Approach

Meditation sessions with Cornelius include simple breathing and posture instructions, seated meditation with the sound of the bamboo, zazen (sitting) meditation and tea.  Group and individual sessions are available, as well as regular open group sessions in Marin and online conference-style meditation meetings.  This is not really what many refer to as “sound healing;” healing might happen, of course, but the roots of this go back in time at least a thousand years, intertwining with Taoism, animism and Zen Buddhism.

Shakuhachi is one of a small handful of instruments in the world that easily bridge the gap between classical and spiritual music, and the only melodic wind instrument with an extensive solo lineage and repertoire.  This solo music encompasses the whole spectrum of energy: nature, human, and spiritual, and many listeners understand this immediately upon first hearing the sound of the shakuhachi.  Its tone invokes meditation, and it draws you into timeless spaciousness.  It demonstrates Life with a capital “L.”  It is the hot breath of life, turned into music; a visceral connection to nature, not just a superficial romantic notion of “relaxation” or “nature”.  In particular, the lower range, natural bore flutes known as hotchiku, kyotaku or Taimu lend themselves to the cultivation of breath awareness and the effortless arrival at a balanced clarity of consciousness.  For the practitioner and the listener, the sounds and songs are catalysts for a state of consciousness.

Mindfulness, concentration, stillness, presence, illumination, insight, wisdom—meditation and its primary fruits go by many names, but they all overlap and equal the practice of pure, unending awareness.