Henry David Thoreau once said, "When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest."  Time and time again, music has opened our hearts, healed our spirits and transformed us in ways that are hard to express.  

On August 8th, a few friends will be convening at the inimitable Teance tea shop in Berkeley to share thoughts on how music can be used as an instrument of service, and a tool for transformation. It will be hosted by two remarkable musicians -- Gwhyneth Chen, a world renowned pianist from Taiwan and Rev. Heng Sure, a Buddhist monk for the last 3 decades.

Gwhyneth Chen has played over a thousand concerts, won the most prestigious award given to pianists, and represented Taiwan at the Olympics.  However, she is troubled by the increasing commercialization of music and feels that the ambition-driven motivations of young musicians strips it of its profound healing capacities.  On the flip side, Rev. Heng Sure was asked by his teacher Master Hsuan Hua to play the guitar, in the face of many conservative views that saw it as a worldly indulgence.  Since then, he has taken his music to many places, including prisons, offering wisdom-filled lyrics with modernized tunes awaken a yearning for inner transformation.

What does music mean to you?  In today's era, how can music serve the greater good?  What are the models of offering such music without turning our labor of love into a "commodity"?

Join us to explore these and related questions, listen to some music, and enjoy some great tea. :)  Simply RSVP below, and we'll send you the details as we get closer.