Zen Songs 1-9
I have finally compiled my list of Zen Songs
Flaming Lips- "Fight Test"
This song reminds me that there is a time for everything and that embracing Buddhist beliefs does not mean that one has to let other walk all over her/him. There's a time to stand up for what one believes and the person s/he wants to be--a time for action or non-action, and always to pay attention.
FAV LINE(S): "there are things you can't avoid/ You have to face them When you're not prepared to face them."
Bjork-"Alarm Call"It was either this song or Bach's "Sleepers Awake" and I fiqured this still had that contemporary music vibe. Hell, she says "I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment", the kid in me still thrills when certain people curse. This reminds me that life is a waking dream, and what we call reality stands to be questioned.
FAV LINE(S): "This is an alarm-call so wake-up wake-up now"
Tim Booth- "Discover" Tim Booth is one of my favorite artists, most of his songs resonate deeply with me and I think the majority of his songs have a spiritual element that is universal. This one reminds me that, I'm/we are all constantly changing, growing and learning. Also that we all have friends or choose to surround ourselves with people who will help us see into ourselves--in this way we help each other evolve emotionally and spiritually.
FAV LINE(S): "I was the user and now I am used/ To recover, those who wish to discover/Who I am becoming"
Miranda Lee Richards- "The Beginner"I saw her perform live once, she's got guitar skills and she can sing. This song reminds me to keep a "beginner's mind". Keep my mind empty so that I can take in the new, then empty it again. I love how she says she's improvising as she goes along as do we all. I have a tendancy to say things like "same old--same old or same stuff different day" when actually even if I do the same activities, awake-work-home-sleep-awake. . .etc. Each day is different if I choose to see the beauty of the nuances. Everything starts by keeping an open mind.
FAV LINE(S):"Well you're never a beginner/How ya' ever gonna begin?"
The Buzzcocks- "Why Can't I Touch It?"This song is too cool to me. When I hear it, I recall some math theory about there being an infinite number of points between A and B, something about only being able to get halfway to any particular destination--I used to be all about math, but that knowledge was the first to go. Anyway, our brains make "sense" of the gaps inbetween, fill it in with "meaning" when in actuality it's all unknown and unknowable. Our understanding of the world through our senses only yeilds half truths, the rest we must intuit, apprehend or give up searching for truth in physical/sensual experience because there is NOTHING there.
FAV LINE(S):"And it sounds so real I can see it/So why can’t I touch it?"
The Police-"Synchronicity I"Before starting my Zen practice I figured sychronicity was a "sign" that I was on the right track/path. My Sensei says that it only means I'm paying attention and not to put too much thought into such things as it will only distract me. My favorite line which I will quote below, reminds me that. . .I am in a box trying to make sense of things going on around me, when my sense of things aligns with something that happens I call it sychronous however, there is no way for my consciousness to get outside of the box to gain a different perspective. Yeah, something like that.
FAV LINE(S):"It’s so deep, it’s so wide/You’re inside/Synchronicity"
The Helio Sequence- "Let It Fall Apart"This is possible one of my favorite songs as it reminds me that it's okay to feel as though I'm going to breakdown. It brings to mind images of burning and gnashing of teeth--only to end up rising phoenix-like from the ashes. Having/feeling crushing, back-breaking pressure placed upon myself (internally or externally) and myself being a lump of coal, a diamond in the rough. It reminds me to be at ease with the slow or sometimes quick death of ego.
FAV LINE(S):"You're only falling to rise again/You're only lost to be found again/It only ends to begin again."
Natalie Merchant- "Carnival"Merrily, merrily, merrily. . .life is but a dream. Sometimes it does seem to me as if life is a circus. So many colorful people and strange happenings. This songs reminds me to delight in the spectacle instead of becoming transfixed and "stuck" in the drama.
FAV LINE(S):"Have I been lost/Inside my self and/My own mind/Hypnotized/Mesmerized/By what my eyes have seen?"
Tim Booth- "Monkey God" Another Tim Booth song, he's amazing. The title makes me think of "monkey mind" so this has interesting implications for "monkey god". I haven't thought of those implications yet as they pertain to me, and it's lunchtime now. I'm very hungry and want to post this before I go.
