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"