15

A humble cottage - Gold - A warning
The poor may not have the means.

The preceding dream brings up the image of a dot with a circle around it. Pauline Oliveros uses this image as her logo probably both because it stands for the "O" in her name and for the idea of global attention she she promotes in her Deep Listening. The dot represents a focus and/or the individual whose global attention is represented by the circle. This symbol is also the astrological symbol for the Sun which radiates its good warmth out for the benefit of all life on our planet. The Circle and the dot are also the symbol for Gold in alchemy. The alchemist transmutates himself while transforming physical lead into physical gold. I believe that a balanced individual who is Gold in the spiritual sense can have the "midas touch" and be able to transmutate everything in his/her awareness into Gold. John Cage seemed to be that way for me. When he visited Denton, TX, where I was attending North Texas State University, everything and everyone seemed to change around me as we we all seemed to be able to see and hear the way we thought John Cage would. It seemed that the power of his perception transformed, what used to be the irritating noise of our environment, into the most beautiful and complex music.

16

The token of CHOU is honesty
Which ascends and perfumes Heaven.

What seemed to give Cage this power was his perfect honesty and sincerity. He lived his philosophy. He would not own a tape recorder but enjoyed the traffic sounds in his fourth story downtown Manhattan apartment. He rented because he did not believe in owning land. He would give most of his money to the Merce Cunningham Dance Co. because he wanted to legally not pay taxes. He did not like having his money spent on weapons.

This honesty is inspiring for me and it is what I aspire to. The purpose of the present work is partially for the fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D., but it should not be influenced by so much "scholarly" intent. I do have a bit of artistic license since my Ph.D. will be in Art and Performance. This will be a very honest paper.

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