Answers!

"The Awakened Mind does not repress images of darkness but makes them brilliantly conscious.  Ecstatically embracing all that we habitually supress, Palden Lhamo, the "glorious goddess", rides a mule through a sea of blood in a universe of flaming darkness.  Until we encounter these energies, that Tantras state, liberation, is only a distant dream".

From Celestial Galery by Romio Shrestha.

I realize my earlier post more than likely sounded simplistic, and perhaps obvious to some, but I think that sometimes the simplest questions are the most interesting if you really get into them.  Palden Lhamo is a Tibetan form of an ancient Indian goddess who became a protector of Buddhist faith.  Images of her are quite intense, often portrayed riding a horse through a sea of blood, wearing a garland of skulls and looking mighty fierce - similar to Kali.

In "The Nature of Buddhist Art," Rama P. Coomaraswamy wrote, "No distinction can be drawn between art and contemplation.  The artist is first of all required to remove himself from human to celestial levels of apperception; at this level and in a state of unification, no longer having in view anything external to himself, he sees and realizes, that is to say becomes, what he is afterwards to represent..."

And therefore every emotion that we feel, is represented in art.  It is an extension of our minds, bodies, energy, everything.  Such a sacred thing to really think about.  This manifestation of feeling, of energy, into a physical form, which can be transfered, shared, preserved for all time.  

We must embrace all aspects of our emotions, even the parts of ourselves that we are ashamed of, in order to truly be free, and further this path to enlightenment, or whatever. ( I'll settle for a peaceful existence).  I love dark music, and for some reason it seems to pull on me more than the lighter stuff, and so I am working with that, and seeing what it can become.  I need to liberate that, among other things, from inside of myself and see what happens.  But at the same time, keeping the balance, the yin and yang, that will allow for a healthy expression.

August 26th

Just finished watching the last avatar episode.  Good wins, our hero Ang, the buddhist monk saves the world AND gets the girl.  What more could you want?

I love that though.  The little things that make you believe in doing good, being the best person you can be.  In the end, Ang doesn't kill his enemy - the fire lord.  Instead he shows him mercy and spares his life, only taking his firebending away.

Ok so what does this have to do with music?

Well it has to do with life, I suppose.  And life influences music.  And art imitates life, isn't that what they say?  I suppose I want my music to translate that feeling, that makes you believe in the magic, that inherent "good"  that should always win in the end :)  

I'm kind of getting a bit out there on this one, but it feels good :) 

It's funny though, good vs evil is not the same as light vs dark.  Or is it?  Where does "dark" music play into all of this.  There is one thing I noticed about myself, and it is that I am somewhat attracted to "dark" music.  You know, it's the damndest thing, since I "want" to always fall on the side of light or "good".  I try and be a good person, I try to be conscious and help people, do the right things, be honest.  And therefore I would "think" then, that I would be the type of person that would be attracted to "light" music.... And I am.... I love it.  I love it all.  But I definitely have a dark side, and I am trying to understand it.  See how it "functions" in a way, what I can learn from it, and HOW I can use it.  

It serves a purpose, it exists for a reason, I am attracted to it for a reason.  And yet, I struggle to understand.  Why would we want a type of music that makes us feel sad?  Is it because we must express what we feel?  But that is too easy, of course you can answer it that way.  But why is it, when so much of our time is spent on trying not to be sad, that we then make it even harder, with the creation and distribution of this music?

It seems like society pushes this agenda all the time of "ways to be happy".  Look around.  Through the media, through advertisements.  You don't see people selling products by directly saying "this will make you depressed".... normally.... Music is really the only example of this.... or perhaps I should say art actually.  Certainly visual media can have that impact.  This translation of feeling.  This energy exchange.  First from the artist to the media.  Then from the media to the receptor - us.  

I really don't have an answer to anything here.... Nor do I even truly "need" to seek one.  Because all that really matters is that I am aware of this, and I continue to examine it, examine myself, and question everything.  Through questions, we can find answers, and I really believe that all answers lie within.... It's just a matter of tapping into it.

Alright.... enough of this spaced out talk!  Time for bed :)

Euro House

Just did some euro house for a film commercial...

My first time doing music for film - sweet!

Good stuff coming :)

Working on a compilation right now for Epiphyte records.  Gonna be super political and raise money for local charities...

That's all I'll say for now ;-)

And that I'm super stoked!

xoxo

Damn, it's August!

Already!!!!

I can't believe how fast time is flying these days....

Things certainly aren't slowing down.  And it seems they will only speed up!  How can things speed up when you are "out" of time already, lol.

I don't usually remember my dreams... but I have some memories from last night.  There was a piano.  And a spider.  I am historically not very into spiders.  But I had a vision earlier this summer about how beautiful and psychedelic they are.  When I was a kid I used to kill them.  Now I try not to kill anything!!  But when I encounter them, I always have a knee jerk reaction to be afraid and want to kill them.  No bueno!!!!  So needless to say, I haven't killed any spiders for a long time, and now whenever I see them inside I just try to catch them and then put them outside.  Better karma ;)

But man, there was a HUGE spider in my dream last night, and without even thinking I tried to kill it the second I saw it.  I failed, and just kind of messed up one of it's legs.  Then I remembered that I wasn't killing spiders anymore and so I caught it and set it free.  And there was also this beautiful old piano in my dream.  And it was in my "house" and for some reason I never played it.  I remember thinking how stupid it was that I lived with a piano that I didn't play.  Gosh if I had a real piano now, I'd be playing it every day!  Funny dream.... 

I guess perhaps last night was the first time I slept well and for a proper amount of time in a while.  That is quite nice...  Phew, alright, I have to get back to it here.  In fact, I am off to my Piano lesson in just a moment.

Cheers,

Liam