I have to do all the tuning of the violin and only then will it be fit to play. What can one get from an imperfectly prepared instrument?
... In a practical and spiritual way, the less I am motivated by my ego in every way, in every form, the more I am able to become a receptacle, a vessel, for receiving what is there. It is there. It is something in the air. I have to have an instrument that can pick it up. We have a soul -- we have it all in us. We make too much noise. If I am always listening to myself, I cannot listen to any other thing that passes through me.
... More than that, sometimes I may be doing something that in itself is good, but it is not a thing that I should do. Sometimes I am trying very hard to do something which is not necessary for me while neglecting to do something which is necessary. I am speaking about instruments. You see one person is a violin, another is a cello.
-- Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz The Vertical Adventure
Michigan Maritime Museum – Executive Director
6 hours ago