ZEN OF STEVE VAI, Free E-book, OUT NOW!

[Kim]

Zen of Steve Vai

Music, Art and Spirituality

Free E-book

by Acharya Babananda


***The book is out now!***

Donate and Download your own at http://en.sundarayoga.fi/89" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Marios982]

Hi, when exactly will be the book released? I'm very interested to it.

[Kim]

Glad to hear Marios. Probably this week

[Marios982]

Cool! What do you know about it? Are you in some way involved in the writing or distribution or just aware of it?

Keep me updated then, I'll be reading it immediately.

Cheers.

[SugarNips]

Question for the mods:

Is this book genuine? Has Steve approved it?

The only reason I ask is because he is normally very protective of his views on spirituality and I think has gone as far as saying he would never release a book on the subject - even though he gets asked a lot.

[Kim]

I'm the author of the book. No, I haven't received a permission from Steve. It didn't even cross my mind. If there is a way to get to him before releasing it, I'm happy to get his approval (or refusal first). If someone knows how I should go about this, just let me know. His blessing would mean a lot to me. I could send it to him this week or next.

Just a little background, to give you an idea where I'm coming from... I'm a professional yoga meditation practitioner and teacher, have been for a decade, especially Kriya Yoga which is world-known through a connection with spiritual masters such as Paramahamsa Yogananda (he is one of the masters in my spiritual lineage). Before this I was involved with full time Zen and Zen Art practice when I lived in Japan and was a direct student of the founder and head teacher of the Japanese Zen Calligraphy Community (jap. Nihon no Hitsuzenkai). Before this I was professionally a musician, guitarist, and a music producer. Based on my own experience on music, meditation and spiritual arts, this book is written. Oh, yes... And I've been Steve's number one fan since Passion and Warfare came out

[R1FSR]

...another point is.. the photos ...do you have permission to use them ?

[SugarNips]

No worries. We just don't want you to get into trouble. It'd be definitely worth running it by Steve first, and also, as R1FSR says, make sure you get permission to use any photos you have used. I know you're not making a profit, but some photographers and companies are very protective of their work. AP is a company that seems to be quite litigious. You don't want people taking you to court!

Good luck though. If you get all the relevant permissions you should be fine.

Edit: R1FSR should be able to advise you better on the photographs issue. I think he is a keen photographer from memory. (Sorry if I'm wrong!)

[Marios982]

Well Kim,

since I'm very interested in the Zen, spirituality in general, in Steve Vai of course, reading a book talking about all this looks very exciting.

If before getting authorization, permits or whatever else (it might take long time) you want to send it to me in private, I'd be more than glad to read it and let you have my opinion on it

[DissonantCheese]

Surat Shabd Yoga

[Big Bad Bill]

Isn't Zen (or Chán) a Chinese/Japanese framework of beliefs and disciplines? I always thought Steve was into Indian spiritual systems like yoga and particularly Sant Mat and even Western Theosophy? I've never heard any mention of Zen/Chán so I find the title of this book a bit confusing. Yes, I understand Zen was derived from Indian systems of belief, particularly Hinduism, transmitted by Bodhidharma to China and then on to Japan by Eisai and more specifically Dogen, but it was adapted and modified at each stage to the point that it bears little resemblance to the original Indian ideas and concepts. So what is this book about?

I've always understood that Steve has kept his spiritual beliefs priavte for good reason. Isn't this publication disrespectful to Steve's wishes for spiritual privacy? Also what can it be based upon since there's very, very little out there about Steve's spiritual beliefs other than in the very loosest of terms and so I suspect it must involve some very fanciful speculation. Knowing what Steve believes won't make you a better guitarist or indeed his friend!

[kyle am I]

im confused. If you never even interviewed steve, and he dosent even know about this project (and there is very very very little true facts about steves spirituality open to the public) how can it be about steves personal spirituality? Most of it would have to be inferences, and for lack of a better word, guesses, on his spiritual discernments. and im not sure steve would like it ( i wouldnt at all) if someone wrote a book on his spirituality that was mostly guesses.

[Big Bad Bill]

Well Steve might be fine with it, we mustn't make any assumptions either, but just because its free, it doesn't mean this ebook shouldn't be accurate and its that point that worries me. We already have wild stories of Steve sitting under pyramids and meditating with kittens running all over him (I made that last bit up) at the very least, so if I were Steve, I personally wouldn't want people to be distracted from the music, where we can probably find out more about his every aspect that in the musings of a third party.

[johnbowman]

Um . . . Hitch your wagon to a star . . . and you'll go far. Sounds like a promotion using Mr. Vai's personna to sell a product . . or in this case . . . an idea.

Shant go far . . . I do believe . .

Ah the deity . . . plays with us . . but never shows it's face

Rock

[Kim]

Dear friends,

Don't worry, I'm not writing about Steve sitting in pyramids or anything like that. I won't write a long message here because the book will be out in just a few short days but I'm just letting you know that Zen art (not necessarily Zen Buddhism) which is the same as spiritual art, or the expression of meditation has a tradition of thousands and thousands of years in the Orient and to some extent even in the West. I received some training in Japan from Zen Buddhist masters but this isn't about Buddhism, Japan or anything like that but about spiritual expression and that, dear friends, is universal.

It is through meditation, regardless of the method, in which one develops, should I say, a particularly fine sense and ability for meditative expression. From this meditative point of view, certain kind of deeper qualities can be observed from the art piece, whether it is a painting, a calligraphy, tea ceremony, a dance piece or a piece of music played by on guitar through multi-effects, distortion and whammy There is a fine spiritual quality bursting through from there. That can be felt, perceived and observed by the listener and if one has experience of meditation on his own, then the whole piece or the production of the artist becomes interesting in a much more profound way, it gains a whole other kind of vista compared to the ordinary. We are talking about meditation applied into art and that has been around for several millennia, I'm not pulling rabbits out of my hat here. Steve isn't the only one who has this deep quality in his music, there are many others, but he is very unique and dear to me personally. So don't worry I'm not going to write anything silly but based on my extensive training in the fields of meditation, arts and music.

I would love to get the book to Steve for reading as soon as it comes out. He has talked about his spiritual views on many many interviews, one just has to be able to hear it... I've gone through a lot of them, mostly on YouTube, and there will be direct quotes from him in the book. I will elaborate to some extent based on his words based on my own professional background on the matter. When he talks about his way of creating music and meditation in workshops and seminars, he just switches into another mode *snap* and talks from a place from within him which is rare to see in an artist. It cannot come from anywhere else than the inner core or the true self, and he's said this over and over again in the interviews. Here his spirituality or mine spirituality and our agreements or disagreements lose meaning altogether.. Based on my years and years of planning this project and listening to his music over and over again, both live and studio, I'm pretty confident that this book will be well received by him.

Much Love,
- Baba