools.
• “A greater number of pupils in the A-schools at the end of the project consider immigrants to be honest, law-abiding, industrious and kind, while there were fewer i the other school models.
• “Immigrant pupils  the A-schools have strengthened their self-image during the project. The teachers reported that there had been a highly positive development in identity formation and activity level of immigrant pupils. ” (p.181)

Final thoughts:

“Multicultural music education bases itself on the ability of music to cross boundaries and communicate between cultures. This crossing of boundaries means that we finally begin to accept the artistic expressions of other cultures to be of equal value with our own cultural heritage. The aesthetic subjects can, in this way, lead the way to a necessary re-evaluation and restructuring of the content and methods in an intercultural direction. This will require a revision of teaching materials and curriculum plans in all subjects with the goal of removing mono-cultural bias and hidden value manipulation. But in a wider context, this should lead to a necessary re-evaluation also of the total social milieu which gives nourishment to prejudice.” (p. 182)

As a teacher, this final  quote resonated deeply with me. I have come to acknowledge over the past few months how deeply oblivious I was to the euro-centric nature of the Ontario Music curriculum, and even my classroom itself. In the past I have prided myself on including musics and cultures other than Western-European, however it remains that the central focus and implied ‘normal music’ has been on European music. I have a great deal of thinking and planning to do in order to prepare myself for a new way of teaching and planning as I reenter the classroom in September!

This assignment was a great opportunity for me to learn some more about the different types of music in Iran. My husband, who is Iranian (born in Tehran) and I had a nice time sitting down and searching for some music to share. While we looked at a great range of music from Iran, I thought I’d settle on featuring one instrument you may or may not have heard of.

The Santur

According to the wikipedia article here: “The santur was invented and developed in the area of Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey, and parts of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). This instrument was traded and traveled to different parts of the Middle East. Each country customized and designed its own versions to adapt to their musical scales and tunings. The original santur was made with tree bark and stones, and stringed with goat intestines. The Mesopotamian santur is also the father of the harp, the Chinese yangqin, the harpsichord, the qanun, the cimbalom, and the American and European hammered dulcimers.^“

This video gives a great close-up of the instrument, but is actually performed by a non-Iranian musician named Tomos Brangwyn. He studied at the renouned SOAS School of London, UK, which is the “leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.” (more info here). I had no idea that program existed!

Here’s a video of a famous Santur player named Arezoo Rezvani. She is an Iranian musician based in Germany who’s goal is to bring the music of the Santur and the music of Iran beyond its borders:

Improvisation on the Santur and the Tombak, an Iranian drum. My husband actually took lessons for most of his childhood on the Tombak and has one at his parents’ house. I’ve asked him to retrieve the next time he sees them!

An amazing Santur ensemble, incredibly complex and full of amazing rhythms.

More info about the Santur here (Encyclopedia Britannica)

In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made 94 calls to action. Below are several of the ones which I think may have relevance to community music. I’d love to start a brainstorm of ways that we, as community musicians and facilitators/allies can do our small part to fulfil these calls.

Full document here.

Education:

10.) We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full
participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a
commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:

• i. Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one
  generation.
• ii. Improving education attainment levels and success rates.
• iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula.
• iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.
• v. Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.
• vi. Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children.
• vii. Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.

12.) We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.

Language and Culture:

14.) We call upon the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Languages Act that incorporates the following principles:

• i. Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them.
  ii. Aboriginal language rights are reinforced by the Treaties.
  iii. The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient funds for Aboriginal-language revitalization and preservation.
  iv. The preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Aboriginal languages and cultures are best managed by Aboriginal people and communities.
  v. Funding for Aboriginal language initiatives must reflect the diversity of Aboriginal languages.

Health:

19.) We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal peoples, to establish measurable goals to identify and close the gaps in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, and to publish annual progress reports and assess longterm trends. Such efforts would focus on indicators such as: infant mortality, maternal health, suicide, mental
health, addictions, life expectancy, birth rates, infant and child health issues, chronic diseases, illness and injury incidence, and the availability of appropriate health services.

National Council For Reconciliation:

53.) We call upon the Parliament of Canada, in consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to enact legislation to establish a National Council for Reconciliation. The legislation would establish the council as an independent, national, oversight body with membership jointly appointed by the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal organizations, and consisting of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members. Its mandate would include, but not be limited to, the
following:

• i. Monitor, evaluate, and report annually to Parliament and the people of Canada on the Government of Canada’s post-apology progress on reconciliation to ensure that government accountability for reconciling the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown is maintained in the coming years.
• ii. Monitor, evaluate, and report to Parliament and the people of Canada on reconciliation progress across all levels and sectors of Canadian society, including the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
• iii. Develop and implement a multi-year National Action Plan for Reconciliation, which includes research and policy development, public education programs, and resources.
• iv. Promote public dialogue, public/private partnerships, and public initiatives for reconciliation.

