suite (13)


("Dance of the Lord of Death" by Jean-Marie Hullot)



« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.


« Dissolution » is a very short sec

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Between Worlds (Epilogue)


("Maitreya the Conqueror" by Nicholas Roerich)



I read the The Tibetan Book of the Dead twice. I started with a French translation, and then read the Robert A. F. Thurman version. My motivation at the time was to learn more about the death process and what comes after.


At the time, I was agreeably surprised to discover that the text, which is traditionally read to the dead and is intended to guide them through the experiences that the consciousness has during the interval between death and the nex

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Departure (Between Worlds part 1)


("Buddha painted on a rock wall in Tibet" by Unknown Artist - photography by onwardtibet.org)




« Between Worlds » is a suite in five movements that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. The original draft eventually became what now constitutes « Departure, » the introductory section of the whole composition.


A few years later, after discovering Buddhism, I acquired

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Determination (Between Worlds part 5)


("Akshobhya Buddha" by VanemTao)



« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.


The last section of « Between Worlds » is entitled «

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Deliberation (Between Worlds part 4)


("The Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya" - Unknown Artist)



« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.


« The Dance Of The Archetypes » culmin

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The Door Of The Law (part 5)


("The path to enlightenment" by rohit gowaikar)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


After Simon tells his roshi the story of the man who waited at the door of the Law, he begs him to explain the dark parable. The teacher replies that he will explain it, if Simon follows him into the zendo. So the young American fol

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The Door Of The Law (part 2)


("Huike Thinking" by Shi Ke)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


The second section of the suite is entitled "Plight" and presents the situation in which Simon Moon, a young American man studying Zen, finds himself after reading "Before The Law," a mystifying parable which can be found near the end of the Czech au

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The Door Of The Law (part 4)


("Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji Meditation Hall" by Michael Dougan)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


The 4th part is entitled "Pedagogue" and tells the story of the roshi's response to his student's plight.


Now I see
Dear Simon why you looked so weary

Don't worry
I will explain the allegory
And from its bind you will be

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The Door Of The Law (Epilogue)


("Artwork on the Anschutz Medical Campus" by Rinaldodsouza)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


The conclusion of the suite is a short section wherein I present my interpretation of the parable. The music is basically a reprise of the introduction, with a very simple acoustic guitar and vocals arrangement, so as to

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The Door Of The Law (part 3)


("Ganjoji in Izushi" by 663highland)



"The Door Of The Law" is a suite in six parts inspired by "A Parable About A Parable" from RAWilson's "Quantum Psychology," itself inspired by Kafka's "Before The Law." (There is also a video version by jackhalfaprayer.)


The 3rd part is entitled "Parable" and presents a reading of the story by which Simon, the Zen student, is bewildered.


Once was a man who had made it
Up all the way to the Door of the Law
No obstacle had made him quit
No one burden had caused him

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"Introspection II" is the fifth section, and second with vocals, of "The Chrome Lake." And as is the case for its almost-but-not-identical twin "Introspection I," the subject matter is pretty much self-explanatory.

Verse
I see you feel restrained, mechanized, dehumanized
I see you feel estranged, incomplete, dissatisfied
Anything for a refuge, an island for your mind, a flight, a break
No amount of diversion or substance will ever dissolve the lake

Low confidence, you can't make a move without a guide

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("Introspection" by Alberto Baumann)

"Introspection I" is the third part, and first vocal section, of "The Chrome Lake," which itself constitutes the core middle chapter of the "Entering The Stream" trilogy.

The title of the whole suite was inspired by Voivod's "X-Ray Mirror" from their "Nothingface" album :

I can't believe I am the image
Within the mirror
Into the chrome lake
The glass is broken
But I look the same

The present part's subject matter is, as implied by its title, looking into oneself. Her

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(Globe of Integration by Eugen Hofbauer, Herbert Kalleitner, and Susi Müller. Photo by Manfred Kielnhofer)

“The Chrome Lake” is the core middle part of “Entering The Stream,” the trilogy which begins with "Into The Ashram" and is completed by "Leaving The Ashram."

Lasting a little over 12 minutes, the suite comprises seven sections identified as follows :

  • 1. Introversion
  • 2. Intervention
  • 3. Introspection I
  • 4. Introspectrumental I
  • 5. Introspection II
  • 6. Introspectrumental II
  • 7. Integration

“Integration” sta

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