Research Method (Acoustemology)

Acoustemology

Previous Experience: Sound and the Sensorium

Future Outlook: Chandra and Yoga Studies

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APPLYING ACOUSTEMOLOGY TO THE SACRED SYLLABLE ŌṂ

AND THE SONIC THEOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT UPANIṢADS

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Indian Culture and Tradition

A Source of India’s Spiritual Tradition (The Ancient Upaniṣads)

Hermeneutic Sensitivity to Indian Aesthetics

Archetypal Art Form and Rasa Theory

3. Acoustemological Analysis

Critique of Acoustic Ecology and Soundscape

Acoustemology, Sonic Theology and Aesthetics

Approach of “Listening to Histories of Listening”

4. The Upaniṣads as Listening Histories

Listening to Ōṃ

Listening to Self

6. Conclusion

In my conceptual framework and research building, I apply ethnomusicologist Steven Feld’s acoustemology to rasa theory to explore the Upaniṣads as an archetypal art of Indian aesthetics and Hindu cosmology. The acoustemological approach “listening to histories of listening” guides my analysis on the metaphor of an archer, through which I explore the multiplicity of the sacred syllable Ōṃ. In the most recent edition of Eknath Easwaran’s ([1987] 2007) The Upanishads: Classics of Indian Spirituality, Classics and Comparative Literature professor emeritus Michael N. Nagler ([1987]2007) prompts: “Indian aesthetics holds that the essence of every moment in an artistic performance is its rasa, which corresponds to one of nine moods or dispositions. If the Upanishads are an archetypal art form in that sense, what is their rasa?” ([1987]2007, 304). This paper will explore the Indian aesthetic inquiry above, by applying acoustemology to understand and realize a skillful answer by Indian aestheticians: “The Upanishads come from the disposition of shānta, ‘peace,’ which is not really a disposition or mood but what happens when all mental dispositions are brought to rest” (ibid.). The purpose of this paper is to suggest that peace (shanti) is a predisposition that is remembered at the last stage of soul refinement and may be embodied more fully through an acoustemological approach toward the ancient Upaniṣads.

Selected Bibliography

Easwaran, Eknath. ([1987]2007). The Upanishads: Classics of Indian Spirituality. The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.