Patience And Humility

Sometimes beginning players are eager to share their playing with the world. Today's technology lets you do this easily, and so the internet is full of shakuhachi performances.

Yes, with a few hours of experimentation it is possible to get sounds that are very evocative. Slow breathy improvisations on the basic low register notes can be relaxing for listeners as well as players and can sound quite musical.

But as with any meditative discipline, the real spiritual benefits of shakuhachi are not in the initial euphoria but in steady committed practice, in daily confrontation with difficulties, blocks, and distractions. Many of the most important shakuhachi techniques, ones that can make the spirit muscularly soar rather than just chill out, are counter-intuitive -- you'll never happen upon them without deep careful study. I highly recommend waiting a while before making that mp3 or CD. When the impulse strikes, count to ten (years, that is) and then start to consider it. The "spiritual stuff" won't go away, and patience and humility are some of the most important lessons of all.

(And no, I have not always followed this advice myself.)