Solala’s Blog 12/30/13

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Not long ago I came across an article about the passing of one of the baddest dudes in rock, Lou Reed. I used to see his early band, The Velvet Underground, in the late sixties in Boston. At a time when many of the bands, and the audience, wore flowing colors with flowers in our hair, the Velvet Underground wore black and played a fierce kind of music, with lots of feedback. I thought they were great.

Lou played on for many years, always staying true to his own vision and passion of music, most of which was too intense for me. A few years ago I heard that he was a serious taiji student, though I had no idea how serious. As it turns out he practiced for hours of every day and was a man of deep and generous heart who loved his music and his life, both with a fierce passion.

When I read the following description of his death I was moved to tears and so inspired by this old lion of rock, who’s transition was done with such elegance and grace. Here’s what his partner, Laurie Anderson, another renowned musician, said:

 

As meditators, we had prepared for this – how to move the energy up from the belly and into the heart and out through the head. I have never seen an expression as full of wonder as Lou’s as he died. His hands were doing the water-flowing 21-form of tai chi. His eyes were wide open. I was holding in my arms the person I loved the most in the world, and talking to him as he died. His heart stopped. He wasn’t afraid. I had gotten to walk with him to the end of the world. Life – so beautiful, painful and dazzling – does not get better than that. And death? I believe that the purpose of death is the release of love.

 

I would wish this kind of passing for everyone. I think it shows that Lou was indeed a master of taiji – of going with the flow and offering the least amount of resistance while achieving a very high level of practice. It is one thing to espouse the deep teachings of taji but quite another to actually apply them in such an amazing way.

Zhuangzi says:

We are born when it is our time and we die when it is own time, If we are able to just follow the flow of nature then we will transcend joy and sorrow. This is what the ancient masters called “true freedom.”

It is in our coming and going, in each lifetime, in each moment, that we are given the choice to flow with change or fight against it. Each new day, each new moment of each new day, there is a dying and a being born. The circle of life takes us all on a journey around birth, death, rebirth. We are given so many new chances, new opportunities, new “do-overs.” If we don’t get it right each time, no matter. What matters is that we are open to change, to each wonderful moment of rebirth, even in the moment of our death.

May we all go from this world to the next with such grace and courage as Lou Reed!