"The Jin Nyodo repertoire plus several modern pieces are presented on five compact disks. Legends of the music are related in the accompanying book. A bundle of incense is enclosed to help you relax and allow yourself to be filled with the spirit of Sui Zen. CONTENTS: Sui Zen book, five music CDs, incense."

Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
KiSuiAn
2004

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	San'ya (Jinbo)	神保三谷	07'32	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	The first piece in this collection is called Jimbo Sanya, named for a monk, Jinbo Masanosuke, who dedicated his life to playing his own version of this sanya, in his own style called Sanyasu at the Remponen temple in Fukushima. This piece was collected by Jin Nyodo about 75 years ago, but the original version, from which our present-day version of Echigo Sanya is also derived, is thought to be about 400 years old. For this reason, Jimbo Sanya is said to be an arrangement of Echigo Sanya. It is played here on a 1.9 length flute. To understand sanya, it is important to realize that the action is done from the kokoro (heart / mind / spirit), and not from the head. In childbirth, or in playing shakuhachi, or, in fact, in all aspects of life, one's actions must be united, and not distracted by anything else. Kurahashi Yodo has said, "All is the same, one's heart should be samai, self-effacement." While listening to honkyoku, one should not expect a melodic progression characteristic of Western music. It is not metric, nor rhythmic. It further breaks Western tonal rules by having in-between tones or microtones. Lowering the head flattens the pitch, and raising the head makes it sharper. Side-to-side head movement produces vibrato, unlike the diaphragmatic vibrato characteristic of Western wind instrument playing. Jimbo Sanya uses a technique called tamane, a gargling effect that somewhat resembles flutter tonguing in Western flutes. However, the sound is generally produced from the back of the throat. Similarly, you do not use tonguing to repeat a note, as is common with a Western flute. Rather fingering or playing another intermediate note initiates notes and sets them apart.
2	San'ya (Futaiken)	鈴慕 (布袋軒)	08'41	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	The second version of Sanya, Futaiken Sanya, is played here on the same length instrument, a 1.9. Futaiken is one of the 16 "flavors" of Zen, or one of the 16 lines of Meian (the oldest style) shakuhachi playing. This piece comes from a komuso temple in the town of Masuda on the outskirts of Sendai prefecture. Futaiken was both the name of the line and the name of the temple. It was founded by the monk, Bassho, who is said to have retired from service as a spy for the Masamune Daimyo. There are three pieces attributed to this temple, a version of Sanya, a version of Reibo, and another called Tsuru No Sugamori, which means "crane leaving the nest." There are many different versions of all of these pieces from different temples. There is a tradition of having one special piece for each temple. Futaiken Sanya is known as a junkyoku or "associated piece" of this temple, as opposed to a seikyoku, which is the "true piece." The true piece associated with Futaiken is Reibo, which will be played later. Jin Nyodo received Futaiken Sanya from Konashi Jinsui. The music has a very deeply religious, spiritual feeling, and also expresses a special kind of sorrow. There's an almost ghostlike, haunting stark quality to the sound. The Japanese term, wabi sabi, expresses the correct feeling toward the solitariness and simplicity of things or people. Simplicity and poverty are valued and appreciated simply for their being. One grain of sand is not just alone, for it contains and represents the essence of the beach. One bonsai, or miniature tree is also a great forest. To the Japanese, sabishi, which we might translate as "lonely," actually means "solitary." This carries a different connotation, and doesn't have the same emotional feeling. It's not lacking something by being by itself. It has a proper dignity in its being. The shakuhachi is said to have a wabi sabi feeling. The sound is coming from a bamboo grove; it is a microcosm of nature. Its essence encapsulates all experience in the same way that a portion of a mandala contains the essence of the whole. Futaiken Sanya employs a technique called yuri, which can be produced by a side-to-side head movement, or, more properly, by opening and then narrowing the lips. "Soko" here refers to the depths of the earth; the sound should seem to circle from the heavens to the depths. This piece has a soko yuri or very large side-to-side movement. Soko yuri is only used in pieces from the Futiken and Shoganken temples, and