Nonduality and Music: Hip Hop Pt. 2
The Hiphop as Energy
The Hiphop is the energy or creationary force of the cipher. It is an existing non-entity that would be associated or equitable with chi, prana, spirit, essence, the All, Ultimate Reality, Truth, etc. These words are used to describe an ever-present Reality that pervades all substance, but which could never be fully described. As energy or force, the Hiphop serves as the binding dynamic of the cipher.
The Hiphop as Diunital
The Hiphop has diunital nature. Diunitality or diunital logic, as described by Vernon Dixon, “means both/and”. It is derived from the prefix ‘di’ and unital, the adjectival form of the base word for ‘unit.’ When combined it means literally a single thing that forms an undivided whole. Diunital, therefore, is something apart and united at the same time. According to this logic, something is both in one category and not in that category at the same time and in the same respect.”
A Hiphop practitioner enters into the cipher for one of two diunital reasons:
1) To act as a part within a whole for the self-benefit of one’s ego-mind, curiosity, or spiritual expression and enhancement.
2) To act as a part of a whole assisting in the sharing of energies to facilitate the transference of knowledge of self to other, or group to creator.
The Hiphop as Creativity, Authenticity, Bliss
To practitioners and listeners, Hiphop is that force which allows one to create, which provides the atmosphere for creation to exist, and which is the foundation for all creation of the music. It can be described as a feeling of elation, bliss, ecstasy, that one feels when one is in the environment in which Hiphop is being played, cultivated, or demonstrated.
The Hiphop being the binding energy of the cypher, existing between things and individuals, is the standard by which Hiphoppers acknowledge each other and through which they distinguish between authenticity and falseness of an individual, group, and their beliefs.
The Prophets of Hiphop
This bliss associated with the connection between oneself and the creative force (i.e., Spirit, God, the All, Hiphop) is the same connection of oneness described in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Further, it can be validated in the same way, through the prophets, saviors, avatars, sages, seers, and masters of Hiphop. Artists such as Blackalicious, Pep Love and KRS-ONE whose creative messages display a more spiritual energy, also seem to exhibit more bliss, possibly through being more involved with their own transformational growth. Artists that embrace an integral approach to life and art seem to be able to better express a larger view of reality, while artists who embrace duality seem limited to expressing a disconnected and fragmented view. Fundamentally all artists no matter what their message is, provide access to not only their lifestyle but to their worldview, which as we will see comes in different shades and colors.
Hiphop and the Spectrum of Consciousness
More specifically, and arising out of common findings of spiritual traditions, a spectrum of consciousness can be described. It would serve as a pathway and guide toward experiencing Ultimate Reality; the ever-present awareness found as the nature of all including Hiphop Kulture. There are many purveyors of this reality, who influence the Hiphop Kulture in the direction of greater actualization, liberation, and freedom via dissolution of the oppressive agents and forces external and internal to individuals. As artists and followers of Hiphop Kulture have experiences in life that challenge their level of understanding and development, the connection between them and spirit is either denied, strengthened or confirmed. Depending on the profundity of the experience either spirit is ignored, reality is translated or seen differently, or the individual is transformed. The manifestations of their experiences are expressed through the four elements (Emceeing, Djing, B-boying, and Graffiti writing; for a more expansive definition of the elements, the Temple of Hiphop’s Refinitions are a good source) which show developmental variety as well as similarities hinting that Hiphoppers exist on many levels or stages of consciousness. Viewing the culture as a spectrum or as having range and depth, allows for many styles and views expressed within the elements to share a common space, each possessing its own strengths and weaknesses. This is not a hierarchy more in favor of the so called conscious artist. In fact it is saying that each artist and their worldview are necessary; each level builds off of the next which means each level is needed for the others to exist. Nor does this spectrum mean that one cannot have experiences of deeper stages from their own stage. One may have an psychic, subtle or causal experience but it will not be permanent until moving through each stage, transcending and including it into the next stage. Each developmental stage has examples of those who are good representations of the attributes of it, and can be seen as masters or harbingers of their particular level of consciousness. Thus there are artists who express the worldview of their stage very well, but cannot do so for levels deeper than their own. Similarly they can express the worldview of stages lower than them. The reasoning for this is that until the lower levels of egocentric understanding have been transcended, the individual tends to mainly be concerned with his/her needs and rightly so. The ego is necessary, and should not be overlooked as an important aspect of our development. But this self concern does not tend to lend itself to expressing the needs of a community or a perspective that is beyond itself, which the higher levels of development do. The more fixed one is on ones ego the less insight is expressed concerning the full depth of ones being. (It is not this writers goal to give an expansive overview of the dynamics of conscious development. It is suggested that those interested should study the work of other developmental writers)
