The False Gurus of Classical Music

Music is not just the expression of Bhakti. Music was created in Heaven before it was given to us. The entire Universe was created through the dance of the Goddess.Knowledge about music is just like knowledge in spirituality. We think it took us very little to get the Self Realization, when in reality it took us many lives, and we were watched carefully by Shri Mataji in every step we made. But still, it took us months and to some even years to realize who actually Shri Mataji is. And all these while the Kundalini energy was increasing the strength in each of us.  It took us years to give up bad practices, the attachment to false knowledge and false gurus, to understand the falsehood of the religious organizations of the world. It took years for some to even quit cigarettes and alcohol, while the society never condemned “social drinking”. A non-realized soul will read random books and articles.

For music, things work in the same manner. Yes, music is for everyone, but everyone knows what music really is? Shri Mataji advices the artists to keep the dignity of art. You can read here:

But people don’t make a difference between ART and entertainment, for both use sounds. They say: music should give joy. But let’s see what joy is.

Can one compare the joy from getting a present for your birthday and the one in the deep meditation? Is the first one really joy, or just excitement?

Yes, this is the confusion people make. They mistake joy with excitement, as they mistake art with entertainment.

But, as in spirituality, where it took us years in the physical presence of The Guru of all Gurus to feel a little of the light we should achieve, also in music you need a little exposure and education about the real classical music (Indian or European), or in the traditional ones to understand what they are. By this education you don’t become a musician, you don’t become a guru, not even a disciple in Art, but an aware witness.

Unfortunately, just like in spirituality, many people in order to get more money pretend to do classical music, while in fact they defile it. And they play some light music (entertainment zone) or execute out of any style and rule excerpts from classical composers “adjusted” to pop culture. Names: Andre Rieu, Havasi, Richard Clayderman, Vanessa Mae, etc. Is this making any service to classical music? Is this going to approach more people to the world of enlightened musicians? Facts proved that, NO! Is this a work of a false guru?

Yes. It is the same manner in which some guy pretends to give Realization, while in fact it takes your money and gives you troubles in evolution, the false gurus of classical music give you bad taste. Is this that bad? Well, yes. Since the real musicians won’t find anymore the place to live in this world. The whole artistic world might collapse if not fed with our attention, care, love and appreciation.

In Indian music things are not going any better. All people know about the popularity of Ravi Shankar. But was he a real exponent of Indian music or he gone to the easy cheap way to gain more popularity and money? Also Shri Mataji spoke about this:

“They like somebody like Ravi Shankar who just goes on mixing up notes and just goes on playing something which is very, very unscientific according to Indians things, and is not at all entertaining; it doesn’t open your heart and something like that. But, that is the thing that appeals to them, to go into a big sort of a rock and roll sort – make it, sitar into rock and roll, and even worse than that. I don’t know the new, latest one I don’t know what it is.” Shri Saraswati Puja, Vancouver (Canada), August 11th, 1990

Even when he was young he was dedicated and that time Shri Mataji was very well impressed by him. But…money and ego change everything.

 Here I give you some samples of what classical music is and what it is not:

Here is a crime against childhood and music education. This little girl obviously has talent, but in this way she will lose her voice by the age of 20

This is how children voices should be trained like:

Maybe some of you don’t notice the difference. It is slight for ears, huge for the music.

 This is the result of not exposing people to Classical music, they believe all impostors. How these people get so famous while real musicians struggle so hard only to have enough contracts so they can pay the bills and eat? It is a lot of marketing for nothing at all. The problem is that it is not enough music education in the real sense of the word and the entertainment's ugly head is mistakenly taken as art. It is a big difference; even high spirits can have fun with art too. Only most of the people never ever hear classical music, because nobody exposes them to it. They are being served only cheap things. Cheap as value, expensive as price

The shadows of grey are much more dangerous than black. At least when it is black, you know.

And just what kind of marketing are doing these people? Havasi says he is the fastest pianist in the world....But music is not a race! What about Rieu? Rieu takes advantage of a tragedy (fire accident at Colective club in Bucharest) to promote his new CD. He comes to the place of tragedy, brings a Mafia-like mortuary bucket, and makes declarations in front of TV cameras while blubbering his nose (out of sadness, of course), that people can buy his new CD from Carrefour.  How gross this can be?

To reach a professional level in music need sacrifices and real work since early childhood. A person who since 5-6 years works so hard and learns and knows what is doing, must have love for music. Like Perlman, Menuhin, Debu Chauduri if you want Indian....they love and they do music. Rieu loves and makes money. The difference between Rieu and a ....musician is like the difference between Osho and Shankaracharya

The value of o a musician (and also of a person) is not determined of how well known is. Let's take a very short example: very few people heard about William Blake, but everybody knows who Hitler was. And he is quite popular in Asian countries as well. Cheap popularity is not the aim of a musician, but the QUALITY of the musical act itself.

Anca Elena Ratiu, musician and sahaja yogini says: "the worst of these kinds of people is that are living out of any Reality....and they use Sound just to glorify their Ego and steel your money! But basically they do not exist!!! They are completely out of any central vibrations of the Primordial Sound! They are in the limbo of the Universe. And what is really said is that when we professionally musicians condemn it, there are always other opinions!!!!!!! "I LIKE IT" or "What is wrong with this music?"....PEOPLE WILL NEVER EVER DISCUSS ANY OTHER PROFESIONIST, LIKE A MATHEMATICIAN, but they will say "I like this music. Because they do not realize is nothing to be liked there, because IS NOTHING THERE!....but they continue to like it in a not-real world where they live together with this wrong vibration.....is a simple think called "No-Music"!....and I will ask everyone here: DO NOT CALLED IT MUSIC, because the word will loose his meaning...."

Someone told once to me: you can do and say anything, people like what they like. Really? In spreading Sahaja Yoga, we were first giving Self Realization, and then taught how to talk to people, but also not to accept compromise.

I met once an Indian young man who told me “I know Shri Mataji is divine, everybody in India knows this, but I chose Osho for he gives me more freedom for my sexual life.”  How can one react to such a statement? It is not even of common sense! As absurd this statement looks to us, as absurd is to stick to law level sound production, to entertainment,  and not expose yourself to real music, being it classical or traditional, or worse, to mistake classical music with the massacre Rieu and Clayderman are doing.

Listen, go to concert halls, go to opera, go to temples and hear the real music! If you will not do this, kitsch will suffocate us.