can be heard here in Futaiken Reibo and Shoganken Reibo. Futaiken Sanya starts, like many honkyoku, with a take shirabe section. This also is called take no shirabe, which literally means "clearing the bamboo." This prepares the flute, player and listener for the main part of the piece, the honte (hon means original) section. The next section is the takane, which means "high sound," builds to the climax, and then there is a resolution section, or musube, which literally means "to fold everything up." Usually these four sections give the sense of an arc, a common theme in Japanese esthetics, called Jo Ha Kyu form. The "Jo" starts things, the "Ha" literally means "fast, running toward explosion," and the "Kyu" is a dropping off, or resolution. The piece usually starts in a low register, then goes high, and becomes low again. Japanese classical music, in its most typical form, also has a slow section, then a high, faster middle section, and a slow later section. Jo Ha Kyu esthetics are found in many Japanese arts; in Kabuki plays, Noh theater, and Bunraku puppet performances there are usually three acts, containing an "arc upon arc" structure. Similarly, within each sound, there is a similar type of arc, as its natural form. A sound played using sasabuki note form swells and then gets small. Sasabuki, means shaped like a sasa or "bamboo leaf." Another commonly-used note shape is kusabibuki, a funnel shape, beginning large and ending in silence. The silence is known as ma. Ma, or absence of sound is a very important, integral part of the composition. How one sound ends and the next begins determines the experience of the ma in between. For example, if you play a kusabibuki ending with a ma silence, and then start a sasabuki, and taper it into the ma, the silences will sound very different. Shakuhachi notation can indicate the shape of the notes. Playing from Western musical notation will not produce the same feeling. A very profound feeling is obtained by "playing the ma," focusing on the silence in a certain way. How do you play silence? Both Zen philosophers and Gestalt psychologists have noted that what goes before and what goes after characterizes the nature of an experience. Everything occurs in context. If a tone starts off soft and goes to loud, and then quickly goes to another sound, the unrespected silence will have a quality that is "all over the place," and not give a peaceful feeling. Whereas, a note resolved to a small sound would naturally lead to a silence that could be played. "Nothing" is an important thing in itself. Japanese music, as other Japanese arts in general, reflects and imitates nature; it very natural. It has often been observed that Japanese esthetic uses the right side of the brain, and Western culture relies primarily on the left side. Right-hemisphere processing is less scientific, analytical, mathematical or logic-oriented, but it is more holistic, intuitive and nature-oriented. This right-hemisphere orientation is more prevalent in Asian cultures. Ask a Japanese music master to explain how to play a note, and the response most likely would be to "make the music beautiful or natural." There is no verbal analysis. A Western musicologist might respond to the same question by producing and discussing a computer generated analysis of the waveform. The spirit of the sound is given top priority in Japanese music in general, and in shakuhachi music most specifically. How you end the sound, begin the sound, and especially the texture of the sound, the timbre, the tone color, are very important. How much breath? How much tone? How pure to make the sound? What about the technique? Does it swell or get soft? Ultimately, one sound is what is the hardest to play. Kurahashi Yodo said that his goal was to play the one perfect sound that would cause world peace. In terms of Mahayana Buddhism, his goal was to become a bodhisattva, an enlightened individual who would wait until the rest of the world was saved before he would enter into Nirvana. Kurahashi Yodo included many similar sayings in the Chinese texts prefacing and following his copies of Jin Nyodo's music. Much of this writing is quite scholarly, employing old Chinese ideograms that most modem Japanese would be unable to read, as they are neither kanji nor kana letters. "Chiki Soku Zaku Kosoku Seshki" means the material world; "Kisoku" means spiritual breath; the full phrase means that the material world is the infinite world and the infinite world is the material world. Another commentary, "Kensayjogutu." may be simply translated as, "See your true self become Buddha." Some people have said that this piece, with its sense of deep religiosity transcending sorrow and desolation, represents the highest summit among Sanya compositions.
