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Jazz, Creativity, and Consciousness A Blueprint for Integral Education Ed Sarath Introduction In the Winter 2000 semester, I proposed a Bachelor of Fine Arts curriculum in Jazz and Contemplative Studies (BFAJCS) at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. The curriculum was designed to combine a full slate of coursework in jazz and overall musical training with about 25 credits of coursework that included meditation and other contemplative practices and studies.1 It seemed like a perfect fit: Jazz’s improvisatory core brings the field into close proximity with the heightened presence that is commonly associated with meditation practices, and the jazz tradition boasts a long legacy of artists—e.g., John Coltrane, John McLaughlin, Don Cherry, Wayne Shorter, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, and Herbie Hancock—who have deeply engaged with meditation and related spiritual pursuits in order to harness the synergistic interplay between these areas and their work and lives (Lewis, 2008; Berliner, 1994; Boyd, 1992). Improvisation, in fact, might be thought of as a kind of meditation in action; and meditation as improvisation in silence. Thus, while there would be no denying that this curriculum would venture into new academic terrain, it could also be seen as directly rooted in the creative and transpersonal richness of the jazz heritage in particular as well as contribute to explorations of the intersection between contemplation and creativity in general. Despite this reasoning, the curriculum stirred a debate of epic proportions that essentially riveted this major school of music for a period of two months. Some colleagues argued that there was no place for meditation in an academic setting. Others asserted that meditation was a valuable tool from which students could benefit, but wondered how it might be taught and evaluated for course credit. 169 170 Ed Sarath Still others viewed this curriculum as a pioneering venture that signified an effort to chart new educational terrain, and thus should be supported. When the dust settled and the votes were tallied, the curriculum was approved by a solid two-thirds majority of the faculty. In this chapter I will attempt to illuminate the salient principles in which this curriculum is based, which I believe may be applied to wide-ranging areas and are key to advocacy of this work. Overview of a Broader Educational Shift In my view, the significance of the BFAJCS curriculum extends beyond its impact on the students and faculty directly involved. In fact, this curriculum may serve as a prototype for a new educational paradigm whose expanded terrain can be applied in a wide range of fields. I will refer to this emergent model as an “integral” approach, a heading that is inspired by an increasing body of cross-disciplinary work that is oriented toward an expanded vision of human development. Three central aspects of integral thought—ontological, developmental, and epistemological—may be cited as definitive of this perspective, with the work of the philosopher Ken Wilber (1999, 2006) regarded by many as a primary reference. The three aspects are represented in Wilber’s (1999) four-quadrant model of the human being and cosmos—or to use, as Wilber does, the Pythagorean “Kosmos.” The Upper-Left quadrant refers to individual subjective experience, the Lower Left to collective intersubjective experience. The Upper Right refers to individual objective experience , the Lower Right to the exterior physical world. A developmental perspective applies equally to Left-Hand quadrants and Right-Hand quadrants with the former having levels of depth and the latter having levels of complexity. Regarding the individual, development entails growth along a number of parameters or “lines”—spiritual, cognitive, physical, emotional, relational, sexual, etc.—and proceeds through various “stages” (Wilber, 1999, pp. 50–59). An important aspect of integral thought is the possibility of consciousness development through states that Wilber (2006) categorizes as gross, subtle, causal, and non-dual—in which a widening awareness can occur along any of the lines of development. Of particular significance to an integral education paradigm is the epistemological dimension, where transformational methodologies ranging from silent meditation to contemplative approaches to movement, creative arts, writing, reading, and interpersonal interaction are central. This rich process-continuum also includes conventional modes of learning as well. What is important is that all inquiry is informed by contact with the interior dimensions of consciousness. Wilber is outspoken in his advocacy of the arts as vehicles for this contact. This is art in its original and highest meaning: the subjective revelation of Spirit...

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