The story of Nelson da Rabeca – The Rebec Player Nelson – an ex sugar cane cutter from Brazil who at the age 54 found transcendence from his harsh reality through music. I was inspired by his story to talk about the Psychosynthesis concepts of Transpersonal Will and Transcendence. Download to watch the video, enjoy it and honour your inner call too!

1. The
Transpersonal
Will
of
Nelson

2. The Transpersonal Will of Nelson
Nelson dos Santos was born on March 12, 1929, in the state
of Alagoas, Brazil. He is a much loved, respected and
accomplished folk musician in his native state, where he is
known as Nelson da Rabeca, or the Rebec Player Nelson.

3. Rebec?
Rebec is a bowed string
musical instrument that
was popular in the 15th
and 16th centuries. It is an
ancestor of the violin: it
has a narrow boat-shaped
body and 1-5 strings and
is played on the arm or
under the chin, like a
violin. Many types and no
standard characterize the
Brazilian 'rabecas', that
reflect their makers' style.
Each rebec is unique.

4. Nelson's background
Since he was a little boy to his late
50's, Nelson worked as a sugar cane
cutter, following his family's pattern.
He never went to school, was illiterate
and had no musical training. He was
once beaten up for playing accordion,
because his father considered he was
wasting time.
Nelson married a workmate,
they had 10 kids. The family
didn't have a house of their own
and working together in the
plantations, they couldn't even
meet their basic needs.

5. Nelson's Call
One day, while watching television, Nelson had a vision
that would change his life. He listened to a call “from
above”. Everybody laughed at him and did not believe
when he said he would “play this thing” – at the time, he
didn't even know “this thing” was called a violin.

6. “I was 54 years old when
God gave me this life. I saw
a guy playing violin on
someone else's television, as
at that time I had no TV. I
went into the woods, I cut a
tree and I set my mind on
making an instrument. Then I
started to play it at the beach
for tourists and locals. Back
then, I only played someone
else's music. Then I started
to play my own, and I have
already recorded three CDs
[...] To play throughout Brazil
is very good. Oh boy, it is
very good indeed. Thank
God I have nothing missing
in my life.” (July 2005, at 78)

7. At the beginning, friends and
family thought Nelson was
fooling himself. But following
his intuition, he made his first
instrument, created its unique
tuning and learnt how to play it
on his own. To begin with, he
used to work five days cutting
sugar and dedicate his free
time to mastering the rebec.
When he was confident with a few songs, he started to busk in
public. From midday to 4pm he would earn more money than 15
days cutting sugar cane. When he realised this, he left his job and
started to make more instruments. Nelson says he has made over
5,000 rebecs. Each instrument is unique and can take him from 5
days to 3 months, depending on the type of wood. Musicians from
all over the world go to Alagoas to meet him, buy rebecs and try to
understand how he learnt it all without having ever studied music.

8. Nelson's path as a
musician has been a long
one. Only in the last 15
years of his 30 years'
career he has enjoyed
some recognition outside
Alagoas and relative
national success, being
invited to play throughout
Brazil and even in Norway,
in 2011.
He still maintains a modest life style and hasn't become rich or
very famous, but that was never his aim: he is now a fulfilled, self
realised and extremely content man. Still working and playing at
age 83, Nelson has been teaching how to make and play rebecs
to a new generation of musicians. His humble house in Marechal
Deodoro has open doors to anybody who wishes to meet him –
no appointment is needed. Curiously, he still uses the same
machete he used to work with to cut sugar cane!

9. "I heard that an old dog does not learn new
tricks, but it does. I've learned many. I'm 80
years old and I keep creating, I keep making
music" (July 2008)

10. The Transpersonal Will
Transpersonal
or Meta-needs
Psychological
needs
Most basic
needs
“Achieving the satisfaction of the first two groups of needs often engenders,
paradoxically, a sense of boredom, ennui, emptiness, and meaninglessness. It leads
to a more or less blind search for "something other," something more. This is seen in
many who, having had great satisfactions and successes in the ordinary world,
become increasingly restless, rebellious, or depressed.”
(Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will – The Transpersonal Will, p. 106)

11. “To help understand the dissatisfaction with "normal" life, we can look again at
the diagram of the psychological constitution of man, found on page 14. The
basic and normal personal needs concern the levels of the lower and middle
psychological life, both conscious and unconscious. However, there is also a
third and higher level— the area of the superconscious, which culminates in the
Transpersonal Self. It is both the drama and glory of man that this higher level,
most often latent, sooner or later demands satisfaction; it demands to be taken
into account and lived.”
(Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will – The Transpersonal Will, p. 110)

12. […] there have been many instances of spontaneous, sudden, unexpected
illumination, without any previous conscious striving or exertion. In these
cases the initiative is taken by the Transpersonal Self, which exerts a "pull" from
above. This fact can be understood by considering the psychological constitution
of human beings. We have seen that the will is the function in closest relation to
the self, the most direct expression of the self. This is true both for the personal
self and for the Transpersonal Self. Just as there is a personal will—the one we
have been considering up to now—so there is a Transpersonal Will, which is
an expression of the Transpersonal Self and operates from the
superconscious levels of the psyche. It is its action which is felt by the
personal self, or "I," as a"pull" or "call."
Accounts of religious
experiences often speak of a
"call" from God, or a "pull"
from some Higher Power;
this sometimes starts a
"dialogue" between the man
and this "Higher Source," in
which each alternately
invokes and evokes the
other.
(Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will – The Transpersonal Will, p. 113-114)

13. Transcendence
Limitations of "normal" consciousness and life
do not manifest themselves only as a search
and will to meaning, to enlightenment. There
are other types of transcendence which are
experienced by the corresponding types of
human beings. Some of the chief ones are:
1. Transcendence through transpersonal love.
2. Transcendence through transpersonal action.
3. Transcendence through beauty.
4. Transcendence through SELF'-realization.
These ways of transcendence can also be
expressed in terms of will, the fundamental
will to transcend personality limitations
through union with someone or something
greater and higher.
More exactly, in all of them we find the union
of will and love.
(Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will – The Transpersonal Will, p. 116)

14. Transcendence through Beauty
“It is in the creation of beauty, however, that the
will is I more manifest. It is often realized that the
artist is driven by the urge to create, that his
personality is impelled by this urge which is
sometimes easy and joyous, but more often is
difficult and even painful. Often the personality
rebels or tries to evade the higher urge. Yet the
artist is obliged to create; he's given no peace until
he has obeyed the urge to create that which has
been prepared in the superconscious realm.
Thus, there is a direct connection between will and
beauty. This is a fact not often realized because in
many cases, at the personality level, artists may
have little developed will, and more highly
developed feelings, emotions, and imagination.
It is often their Transpersonal Self which exercises
its Will and compels the personality to express
beauty. Yet there have been and there are artists
who have clearly demonstrated personal will
as well.”
(Roberto Assagioli, The Act of Will – The Transpersonal Will, p. 118)

15. Nelson and Benedita
Nelson and his with Benedita at their home, in
Marechal Deodoro (Alagoas-Brazil). YouTube video
published on May 1, 2012 by Matheus Pirajá
Nelson's contact: nelsondarabeca@bol.com.br

16. Dedicated to Nelson and Benedita
Thank you!
Presentation by Paula Góes-Wright
The Psychosynthesis and Education Trust
Foundation Year in Psychosynthesis (G49) –
September 2012