Spiritual/Religious Experience in Progressive Rock

Thank you so much, everyone.

Really it’s up to the individual whether they think it’s rude, obviously you mostly likely think it’s rude because you disagree with me and/or you don’t like my spelling. To be honest I read my whole post and have no idea what you’re talking about. Thanks for your input though and much wisdom you bestowed on this topic; people have different opinions... you don’t say?

Cosmiclawnmower wrote: ... I guess there are quite a few here who wouldn't consider the Dead a prog band (well they're not strictly speaking but I consider they have been 'Progressive' in many ways) but they are a very interesting case in that many of their fans do relate to them and their concerts in an almost religious way, following them around the US (and abroad) and using drugs in an almost sacramental way.

This is the hard part of discussing a lot of these things, and why I requested a better definition of what the "eperience" was, so more of us might habe a better idea how to answer the question in such a way as it would be valuable and forward thinking for the work at hand by the student.

Of all the concerts I have been a part of, going back to 1972, I did not find the experiences that different from visiting a cathedral that was 600 or 700 years old in Europe, whose history is so strong that the moment you step onto it, it has a hold of you!

Including in these events at GD concerts, I would like to add the drum circles in the early days, the ones here in Eugene's Country Fair are legendary, but the attitude and quality of the experience in those days, was magnificent and one did not have to be stoned to appreciate all the nice work and dedication to creating something special. But, above all, the one thing that you knew and learned was the peaceful way and really amazing collective soul of the event ... it was special in that way. It could be considered a "religious experience", since we know that many African tribes, for example, do these things for many reasons, and establishing the strong side of it, is the important part. Because it is not within the context of a church, we do not consider these things a "religious expeience" when in fact, their concluding thought would be to reach a similar state, but since we do not study those events, we have to rely on ideas from the Western Civilization books, that are simplistic and not even clear as to their intent and quality of the events.

Cosmiclawnmower wrote: ... But all this is linked to the counter-culture of the 1960s and early 70's which was, in part, about trying to re-connect with something spiritually holistic that offered more/ something different to that offered by mainstream Christianity etc. ....

I have never looked at these as any different than all the others. I think the only difference is the clothing and maybe a drink at the start. All "ceremony" includes something or other for you to ingest, or drink, that you and I are not sure influence the events of the evening.

Every generation finds a different way of doing things, regardless of what they are, and these things are intrinsically connected with their time and place. So today, someone can have a "religious experience" with their smartphone, just listening to Pink Floyd, or seeing a picture of a friend. 40 to 50 years ago, we did these things more on a one to one basis, which was closer to the stories and ways of the past history of this subject. Our own children, will find/see something else and change it to fit their style as well, but the main factor will always be the underlying attitude and feelings during the event, and these will always compare favorably.

The only concern I have, is that we are mentioning bands (OK with me), but there is one issue. You and I do not have a clear idea or concept if the wording is "right" and "proper" for one of these experiences, when considering (specially) that the next song is about something else and nowhere near this previous song that is capable of triggering different reactions. And my main concern, would then be, that "Stairway to Heaven" becomes the main theme song for this study, and that would be wrong, and negate a lot of spiritual and energetic work by so many others that will never be heard or found out. In this sense, the likes of Frank Perry, Stephen Micus, some works by Peter Michael Hamel, an incredible number of Hindu folks which Ravi Shankar helped us hear and learn about, or the Indonesia tribes, the Australian aborigenes and their own version of "music", Wolff and Hemmings, Paul Horn ... and while I can see how the numbers are insane in trying to list them all, I do think that it brings down the quality of the "religious experience" to one that you can buy at K-Mart!