know thyself  – the most fundamental axiom from which any positive spiritual activity may be established.

the most fundamental positive spiritual activity one can do is to turn one’s gaze inward.

and God created human beings in God’s own image.

Islamic understanding – human being contains the 99 attributes and all polar potentialities within.

that is the range from higher than the angels to lower than the beasts.

attention towards the heart, the heart towards the holy essence.

each one comes with a guidance perpetually pointing and pulling outside and in.

playing music:

only play what you first hear inside yourself.

one way in is repetition as a vehicle for focus and intention.

the music is a cosmos unto itself, and every gathering of playing and listening to music is a journey to and into that cosmos.

some sessions, we will only reach the border, or barely cross it. that is ok – there is value there.

some sessions we will go deeper – sometimes, our phrases become imbued with a density, agility and speed that may be more difficult to speak with ease and honesty in shallower areas of the cosmos.

William Parker says, the point is to vibrate sound into tone. We start with sound, but tone is the language through which spirits speak.

I believe it is important to balance on a point between sobriety and ecstasy, as we can always go further.

Miles says, it is hard to sound like oneself.

true, and also true that it is impossible to do anything BUT sound like oneself.

I think what he meant is that it is hard to know thyself.