3	San'ya (Echigo)	三谷 (越後)	09'18	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	Sanya generally have certain characteristic patterns, as do Reibo, which will be the next format explored. Echigo Sanya is very famous, noted for both its smooth rhythms and extreme emotion. It has patterns similar to those seen in Jimbo Sanya and Futaiken Sanya. But here, the high part, the takane, has the "Ha-ah," two notes alternating, very high. And toward the end, there's a "Koro Koro" or "Hororo," a warbling trill technique played by alternately opening and closing the bottom two holes of the flute, while partially shading the top two holes. Echigo Sanya is probably the longest honkyoku in the repertoire, being about 15 or 16 minutes in duration compared with eight or nine minutes for most honkyoku. It is from the Meian temple in Echigo, the present day Niigata Prefecture. The piece is also called Echigo Meiangi Sanya. The temple was constructed in the Tokugawa Period by the lord of Echigo-Muramatsu in the castle town of that name. Later, the temple was relocated to Shimoda, south of the city of Sanjo. This is the primary piece, or seikyoku of the Echigo Meianji Temple, in keeping with the "Ichigi, Ichiritsu" or "One Temple, One Melody" tradition. Reibo was taught as an associated piece (junkyoku) in this temple. Similarly, temples that had their own primary piece could teach Echigo Sanya as an associated piece or junkyoku. Jin Nyodo, during his 10-year ethnomusicological pilgrimage throughout Japan, inherited this piece from Saikawa Baio, who indicated that the music depicts the shape of Mount Fuji, initially seen clearly, and then draped in clouds, and then darkness. Echigo Sanya is not only an unusually long piece, it also is considered to be one of the most emotional or exciting ones in the Meian repertoire. Although it has a flowing, rhythmical sense, it also contains sudden breath explosions, muraiki, and some notes with a very high pitch. These are among the highest notes that this instrument, a very deep-toned 2.4, can produce. Echigo Sanya has a fifth section in its Jo Ha Kyu arc structure. In addition to the take shirabe or clearing the bamboo, honte (true), takane (high), and musube (wrap-up) sections, there is a section called hachikaeshi or returning the bowl. The hachikaeshi, the last section, has a special meaning, derived from komuso practice. As mendicant priests, komuso would beg for alms. When playing a piece, a komuso would pass around his rice bowl, and then get it back. It wasn't supposed to matter to the monk if the bowl was empty or full or how full. What is, is what is, and you keep on playing. Actually, an empty bowl could be quite full. That is because the komuso were actually asking for more than coins or rice when they passed the bowl; they were also asking that their listeners put their sorrows or sufferings in the bowl, so that the monk, as a bodhisattva, could take them upon himself.
4	Daiwagaku	大和楽	03'18	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	This piece is very short, about four minutes in length. It's the greatest piece of Jin Nyodo, the teacher of Kurahashi Yodo, who, in turn, taught Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin. Composed in 1941, or Showa 16, this piece is one of the few pieces from this century to have been accepted into the honkyoku repertoire. It is the first honkyoku taught to students in the Jin Nyodo stream, and provides an excellent foundation, as all the basic sounds are utilized. As most "first" pieces, it is also quite difficult; to properly master the kyosui (empty breathing) technique is not easy. It doesn't use yuri, side-to-side movement, or panting (komibuki) movement. The breath is just blown calmly, evenly, and allowed to fade away naturally. Kyosui or straight blowing is the first breathing technique to learn. It is taught before kusabibuki (wedge, or funnel-shaped), yuribuki (bent by head movement), sasabuki (bamboo leaf-shaped) and komibuki (panting). Jin Nyodo placed great importance on the simple kyosui; he called this both the basis of shakuhachi as well as its highest attainment. Kyosui is also called kesui: "Blowing Emptiness," the concept from which Ronnie's dojo, Ki-Sui-An, the "House of Blowing Emptiness," takes its name. Jin Nyodo didn't call Daiwagaku a composition. He believed that good music cannot be created through the intentions of a single individual. Rather the creative process of the universe manifests itself momentarily in one human being so that the piece is not composed (sakkyoku), but is born (shokyoku). The title, Daiwagaku, comes from the old teaching, "Good manners are the beginning of Heaven. Music is the harmony of Heaven." Gaku means "music," and harmony is wa. Daiwagaku is also a pun on the word, Yamatogaku; it can be given two different readings; Yamato is the old name for Japan. Daiwagaku also means "the great peace." "Great peace" means the great peace of kokoro. Kokoro is a three-part word which means heart, spirit and mind. There is no concept quite like that in English. It's the unity of heaven, earth and man. Daiwagaku shifts gradually from the lower register to the upper, then returns to the lower, and concludes. This structure is like a gently rounded mountain, and is similar in format to that of Shirabe. The piece can be played as a shirabe, an introductory piece, or alone. It has four parts, the johakyu curve. As in the artistic tradition of the iroha (syllabary) poem of Kobo Dashi, all the basic sounds are utilized, and their arrangement is endowed with symbolic meaning, representing the contrasts and transitions found in human life, time, and the seasons. They are representative and evocative of the four stages of life: youth, middle age, old age, and death. They also can represent the four stages of the year: mid-winter, early spring, summer, and autumn; or the four stages of the day: about 10 a.m., 3 p.m., 8 p.m. and the middle of the night. These terms are written right on the notation so each note is really pregnant with meaning. In fact, the first pitch, the re, which is G in Western notation, is considered the male. The more tonic, and more important tone on the shakuhachi is the ro, the strong female tone. So it encompasses both male and female, Heaven and Earth. In Japanese, the descriptive term is inyo, instead of yin-yang. There are both strong and restrained beats, on the right and left respectively. The right is male, just as in Tai Chi. Aggressive, Passive; Positive, Negative; Light and Dark; this is inyo. Meian, itself, is an inyo term, meaning light and dark.
