When You Create Music, Become The Instrument - How to overcome fear when performing before an audience?

When You Create Music, Become The Instrument
21 Jun, 2007 l 0000 hrs ISTlSatsang: Sri Chinmoy

How to overcome fear when performing before an audience?

Whenever you perform, feel that... there is only one person listening to you, and imagine that that person is a child only two years old. This is the human way.

The divine way is to see immediately the Supreme before you. If you see the Supreme and feel that you also are the Supreme, then how can one Supreme be afraid of the other Supreme? There is only one Supreme. If you bow to the Supreme inside each individual in the audience, then immediately you become one with each indivi-dual. Then you will not be afraid. Because you do not feel your oneness, you are afraid. But if you are one, then you do not feel afraid. This is the divine way...

What makes music full of supreme beauty?

Remembering constantly that your music is only an extension of your inner consciousness and that it is also an expression of the divine within that is crying for manifestation. If you can be aware of the divine within you, then you can bring to your music, supreme beauty. But always feel that the divine within you has accepted music as an expression of its reality for your own perfection in life. When you play music... feel that you are the instrument and the Supreme is playing in and through you. You are His instrument and He is playing you. He is the musician and, at the same time, He Himself is the listener. You have to feel that He is the player, He is the listener, and He is the instrument itself. If you have that kind of feeling, automatically divine perfection dawns in your music... How to keep ego out of art?

Think that you are one individual and your ego is another... From experience you know that this ego is really your enemy. The ego will stand in your way when you try to run towards your goal. By feeding someone who has a different goal from you, you are only delaying your own progress and weakening your own strength.

The Supreme is waiting for you... to reach Him. Yet you are giving half your strength to somebody who is really your enemy. The Supreme gives you the opportunity and capacity to run the fastest, but you are sharing half your capacity with somebody who is running to another goal, of des-truction. If you see the ego in this way, then you can easily separate your creative capacity from your ego...

How to infuse music with spirituality?

Each seeker-musician has a golden opportunity to please the Supreme with his music. Whenever you play music, you have to know whether or not that music is going to please the Supreme. If it pleases you and you feel it will please God, then play it. If you feel it will not please God, then never play it. ...A sincere seeker needs to play only spiritual music that elevates his and others’ consciousness. Play music that inspires you, that comes from the very depth of your heart and illumines your consciousness. When you play this kind of music, you will see that in each note God Himself is blossoming like a lotus, petal by petal. When you play divine music, please feel that God is unveiling His own inner Music and fulfilling Himself in and through you...