Monday, May 21, 2007
Kalimba as a Spiritual Practice

At the heart of many spiritual practices is the path of releasing your life from the grip of ego. Ego is about control. Ego is about purpose - or supposed purpose, our self-directed purpose, though it is often a false purpose. The ego as such can prevent us from seeing beyond ourselves, seeing the big picture, or seeing our true purpose.

Music is a good basis for a spiritual practice. Most music does require a bit of ego to make that flash and sparkle, but any music that is just flash and sparkle will be shallow. Music which transcends our own personalities and opens us up to the infinite, either as listeners or as players, is a spiritual path.

I find that the kalimba is a good place to start such a path for a few reasons. First, you don't really need to know very much about music to play a kalimba beautifully; and, second, because the kalimba is so odd and foreign in its note layout. This odd layout forces us to rethink our preconceptions and let go of our need to control the instrument and the music it makes. We almost learn it by backing into its beauty rather than forcing our intellect upon it. It is almost as if it comes to know us rather than that we come to know it.

Of course, the kalimba is what we make of it. We choose how we will interpret the kalimba. But the kalimba has rich and ample ground to be a fundamental part of one's spiritual path. Walk in joy on this path, and as you forget where you started and forget yourself, your heart will open to the infinite.

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