The  Universal  Tone

Carlos  Santana

a few excerpts from

The  Universal  Tone

by

Carlos Santana

In telling my story, I know that what I remember is a choice I have. There is such a thing as divine rationale: I call it celestial memory. In fact it’s anyone’s choice to look back and see the past as beauty and blessings. I think ice cream can taste sweeter when I look back on tasting it, and even the air can feel better in the lungs. I also celebrate honesty and the details that tell the stories of my life. My goal was to make this book multisensory, to make it read the way my mother’s home cooking tasted. Interesting but also delicious. Not crass, and not boring.

I used to be a very intense, compulsive person. I was always angry because my ego had convinced me that I was hopeless and worthless. I was playing hide-and-seek with myself. I remember a long time ago in Mexico someone asked me, “What are you most afraid of?” I told him, “Disappointing God.” Now I realize there’s no way I could disappoint God because this isn’t an issue to him. It’s only an issue for my ego. What is an ego except something that thinks it’s separate from God?

That’s the story behind the stories, the music inside the music. John Coltrane called it A Love Supreme. I call it the Universal Tone, and with it ego disappears and energy takes over. You realize that you are not one alone; you are connected to everyone. Everybody’s born with a way to receive the Universal Tone, but very few allow it to give birth to itself. Most people abort it with things that are more important to them, such as money or fame or power. The Universal Tone is outside of me, and it’s through me. I don’t create it. I just make sure I don’t get in its way.

Marvin Gaye was once asked, about his album What’s Going On, “How did you create such a masterpiece?” He said, “I just did my best to get out of the way and let it happen.” My wife, Cindy, tells me that Art Blakey used to talk to her about drumming and tell her that the music comes “straight from the Creator to you.” He used to say that a lot, and his music felt that way. Real musicians know that real music arrives like that. It doesn’t go to you—it goes through you.

It’s the same thing with John Coltrane, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Marley, Dr. Martin Luther King—all the message givers. I’m really grateful that I was able to hear so many of their sounds live. Some people are put on this planet to help elevate consciousness, and through them come the sound and words and vibrations and music. It has nothing to do with show business or entertainment. It’s not elevator music—it’s elevating music.

That’s the Universal Tone doing what it does. Suddenly the music compels people to go against what they thought was aesthetically solid for themselves, and what used to fit so well then feels really uncomfortable, like shoes that have become too tight and can’t be worn anymore. It raises people’s consciousness and stops the static so they can hear the forgotten song within. Their molecules are changed so they can stand outside the realm of themselves and outside of time. They can stand in a forever now.

I have been fortunate to see how universal the Universal Tone really is. It’s such an incredible thing to be known worldwide, to be a point of connection between so many people. I accept being a conduit. I accept that grace has chosen to work through me as it wants to, and I also accept the gifts and awards and accolades and royalties that come with it.

I didn’t always feel that way—I didn’t have the confidence that would make me feel comfortable carrying the Universal Tone. I had to learn that from being around other musical shamans and spirit givers, people like Herbie Hancock and Tito Puente, B. B. King and Wayne Shorter. Watching how they rise above the fame-and-stardom thing while their feet never leave the ground. How they accept the nice hotels and first-class seating and awards shows along with the late hours and fast food and early wake-up calls and sound problems. How they serve the music and carry the Universal Tone.

I met a beautiful couple in Saint Louis not long ago who had given away a lot of money to help people who badly needed it. The wife said something that knocked me out: “It’s a blessing to be a blessing.” Those words were perfect. They said what’s been inside me for so many years, even when ego, shame, and guilt have gotten in the way. I’m just one man. I have feet of clay, like everyone else. I like ecstasy and orgasm and freedoms and all the kinds of things I can afford now, but I am very, very guarded with myself. I keep my darkness in check. Most of the time I try to get the best out of myself by being gracious and consistent and humble, not obnoxious or rude or cruel or vulgar. Then suddenly: damn it, I blew it again. I had a temper tantrum. I got knocked out by my own ego and said or did things without thinking. Said something wrong to somebody I care for. Before, I did not know that anger is just fear with a mask. Now I know that, and I know I have to move on. Take a deep breath, forgive myself—get back to the Universal Tone.

People know me as much for being a spiritual seeker as for my music. “Cosmic Carlos,” “Crazy Carlos”—I know what people say, and I have no problem with that. I’m the guy who talks about light and luminosity and always wears dead people on his shirts and jackets. Many people put people on their clothes. In my eyes John Coltrane, Bob Marley, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis—they are inspirers and igniters, finders of blessings and miracles. They are all immortals, still alive in an eternal now. And they make me look good—try them on for yourself.

“Cosmic” to me means being connected. From the place where I am, where I am blessed to be, I have been able to see how we’re all connected. When people call me cosmic or crazy I take it as a compliment and say, “Well—behold. My craziness is working. How’s your sanity doing?”

If people really want to know me, they shouldn’t stop there. They should know that I’m always going to become better and that it took me a long time to realize it’s time to stop seeking and start being. The spiritual goal I was looking for wasn’t something that was far away, at the top of some mountain—or even a few feet above that. It is always right here, in the here and now, in my spirit and music and intentions and energy. I’m constantly hoping to use my energy and blessings for the highest good, to do things and say things and play music that all resonates on the same frequency— the Universal Tone.

