As the first notes entered with quiet stillness, I just knew that something very different was about to happen. The sound was incredibly alive with energy, conveying a manner of beauty beyond anything I encountered before. It seemed as if the melodies and harmonies were speaking directly to my soul, revealing unexplainable truths with what seemed like the voice of compassion itself. As I closed my eyes, trying desperately to absorb every bit of the music, I felt streams of loving energy beginning to well up from deep within. Time seemed to stand still, as each note opened further and further the tightness of my shielded heart. I felt I was becoming, what can only be described as one with the music — music so hauntingly beautiful that it awakened a realm of experience I didn't even know was possible. Instantly, the distress that had been lodged deep in my bones began to subside, and was replaced by the most ecstatic state of compassionate joy. Even after the music had faded gently away, I lay in silence half the night, dwelling in such a profound awareness of my inherent wholeness. . . . What a thrill to discover that simply opening oneself to the vibrations of musical sound could bring about such a transcendent experience! A new dimension opened in my life.
— Matthew Cantello, Communing with Music