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GRACE
NONO
The word "diwa" may have been one of Sanskrit loanwords infused by Philippine languages as a result of the maritime trade movements around the 7th century A.D. The word may have been derived from the words "deva" which means "divine being" (Dada Shibesh)2; or "jiva," which means "someone living," or "someone with thought capability" (Francisco)3. The phonological development of "jiva" to "diwa" may have been caused by the intervening languages "Javanese and Malay, through which the Philippine languages had made that cultural contact." (Francisco)4
Intimation is the expression of "sinasaloob" or innermost thoughts and feelings. MAKING THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN A MOST TEDIOUS, EXHILERATING JOURNEY. IN SEEKING MY VOICE, I LISTENED TO THE SPIRIT SPEAKING IN DAY TO DAY SITUATIONS, IN DREAMS AND IN OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, PERMEATING THE AIR IN MOUNTAIN CLEARINGS, RIVER VALLEYS, BACKSTREET ALLEYS, ACADEMIC HALLS, FOREIGN SHORES, CABLE TV, THE ELECTRONIC SUPER-HIGHWAY. . . AS SUCH, THE VOICE THAT YOU HEAR IN THIS ALBUM HAS BECOME A MERGING OF MANY VOICES; A MERGING THAT TRANSPIRED IN THE COURSE OF LIVING AND MUSIC-MAKING. TO GET TO KNOW THIS VOICE I NOW REALIZE, IS TO RESPECT ITS FRAGMENTEDNESS, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING ITS INHERENT UNITY, AS ONE THAT IN THIS OCCASION, HAS BEEN GIVEN LIFE BY THE SAME BREATH. SEVERAL QUESTIONS GUIDED ME ALONG THE WAY. ONE IS WHETHER THIS VOICE THAT I SEEK IS AN ESSENTIAL QUALITY LYING UNDERNEATH THE LAYERS CROSS-CULTURAL FUSION THAT LIFE HAS GATHERED OVER ITS CORE; OR IF THIS VOICE IS THE CONSTANT PROCESS OF BECOMING AND EVERYTHING THAT HISTORY IS CONTINUALLY SHAPING IT TO BE. NOW I KNOW THAT MY VOICE EMBODIES ALL OPPOSING DEFINITIONS THAT EXIST IN THIS WORLD, AND MUCH MORE BESIDES.
In
general, we Filipinos are a spirit-centered people. This, I have
seen with my own eyes in my dealings with tribal elders, shamans,
teachers, healers, missionaries, rural and urban communities. That
Filipinos are a spiritual people is also the conclusion of various
international studies on cross-cultural values like the one conducted
by the Gallup Polls in 1979 where Filipino respondents scored the
highest in matters of religion and spirituality, followed only by
India, Brazil, and the United States. (Tsukuba University, 1980)6
So that whether you are one steeped in the traditional belief system
of your tribe that places above all else the harmonious relationship
between human beings and the Supreme Creator and its helper spirits
in nature; or one who has embraced as your own any of the religious
systems that have been introduced to our shores throughout history;
whether you are one so certain of your path or one who's fallen
out of it in your continuing search for truth; the image is generally
that of a people acknowledging the existence of a reality beyond
what is seen, heard, touched, smelled and tasted; a reality that
though intangible, gives hope, strength, courage, understanding,
joy, and meaning to existence. So that whatever problems we may
have now resulting from our frantic pursuit of material progress;
whatever conflicts we may have due to our own lack of respect for
the myriad and unimaginable ways through which the spirit works,
all we have to do is perhaps to stop for a moment to listen to the
voice within, to try to remember our true selves, our common origin
and destination, and from there, bless everyone and everything,
because in all, truly, the spirit is.
Thematically
a compilation of intimations, with pieces written and composed by
Filipinos from varying historical and cultural backgrounds, as well
as by foreign composers whose works have been assimilated by the
Filipino people, "Diwa" illustrates ideological acculturation
in the level of "sinasaloob," or innermost thoughts and
feelings as expressed though conversations with the spirit in all,
in the self, and in the other.
1 Leo James
English, Tagalog-English Dictionary, Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer, 1986.
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Diwa
"lies at the core of our kalooban (selves), and from which
emanate all personal and social sentiments. It holds together the
physical and spiritual elements of existence and transforms them
into one functioning whole called buhay or life." (Jocano)5
THROUGH
THESE INTIMATIONS ON AND WITH THE SPIRIT, MAY INNERMOST HOPES, NEEDS,
FEARS AND DREAMS BE POURED OUT TO THE RAIN AND TO THE WIND, TO SKYSCRAPERS
AND JET PLANES, AND TO YOU. IN RETURN, MAY I RECEIVE STRENGTH AND
RESOLVE TO GO ON LIVING IN THESE TURBULENT TIMES, DREAMING, CHANTING,
COMMUNING WITH MY GOD, GETTING TO KNOW MY ANCESTOR, BLESSING BOTH
FRIEND AND FOE, DETERMINING FREELY A FUTURE FOR MYSELF AND FOR MY
CHILDREN. AND IN ALL OF THESE, MAY I FIND DIWA THAT IS THE SAME
FOR ME, AS IT IS FOR YOU.
Seen
as a body of work, this album contains selected musical and ideological
elements from the entire history of the Philippines: from the indigenous,
Southeast Asia-related base culture that stretches up to 50,000
B.C. or earlier; to the Chinese, Indian, Arabic overlays that came
to the islands mainly as a result of pre-colonial trade and traffic
that began in the 5th century or earlier; the Spanish-European overlay
cemented through more than three centuries of Spanish colonization;
the American overlay that predominates up to this day; and finally,
the various external, aboriginal overlays brought about by today's
information revolution that has made worldwide cultures highly accessible.
As such, "Diwa" illustrates historical and cultural dynamism
resulting from both internally-motivated developments, as well as
through inter-action with other cultures; a case of cultural creativity
in its appropriation of elements and processes derived from various
cultural systems, to create a new whole. But more than a mere theoretical
illustration of acculturative processes, "Diwa" is most
importantly, a lived experience, one that is the fruit of actual
artistic expression and search for meaning and identity by its creators;
an assertion of what it means to be Filipino, in ever-changing times.
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