THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING

#SMED11

This week’s blog is open to many interpretations. Following my initial interpretation of audience and spectator participation, I was challenged by eldest son to think out of the box.  As a musician, he indicated that I might find the work of John Cage an interesting read which might speak to the blog topic .  I must add that I was completely dumbstruck when son gave a brief description of the compostion and could not wait to get onto the internet to do further readings. 

The interesting thing about this type of family blog discussions, is that the roles are completed reversed.  I remember a time when it was Mom who assisted with school work  – now, as a mature student, I am very fortunate to have two sons who actively contribute to blog discussions and have no problem critiquing my weekly blogs.

John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4’33” in which three movements are performed without one single note being played on the piano. The idea behind this composition is it is perceived that the audience hears the sounds of the environment rather than four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence whilst the composition is performed.  Needless to say, the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century.

Serge Kahili King, a previous student of Zen, writes  about a famous Zen koan (philosophical riddle) which asks, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

According to King, it is expected of the student of Zen to meditate on this riddle until ‘some degree of insight or enlightenment occurs. The tricky part is that there is no right answer. What you are, or what you know, or what you believe, is what you get.’

I also came across another answer which indicates that, "The sound of one hand clapping cannot be heard. We do not have the physical capacity to hear the sound of one hand clapping. Therefore, we have to recognize our human limitation. When we accept our human limitation, we can reconcile ourselves to the natural world, and can live in harmony with the universe."

By reflecting on the afore-mentioned examples, I have come to the conclusion that the sound of one hand clapping is a soundless sound – in the same way that the 4’33” composition of John Cage is soundless.  To have a deep understanding of this soundless sound one has to enter true meditation and transcend all sound – as in the famous Zen koan (philosophical riddle).

In conclusion I believe that the 3^rd verse of  ‘Sounds of  Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel, possibly also refers to this soundless sound :

'And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one daredDisturb the sound of silence'