Education and Reconciliation:

62. We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal peoples, and educators, to:

• i. Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.
• ii. Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
• iii. Provide the necessary funding to Aboriginal schools to utilize Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms.
• iv. Establish senior-level positions in government at the assistant deputy minister level or higher dedicated to Aboriginal content in education.

63. We call upon the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada to maintain an annual commitment to Aboriginal education issues, including:

• i. Developing and implementing Kindergarten to Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history, and the history and legacy of residential schools.
• ii. Sharing information and best practices on teaching curriculum related to residential schools and Aboriginal history.
• iii. Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.
• iv. Identifying teacher-training needs relating to the above.

64. We call upon all levels of government that provide public funds to denominational schools to require such schools to provide an education on comparative religious studies, which must include a segment on Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and practices developed in collaboration with Aboriginal Elders.

65. We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.

Youth Programs:

66.) We call upon the federal government to establish multiyear funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation, and establish a national network to share information and best practices.

Commemoration:

83.) We call upon the Canada Council for the Arts to establish, as a funding priority, a strategy for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to undertake collaborative projects and produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process.

So last week at the blanket exercise I mentioned that I had just finished watching First Contact, the three episode ‘reality’ show on APTN.

Find the three, 45-minute episodes here.

The show takes six pretty close-minded and sometimes downright racist Canadians on a cross-Canada tour of Indigenous communities in order to challenge their perspectives in the hopes of highlighting or debunking myths about Indigenous people in Canada.

When I first watched the show, I thought-Wow! Everyone should watch this! I couldn’t see any harm that could come from watching the show, as I was excited to see the mindsets of most of the participants changing and opening up. I was encouraged and hopeful to see the myths and stereotypes being debunked. But, of course, there is always another side. I learned that there was quite a bit of controversy around the show, and in speaking to Erin, she mentioned how she was unwilling to watch the show. I couldn’t understand, really, because I thought she and other Indigenous people would be excited to watch the minds of these people change.

After listening to this podcast though, I understand much better. The podcast is my new favourite find, called Media Indigena. This is an episode where they deconstruct the controversy surrounding the show and I have to say my mind is totally changed.

On Saturday at OMEA I attended a session that really blew my mind. I think it is something that could absolutely be applied to all of our community music practices. The session was titled: Exploring Sociocultural Differences Through Soundscapes. The session was given by a woman named Kelly Bylica who is currently completing her PhD at Western.

In this session, she talked about soundcapes and using them to bring students awareness to their own lived experiences. She used the prompting questions:

• How do I hear home?
• How do I hear my community?
• How do I make meaning from my sonic environment?

With these questions, (and a lot more preamble about what soundscapes are and how to create/organize/present them), she assigned her students to go out, collect (record) sounds from their environments, and organize them into a digital composition.

Where things got interesting is that during the composition process, she had each student share about a 15-45 seconds clip of their work. Once the class/group listened to the clip, they were asked to discuss with a partner what they were hearing in the soundscape. Next, they were asked to share with the group what they though. Finally, after all groups had shared, the composer shared what his/her intention had been with the soundscape.

We did a version of this, listening to a 45 second clip from a 15 year old girl. The soundscape clip started with the sound of crickets and a background ‘wah wah wah’ voice that sounded to me like a tv. In the middle of the composition, there was what sounded like an Imam calling to prayer, followed by a male speaking about rebellion against parents. The clip ended the way it started, with the crickets and muffled voice.

The discussions and interpretations of this clip in the session were absolutely fascinating. One group focused very carefully on the male speaker in the middle and supposed that the girl was struggling with her religious identity and trying to find her own identity against her parents’ expectations. Another noted that all three of the voices included in the soundscape were male, and talked about perhaps a feeling of male oppression. There was speculation about the muffled voice, and whether it was maybe a tv in the background at home in the evenings when she felt safe, or something else.

Kelly shared that in her classroom, following this clip, the discussion went for 45 minutes and brought up an incredibly wide range of topics including;

• Gender roles and patriarchy
• Religion
• Finding yourself
• Struggling with parents’ expectations
• Interracial dating (one Muslim boy said, following the discussions, that he felt like no one would ever want to bring him home to their parents based on views that were expressed)
• Immigration
• Cultural identity

What really was completely incredible is that after all of this discussion and, frankly, over-analysis of the composition fragment, the girl explained that the sounds were much more innocuous than the group’s interpretation. The crickets and muffled voice represented her long journey to school each day on the subway, both going and leaving in the dark. The call to prayer was representative of her faith and her pride in her faith. The speech about rebellion was a recording of her English teacher, with whom she had a meaningful relationship, reading a passage from Romeo and Juliet, which she hadn’t even noticed!

