Karaniya Metta Sutta

Karaniya Metta Sutta
The Buddha's Words on Loving-Kindness


This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born —
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Monday 11.33am Piano Recital

Piano Recital-Exam (Monash University)
Candidate: Cinffy Zhuang Yixin(And accompanist: name not known)
Duration: 1:00hr
Piece: Chopin and Mozart(duet)

Review
Dear all,
I have just experienced a Masters student recital(one of my fellow classmate) in which I feel she deserve utmost respect-for her dedication,dilligence and commitment to excel in her performance. The hour long recital began with a slow piece from Chopin (sorry,I need to obtain from her the name of the piece again for I could not remember the name of the piece)which probably,lasted approximately 15mins.

It is then followed by an amazing first,second and third movement from Mozart's piece (approximately 45mins).The level of concentration,effort;it is just indescribable.I can only imagine the amount of practice time she has to spend in preparation for this exam. I can only say that;the performance in which I have just listened to(and witnessed)-only a perfectionist with the correct attitude can produce such quality.Much credit goes to the accompanist as well,because she played an extremely important role in the beginning of the first movement before Cinffy's entrance to the piece.The accompanist not only provided a strong,solid (great technicalities as well) introduction,she had also created the right atmosphere whereby Cinffy was able to ease in with confidence and then,take over the limelight and then proceed from there.What I saw in the performance was; clear communication between the two of them,technical competence in which the both of them demanded perfection; lots of hard work and practice from both party.

Overall,it is clear to me that they had 'gelled' it together beautifully.
Although,of course, there were minor glitches during the second movement when I heard slight friction and timing,but,however,they pulled it off quickly.This cannot be achieved if both party had not spent enough time working together (with that understand of each other's body language).AND-This is what makes the performance interesting (in my view,that is!)Why?Rectifying mistake shows to me how the performer(s) approach the matter and in this case,it is even more tricky when there are two players involved.Therefore,based on this 'comeback',I raise my hat and take a bow on for such breathtaking recital.BRAVO!!

Of course, there are always room for improvement for,there can never be perfect performance.What attracted me(and probably the audience) about Cinffy was her presentation skills and technicalities (high level of accuracy);especially fast movements.However,I felt that she lack 'mood creation'(if there is such a thing?)and was inhibitant towards the use of pedal which made the piece more 'controlled' and 'thin'.This, made a gap between her and her accompanist(whom,I feel,was more heavily textured?)Perhaps,that is also the reason why I think the both of them played well together as a team for one complements the other,to produce such balance in the Mozart's piece.(Technicalities from Cinffy and sound 'effect' from accompanist)Then,without Chopin's piece,it would really stand out as one performance.(Because,I felt the Chopin's piece is a difficult piece -slow,and thin melody-makes it hard to express)

All in all,CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU CINFFY! (and accompanist-need to get her name and type it down here).What a wonderful experience -

Okay,now, back to my essay writing again.. :) :) :) DEEPLY inspired.

End of Semester

Updates:

I'm now working on a research- Bela Bartok as an enthnomusicologist, particularly in view of his 6 Bulgarian Rhythms. (Because I have performed this piece for my Dip exam -No.2,5,6)Therefore,I have this sense of curiosity and deep respect in this composer.

Two major sections in this research

First section: Bela Bartok, His methods of transcriptions and value of his transcriptions (Within the context of an ethnomusicological sense)
Second Section: Compositional style and his notation in relation to Bulgarian Rhythms