The Most Versatile & Melodic Drums On Earth

Celestial Instruments

My teacher Swami Muktananda, tells a wonderful story about tablas; it is said that a long long time ago, seers, deep in meditation, heard beautiful, celestial music. They wanted to create instruments replicating this divine music, so that mortal peeps (like myself) could be inspired into a state of bliss, similar to what they felt, when hearing celestial music.  Muktananda stated that there are 7 instruments in Indian music created out of this inspiration. You may be familiar with the sitar, Ravi Shankar's instrument. This along with the tamboura, veena, sarod, saranghi, tablas, and the ektar. Give yourself the gift of hearing tablas played live. It's a visual treat as well. Hypnotic!

History and Construction

Tablas are part of an ancient music tradition dating back 5000 years. The tablas predecessor is called by many names; mrdangum, pakhawaj, and more. This two-headed drum, shaped much like a conga, is played laying on it's side. At one point this drum was divided into two halves, then placed upright, creating the first tablas, around 500 B.C.
The "r. & d." put into these tablas is obvious. Look closely and see that they actually have 2 skins each. All other hand drums have just one. There is one skin that completely covers the shell and another that is braided into the first, covering only the outer inch of the head. This creates more variety in the tones produced.  The black center is a paste made from a variety of ingredients, depending on whats locally available. This paste also adds another dimension, as it is like having another head on the drum, producing very snappy slaps.

The Ultimate Rhythm Section

In western music (i.e. rock, jazz, blues, etc), the foundation of this music is what's called the"rhythm section", comprised of bass and drums, Together, they create a basis for the other musicians to play "over". The rhythm section provides the groove for the band and the more the bass player and drummer are connected empathically, technically, and spiritually, the better the groove. Well, there is no more solid a rhythm section than when you have one person playing both parts. This is some of the magic of tablas. Playing these together is quite evocative as the tabla player "dances" between melody and rhythm
The smaller (the "tabla") has 3 beautiful, distinct, bell-like tones, along with many other tones that make it the more rhythmical of the two drums. The larger drum (or "bayan") is a deeply resonant and melodic drum, akin to the talking drum from Africa. Over an octave of notes can be played on the bayan, making it the most melodic drum played today.

Drum Language

You may have heard jazz scat sung before. You know, when the vocalist starts riffing with syllables like "adoobeedaabee adoobeedaa aboombamma whambamma adiddleeedee". Classical Jazz has lots of great "scat" moments. The origins of these spoken rhythms are in African and Indian music. To this day, African and Indian rhythms have spoken syllables. In fact each stroke on drums from Africa and India has a different "name" or spoken syllable. Here are a few: "na tun da din tet diri te re ke". Playing a stroke on the bayan while simultaneously playing a stroke on the tabla produces a different name. For instance, "na" played with "gi" is called "da". Tada!
This language is a great tool for learning rhythm. One doesn't have to be at the drums to be practicing rhythm. You can sing these rhythms while doing dishes, hiking in the woods, or walking on the moon!
And when you return to the drums you have embodied the rhythm and your playing is improved. Of course, it's also quite fun to know a spoken rhythmic language. You just never know when you might "need" it.

Played Like Piano

Most hand drums are played with the flat palm. Tablas quite different in that each finger can be played independently or together, making tablas more like piano than other hand drums. I took a few years of piano lessons in my early teens. So, I actually had a head start at the tablas. Remarkably, many of the strokes on the tablas are akin to the fingerings on the piano. There is even a parallel between piano and tablas in that the right hand plays both the tabla and the treble clef; both are higher pitched, providing much of the "lead" of the instrument, while the left hand plays the bayan and the bass clef; both providing the  rhythmic and melodic foundation.

 A Night of Sacred Song

Please join us for an evening of sacred song!
On the night of Saturday November 30 at 7:30 p.m,  we'll be extending the 

holiday of Thanksgiving with an evening of chanting and kirtan.
Through sacred healing mantras and prayers, we'll create a space
for love for ourselves and all Life.
For this evening it's my honor to host Jens Jarvie 

and Terri Ann Gillette. Two exquisite musicians who bring such delight to song.  
For information, call me at (707)824-1796.

In gratitude for the Gift of this blessed life.
Peace,
Sahar

Peace,
Sahar

Why We War

In our quest for freedom, we attempt dangerous stunts, invent technologies that we believe will give us the experience of freedom: we go to war. We tell ourselves that freedom must be protected and "fought" for. That it can only be experienced at another's expense. This is the antithesis of real freedom.
We're looking in the wrong places. We have forgotten that existentially, we are wild and free, and everything we do in our lives is an attempt to experience the authenticity of our being, no natter how ill conceived.