This entire activity serves as a reminder that everyone has their own interpretation of music, and life in general. Each person’s identity can be shared through sounds, but the interpretation will almost never be what is intended. But, is the listener’s interpretation being different than intended a good thing? Maybe each person takes away what they need to at the time.

Some other prompts Kelly includes in her handout about soundscapes are:

• What does it mean to listen?
• When do you feel listened to? (students resoundingly responded not at school)
• How do you feel when someone always has a ‘better’ tale to tell?
• How do we (and how can others help us) reflect on our own work while composing?
• Why did you make this choice?
• Why do you find this meaningful?
• What questions do you hope this will prompt?
• How is this helping you think about how you see the world?
• How do we reflect as we experience the compositions of others?
• What do you notice?
• What do you wonder?
• How might someone else see it differently?
• Are there ethical/moral/wider social issues that this brings up?

Her handout can be found here:Kelly Bylica Soundscape handout-1r01ir4

This workshop connects very well with a TEDtalk that I just watched this morning. The speaker, Taiya Salisi, speaks about her identity. She talks about the strange practice of asking where people are from. As someone with a multi-national heritage, she struggles to answer this question. Instead, she proposes we ask where someone is a local instead.

To establish this, she has three R’s:

Rituals. Relationships. Restrictions.

Rituals: Where do shopkeepers know you? What do you do every day, and where?

Relationships: People that are important to you, where are they? Who are they?

Restrictions: How we experience our locality. Where are you able to live? Civil war, racism, passport restrictions, economic inflation, etc. Instead of where are you now? it’s about Why aren’t you there and why?

Shift our focus to where real life occurs.

Culture exists in community. Community exists in context. Geography, tradition, collective memory, these things are important.

What are we really seeking when we ask where someone comes from? And what are we really seeing when we hear an answer?

Countries represent power:

• Mexico, Poland, Bangladesh. Less power.
• America, Germany, Japan. More power.

It’s possible that without even knowing it, we are playing a power game. As any recent immigrant knows, the question “Where are you from?” or, “Where are you really from?” is often code for “why are you here?”

Another fantastic TEDtalk about challenging our perceptions/preconceived notions of each other:

“Once you see, you can’t unsee”

Every year, I wait anxiously for this conference. I have been attending every year since 2003 and have only missed two years: once when I was living in France for a year, and last years conference since my daughter was 3 weeks old. I absolutely love the opportunity to catch up with old friends, many of whom I met at Laurier during my undergrad, or teaching colleagues that I have to travel all the way to this conference to have a conversation with. It is an opportunity to be reminded of the good things I already do, and to learn new things that I can apply to my classroom.

Of course, in the context of all the reading I’ve been doing about racism in music education, this year’s conference took on an entirely different tone for me. The three sessions I attended day one were Indigenous-themed. I loved seeing how many people attended each one, it was very encouraging! Looking down the list, however, I was unsurprised to see that many of the same presenters continue to present the same workshops. While the number of social justice-themed workshops has gradually increased over the years, there are always the same workshops year after year.

This year, we had the infamous Dr. John Feierabend, founder of the Feierabend Association of Music Education and he is, to quote his website, “one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in childhood.” Dr. Feierabend was presenting during 5 of the 6 sessions at OMEA, and each time the room would be totally packed. He has developed a large number of resources, several of which I have at my school in my classroom.

In previous years, I would have jumped at the chance to take a workshop from this man. I attended a session of his on his program ‘Conversational Solfege’ during session 5 on Saturday. I was sitting there, looking around at all the teachers around me eagerly taking notes and hanging on his every word, and I realized something. His teaching method leaves NO room for any other music other than Western classical music. At one point, he even said “because of COURSE our goal is to make children love classical music!”, like it should be perfectly obvious to everyone in the room. The fact that I didn’t nod my head like many of the others in the room has signalled a profound change in my thinking. I am no longer willing to take things at face value, even from someone whom I have respected so deeply like Dr. Feierabend.

Friday night I sat down to have a drink and catch up with Brennan Connolly, a percussion prof here at Laurier and an old friend of mine. We were debriefing on the conference and our recent development/evolution in thinking. It was he who pointed out the phrase “once you see, you can’t unsee” with respect to my revelation in Dr. Feierabend’s workshop. I realized that I will now no longer be content to sit in a children’s folksong workshop, without questioning the WHY things are being done. I am realizing that in some ways, things are going to be much harder going back into the classroom, because I will be doing a lot of rethinking of my curriculum and approaches. I know though, that my teaching will be vastly improved as I will seek to give an authentic learning experience to my students through bringing in community members, including a variety of musics, and ensuring that each student sees themselves reflected in my classroom. I don’t think that what I was doing before was wrong necessarily, I just know that I will be able to do it much, much better moving forward!

