Sensory imbibing, Indian philosophy, and Vedic metal: Implications for music education

This chapter begins with an exposition of the Indian philosophical tradition and practice of Advaita Vedanta (2000 to 800/600 BCE, the Upanishads), of a contemplation of a Self (ātman) as inner essence of personhood and cosmic universe. Studying exegetical contemplations of corporeality and incorporeality from a distant past raises question about (1) the prospect of applicability in the present, and (2) concepts of sound and music connected with this philosophical tradition. The author explores these issues through a Metal group in Singapore known as Rudra, whose Vedic Metal repertoire is inspired by their commentaries on texts from the Vedanta. Two musical compositions are studied as intersections of Vedic philosophical texts and Rudra’s Metal soundscapes. Coming to terms with sound in Vedanta contexts and Rudra’s soundscapes, the author considers points of coincidence and the implications for the role of Asian philosophy in twenty-first-century music education.