Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Meditation: Perception, Taste, and People's Priorities


Charles Baudelaire once said, "In supernatural states of the soul, the profundity of life reveals itself in the sight before one's eyes." That is certainly true in this case. Below I've pasted a copy of an email I received from my mother-in-law a few days ago. It is about an experiment on perception conducted by the Washington Post. I make a few observations following the copy.


"Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.

The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised:
*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing?"

My Observations:
How lovely that it is children or young people who stop to look and listen? They seem closer to existing all the time in that supernatural state; they are still receptive, lack conditioning, and can immediately perceive the truth or beauty of an experience.

Perhaps this is why they say children keep you young at heart? Is it because they remind us that we have an inner beauty meter, and that meter needs guidance from no one? And that by participating in these observations of beauty we can strengthen the field of such things and thereby foster more of it, in a world that so clearly needs it?

If this idea strikes you as important, you might want to look at a book called, "The Biology of Transcendence", by Joseph Chilson Pearce.

Today's meditation: The power of pausing to enjoy something beautiful is immeasurable.

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