So this post could be long…sorry in advance. I have just returned from a weekend away at the Ontario Music Educator’s Association (OMEA) conference. I was lucky that my presentation (Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives into the Music Classroom) was first session, so I was looking forward to getting it over and done with quickly and moving on to my usual enjoyment of the conference! Of course, as everything seems to be changing with me this year, so too did my perspective on this conference.

First, my session:

I had worked for quite some time to put this session together, and it is a result of several versions of this workshop I’ve done for local teachers, and lectures I’ve done for Lee’s MU202 class. Through several discussions with Jean Becker, Erin Hodson, and Nicole Robinson, I had carefully vetted and planned my presentation to ensure the maximum authenticity and respect. I was ready and felt confident. The morning started off to a rocky start, as my daughter had come down with a nasty bug and was feverish and miserable. We were supposed to drive down to our hotel in Hamilton as a family on Thursday night, but were delayed by a trip to the dr until Friday. This meant an early morning departure and taking two cars. I arrived as the keynote was beginning and spent much of the time setting up the room and running through my slides. Finally, it was time to present. The room had about 30 chairs set up and there was a stack of extra ones in the corner. Very excitingly, the extra chairs were needed and there were still several people sitting on the floor or standing at the back. It was great to see the level of interest in this important topic! I started with the Indigenous way of locating myself, explaining who I was, identifying myself as a non-Indigenous person, and sharing my digital story (below) with the participants, so they would know how much this work means to me on a deep level.

More importantly, they were prepared to hear what I had to say and perhaps (hopefully!) take me seriously when I explained the work I have done in my classroom.

The presentation went well overall. Everyone was responsive and although I had to skip a few things (I always over plan!) I was able to largely cover what I wanted to. There was one incident that totally threw me though. It happened during an activity where I used the book Powwow’s Coming to teach about powwows and what you might expect to see or do there. The text is beautiful, very rhythmic and has a built in beat.

For example, here’s the first stanza:

Powwow’s coming, hear the beat. 

Powwow’s coming, dancing feet.

Powwow’s coming, hear the drum.

Powwow’s coming, everyone. 

I read the book once through, giving some context and teaching points. Next, we divided the stanzas amongst small groups. We discussed the elements of music, then each group had to choose 2-3 elements to apply to their stanza. For example, they may crescendo through it (dynamics), they may speak in a high/low voice (pitch), and they may layer in their voices (texture/timbre). The groups had 5-7 minutes to prepare their stanza then we would present the text, one after the other, consecutively.

While the groups were preparing though, I was approached by a woman who self-identified as First Nations. She told me that this activity was making her extremely uncomfortable. I asked her to explain to me what it was exactly that was making her uncomfortable. She explained that I was applying Western terminology to Indigenous teachings, which shouldn’t be done. I told her that I heard her and offered to immediately stop the activity. I had not had this perspective brought to my attention so I was immediately worried about whether what I was doing was wrong or not. She told me she did not want me to stop the activity, just to identify that applying Western terminology to Indigenous teachings should not be done. I did that, continued with the presentation, and finished with much positive feedback and many teachers approaching me throughout the rest of the conference to thank me for my presentation. To quote one teacher, I had ’empowered her, as a non-Indigenous person, to try these activities in her classroom, because until now she had been too scared to try.’

Of course, as usual, I was unable to focus on all of the positive feedback I was given and was totally thrown by the one participant’s reaction, and it really made me feel anxious for the rest of the conference. I wondered if I had totally overstepped my bounds as a settler, if I was sharing activities that were inappropriate, and it put me back deep into that place of imposter syndrome.

Thankfully, second session I went to an Indigenous drum circle workshop given by two Anishnaabe women, Shelly and Debbie. It was wonderful, uplifting, and energizing. They attended the third session with me, a session on teaching Residential Schools through music, given by a Laurier alumni Nicole Reynolds. I was so thankful that they were there, because Nicole and I had debriefed after my session and we were both eager to talk to Shelly and Debbie about their perspectives on this incident. Following Nicole’s session (and WOW, that would be a post on it’s own…and may still be to come!), we asked if Shelly and Debbie would share their opinion about what had happened in my session. After explaining much of what had happened, recognizing that they weren’t there and couldn’t truly speak to it, Debbie made a comment that I think applies to everything we do here in Community Music and, frankly, life.

“We don’t know know where she is in her healing journey. She could be coming from a raw place, and that activity struck a chord with her.”

It is truly a good reminder that we never know what kind of history or struggles the people we meet may be carrying. Debbie also reminded me that there are always going to be people that will not be ok with non-Indigenous people talking about Indigenous culture. Unfortunately I recognize this to be true, but she followed that up by pointing out that sadly it is only since settlers took it upon themselves to speak up for Indigenous people, that things are finally changing for them. I think back to my choice of the transformative framework for my research. My intention is to give a voice to marginalized people, in this case Indigenous people in Canada.