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing". --Helen Keller

Our Loss Of The Wild 

I've come across a story , one I believe symbolizes our quest to unleash our innate wildness. It's about "Iron John".  He is the"wild man" (or self) in each of us.
The story takes place in a kingdom with a mysterious forest. Legend has it that whenever someone enters this forest, they never come out. One day a hunter enters the kingdom and goes to the king to inquire about work. The king tells him of the forest and asks him to find out what's happening. The hunter enters the forest with only his dog. His entering the forest alone is symbolic of our entering the dark mysterious unknown within us, where this "wild self" exists. We can receive support and guidance from others, but ultimately, we explore this "realm" alone.
The hunter comes to a pond. Immediately, a large hairy hand reaches our form the pond and pulls in the hunter's dog. The hunter hastily goes back to the kingdom and gets many men with buckets to help him at the pond. There they empty the pond bucket by bucket.
The pond represents our subconscious mind and the way we uncover (or "recover") our authentic self is by emptying this "pond" step by step. Like the men emptying the pond bucket by bucket, we must delve beyond our deepest held beliefs about who we think we are, to the truth of our existence. When the pond is emptied, they find a wild man covered with hair; Iron John.
This wild "self" is a part of each of us that we don't see alive in our culture, because it's not accepted. In fact, it's feared. Our wild self is thought of as unsophisticated, anti-social, and violent. In our desire to experience our innate wildness, we engage in sports, war: anything containing an element of danger. We create a context that is socially acceptable and for a brief moment we have a glimpse of our natural wildness. We then repress this wildness because we're afraid of it and what it (we) might do.

 Finding Our Wild Selves

The hunter and his men take Iron John to the king's courtyard and cage him, akin to how we deal with our "wild/ free selves". We allow our wildness to be expressed only rarely and under very structured circumstances. Not honoring our wildness by giving it full and unleashed freedom of expression, it comes out "sideways", through passive aggression, violence, and dangerous hobbies.
One day, the king's son is playing near Iron John's cage. He loses a golden ball, which rolls into John's cage. The golden ball is significant in that it represents purity and wholeness, something that we experience as children and then lose as we "mature".
John now has the ball. The boy decides that his ball is important enough to him to get up the courage to ask John for it. Iron John agrees to give it to him if the boy let's him our of the cage. "I would if I could, but I don't know where the key is", he replies. "It's under your mother's pillow", John says. This is significant as it symbolizes our having given up our wildness in exchange for looking to others for approval. To reach this primal self we must free ourselves from our fear of rejection. Like the boy who must "steal" the key from under his mother's pillow, we cannot ask for the key, just as we cannot ask permission to express our wildness. We must "steal" it back. We must take back the authority to express ourselves freely. The boys mother is representative of our society. Who, like our society, does not want to give the "key" to the boy for fear that she will lose her "nice boy".
The young prince waits for his parents to leave, gets the key and lets the wild man out. Like the boy, we have a choice. We can either let the wild man go back to the "woods" (where wildness exists) while we stay with our parents (suppress our wild self,  out of our fear of our losing the approval of others), or we can go with the wild man by letting go of the "nice boy".
This process of exploring and releasing  the unhealthy programming/beliefs we learned as children, while opening to our whole self is a rite of passage we all take. It's just a question of when.

                                                             Honoring Our Wild Selves

I wish to share with you a contemporary example of a people who honor the wild and authentic self.
I teach a rhythmic pattern called Morybayassa. The West African tribe from which it originates has a very powerful way of celebrating this rhythm. All members of the tribe are allowed to play this rhythm, while only the women are allowed to dance the Morybayassa. Each woman in the tribe dances the Morybayassa only once in her lifetime, making this a very sacred and rare ritual. The woman chooses when she will dance the Morybayassa. It's usually after a period of great pain, grief, or loss. The tribe gathers at her appointed time and plays the rhythm; Boom tata Boom ta, Boom tata Boom ta goes the rhythm. The woman dances her unique dance, which may last hours, even days! She may be dirty, wet, even bloody! The tribe witnesses and supports her throughout this catharsis. During the dance she is allowed to break all tribal taboos if she chooses. Only she knows when she has completed her dance. When done, she goes to the woods by herself, removes the clothes in which she danced and buries them under the Morybayassa tree.
Imagine the power of this ceremony. Imagine your community gathering around a woman
who has chosen her "dance time".
Supporting and witnessing her.
The possibilities!

The Invitation
By Oriah Mountian Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

 

Cannabis; Nature's Miracle Medicine

Last week, I wrote about the most versatile plant on the planet; hemp. This week, I continue with its "cousin": cannabis or "marijuana", as it is commonly known.  To start, I want to share some recent statistics, which may surprise you.   

• Deaths from marijuana use: 0  
• Deaths from aspirin (U.S. per year): 180 - 1,000 +
• Deaths from legal drugs (U.S. per year) at doses used for prevention or therapy: 106,000.  
• Before 1937, there were over 1000 medical cannabis products in the US.
• For at least 3,000 years, marijuana extracts (buds, leaves, roots, etc.) were the most commonly used real medicines in the world, for the majority of mankind's illnesses.

