3. Chakra
At the beginning of my work on connecting the Chakras with musical pieces from Western culture, there is the question, "can it be legitimate to use a medium such as Western classical music (originally composed for other specific contexts and occasions) in association with the chakras, of Eastern heritage?"
In this regard, once again I quote Khan's words:
“[the one] who loves music. Whatever country he comes from, and whatever music he hears, if music has a soul and if this man is soul-seeking in music, he will appreciate and love all music.
Music also has a mission not only to the multitude, but also to individuals. And its mission to individuals is as necessary and great as its mission to the multitude. All suffering in the world and the resulting disasters are all caused by a lack of harmony. This shows us that today's world needs harmony more than ever. If the musician therefore understood all this, the whole world would be his spectator. [...]
The true use of music is to become musical in one's thoughts, words and works. One should be able to infuse that harmony which the soul craves and longs for at every moment. […] The best way to spread harmony is to generate it in one's own life."(1)
Reading these words, I consider my desire to combine aspects of different cultures in order to try to convey my artistic and spiritual needs legitimate. They are also confirmation of the need for an individual spiritual path at the root of these artistic developments, built in my case on the topics discussed in the previous two chapters.
I therefore find the above words to be further explanatory of my path to creating a concert that can amplify these energy centers called "chakras" through piano music (composed and improvised), a narrator's voice with specific evocative and explanatory texts, and the seven colors associated with individual Chakras.
Let us finally get to the core of the matter: what are chakras?
“A chakra is a center of activity that receives, assimilates and expresses life force energy. The term chakra […] means wheel or disc and refers to a rotating sphere of biocentric activity emanating from the most important nerve ganglia branching from the spine. There are seven of these wheels, placed one on top of the other in a column of energy that joins the base of the spine to the top of the head. [...]
The seven major chakras [...] are correlated with the basic states of consciousness and it is these that will be taken into consideration. [...] The chakra system originated in India more than four thousand years ago. In 1920 the chakras came to the West thanks to Arthur Avalon with his book 'The Serpent Power'. [...]
Chakras are not physical entities in and of themselves. Like sensations or ideas, they cannot be considered physical objects and yet they have a strong effect on the body because they constitute the realization of spiritual energy on the physical plane. Just as emotions can and do affect our breathing, heartbeat and metabolism, so the activities of the various chakras affect glandular activity, body shape, [...] thought and behavior. Making use of techniques such as yoga, breathing, [...] exercise, meditation and visualizations, we can from time to time affect our chakras, our health and our lives. One of the essential merits of this system is that it can be applied to both body and mind and accessed through both. [...]
Although they cannot be seen or thought of as material entities, the chakras are evident in the form of our physical bodies, in the patterns that manifest in our lives and in the way we think, feel and deal with the situations that life presents to us. In the same way that we see the wind through the movement of leaves and branches, it is possible to see the chakras from what we create around us.”(2)
The seven chakras are inseparably connected as they are interdependent aspects of a unified field of consciousness. If the energy flows harmoniously, therefore the chakras are not blocked, we are healthy.
It's like a rainbow-colored bridge that connects us through the lower chakras to the earth and through the upper chakras to the universe, with the fourth chakra perfectly balanced between the upper and lower ones.
“The lower chakras, which are physically closer to the earth, relate to the more practical aspects of our lives [...]. They are governed by physical and social laws. The upper chakras represent mental areas and function on a symbolic level, through words, images and concepts."(3)
Each Chakra has definite characteristics: a color, a sound frequency, a scent,…as well as being in correspondence with areas of human psychic health (love, communication, intuition,…) and with many other aspects.
