To understand classical music is possible only if you learn

To understand classical music is possible only if you learn — and it is a long learning. It is not like jazz music, for which no learning is needed. Even monkeys can understand jazz — in fact, only monkeys understand it. It is not music, just a few crackpots making all kinds of noises, and you think it is music. You will find better music in a waterfall, or when the wind blows through the pine trees, or simply when you walk in the forest in autumn on dry leaves, and sounds are created. But to understand that, you will need to be free from hunger, free from poverty, free from all kinds of prejudices.

Music comes closest to meditation. Music is a way towards meditation and the most beautiful way. Meditation is the art of hearing the soundless sound, the art of hearing the music of silence -- what the Zen people call the sound of one hand clapping. When you are utterly silent, not a single thought passes your mind, there is not even a ripple of any feeling in your heart. Then you start, for the first time, hearing silence.
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