Anyways, I’m eager to see what you all think about this incident, though I recognize I haven’t included every little detail. It’s definitely something that has given me much to think about, and I look forward to unpacking it with my Indigenous (and non-Indigenous) friends and colleagues.

The Book of Joy was a total JOY to read. I thoroughly enjoyed every second (in case you couldn’t tell by my presentation and this waaaaaaay too long blog post). It is written by Douglas Abrams after His holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu sat down for a week to discuss Joy. What it is, how to achieve it, and what the obstacles are preventing people from having it. The conversation was incredible and it is seamlessly woven in with scientific studies supporting their statements. It is wonderful!

“You are made for perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making.” (p. 92)

There are an incredible amount of lightbulb moments, deep thoughts, and thought-provoking quotes in this book. Here are the main takeaways I think each person should know:

Joy is something that can be attained no matter how much success or trauma one has experienced. It is mostly about perspective and perception. When terrible things happen to us (and they will), such as losing a loved one, we need to try to put things into perspective and try to shift the way we are thinking about the situation. As the psychologist Gordon Wheeler explains, “grief is the reminder of the depth of our love. Without love, there is no grief. So when we feel our grief, uncomfortable and aching as it may be, it is actually a reminder of the beauty of that love now lost.” (p. 113)

One thing that struck me is that those people who are extremely selfish, or focused on making themselves happy, are actually the most unhappy. It makes sense, of course, but it is powerful. The more you focus on your own happiness, the more unhappy you will be. It is through helping others and giving joy to others, that we become happy ourselves!

“The more we turn towards others, the more joy we experience, and the more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others.” (p. 63)

What is Joy?

Joy is more than happiness. Happiness is temporary, joy is a deep, lasting emotion. One cannot experience Joy without also experiencing suffering. It is through suffering that one comes to recognize true Joy.

“Joy is something different from happiness. When I use the word happiness, in a sense I mean satisfaction. Sometimes we have a painful experience, but that experience, as you’ve said with birth, can bring great satisfaction and joyfulness.” (Dalai Lama, p. 35)

“Joy subsumes happiness. Joy is the far greater thing. Think of a mother who is going to give birth. Almost all of us want to escape pain. And mothers know that they are going to have pain, the great pain of giving birth. But they accept it. And even after the most painful labour, once the baby is out, you can’t measure the mother’s joy. It is one of those incredible things that joy can come so quickly from suffering.” (p. 32)

“The ultimate source of happiness is within us. Not money, not power, not status. Some of my friends are billionaires, but they are very unhappy people. Power and money fail to bring inner peace. Outward attainment will not bring real inner joyfulness. We must look inside.” (p. 14)

Feelings associate with Joy:

“Paul Edman, famed emotions researcher and longtime friend of the Dalai Lama, has written that joy is associated with feelings are varied as:

• pleasure
• amusement
• contentment
• excitement
• relief
• wonder
• ecstasy or bliss
• exultation
• radiant pride
• unhealthy jubilation or schadenfreude
• elevation
• gratitude

In his book on happiness, Buddhist scholar and former scientist Matthieu Ricard has added three other more exalted states of joy:

• rejoicing
• delight or enchantment
• spiritual radiance” (p. 33-34)

What are the obstacles to having more Joy?

The book identifies these obstacles to having Joy:

