The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129306   Message #2902259
Posted By: GUEST,Gloria
07-May-10 - 03:43 PM
Thread Name: Songs relating to Buddhism/Zen/etc
Subject: RE: Songs relating to Buddhism/Zen/etc
Someone quoted the Incredible String Band above. They also did a song called Douglas Traherne Harding - about Douglas Harding(believe it or not!) who wrote an influential zen-like book called "On Having No Head".I like the Incredibles - but this is not them at their best.
With this kind of thing, there's the ever-present danger of pretentiousness.At the opposite extreme are fairly dumb songs like "Bodhisattva" by Steely Dan.
I've always loved the traditional song " I Once Loved A Lass" for its verse:-

The men in yon forest theyre asking of me
How many strawberries grow in the salt sea?
I answer them with a tear in my eye
How many ships sail in the forest?

reminiscent of a certain kind of zen koan like :-

   "Empty handed,yet carrying a hoe
    Walking yet riding a buffalo
    the man crosses over the river
    The bridge flows, but the water does not"