With Ram Dass, Odetta and Christine Stevens
It was while attending the Seva Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Concert in Oakland, CA on September 27, 2008 that the conversation began. The line-up for the evening included Ruthie Foster and Nina Gerber, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Elvis Costello, and Los Lobos. The night was filled with great music by some great artists, some of whom you could say have changed the world as we know it. Perched in our seats in Oakland's Paramount Theater at intermission, we began to discuss whether music does indeed have the power to change the world or if that is just a poetic, though inaccurate, perspective.
Then we remembered what the great folk singer Ms. Odetta said in an earlier interview with RockOm. When asked by Tom Crenshaw if she thought music still has the power to change the world, Odetta replied,
“Not the music, not the music… It’s people who are actually on the firing line that we’re supporting, that are doing the changing of the world. Person by person, there is some power there.”
The people Ms. Odetta were speaking of are the Seva workers and social activists in the field - the doctors, nurses, organizers, planners and support staff who are actually doing the changing. It’s really not about the music… or is it?
So we went to the top with this, asking Ram Dass, renowned author, spiritual teacher and board member of the Seva Foundation about the work of groups like Seva and music's transformational potential.
RockOm: Thinking back 30 years ago to the beginning of the Seva Foundation, what would you say was the driving force behind the founding members' aspirations and has Seva exceeded your expectations as to what the founders hoped to accomplish?
Ram Dass: The original purpose of Seva was two-fold: social action and using it for spiritual growth (Karma Yoga). Though the years the social action (relieving of suffering) has become more of the primary focus.
RockOm: What are your thoughts on how, year after year, music has helped Seva raise such awareness of its purpose and mission?
Ram Dass: Our music events led by Wavy Gravy have brought us money for our projects and publicity for the foundation.
RockOm: Do you believe music has the ability to heal and relieve suffering on a profound level as with other fields of service?
Ram Dass: I believe that the music itself at these events have healed the audiences, and we at Seva, who heal the blind, need music for our healing as well.
All of this from a man who, in his late 70s with a nearly unmatched spiritual resume and nothing left to prove, has released a new album entitled Cosmix - a unique blend of music and spirituality, mixing electronica beats and soundscapes with sound bites and spoken word. There is no doubt that Baba Dass finds in music that great power to bring healing and transform lives.
In our continued effort to explore this topic, we sought out Christine Stevens from UpBeat Drum Circles who, along with the UpBeat team’s Ashti Drum Project, recently returned from their second trip to Iraq. While there they served children with their music through Kurdistan Save the Children, as well as Iraqi women at two shelters in Suliyamania.
“There is only a one-letter difference between performer and reformer,” Christine commented. “Ashti Drum in Iraq has demonstrated that music and drum circles are successful models for transformation through cross-cultural collaboration.”
But what about music healing and serving profoundly, as with other fields of service such as the medical field? Christine went on to clarify,
“First of all, let’s define the term ‘heal.' Healing is restoring into one's life what is missing, becoming whole. Secondly, let’s define the term ‘healer.’ In indigenous history, the healer was both a musician and physician - the shaman. So, at its roots, music has been part of healing for centuries.”
Christine concluded,
“Let’s empower people to take an active role in their own healing and health. In our research, positive biological changes occur when people drum together (www.remo.com/health). Because of this research, we could go into Iraq with an evidence-based program that was accepted by all religious sects for the medicinal purposes of alleviating the suffering - both physical and psychological - of the survivors of the war in Iraq. Do I believe music can be healing? I literally bet my life on it going to Iraq... and it worked!”
So does music “change the world” or does it simply inspire the hands and feet of the change-makers? Like most questions, the answer is less “either-or” and more “both-and.” Or perhaps most likely, the question needs no answer at all. In the end, who really cares? It is all one process and one cycle. Perhaps a better lens in which to view such profound questions is best summed up by what Christine offered with regards to intention:
"As Krishna Das says, ‘If you want enlightenment; feed people.’ Music is food for the soul. Share your music. Let your gifts shine. Go to a shelter and sing. It is time for music to be unleashed as a powerful force of healing and cross-cultural peace-making. Music immediately removes barriers and creates dialogue and connections. Even the Dali Lama recommends music sharing festivals for peace-making in the Middle East.”
May the music-makers continue making their music, those in the field continue their work and each of us do what we can to make a positive impact. And, “person by person,” personally and publicly, alone and together, may we all work to, in Gandhi's words, “be the change we wish to see in the world.”
[By Trevor Harden (Trevor@RockOm.net) and Tom Crenshaw (Tom@RockOm.net)]
_________________
The Seva Foundation is a non-profit foundation in Berkeley California that was founded back in 1978 by some very compassionate individuals such as Drs. Larry and Girija Brilliant, Dr. Nicole Grasset, spiritual teacher Ram Dass, Berkeley activists Wavy Gravy and Jahanara Romney. The Seva Foundation currently is working to:
- “Prevent blindness and restore sight in India, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tanzania and Guatemala.”
- “Help indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico develop their capacity to meet basic needs and create solutions to poverty and injustice.”
- “Support Native American projects across the U.S. in the areas of health and wellness, community development, environmental protection and cultural preservation.”
To find out more or to donate a one-time or reoccurring tax-deductible donation, please visit www.seva.org.
Info about Odetta: www.mc-records.com/html/odetta_landing.html
Info about Ram Dass and his album: www.ramdass.org
Info about Christine Stevens: www.upbeatdrumcircles.com
[Edited by Andrew Hoogheem]
Ms. Odetta, one of the 20th century’s most endearing blues, gospel and folk singers as well as actress and prominent civil rights activist died yesterday at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. With a career spanning more than 60 years, Odetta was credited with influencing some of music’s biggest performers including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin and Tracy Chapman. She was with Dr. Martin Luther King singing at the March on Washington in 1963 and also sang for Presidents Kennedy and Clinton. In 1999, Odetta was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton and in 2004 was a Kennedy Center honoree. Her Odetta Sings Folk Songs was nominated for a 1963 Grammy Award with two more Grammy nominations in recent years, for 1999's Blues Everywhere I Go and 2005's Gonna Let It Shine.
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