5	Reibo (Futaiken)	霊慕 (布袋軒)	09'17	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	Futaiken Reibo, which, like all reibo style pieces, means "memory of the bell," or "yearning for the bell," was the seikyoku, or primary piece of the Futaiken temple, and was played daily by its priests. It is so famous and representative of reibo style compositions that, when someone refers to "reibo," one thinks of this piece. Jin Nyodo received this piece from Konashi Kinsui, in Sendai, who is said to have been the ultimate master of reibo. This piece has the classical format of the Tohoku-style honkyoku. These pieces begin with a takeshirabe that has a characteristic Futaiken Temple sound, a honte that employs a shiori, a technique of raising and lowering the head that produces a sense of unreleased potential energy not seen in sanya, a hachikaeshi and an ending musubi. It has an extremely tight, compact form with a clear Jo Ha Kyu arc development. This piece has a rather dark, mysterious, deeply emotional, yet restrained quality, with a sense of unreleased tension within the flow of energy. It is played here on a very long 2.4 flute.
6	Reibo (Shôganken)	霊慕 (松巌軒)	10'30	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	Shoganken Reibo has a takeshirabe - honte - takane takekaeshi - hachikaeshi- musubi structure. It is similar technically to that of Futaiken Reibo, especially in the use of soko-yuri. Some say it has a distinct flavor of the folk music of the Tohoku district. There is a well-known legend that Shoganken Reibo was banned in the Yoshiwara "pleasure district" of Tokyo because whenever a certain famous player came through the area playing Reibo, the number of shinju (double suicides by lovers) increased dramatically. However, there is some controversy over whether it was this piece, or Nagashi Reibo, a Neza-Sa-Ha piece, that was to blame. Kurahashi Yodo transmitted another related story associated with Shoganken Reibo; that deaths of old people in one area were noted to increase around twilight time, just as the komuso would pass through. The interpretation given to this was that the profoundly religious, quiet and serene feeling engendered by the reibo pieces helped them to loosen their hold on this life, and drift off happily to their next incarnation. This piece is played on a 1.8, a true shakuhachi in length. The sound is much louder and brasher than that of the longer flutes; in general, the longer the flute, the more meditative the character. So, as a shorter flute is used here, the listener shouldn't be in too much danger of drifting away.
7	Murasaki Reibo	紫鈴慕	05'12	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	Oral tradition attributes this piece to the monk, Ikkyu Wako, also called Ikkyu Zenji, or simply Ikkyu-san. Like many famous people, he can be identified by only one name. A great Zen master, he eventually became the 4ih chief priest of Daitokoji Temple in Murasakino, Kyoto. Murasaki means purple. This title comes from Murasakino, the Purple Field area in Kyoto where the temple is located. This area is the birthplace of the Tozan School of shakuhachi. There's no written proof that Ikkyu composed this piece. The best written evidence extant is that some the Chinese style poems, called "kyoun-shu," written by Zen priests and from other sources, state that Ikkyu enjoyed playing the hitoyogiri shakuhachi, the short, light form of the flute used in that era. Ikkyu lived from 1394 to 1481. Some say he was a son of the emperor and a woman who was a member of an anti-imperial family, and that he was sent away to become a monk to remove him from treacherous court politics and preserve his life. He shunned luxury, preferred poverty, led a wandering life, and refused to take his own temple or even his own disciples. He was a renowned poet and calligrapher, and generally had his flute tucked into his sash wherever he went, and is said to have enjoyed fish, sake and sex. Even among Zen monks, who have a history of being strange people, his behavior was considered more than a little outlandish. He finally was prevailed upon to accept the position of 47th abbot when he was in his 80s. He had a legendary wit, and his personality was very wild, erratic and unconventional, and was known for his ability to cut through the "bull" to get to the essential, sometimes earthy, nature of things. We have this English translation of one of his most famous poems. This poem includes a pun on the name of the early style of flute that he played, hitoyogiri, "one node cut," which is evoked by the phrase "one night" (hitoyo). My shakuhachi Has the name of "one night" But many nights have passed; it's My friend in old age. Kurahashi Yodo related a story about a feast that was given in Ikkyu's honor. This was an elaborate and very formal event. Ikkyu just wanted to come in his usual rags, but he was prevailed upon to dress in a very fancy, special kimono. When he sat down and they put food in front of him, he initially behaved very formally, with stiff correctness, but then took some food and poured it all over his beautiful, expensive kimono, and then said, "OK, Now I'm ready to eat!" This piece has a three-dan structure, with a special technique used in the middle takane section, using the tone pattern, kara kara, hitting notes in quick succession. There are several different ways in which to execute this kara kara, but it generally gives a sense of "triplet" notes. Kurahashi Yodo taught that Murasaki Reibo referred to kaze, the wind. When the wind blows, the clouds move. When it doesn't, they're still. And it is the spirit of nature to sometimes move and sometimes wait, as the clouds do. The piece has a simplicity characteristic of the oldest pieces in the shakuhachi repertoire. Unlike some later Zen pieces, it has a quite placid, light and peaceful, yet rhythmic feeling. You can imagine a monk strolling through the purple fields surrounding the temple. Some nostalgically find it reminiscent of the folk music or peaceful lullabies or komori-uta of the area that Japanese people have possessed since ancient times. The wandering mood of the piece suggests the personality of Ikkyu. The simplicity of the melody and structure allows players freedom to respond to their own moods; light and happy or sad and lonely. Playing Murasaki Reibo is valuable for promoting insight into your own nature, since it feels and sounds different at different times, thus accurately reflecting simply being "where you are." You have the freedom to explore different sounds in the kara kara of the takane. Sometimes the reibo (memory of the bell) quality of this piece is very apparent; the kara kara sound like the ringing of a monk's bell. It's played here on a 2.4. The piece has an optional repeat that should be played faster.
8	Choshi (Fudaiji)	調子	03'40	Shakuhachi: Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin
	This form of choshi is a Fudai-Ji piece from the ItchoKen Temple. As previously noted, the name choshi means, "Unity of Heaven and Earth," and also implies good health or condition. It is considered a strengthening piece. Because of its brevity and general character, Fudai-Ji Choshi is often used as a shirabe or warm-up piece, played in conjunction with, and leading into another honkyoku. This piece should be played simply. The notes are not bent and are relatively unornamented, in simple kusabi buh (funnel or wedged) shape. This breathing technique is somewhat like kyosui (straight breathing), but starts more definitely. Each sound should start with a good level of force, and then just fade into silence, "ma." Choshi is similar in both structure and feeling to Daiwagaku a neo-honkyoku which means "the Great Peace." However, Daiwagaku is even simpler, less extraverted, and provides a classic example of pure Sui-Zen meditation, quite a Kyo-Sui, or "empty breath" kind of piece. Daiwagaku is just there, centered, perfect, and peaceful, conveying "immo," a Zen sense of that ineffable experience that might be translated as "suchness" or "thusness." "This is what is; this is where we're at." Fudai-Ji Choshi, on the other hand is a more forceful and outgoing piece; it radiates energy, health, and life, "Hi there! Here we are!" It's played here on a 1.8. Chohaku to honor and imitate the sound of Fuke Zenji's famous bell. This piece supposedly was then brought to Japan by a monk Kakushin. While Kyochiku was traveling - some say at a temple in Nara, others say at the Kokuzodo Temple on the peak of Mount Asamagatake in Ise - he had dreams in which he heard two additional pieces, Koku and Mukaiji. He returned to his temple to receive permission to transmit these new revealed pieces, as well. Because these are such old pieces, some purists feel they should be played using an older technique, in which notes are flattened ("meri") only by lowering the head. Half-holes are not used. Modem shakuhachi players use a combination of the two techniques. However, before 1900, shakuhachi were made so that one could not be sure of getting a reliable sound if the holes were partially covered, so the lowered pitch of traditional Zen style could be achieved only through head movements. This gives a special sort of feeling and tone color.