If you’ve ever watched a rock concert you know that often the drummer sets the pace of the next song by hitting his sticks four times. The conductor of an orchestra also waves the baton with a particular pace just before the music starts, which is enough for the experienced musicians to pick up the proper tempo. Similarly, prior to spiritual activities we set the proper mood; we adjust our tone and posture. And even if this preliminary setting of the pace is not done on a gross level, with the physical body, it must be done at least in the mind. At least mentally one should select a proper rhythmic pattern before playing and follow it through the entire song. That is, if you want to make good music.
What is the significance of this? It means that we have to connect to a rhythm that is beyond and above the rhythm of the particular song we will pay. It existed before we began playing and singing, following its discipline, and it will continue to pulsate long after we finish our performance. In fact, it is eternal. We can see and feel its presence everywhere: in the rhythm of the sunrise and sunset, in the season’s changes, at our birthday parties, we can feel it in the beat of our heart.
Ludwig Wittgenstein said that the meaning of the world should lie outside of it. In the same way, the rhythm of a song that pulsates inside it should be preexisting outside and beyond this particular song and beyond all material songs. It ultimately comes from the transcendental plane where the eternal love songs and rhythms of Radha and Krishna’a pastimes captivate the entire creation.
This universal rhythm is independent of us. It does not necessarily conform to our goals; rather we have to obey it in order to attain pleasant result. There are many different beats that we can choose, but once chosen, we have to follow them precisely. And not only that: let us consider for a moment how do we choose the proper tempo and beat for a given melody. Many beats can barely do the job, few would be really appropriate, and one or two would be the perfect choice. Who sets these rules? They obviously existed long before we even conceived the idea of writing a song. We write the song in accord with them.
How do you choose the beat that perfectly fits the melody? How do you choose the melody itself? And, if we want to go leave the musical metaphor for a second, how do you find the best chess move, which will seal your victory out of so many possibilities? How do you make the proper choice in life that will ensure your future success?
There was a movie called “The legend of Bagger Vance” where the Guru, Mr. Bagger Vance (Bhagavan), was revealing the answer of these questions to his pupil R. Junuh (Arjuna). In essence, he taught him that there is only one perfect golf swing (R. Junuh was competing in a golf tournament, similarly to Arjuna who was about to fight in a war). “Observe your rival”, Bagger Vance insisted, while the R. Junuh’s competitor carefully prepared to strike the ball. “Notice how attentively he is searching for the proper movement, for the proper swing. There is only one swing that will get the ball inside the hole. It is already there, preexisting, eternally. Your job is to connect with it, to find it and to use it.” (Similarly Krishna told Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita, “You can only be an instrument in this battle”.)
In other words, out of so many different ways you can hit the ball there is only one way, which is the proper way. And it definitely is not our way, as Frank Sinatra famously sung; it is Krishna’s way. Or, as Dr. Jordan Peterson likes to say, “there are practically unlimited variety of possible speculations regarding what and how it should be done; however, there are very limited ways by which you can actually act successfully in the world.”
All the proper decisions already exist. That is, both in a general sense, and in our own individual situation. We just have to connect with those decisions. But here is the catch: they are not just there for us to use and exploit. This is not the cold, impersonal Universe existing in the brains of the atheistic mental speculators. In the world created by the Personal God, everything is personal. They are actually personal energies of God, Krishna. They will readily be at our disposal only of we use them in His service. Otherwise they will elude us and we will remain unsuccessful and unfulfilled. The perfect beat for our song, the perfect word and sentence in our essay, the perfect relationships will always be just around the corner, and never quite there. If we want to misuse Krishna’s energy for our selfish desires, Krishna’s energy will punish us.
This is God’s world and He sets the rules. If we want to be successful we have to learn the rules and follow them. One such rule is that all beautiful things emanate from just a spark of his splendor and opulence. Our motive in the quest for success, and beauty, and opulence should be His pleasure only.
Consciously or unconsciously, in order to create anything of value we have to connect to the source of everything. The four beats at the beginning of a song signify the establishment of such connection with the transcendence. This connection can be on different levels according to our qualification, but it must be there. Otherwise everything we try to produce will be just a failure. Failure, which is equally obvious for both devotees and atheists. The tower build in defiance of God’s laws will collapse in spite of the professed theism or atheism of the engineer who builds it. Bad music is bad music no matter if the composer, the musicians, or the audience are theists, atheists, agnostics, or whatever. As Krishna says in Gita, manusya Partha sarvashah, everyone follows my path. There is one path and we can only choose whether we want to follow it towards God or follow the same road in the opposite direction. These examples attempt to describe a reality which is far beyond a religious believe system. They portray not simply faith, but rather what the ancient Vedic authorities define as “dharma”, the inherent nature. This nature is eternal and does not depend on our opinions.
So how do we connect with the perfect source of all beautiful things, the most attractive person of all, Krishna? By chanting His holy name – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. By singing about the glories of Krishna we become the perfect musician, and not only that, we become the perfect living being. We return to the pure spiritual realm where every word is a song and every step is a dance. There we are able to dive deep in the ocean of rasa. Countless beautiful tunes and rhythms will be our friends, and in their personal forms, will assist us in our endeavor to glorify the divine couple Radha Krishna with our pure love expressed through music.
