Be Here Now
NEWS | TUESDAY, MARCH 3 | BY FUSION STAFF WRITER, RUDOLFO CARRILLO
Shingetsu Billy White, the Zen master behind immersive sound and spirit experiences presented by The Heart is Awake, believes that each of us is a temple, a vessel containing the heart and soul, a form that embodies our lived experience.
Shingetsu White’s Temple of Sound, a familiar social ceremony and transcendent musical journey that regularly manifests at FUSION, returns on Sunday, March 8, at 6:00 PM. The event promises to be both a reflection of inner peace and a motivation to seek peace in the larger world around us.
Much more than the sensory distractions and mediated experiences that fill our post-postmodern lives, Temple of Sound offers participants an opportunity to put their heart into their practice, clear their mind, and find peace in the ambient sounds and restfully invigorating environment that Shingetsu White offers.
Becoming part of that peacefully melodic, entrancingly rhythmic movement forward is way easier than digging out that copy of Ram Dass’ epic tome—memorably placed somewhere on your favorite bookshelf—on being present in a sometimes chaotic world. You can “Be Here Now” by taking time to come to the next iteration of White’s joyful proceedings.
We’ll dispense with the tendency to lay the mystical hard sell on potential participants, though. White does a better job of demonstrating the relevance and beauty of his own work than we could ever manage.
Rudolfo Carrillo: Who are you, really? Feel free to wax poetic!
Shingetsu Billy White: Oh, who am I? That’s a big question (Smiles). So what I do, what we are calling “Temple of Sound”—which I’ve been doing at FUSION for almost three years now, every few months—is basically kind of a sound journey, an ambient music concert. But it also has a healing, meditative aspect. But let me go back to who I am, and what I’ve been doing for almost thirty years. I was a guitarist, a musician, traveling between Austin, New York, and Los Angeles. I lived in central Mexico for many years. I quit music entirely around the age of thirty to enter a Zen temple and have silence, practice meditation. When I got back to music, everything had changed, and my whole intention became a matter of using music as a healing modality.
How did that practice initially manifest?
I started collecting sacred instruments from different traditions, different cultures. From my chanting, I developed the overtone and throat-singing techniques [that I use in performance]. This music became my mission, if there’s a mission. In Mexico, I began working with different spiritual groups and shamanic ceremonies, and combined some of my Buddhist meditative practices into ritual form.
And those practices formed the basis for your return to New Mexico and the creation of Temple of Sound?
I came back to the US to help my parents, and spent the pandemic in Austin. But I knew I wanted to come back to New Mexico; it was my home. So, I’ve landed in Albuquerque and do healing sound therapy at some of the area hospitals, treatment centers, and yoga centers. Then, yes, I started doing these concerts, a concert experience with a focus on healing.
What sort of experience can participants look forward to when attending the Temple of Sound?
I’ve found that a range of people come out for the concerts. I want the experience to be as accessible as possible. I want the experience to be positive to someone who might go to a yoga or meditation center as well as someone who might enjoy experimental music. Some people stretch out on cushions on the floor during the concerts, some sit in a meditation posture; there are also chairs in the back. I usually lead the audience through a little bit of breathing [exercises] at the beginning, even vocalizing vowel sounds to get everyone tuned in and relaxed.
What about the sound journey that you create?
The sound journey can take all sorts of forms; it’s always improvised, always spontaneous. I use some looping and echo devices to create layers of sound. I incorporate musical instruments from ancient traditions, as well as the lap steel guitar, flutes, didgeridoo, and Indian instruments like the sarod, to create fresh sounds. It’s very interesting for me because I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s always something wonderful.
Are you a solo performer? Are you constructing and navigating the ocean of sound on your own?
Yes, I feel like I am painting with sound. The looping devices can sound like an orchestra; nothing is pre-recorded or synthesized. My challenge is to create all these organic sounds and layer them in such a way that unique textures appear. They’re like sand mandalas, beautiful but impermanent; they disappear.
How does that sense of impermanence relate to your work?
I don’t save anything; the loops disappear as they play out. Things are fading in and out continuously. So, yes, impermanence is everywhere and everything.
How do audiences react to that sort of timelessness?
I find that once it’s [the performance] is finished, we’re all kind of awe-struck. I’ve been getting great feedback from the participants! The experience seems almost transcendent. There’s something sacred about it. Those feelings are generated by all of us. Coming together [for these concerts] is a bit of a sacred gathering.
Is this part of your Bodhisattva vow? Are you doing this, manifesting this healing, for the benefit of all sentient beings?
Yes, that’s my intention. In this world, there’s a lot of turmoil and confusion. It’s up to us to come back to our true nature of peace, to be centered so that we can walk through the world. The Temple of Sound is a place where that can happen!
The HEART is AWAKE presents a TEMPLE OF SOUND
Sunday, March 8, 2026, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
FUSION | 708
708 1st Street NorthwestAlbuquerque, NM
Tickets $25 available here.