jeblog

drumming redux

For the fourth consecutive weekend, I spent this past weekend drumming with a community of folks in an out-of-the-way place. This time it was with my buddhist sangha (community), at a retreat center called Charter Hall (former retreat of FDR), at the top of the Chesapeake Bay.

My buddhist friends were a little less familiar with drums than some of my previous weekenders, but they took to it eagerly. The highlight of the weekend for me was when, in the middle of a song I was singing and playing on dulcimer, the other folks began a spontaneous drum jam!

More and more I see drumming as a meditative practice. You drum until you realize you're drumming (look at me!), then you get self-conscious and lose the beat. Then, just as we are instructed in sitting meditation, you bring yourself gently back to the beat and stay with it as long as you can.

I've now started playing my bodhran (Irish frame drum) as any other frame drum, striking with the fingers, as a tool for concentration, after I finish my regular sitting meditation session. I think it's a valuable addition to my practice.