Interview with Weezer’s River Cuomo about Vipassana Meditation
Robert Cuomo — lead singer for the rock band Weezer, whom I’ve never heard — has taken up Vipassana meditation in a serious way.
This probably makes him the most high-profile proponent of Vipassana meditation in America.
BeliefNet.com interviewed him recently, and the interview contains some interesting bits.
For example, I thought he handled this question well:
Is Vipassana in some way a turning away from experience?
That’s a common misconception about meditation. That it’s turning away from experience or turning away from really feeling what’s going on. And it’s really like the opposite of what you’re doing. With Vipassana you’re taking the time to stop and look inside yourself and really observe what’s going on on a physical and mental level, and instead of just reacting to it, you’re sitting there observing it with 100 percent of your attention ideally. You’re not turning away from anything.
And below is a long bit I found particularly interesting. He has recently returned to Harvard to finish his undergraduate degree in English.
Was it hard going from being a rock star to an undergrad?
Yeah, the writing workshop last semester was really painful. And I think it is for everyone in the class, too. You’ve got 11 of your peers tearing your writing apart.
Any particular story that sticks out in your mind?
The day that my first essay was critiqued in a workshop.
Your ego is totally on the line.
Yeah, all on the line. You’re so concerned about your ego, too. I mean, you’re at Harvard, everyone’s so ambitious and so driven. On top of that, I’m older than everyone else, so I feel like I should be better and more accomplished. On top of that, I’m a rock star, so I feel like people are paying extra attention to me and they’re going to be extra critical. So, it’s tough, but it’s my own mental garbage.
Do you meditate in your dorm room?
[Points] In the closet. And, you know, that really just evens things out. ‘Cause whatever things come up during the day that get you agitated, you’ll sit and, “Oh.” And on top of that, throughout the day, even when I’m not sitting, I’m doing meditation. Whenever I remember somebody said something mean to me I’ll feel, “Oh, unpleasant sensation,” and I’ll observe it and try to be equanimous with it. Or I’ll have to go in front of a camera and do an interview and feel nervous. So I’ll feel all these unpleasant tingling sensations. So that the task, throughout the day, is kind of the same–whatever I’m doing–is just to observe the sensations and be equanimous.
Right.
The sensations are always changing but the task is always the same.
You’ve made a few statements about the uncertainty of Weezer’s future. It must have taken some work on the band’s part to be equanimous with this.
They have so much attachment to this continuing and it’s frightening when that gets threatened. They’ve seen me go through this so many times over our career. I think they’ve learned that sometimes you’ve got to become a little detached from it. Say, “Alright, he’s gotta go through his process and if he’s meant to come back, if there’s more songs that are there, it’ll happen. And if not, it won’t.”
Do you meditate with them?
Yeah. Before the show. We sit for about five to 20 minutes. Not Pat [Wilson, Weezer's drummer] though, just the three of us. It was their idea. It was Brian’s [Weezer guitarist Brian Bell] idea.
Does it have a positive effect on way things go?
I’m not really sure. I imagine we feel it must have a positive effect because we keep doing it. I know it makes me feel less anxious before I go onstage. Maybe a little more focused. I’m sure they had the same fears that I did when I started.
See the full interview for more.
Hat-tip: Holons.
