From: Charles D. Gerard, Spirit, Soul and New Religions (excerpt), Brooklyn, New York (1995) (http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/mclaughlin/misc/yoga.html; viewed 2 November 2005):
Like Coltrane, [John] McLaughlin wished to "transcend the human consciousness and become aware of the divine consciousness...and then ultimately to reveal this in music." (Schaeffer 1974:15) He shared with Coltrane the belief that by creating a music based on a spiritual search, a musician could help listeners become aware of the divine consciousness and improve people's lives. McLaughlin encouraged musicians to learn to meditate in order to become attuned to the spirit.