1. Fear, stress and anxiety
   • “It is very hard to be joyful wth stres and anxiety; we have a continual feeling of being overwhelmed and not being able to handle our work commitments, our family commitments, or the digital devices that are constantly reminding us of all the things that we are missing….Modern society has prioritized independence to such an extent that we are left on our own to try to manage lives that are increasingly out of control.” (p. 95)
   • “So much of our stress is dependent on seeing ourselves as separate from others, which perhaps returns to the loss of a sense of communal connection, of Ubuntu.” Page 99
2. Frustration and anger
   • “Where there is fear, frustration will come. Frustration brings anger. So, you see, fear and anger are very close.” (P. 102)
   •  “In addition to physical pain, we can also experience emotional pain, which may be even more common. Underlying this anger,… Is a fear that we will not get what we need, that we are not loved, that we are not respected, that we will not be included.” (P. 104)
3. Sadness and grief
   •  “Sadness is a very powerful and enduring emotion. In one study it was found that sadness lasted many times longer than more fleeting emotions like fear and anger: while fear lasted on average 30 minutes, sadness often less it up to 120 hours, or almost 5 days.” (P. 110)
   • “While depression certainly collapses our circle of concern inward, the feeling of sadness might widen it. Forgas concluded that sadness may have some benefit in our lives, which may be why people are drawn to music, art, and literature that makes them feel sad.” (P. 111)
4. Despair
   •  “The world is in such turmoil that war, starvation, terrorism, pollution, genocide. My heart hurts for these issues. How do I find joy in the midst of such large worlds problems?… “You show your humanity,” the Archbishop began, “by how you see yourself not as apart from others but from your connection to others. I have frequently wept about the things such as the ones you have mentioned.” page 115
   • “What can you do to help change that situation? You might not be able to do a great deal, but start where you are and do what you can where you are.” Page 116
5. Loneliness
   •  “A study by sociologist Lynn Smith–Lovin had found that the number of close friends people report having has reduced from three to two. While we might have hundreds of Facebook friends, our true, close friends are decreasing. Perhaps most concerning of all, one in 10 people said they had no close friendships at all.” Page 126
   •  “I thought of the times that I had smiled and spoken with warmth to the person waiting for an elevator or standing in a subway. Yes, sometimes my bid for human connection was met with confusion since it was not the social expectation, but most often there was a relieved smile, as if we had broken a trance and where once again acknowledging our human bond.” Page 126
6. Envy
   • “There is a Tibetan Buddhist teaching that says what causes suffering in life is a general pattern of how we relate to others: “Envy toward the above, competitiveness toward the equal, and contempt toward the lower.” Page 135
   •  “The Tibetan word for envy is trakdot, which means “heavy or constricted shoulders,” and indeed the feeling of envy leaves one with a pinched feeling of discontent and resentment, changed with guilt. Buddhism sees envy as so corrosive that it compares it to a bite of a snake that poisoned us.” Page 137
   •  “The Buddhist concept of mudita, which is often translated as “sympathetic joy” and described is the antidote to envy.” Page 140
7. Suffering and adversity
   •  “It seems almost without fail that generosity of spirit requires that we will have experienced if not suffering, then at least frustrations, things that seem to want to stop us from moving in the particular direction that we have chosen. You don’t move easily, straightforwardly like this. There are things that force you off course, and you have to come back.” Page 154
   • “I was quite struck by the Dalai Lama’s phrase “passing through difficulties.” We often feel that suffering will engulf us, or that the suffering will never end, but if we can realize that it, too, will pass, or as the Buddhists say, that it is impermanent, we can survive them more easily, and perhaps appreciate what we have to learn from them, find the meaning in them, so that we come out on the other side, not embittered, but ennobled. The depth of our suffering can also result in the height of our joy.” Page 157

The Eight Pillars of Joy:

The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop identify eight pillars of joy.

Four are qualities of the mind:

• perspective
• humility
• humour
• acceptance. 

Four are qualities of the heart:

• forgiveness
• gratitude
• compassion
• generosity

These qualities help to fill our mind and heart with positive thoughts and feelings.

Some of the (MANY) other quotes I want to highlight:

