Hello again, psychopoet!
Rivers Cuomo's vow of celibacy stems from a personal spiritual quest
that has been deepened by his dedication to Vipassana meditation.
"Cuomo was introduced to Buddhist meditation by [Rick] Rubin during
the recording of Make Believe and it led to his embarking on religious
retreats. He was so enamored with meditating that he decided to take
it one step further and deprive himself of any carnal indulgences."
Daily Yomiuri: The dorks are all right
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20051215TDY14001.htm
"Cuomo goes on to describe how [Rick] Rubin introduced him to the love
poetry of Hafiz and Vipassana meditation in February 2003. 'In accord
with my understanding of these teachings, I abruptly dropped all of my
business responsibilities and hard-won power, and isolated myself once
again,' he says. 'I fasted and lost 15% of my weight. I took a vow of
complete celibacy. I gave away or sold most of my possessions, my
house and my car and lived in an empty apartment next to Rick Rubin's
house for the rest of the year. I moved to settle outstanding lawsuits
and reconcile myself with enemies. I apologized to many people. I
volunteered six days a week at Project Angel Food in Hollywood,
preparing meals for people with HIV. Since then, I have found that the
areas of tension in my mind -- the fear, the anger, the sadness, the
craving -- are slowly melting away,' Cuomo continues."
Billboard: Weezer Frontman Chronicles 'Epiphany'
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000589310
"WEEZER frontman RIVERS CUOMO has gone without sex for over two years,
all in a bid to improve his music. The spiritual singer decided to
deprive himself of all carnal pleasures - and he is convinced it has
had a profound effect on his singing voice.
Cuomo - who has been celibate since 13 June 2003 - says, 'I decided to
try celibacy because I heard it would help the meditation, and I tried
meditation because I heard it would help with the music. So, it all
really comes back to the music'."
Contact Music: WEEZER STAR SKIPS SEX FOR MUSIC
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/weezer%20star%20skips%20sex%20for%20music
From an essay by Rivers Cuomo:
"During this latest swing towards spirituality, however, I started a
practice at Rick Rubin?s suggestion which may help me achieve some
balance: meditation. I was averse to the idea, initially. My goal in
trying all the crazy experiments in my life has always been to
improve, maintain, or recover my connection to music. Meditation, it
seemed to me, would rob me of the angst that I believed was an
essential precondition to that connection. With little to lose,
however, I took the chance. I experienced immediate benefits.
The technique I was drawn to is called Vipassana. It is taught around
the world at over one hundred centers... I started the practice
fourteen months ago, attending seven ten-day courses and serving as a
volunteer at two. Since then, I have found that the areas of tension
in my mind - the fear, the anger, the sadness, the craving - are
slowly melting away. I am left with a more pristine mind, more sharp
and sensitive than I previously imagined possible. I am more calm and
stable. My concentration and capacity to work have increased greatly.
I feel like I am finally much closer to reaching my potential."
Pelican Parts Technical BBS - Rivers Cuomo's Harvard Essay
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=176671
Regarding the choice of two years as the initial time period, that was
apparently just arbitrary. From one of Cuomo's posts on MySpace:
"I remembered that once I had met a man who told me he had been
completely celibate for ten years.
'You mean you don?t even . . .?' I asked.
'No,' he said. 'I don?t even . . .'
I had stared out the window at the barren trees, thinking, How one
could be so cruel to oneself? Now, deep in the emptiness of my own
excess, I was ready to give this 'cruelty' a try. I stopped returning
phone calls from women looking be with me. I packed up whatever
pornography I had accumulated over my life and left it to be taken out
to the trash (incidentally, the box was mistaken as belonging with
some others and was taken by an assistant to Salvation Army, where,
surely, the male employees high-fived each other until their hands
bled). Finally, one day I knelt down on the floor, placed my hands
together in front of my chest, closed my eyes, and repeated three
times, softly, the words, 'I will not engage in sexual activity of any
kind, whatsoever, for the next . . . two years.' I waited a few
moments, let the words sink in, and then got up and started living out
my experiment...
Am I going to high-tail it back to the next party at the Playboy
Mansion? Am I going to find the love of my life by some miracle? Am I
going to renew my vow for another two years, or ten years, or life? I
have no idea!! I was walking without awareness of my surroundings. And
you know what? It doesn?t even matter which path I choose when my vow
is over, I?m still going to have to face my completely incompatible
cravings for promiscuity, companionship, and solitude. There is no one
right choice that will magically bring me peace and ease the longing
in my heart."
SciForums: A Mad and Furious Master (Rivers Cuomo)
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=41671
So why has Cuomo decided to continue the vow of celibacy beyond two
years? As mentioned above, "It all really comes back to the music." He
feels that his songwriting skills have improved, and the practice of
celibacy has become easier:
"The rocker, 35, found celibacy helped his songwriting skills and
vowed to give up sex as he wrote Weezer's current album 'Make
Believe.'
The singer has now spent 30 months without intimacy, and insists it's
becoming easier to resist temptation.
He tells Blender magazine, 'It's been two and a-half years now. The
vow is over, but I wanted to keep cruising'."
KGET: Rivers Cuomo Still Celibate
http://www.kget.com/entertainment/music/story.aspx?content_id=635425F9-539E-48ED-BF03-FECBEB240753
More information about Vipassana meditation may be found here:
Vipassana Meditation Website
http://www.dhamma.org
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "rivers cuomo" celibacy meditation
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22rivers+cuomo%22+celibacy+meditation
I hope this helps!
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
20 Dec 2005 10:10 PST
Rivers Cuomo was raised on a Hindu ashram.
"Judging by the thick glasses, Prince Valiant coiffure, and schlumpy
demeanor, you'd think that Rivers Cuomo, guitarist and lead vocalist
in L.A.'s pop confectioners, Weezer, was born hunched over and talking
slack. But you'd be wrong. He was raised, he says, in a Connecticut
Hindu community called Yogaville, where everyone meditated and no one
ate meat, raised their voices, or cussed. 'It was a very mellow
childhood,' he remembers. 'But when my mom and dad broke up, suddenly
my brother Leaves and I had to join the outside world. We even had to
teach each other how to swear so that we could fit in at public
school.' It was there, in high school, that Cuomo devoured every Quiet
Riot and Kiss record he could get his hands on, then scrammed across
the country to Hollywood with dreams of becoming a metal star."
http://mypage.direct.ca/t/tlucke/article.html
"Rivers Cuomo (born June 13, 1970, New York City, New York) is a
singer, songwriter and guitarist for the band Weezer. He was born in a
New York City hospital, and raised on a Hindu ashram (run by the late
guru Sri Swami Satchidananda) in Northeastern Connecticut."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_Cuomo
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