In 2007, a study entitled "Comparing Addictive Qualities of Popular Drugs" compared
nicotine, heroin, cocaine, caffeine, alcohol, and cannabis in the following categories;

1) Severity of withdrawal symptoms.
2) Substance's ability to get users to take it again and again.
3) How much is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it.
4) How difficult it is for the user to quit.
5) Level of intoxication and increases in personal and social damage a substance may cause.

In this study, cannabis scored the same as caffeine, as the most benign of these drugs. As you may have guessed, heroin scored the highest, rating it as the most detrimental. But what may surprise you is that alcohol rated a close second, rating it as more detrimental than nicotine or even cocaine.

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users
to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.
Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.
Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance
and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.
Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Addictive_Properties#sthash.0FMmdIlw.dpuf

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users
to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.
Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.
Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance
and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.
Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Addictive_Properties#sthash.0FMmdIlw.dpuf

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users
to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.
Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.
Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance
and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.
Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Addictive_Properties#sthash.0FMmdIlw.dpuf

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users
to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.
Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.
Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance
and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.
Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Addictive_Properties#sthash.0FMmdIlw.dpuf

A Medicinal Treasure Trove

Delving into research on cannabis, I've found it to be quite possibly the most remarkable and versatile medicinal known to humanity. Take a look....
In 1988, Italian researcher Vincenzo De Marzo PhD discovered the "endocannabinoid System". A system that exists within all species other than insects. With receptors throughout the body, this system effects nearly all emotional and cognitive processes. The cannabinoid's our body produces are identical to the medicinal components found in cannabis. The cannabis plant cannabinoids (or CBD's) effect almost every system within the body, by keeping a balance of these systems.

De Marzo wrote "CBD's help humans with eating, sleeping, relaxing, forgetting and protection." There are so many strains cannabis is a kind of "31 Flavors". A strain for whatever ails you!

Eating

You've heard of "the munchies". Need I say more? Cannabis helps with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. But interestingly, cannabis assists in weight loss for people suffering from obesity!

Pain

Presently, western medicine  prescribes opiates for significant pain. The problem is that opiates are highly addictive. Patients become very addicted to them, needing more and more to avoid withdrawal symptoms. The most common concern with opiates is constipation that increases to the point where patients actually need surgery. Opiates are depressants. So, while on opiates, patients are often prescribed anti-depressants. Severe nausea is another side effect of long term use of opiates.

A clinical trial conducted at UC Davis demonstrated significant relief of pain caused by damage to nerves. This "neuropathic" pain is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs, including opioid narcotics.  UC San Diego conducted a 10 year study at a cost of  $8.7 million, concluding that cannabis provided relief of nueropathic pain caused by injuries, infections, diabetes, and other medical conditions affecting the nervous system. It soothes and relieves pain from arthritis, MS,  fibromyalgia, headaches, backaches and skin disorders-redness and itching.

Sleep

Insomniacs and patients with sleep disorders have reported a better quality of sleep than with many of the sleeping pills available.

Forgetting

Certain strains help people deal with emotional pain and trauma. Perhaps most dramatic is with vets returning with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Upon returning, they suffer greatly, being haunted by their memories of war. So much so, that the highest rate of death in the military is due to suicide by veterans. For every soldier killed by enemy combatants, 25 kill themselves! A sobering reflection.
The endocannabinoid system is integrally related to memory extinction; the normal, healthy process of removing associations from stimuli. This has profound implications for patients with PTSD. By aiding in memory extinction, cannabis helps patients reduce their association between stimuli (ie. loud noises or stress) and the traumatic situations in their past.

Protection

Cannabis helps strengthen the immune system, as an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. With multiple sclerosis and cancer patients, it has actually shown to help regenerate nerve cells. Whereas chemotherapy kills all cells (cancerous and healthy), cannabis discriminates between cancerous and healthy cells, killing only the cancerous.

Cannabis research has demonstrated therapeutic value and complete safety in the treatment of many health problems, including AIDS, alcoholism, asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, glaucoma, nausea, tumors, epilepsy, infection, stress, migraines, depression, rheumatism, arthritis, and herpes.


A New Paradigm

Since the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) has labeled cannabis as a "Schedule 1 Substance", the amount of legal research and development that can be done is strictly limited. 
In order to serve their patients, the medicinal marijuana industry has taken the "lemon" of these restrictions and made some wonderful "lemonade".  They're taking an approach to patient care beyond the old paradigm of "doctor knows best"; a kind of "top down" approach, where the patient is told what will cure them and is given little choice or responsibility in their healing.

In addition to prescribing a certain strain of cannabis, care professionals advise their clients to journal about their experiences while medicated and return with their journal, documenting their experiences with that particular strain. This leads to anecdotal results rather than a "one size fits all" determination. We all react differently to chemicals and as our body chemistry is always changing; what previously worked for us may not be the best for us now.
By having a more open ended dialogue with the care provider, there is more collaboration with the patient. In this arrangement the patient plays a greater part in their medicine choice and inevitably finds a medicine that fits their individual needs.

Over 100 CBD's have been identified in the cannabis plant, while only two; THC and CBD have been studied in depth. Imagine what more we might we find!