• “Suffering is inevitable, they said, but how we respond to that suffering is our choice. Not even oppression or occupation can take away this freedom to choose our response.” (p. 7)
• “We create most of our suffering, so it should be logical that we also have the ability to create more joy. It simply depends on the attitudes, the perspectives, and the reactions we bring to situations and to our relationships with other people. When it comes to personal happiness there is a lot that we as individuals can do.” (p. 14)
• “The problem is that our world and our education remain focused exclusively on external, materialistic values. We are not concerned enough with our inner values.” (p. 29)
• “Joy subsumes happiness. Joy is the far greater thing. Think of a mother who is going to give birth. Almost all of us want to escape pain. And mothers know that they are going to have pain, the great pain of giving birth. But they accept it. And even after the most painful labour, once the baby is out, you can’t measure the mother’s joy. It is one of those incredible things that joy can come so quickly from suffering.” (p. 32)
• “Research conducted at the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow suggests that there are really only four fundamental emotions, three of which are so-called negative emotions: fear, anger, and sadness. The only positive one is joy or happiness. Exploring joy is nothing less than exploring what makes human experience satisfying.” (p. 34)
• “Eighth-century Buddhist master Shantidevea, who wrote, ‘If something can be done about a situation, what need is there for dejection? And if nothing can be done about it, what use  is there for being dejected?” (p. 36)
• “When I look at the world, there are a lot of problems…When we see these things, we realize that not only do we suffer, but so do many of our human brothers and sisters. So when we look at the same even t from a wider perspective, we will reduce the worrying and our own suffering….This was not a denial of pain and suffering, but a shift in perspective-from oneself and toward others, from anguish to compassion-seeing that others are suffering as well….As we recognize others’ suffering and realize that we are not alone, our pain is lessened.” (p. 37)
• “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”
• “It is how we face all of the things that seem to be negative in our lives that determines the kind of person we become. If we regard all of this as frustrating, we’re going to come out squeezed and tight and just angry and wishing to smash everything.” (p. 44-45)
• “Too much self-centred thinking is the source of suffering. A compassionate concern for others’ well-being is the source of happiness.” (p. 47)
• “Contemplate that, as long as your are too focused on your self-importance and too caught up in thinking about how you are good or bad, you will experience suffering. Obsessing about getting what you want and avoiding what you don’t want does not result in happiness.” (p. 48)
• “According to [psychologist Sonja] Lyubomirsky, the three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness are our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to experience gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous.” (p. 49)
• “There are four independent brain circuits that influence our lasting well-being, [neuroscientist Richard] Davidson explained. The first is our ‘ability to maintain positive states’…The second circuit is responsible for ‘our ability to recover from negative states’…The third circuit, also independent but essential to the others, is ‘our ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering’…The fourth and final circuit is our ability to be generous.'” (p. 56)
• “Ubuntu. A person is a person through other persons.” (p. 60)
• “people think about money or fame or power. From the point of view of one’s own personal happiness, these are short-sighted. The reality, as the Archbishop mentioned, is that human beings are social animals. One individual, no matter how powerful, how clever, cannot survive without other human beings. So the best way to fulfill your wishes, to reach your goals, is to help others, to make more friends.” (p. 61)
• “Survey after survey has shown that it is unhappy people who tend to be the most self-focused and are socially withdrawn, brooding, and even antagonistic. Happy people, in contrast, are generally found to be more sociable, flexible, and creative, and are able to tolerate life’s daily frustrations more easily than unhappy people. And, most important, they are found to be more loving and forgiving than unhappy people.” (p. 62-63)
• “The more we turn towards others, the more joy we experience, and the more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others.” (p. 63)
• “There is nothing wrong with faiths. The problem is with the faithful.” (p. 70)
• “Especially today, there is not much focus on inner values in education. The, instead of inner values, we become self-centred-always thinking: I, I, I. A self-centred attitude brings about a sense of insecurity and fear. Distrust. Too much fear brings frustration. Too much frustration brings anger…With a self-centred attitude, you become distanced from others, then distrust, then feel insecure, then fear, then anxiety, then frustration, then anger, then violence.” (p. 77)
• “Mental immunity…is just learning to avoid the destructive emotions and to develop the positive ones.” (p. 84)
• “Just as a healthy immune system and health constitution protects your body, against potentially hazardous viruses and bacteria, mental immunity creates a healthy disposition of the mind so that it will be less susceptible to negative thoughts and feelings.” (P. 84)
• “We’ve got to accept ourselves as we are…getting to know what the things are that trigger us. These are things that you can train, you can change, but we ought not to be ashamed of ourselves. We are human, and sometimes it is a good thing that we recognize that we have human emotions. Now the thing is being able to say, when is it appropriate?” (p. 85)
• “accepting circumstances as they are, because if there are circumstances that you cannot change, then it’s no use beating your head against a brick wall; that just gives you a headache. This is a vale of growth and development.” (p. 92)
• “You are made for perfection, but you are not yet perfect. You are a masterpiece in the making.” (p. 92)
•  Our humanity is defined equally, or perhaps even more, by our weakness and  vulnerability, a fact that the Archbishop often says reminds us of our need for one another. (P. 94)
• “Modern society has prioritized independence to such an extent that we are left on our own to try to manage lives that are increasingly out of control.” Page 95
• “Symptoms of chronic stress are feelings of fragmentation and of chasing after time – – of not being able to be present. What we are looking for is a settled, joyful state of being, and we need to give this state face.” Page 97
•   “It does help quite a lot to see yourself as part of a greater whole.” Page 99
•  “When we see others as separate, they become a threat. When we see others as part of us, as connected, as interdependent, then there is no challenge we cannot face – together.” Page 100
•  “Where there is fear, frustration will come. Frustration brings anger. So, you see, fear and anger are very close.” Page 102
•  “In addition to physical pain, we can also experience emotional pain, which may be even more common. Underlying this anger,… Is a fear that we will not get what we need, that we are not loved, that we are not respected, that we will not be included.” Page 104
• “Grief is a reminder of the depth of our love.  Without love there is no grief. So when we feel our grief, and comfortable and aching as it may be, it is actually a reminder of the beauty of that love, now lost… to linger in the longing, the loss, the yearning is a way of feeling the rich and embroidered texture of life, the torn cloth of our world that is endlessly being ripped and Rewoven.” Page 113
•  “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” page 118
•  “Tonglen, literally meaning “giving and taking”. I tried to take on their fear, anger, suspicion, and to give them my love, my forgiveness.” Page 118
•  “We’ve always got to be recognizing that despite the aberrations, the fundamental thing about humanity, and kind, about people, if they are good, they were made good, and they really want to be good.” Page 120
•  “Hope… is quite different from optimism, which is more superficial and liable to become pessimism  when the circumstances change. Hope is something much deeper.” Page 121
•  “The Dalai Lama had often emphasized that we are born and died totally dependent on others, and that the independence that we think we experience in between is a myth.” Page 127
• “The psychological experience of loneliness is quite different from the physical experience of being alone. We can feel joy when we are alone but not when we are lonely.” Page 128
•  “The paradox is that although the drive behind excessive self-focus is to seek greater happiness for yourself, it ends up doing exactly the opposite. When you focus too much on yourself, you become disconnected and alienated from others. In the end, you become alienated from yourself since the need for connection with others is such a fundamental part of who we are as human beings.” Page 130
•  “What I have learned from my dialogue was that we did not have to wait for others to open their hearts to us. The opening our heart to them, we could feel connected to them, whether on a mountaintop or in the middle of Manhattan.” Page 133
•  “For our mental health, the earlier we start practising preventative measures, the easier and more effective they are. When we are already sick it is hard to remember our doctor’s advice. I think no doctor would say, if you have more anger, you will be healthier. Does your doctor say that?” Page 143
•  “We grow in kindness when our kindness is tested.” Page 155
•   “I worked on a book many years ago with a physician who cared for seriously ill and dying patients. He made a powerful distinction between healing and curing: Curing involves the resolution of the illness but was not always possible. Healing, he said, was coming to wholeness and could happen whether or not the illness was curable.” Page 161
•  “It is important that in our daily meditation practice we continue to think about our own mortality. There are two levels of impermanence. At the grosser level, life keeps changing and things cease to exist, including us. At the more subtle level, in every single moment everything is changing, something science is able to show us happening, even at the atomic and subatomic level. Our body is constantly changing, as is our mind. Everything is in a constant state of change – nothing remain static, and nothing remains  permanent. In fact, as the Buddha reminds us, the very causes that have given rise to something, such as our life, have created the mechanism, or the seed, for that thing’s eventual end. Recognizing this truth is an important part of the contemplation on impermanence.” Page 165
• “The true measure of spiritual development as hell when Conference one’s own mortality. The best way is when one is able to approach this with Joy; next best way is without fear; third best way is at least not to have regrets.” Page 166
• “This is one of the greatest challenges that humanity face is: removing the barriers between who we see as “us” and who we see as “other.” The latest brain scan research suggests that we have a rather binary understanding of self and other and that our empathy circuits do not activate unless we see the other person as part of our own group. So many wars have been fought and so much injustice has been perpetrated because we’ve banished others from our group and therefore our circle of concern.” Page 183
• “A healthy perspective really is the foundation of joy and happiness because the way we see the world is the way we experience the world. Changing the way we see the world in turn changes the way we feel and the way we act, which changes the world itself. Or, as the Buddha says in Dhammapada, “with our mind we create our own world.” Page 194