When you put out a certain music and energy, you never know whom it will hit and who will be shining with it. Sometimes I’m sitting down to eat and just about to put a fork in my mouth, and someone says, “I’m sorry to disturb you...” and they have a story to tell me. Or they want me to sign something or have a photo taken with them. At that point, food really is not important. Friends will be eating with me sometimes when this happens, and they’ll ask me how I deal with it. I’ll say, “Look, man, where are we right now?” “Uh... in a restaurant.” “Okay. And you know who’s paying for this food? They are. And that nice car outside that’s waiting for us? They helped me get that, and they’re paying for the gasoline, and the house I’ll be driving to after I eat, and I wouldn’t be here eating if it weren’t for them. So if they want to take a picture, hell, take two.” I put the fork down, I make eye contact with the people who come up to me, and I listen to them. I’ll give them a hug if it’s appropriate. It’s about accepting a role that I have been chosen for and learning when to make myself available—and when not to. Once in Paris, a hotel doorman was telling me how each of his children had been conceived to Santana music and started to run down a list of all the kids and all the songs. I thanked him before he went too far. That’s all a little too much connection for me—I’m not that universal.

I told myself that this book should be healthful, healing, elevating, informative, raw, honest, and elegant. It should absolutely be entertaining, in a form that anyone, especially my children and family, can read and enjoy, laugh with and understand. There’s so many funny things I’ve experienced that I feel I have to share—experiences that prove God has a sense of humor. I like to laugh, and I love stories, and I wanted all that in this book, too. The lesson is a simple one: you have to have fun with your existence. At some point you have to stop taking things seriously and personally and getting all stiff, which only paralyzes your creativity and vitality.

I can tell you what I didn’t want this book to be about—I didn’t want it filled with any regrets, remorse, or guilt. You can read other books for that. A friend told me something I kept in mind in writing this: when you go through hell—your own darkest night of the soul—don’t take pictures to show to your friends. Someone else said, “Don’t cry when you see your own movie.” It all makes sense to me. When somebody would ask me how I want to be remembered, I used to just shrug that off and say, “Me importa madre”—I don’t give a damn. But now I say, as someone who consciously and unconsciously is doing things to inspire people to aspire, this book is about accepting the responsibility to raise consciousness in others and to express my supreme gratitude to everyone, every spirit who has guided my life and given me the chance to acknowledge these gifts and share them. It’s through them that I’d like to be remembered.

And as for what I’ve learned: be an instrument of peace. Be a gentleman at all costs. Enjoy yourself—have fun with your existence. Learn to listen to your inner voice and don’t overdose on yourself. Keep your darkness in check. Let music be a healing force. Be a real musician: once you start counting money before notes, you’re a full-time wannabe. Put your guitar down and go outside and take a long drink of light with your eyes. Go walk in the park and take off your shoes and socks and feel the grass under your feet and mud between your toes. Go see a baby smiling, go see a wino crawling, go see life. Feel life—all of it, as much as possible. Find a human melody, then write a song about it. Make it all come through your music. Welcome to my story—welcome to the Universal Tone. Vamos a empezar.

I believe I grew up with angels. I believe in the invisible realm. Even when I’ve been by myself, I’ve never been alone. My life has been blessed that way. There was always someone near me, watching me or talking to me—doing something at the right time. I had teachers and guides, some who helped me get from one place to another. Some saved my life. When I look at the whole vortex of things that happened in my life, it’s amazing how many times angelic intervention came through various people. This book is because of them and is written to acknowledge them. It’s about angels who came into my life at the point where I needed them the most.

I believe the world of the angels can come through anyone at any time, or at just the right time, if you allow yourself to move the dial on your spiritual radio just a little bit and hold it at the right frequency. For that to happen, I have to avoid making my own static, avoid ego rationalization. People can change the way they see things by the way they think. I think we are at our best when we get out of our own way. People get stuck in their stories. My advice is to end your story and begin your life.

When I could understand that, I was like a snake shedding its skin. The old skin was guilt, shame, judgment, condemnation, fear. The new skin is beauty, elegance, excellence, grace, dignity. More and more I’m learning to bless my contradictions and my fears and transform them. More and more I want to use my guitar and my music to invite people to recognize the divinity and light that is in their DNA.

Little, Brown and Company  November 4, 2014

Hachette Book Group   hachettebookgroup.com/carlos-santana/the-universal-tone/9780316244923

Carlos Santana  &  John McLaughlin

The  Life  Divine

Carlos Santana  &  Sarah Mclachlan

Angel

Carlos Santana  at  Woodstock

Soul  Sacrifice

NPR interview: I Am a Reflection of Your Light

www.npr.org/2014/11/04/360092359/carlos-santana-i-am-a-reflection-of-your-light

Carlos Santana  &  John McLaughlin

A  Love  Supreme

www.santana.com

"If you believe in gravity and you drop something a hundred times, a hundred times its going to fall. But if you believe in grace as strongly as you believe in gravity, then a hundred out of a hundred times, you're going to get a miracle."