FAV LINE(S): "We die to live, and live to die"
Flaming Lips- "Fight Test"
This song reminds me that there is a time for everything and that embracing Buddhist beliefs does not mean that one has to let other walk all over her/him. There's a time to stand up for what one believes and the person s/he wants to be--a time for action or non-action, and always to pay attention.
FAV LINE(S): "there are things you can't avoid/ You have to face them When you're not prepared to face them."
Bjork-"Alarm Call"It was either this song or Bach's "Sleepers Awake" and I fiqured this still had that contemporary music vibe. Hell, she says "I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment", the kid in me still thrills when certain people curse. This reminds me that life is a waking dream, and what we call reality stands to be questioned.
FAV LINE(S): "This is an alarm-call so wake-up wake-up now"
Tim Booth- "Discover" Tim Booth is one of my favorite artists, most of his songs resonate deeply with me and I think the majority of his songs have a spiritual element that is universal. This one reminds me that, I'm/we are all constantly changing, growing and learning. Also that we all have friends or choose to surround ourselves with people who will help us see into ourselves--in this way we help each other evolve emotionally and spiritually.
FAV LINE(S): "I was the user and now I am used/ To recover, those who wish to discover/Who I am becoming"
Miranda Lee Richards- "The Beginner"I saw her perform live once, she's got guitar skills and she can sing. This song reminds me to keep a "beginner's mind". Keep my mind empty so that I can take in the new, then empty it again. I love how she says she's improvising as she goes along as do we all. I have a tendancy to say things like "same old--same old or same stuff different day" when actually even if I do the same activities, awake-work-home-sleep-awake. . .etc. Each day is different if I choose to see the beauty of the nuances. Everything starts by keeping an open mind.
FAV LINE(S):"Well you're never a beginner/How ya' ever gonna begin?"
The Buzzcocks- "Why Can't I Touch It?"This song is too cool to me. When I hear it, I recall some math theory about there being an infinite number of points between A and B, something about only being able to get halfway to any particular destination--I used to be all about math, but that knowledge was the first to go. Anyway, our brains make "sense" of the gaps inbetween, fill it in with "meaning" when in actuality it's all unknown and unknowable. Our understanding of the world through our senses only yeilds half truths, the rest we must intuit, apprehend or give up searching for truth in physical/sensual experience because there is NOTHING there.
FAV LINE(S):"And it sounds so real I can see it/So why can’t I touch it?"
The Police-"Synchronicity I"Before starting my Zen practice I figured sychronicity was a "sign" that I was on the right track/path. My Sensei says that it only means I'm paying attention and not to put too much thought into such things as it will only distract me. My favorite line which I will quote below, reminds me that. . .I am in a box trying to make sense of things going on around me, when my sense of things aligns with something that happens I call it sychronous however, there is no way for my consciousness to get outside of the box to gain a different perspective. Yeah, something like that.
FAV LINE(S):"It’s so deep, it’s so wide/You’re inside/Synchronicity"
The Helio Sequence- "Let It Fall Apart"This is possible one of my favorite songs as it reminds me that it's okay to feel as though I'm going to breakdown. It brings to mind images of burning and gnashing of teeth--only to end up rising phoenix-like from the ashes. Having/feeling crushing, back-breaking pressure placed upon myself (internally or externally) and myself being a lump of coal, a diamond in the rough. It reminds me to be at ease with the slow or sometimes quick death of ego.
FAV LINE(S):"You're only falling to rise again/You're only lost to be found again/It only ends to begin again."
Natalie Merchant- "Carnival"Merrily, merrily, merrily. . .life is but a dream. Sometimes it does seem to me as if life is a circus. So many colorful people and strange happenings. This songs reminds me to delight in the spectacle instead of becoming transfixed and "stuck" in the drama.
FAV LINE(S):"Have I been lost/Inside my self and/My own mind/Hypnotized/Mesmerized/By what my eyes have seen?"
Tim Booth- "Monkey God" Another Tim Booth song, he's amazing. The title makes me think of "monkey mind" so this has interesting implications for "monkey god". I haven't thought of those implications yet as they pertain to me, and it's lunchtime now. I'm very hungry and want to post this before I go.
FAV LINE(S): "We die to live, and live to die"