As requested, here are the three lectures-worth of lessons I did. I did include several other bits and pieces of information of course, and didn’t cover everything in my slides, but I’d be curious about everyone’s opinions about my lessons! I have done some workshops over the past few years using elements of these slides, and they continue to evolve as I learn, grow and develop my understanding of Indigenous culture in Canada.

MU202 Indigenous Perspectives class 1.docx-2g8yz3w

MU202 Indigenous Class 2.docx-zca1x0

MU202 Indigenous Class 3.docx-2g7hmow

I am happy to share any resources, books, websites, etc that may be of use….but I tend to overwhelm people with resources when I get going!

So, if you want to know something, please ask!

If you have a question, please ask!

I may not (for sure won’t!) have all the answers, but I may know where to find them, or who to send you to!

Niki

This week in Music and Meaning, I am signed up to present on Willie Ermine’s article, Ethical Space of Engagement.  The theory of Ethical Space is born from Roger Poole’s book ‘Towards Deep Subjectivity‘. Willie Ermine took the theory and applied it to Indigenous/Western relations in the Indigenous Journal of Law. The theory was inspired by a photo that Poole found.

“In Roger Poole’s description of ethical space, a photograph dating to the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia is presented. In the picture, two men are sitting on a park bench looking at each other. One man is dressed in army fatigues and is clearly representative of the dominant and occupying force, while the other man, dressed in civilian, peasant clothing, clearly represents one of the “occupied.” The space between them is what intrigued Poole.”

Essentially,

“The idea of the ethical space, produced by contrasting perspectives of the world, entertains the notion of a meeting place, or initial thinking about a neutral zone between entities or cultures. The space offers a venue to step out of our allegiances, to detach from the cages of our mental worlds and assume a position where human-to-human dialogue can occur.”

Ermine goes on to say;

“On the surface, the presence of the other is acknowledged, but it is space between people, at the unstated, unseen level of thought and feeling that is overwhelming in the picture. Poole directs our focus to that space and invites us to reflect on the electrifying nature of that area between entities that we thought was empty.”

So, how do we use community music as Ethical Space?

How can we use music to bring two contrasting perspectives together in a neutral space as an opportunity to step out of our everyday worlds, our biases, our preconceived notions, and into a space of learning and moving forward?