(originally sent 29/06/26)
Last week I had the joy of spontaneously attending a show at Theatre Royal in Nipaluna/Hobart. Two of the performers came to my class at Folde and kindly offered to put me on the door. I had no idea what the show was about, but after a quick google I found that it was called Postmodern Jukebox, and it would be a variety show featuring modern songs performed in a vintage style.
It was a fun and impressive show, with incredible talent on display — tap dancing, glittery costumes, saxophone, whistle notes had the whole audience on their feet by the end.
But what really stuck with me was the message they continued to spread — which is that the future of music is in a vulnerable position right now. Some people even believe that we won’t “need” musicians in the future, and that these talents will disappear into AI oblivion. What a horrible thing to imagine.
Music is so inherent to human expression, and watching people perform is one of my favourite things ever. For a long time I wanted to be a performer myself.
One of the tenents of Jivamukti Yoga is Nādam – sacred sound, and there are two types.
Āhata Nādam — stuck sound, meaning produced by two things colliding; such as finger and string, foot and earth or air and vocal chords.
Anāhata Nādam — unstruck sound; that which is never created nor destroyed, but a resonance that is ever-present, often signified by the sacred syllable OM.
(for more info — we have a podcast episode on it here)
The first verse of the fourth chapter of Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā says:
namaḥ śivāya gurave nāda-bindu-kalātmane
nirañjana-padaṁ yāti nityaṁ tatra parāyaṇaḥ
“Salutations to the nadam, which is the inner guide and inner life, the dispenser of happiness to all! It is the inner guru appearing as nada, bindu and kala. One who is devoted to the inner guru, the nada, the inner music, obtains the highest bliss.”
Every time you devote yourself to the “inner music”, ie. choose to be creative, or use your own problem solving skills instead of asking a robot to do it for you, not only are you keeping your brain healthy and young; it is an act of resistance.
Whatever your creative outlet may be — cooking for your family, drawing pictures of your cat, writing letters to your friends, crocheting hats for chickens, playing the harpsichord, or organising your pantry in perfect colour gradients; may it help you obtain your highest bliss.
And may we not allow AI to eradicate these invaluable aspects of the human experience.
As they said in the Postmodern Jukebox show “the ball is in your court”.
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