Beyond the Roof of the World: Music, Prayer, and Healing in the Pamir Mountains

238 Pages·2008·2.55 MB·English

by  Benjamin D. Koen

Beyond the Roof
of the World
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Beyond the Roof
of the World
Music, Prayer, and Healing
in the Pamir Mountains
benjamin d. koen
New York
2009
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Copyright © 2009 by Benjamin D. Koen
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koen, Benjamin D.
Beyond the roof of the world : music, prayer, and healing in the Pamir mountains /
Benjamin D. Koen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-536774-4
1. Healing—Pamir Mountains Region. 2. Spiritual healing—Pamir
Mountains Region. 3. Holistic medicine—Pamir Mountains
Region. 4. Music therapy—Pamir Mountains Region. 5. Prayer—
Pamir Mountains Region. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Music Therapy—Tajikistan. 2. Holistic Health—Tajikistan.
3. Medicine, Tibetan Traditional—Tajikistan. 4. Spiritual Therapies—
Tajikistan. WB 550 K78b 2008]
R733,K582 2008
615.8′5209586—dc22 2007037165
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Saba,
Naseem, and Solya
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Acknowledgments
To acknowledge befi ttingly all those who have contributed to this
project, to its spirit and substance, and who have enthusiastically
supported and encouraged its author, would indeed be impossible.
I must, however, express my deep gratitude to the following people,
each of whom has contributed in a special way to the completion of
this work and enriched me personally: the countless musicians and
newly found friends and associates in Tajikistan—particularly in
Pamir, Samandar Pulodov for his brotherhood, mystical insight and
calm communication, expertise and tireless assistance in the fi eld;
Davlatnazar for his masterful driving through treacherous moun-
tain passes and over raging rivers, his sense of humor and positive
nature; nurse Lailo and Dr. Shirinbek, both of whom helped to fl esh
out aspects of the medical dimension of the project in Badakhshan;
Rafi que Keshavjee and all the friends at the Aga Khan Humanities
Project for their hospitality and assistance in welcoming my wife and
me to Tajikistan and facilitating our work; and Margaret Mills for
introducing me to new friends and colleagues in Dushanbe.
I also extend my gratitude to numerous colleagues across the
fi elds of music, medicine, the humanities, and sciences, who have
encouraged this work, especially Margarita Mazo, Ted Levin, Daniel
Avorgbedor, William Malarkey, Marina Roseman, Kay Kaufman-
Shelemay, Gregory Barz, Ken Brummel-Smith, Karen Brummel-
Smith, and Michael Rohrbacher. I also offer my heartfelt thanks to
the following people: to all my Persian-speaking family, friends, and
viii acknowledgments
colleagues who continually share their knowledge of Persian with me, and
many of whom assisted in translating some of the Tajik-Persian language texts
that underlie much of this study, especially my mother-in-law, Mahin Vojdani,
Dick Davis, and Parvaneh Pourshariati; to Shiling Ruan for assistance with the
statistics; and Suzanne Ryan for her intellectual courage and excellence in her
work. I am also honored to acknowledge and thank my brother, Joseph Koen,
for his loving encouragement, advice and consultation regarding the medical
and neurological aspects and implications of my research; and to my parents
Thelma and Leon Koen for their unfailing and unconditional love, strength,
and encouragement, and their example of sincerity, integrity, and trustworthi-
ness. Most of all I thank my beloved wife and best friend, Saba Koen, who
shared in these and so many other experiences of music, prayer, meditation,
and healing in and beyond the roof of the world, for all that we have shared,
and all the journeys yet to come; and to our children Naseem and Solya, who
are a constant example of the miracles of life and the joys of an open mind and
free spirit.
Contents
Language, Pronunciation, and Transliteration, xi
1. Medical Ethnomusicology and the Ontology of Oneness , 3
2. The Five Factors of Music, Prayer, Health, and Healing, 25
3. Music–Prayer Dynamics and Cognitive Flexibility, 59
4. Soundscape and Musical–Spiritual Entrainment , 93
5. Healthscape, Mystical Poetry, and Multimodal Healing , 123
6. Transformative Meaning in Sound, Empowered Sound
in Culture , 153
7. Human Certainty Principle, of Science, Spirituality,
and Experience , 181
Notes , 205
References , 213
Index , 221