Education News: Top Stories

Music college, creativity, and meditation
by Kevin Thomas

Maharishi University of Management, USA - MUM Blog Translate This Article
22 June 2011

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The article features a thoughtful discussion about the interrelationships between music, meditation, and creativity, and their role in the new Creative Musical Arts program at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. The article is written by Kevin Thomas, a faculty member in the program.

The article explores why meditation is often popular among those who study music: 'Perhaps it has to do with the nature of the creative process itself. To be truly creative one must go beyond the surface level of life, look for deeper meanings, and bring out with unique artistic vision those often overlooked magical connections between the inner realm of ideas and outer world of physical objects. . . .

'Musicians seem to be intuitively drawn toward these synchronicities between inner and outer spheres that so often emerge through music and art. This is frequently experienced as an exhilarating sense of being In The Flow while performing or writing music. Musicians often become seekers of techniques such as meditation in an attempt to break free from limiting mental boundaries and expand their consciousness in order to access these mysterious and alluring planes, in addition to finding a higher meaning for their art.'

The article describes the innovative new MUM music program, one of the University's many offerings in the sciences, arts, and humanities. 'A unique feature of the university is that both faculty and students practice Transcendental Meditation on a daily basis as an essential component of the curriculum,' Mr Thomas writes, noting over 600 scientific research studies on the technique documenting its effectiveness in increasing intelligence, developing emotional maturity, synchronizing brain wave function, and improving many areas of physical health, including reducing blood pressure. 

The idea at MUM, he says, is to develop 'the whole person so that he or she might leave college with a fully developed mind that has both exemplary knowledge and the inner wisdom and capacity to use that knowledge for a higher purpose.'

In the new Creative Musical Arts program—the first music college program of its kind—'the development of the student's full creative potential is of the utmost importance, which is a very different paradigm than that of traditional music colleges. Self-realization, personal growth, and the development of consciousness for the budding next generation of musicians is the ultimate goal.'

Enjoy the full article on the Excellence in Action page.

© Copyright 2011 Maharishi University of Management

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