mental/physical discipline - peak awareness, clarity of focus and fluent control of one's instrument and physical organic mechanism

zen - a judgementless state of acceptance of experience and graceful flow-state

pranayama - rhythmic control of breathing to alter or focus consciousness during meditation, yoga or improvisation. - happens naturally for many wind players

psychic purification - at a certain point in developing ones improvisatory technique, after conquering physical technique and developing a flow-state, the limiting factor becomes ones physio-psychic ability to maintain the highest groove, or aka - channel divine light. the ultra-subtle psychic knots and energy blocks seem more apparent as they are revealed to be the limiting factors in what energy levels of vibration are able to come through you, as you.
the purging of unattended fears, self-acknowledgement of all inner and outer truths, untangling of neuro-physical blockages stored from painful or shocking experiences and the settling of all current affairs is necessary to remove any barriers between you and total universal communication.

kundalini yoga - spirit-jazz seems to be fueled by a force variously known as kundalini, glossolalia, the holy spirit, the logos or spirit-fire. This force drives the player to unparalleled levels of sustained creativity, energy, focus, depth and eloquence.

in-the-Now-ness - free improvisation in a group setting requires a complete surrender to the group sound current as embodied in the unique synergistic possibilities of the set of players. Any attempt at planning, thought, habit-based playing or any self-based activity is not NOW-ness and is a step backward into time/self based limitations instead of outward, unrestricted group becoming. Any stray thought, memeory, or distraction from the happenings at that exact second is a break in the collective state of wordless abstract vibrational co-operation.
Not simply the practice of Now-ness but the higher challenge of active creative group now-ness.

spontaneous harmonious psychic co-operation - at this level of freedom and group creation, the purity of empathy between the musicians, the unspoken psychic/spiritual understanding must be immaculate. The group soars off into the vibra-verse in divine unison through the miracle of all players feeling the same 'cosmic groove' and co-navigating like a flock of birds. This level of instant communication is impossible through words.

cosmic discernment - navigating the cosmic vibrations as group psychic travelers, propelled by inner heart-fire, as a process of group spirit travel requires great sensitivity to all frequencies of vibration. emotional, mental, social, harmonic, karmic and cosmic ebbs and flows of energy must be opened to as much as possible. This goes back to purification as many of these vibrations may be intolerable (causing heartbreak and mania) unless corresponding inner blockages are addressed.

transpersonal awareness - awareness during a high musical event may take on transpersonal aspects, including seeing the self as a player being played by an energetic force, feeling that the entire band has merged into a single organism or group mind, dilation of time and expansion of tiny nuances in the music, and / or loss of all physical awareness except for the music.

These factors are what make ecstatic spirit-jazz unique in spiritual practice.
It is simultaneously a form of spiritual healing & energy distribution, group psychic communication, mental/physical/emotional/spiritual development, prayer to God, musical performance, cosmic/astral exploration & fine-art.

To play music on the Divine level of Coltrane's late works or Tisziji's "Divine radiance" requires a totally uninhibited consciousness with an endlessly open heart to allow for unobstructed energy flow from spirit to mind to body to instrument to listener and back to universe.

The music is what sustains the player from beginning to end. That's where you get your life from. That's why you play jazz.
~Art Farmer

Music is a special gift from God to those who have it and it's necessary for us to follow it through to the extent of our abilities, whatever they may be. That's what I life for. A friend of mine saw Kenny Dorham playing somewhere the night before he died. Kenny was playing on crutches, but he was playing right to the end. God willing, that's the way it will also be with me.
-Joe Williams

“Making money ain’t nothing exciting to me. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. But you get sick just like the next cat and when you die you’re just as graveyard dead as he is.”

(what is jazz?) “Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know.”

“What we play is life.”

“Jazz is played from the heart. You can even live by it. Always love it.”
~Louis armstrong

"My hope is that we will use this time space to renew our relationship with cultural dynamics and begin again the fight for the challenge of composite existence and positive experience. We must rededicate ourselves to the hope of world peace, human rights, and cosmic destiny. Creativity is the engine of evolution and healing. We are now in a new era and there is everything to do."
~Anthony Braxton responding to the events of Sept-11, 2001.

" Something happens with the physical, the spiritual and the mental state in which they combine, and their energy is turned free.
It's a cleansing experience which in a religion they would say, "It's of another world." The state I'm talking about even transcends emotions. It's a feeling of being able to communicate with all living things."
~Ronald Shannon Jackson