A Marriage of Sound and Breath – TSK Ex. 24

I used a sound machine set for the sound of a babbling brook, which repeated like a tape loop.  Both ‘babbling’ and the repetition of the sounds had significance.  At first the sounds seemed irregular but within repetition of the sequence there was a noticeable underlying rhythm, the way drums or baritone voices would anchor smaller patterns of sound.  As this rhythm continued there was a tendency for me to organize the sounds into regular repeating tones and irregular ones, even though in the context of the larger loop all the sounds repeated.  As I noticed this I seemed to get caught in a kind of groove, almost hypnotic, as the repetitive rhythm reminded me of some kind of tribal chanting.  When I joined breath and sound together, focus naturally went to the throat area.  Within the patterns of the watery, babbling sounds of the brook there were the sounds of voices, almost guttural, gurgling and preverbal, as if prior to meaning.  As one sound pattern became dominant in awareness I would focus on a different pattern, as the one I had been focused on faded further in the background…I even focused on the fading itself.  There were dozens of such patterns.

I noticed that while the overall pattern of sounds occupied my attention, the focal setting could be modulated to zero-in on component patterns, intermediate ones, or the overall pattern.  It reminded me of previous Time exercises when dominant forms in the moment (like these rhythms) were picked up on, and after awhile less dominant patterns were discernible, not only within, but along with the overall display of sound.  It was very much a flow of Time’s continuous display of form.

Today I used a 2 ½ minute recording in a repetitive loop of a babbling brook, a much longer loop than the 8 to 10 second duration of the sound machine used previously.  Repetition was not as immediately noticeable although there were similarities in the repetitiveness of some of the tonal qualities.

Initially the sound was progressing from the point from which I started, to a point I presupposed it was moving toward; the point that I knew it would loop and start over or that I would turn it off, in other words, I knew the sound had direction. (I noticed this tended to ‘tunnel‘ or narrow my perceptions.)  After awhile I gave up the sense of direction, which opened perspective and seemed to allow more space.  More space seemed to permit awareness of more levels of tones.  Tones were edgeless objects in that they blended together as intensity waned, then a shifting of perspective revealed patterns of objects, then another shift revealed patterns of patterns, then, sound was felt in the throat, like water touching.  And sound was seen like color on a blank or empty canvas.

One more note… I noticed something interesting about the use of a short, repetitious series of sounds…

Short, repetitious sounds, or cycling, revealed an interesting dynamic working with this exercise as the cycling action of ‘things’ had with another exercise I encountered awhile ago: Exercise 28: A Cycle of Seeing, which I’ll elaborate on momentarily.  With this exercise, A Marriage of Sound and Breath, however, I used a sound machine, and I discovered that at a different level, also functioned as a kind of Time machine.  The 8 to 10 second metronomic loop of sound seemed to set patterns up in an almost hypnotic momentum.  The loop or circular spinning of tonal patterns and spaces allowed for modulation of perspective or ‘focal settings‘ to isolate or include any number of pattern combinations.  Relationships between patterns could be discerned and magnified.  Anchoring sound to body through breath and throat helped to keep me oriented in the present moment, less likely to drift.  Although I have never personally participated, I can see because of this exercise, how chanting, mantra recitation, or similar tribal or monastic practice in groups, or solitary practice, could open perspective.

A similar time-opening dynamic seems to be in play with Exercise 28: A Cycle of Seeing, even though it is considered a Knowledge exercise.  In that exercise we are asked to choose 10 ‘things’ from the contents of our common experience (objects, qualities) and then sequentially picture each one, then, cycle them one by one.  In cycling the ‘things’ the underlying process, becomes clearer, and we see directly how our normal perceptions are self-limiting in a way we don’t normally notice.

It seems apparent to me at least, my use of cycling both sound and ‘things’ was a key to opening the perceptive door somewhat, or better, for allowing me to demonstrate to myself how to modulate my habitual and limiting focal settings.