The Rothko Chapel never seizes to amaze me. Founded by John and Dominique de Menil, it was dedicated in 1971 as an intimate sanctuary available to people of every belief. A modern meditative environment inspired by the mural canvasses of American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, the Chapel welcomes thousands of visitors each year, people of every faith and from all parts of the world.I frequent their lectures series "Twelfth Moments of Meditation" where leaders of a myriad of faiths lead participants in practice. Additionally, it serves as a forum to ask questions about their dogma, specific place in relation to other doctrines, and the leader's personal relationship with the religion. I have attended many, but this one was particularly humorous to me with addition of chant and drumming.
The Nichiren Shu Buddhist Meditation was led by Reverend Myokei Caine-Barrett. The main chant was the title of the Lotus Sutra (a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life): Myōhō Renge Kyō. It started as a steady drone, slowly increasing tempo and dynamic level (and pitch) until we suddently stopped. It was highly tantric, somewhat hypnotic, and very very exotic.
The problem came when I was not satisfied chanting in unison, after all, the perfect 5th has a wonderful ring, where the resulting vibrations are strong and almost ticklish. So I ventured and sang, well, hummed the harmony. At first, it felt good, so my hum turned into a strong chant, gradually of course, Then I added a little glisssando to the pitch, after all, it seemed stylistically appropriate, and it was so much fun. As I was engaging myself in more of a musical game, I realized I was missing the whole point.
Of course, by this time, the whole group, including the leader seemed to have modulated to some unrecognizable interval. Well, I should specify, some of the group modulated and some where left behind. I had a lovely Italian lady next to me (who I recognized from last month's Bahai meditation) who decided she was going to stay right in pitch so I struggled to find either her perfect 5th, of the leader's. I noticed my pitch swimming around like a wide nanny goat vibrator until I found a pitch that wasn't terribly horrific. Eventually, everyone modulated, of course, by this time, we had again moved higher to another pitch level. I was doomed.
Well at least I had fun trying. Perhaps I didn't have the aesthetic and spiritual experience I had hoped for, but It was definitely an entertaining experience worth writing about. I did find my perfect 5th, but it wasn't for long.
