Twenty years ago, I took some verses from Thomas Cleary’s monumental three-volume translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra (“The Flower Ornament Scripture”) and paraphrased them, making them into a twelve-verse poem—one verse for each month of the year. I made a little calendar and gave copies to congregation members as a New Year gift.
For many years, I more or less forgot about these verses. But a couple years ago, I thought that I would like to do something with them again. I had long since lost the calendar, but, fortunately, Rev. Master Hector had a copy and very kindly provided me with all the verses. In the end, I put them to music (paraphrasing my paraphrase in the process), and—to my amazement—Rev. Master Hector and congregation members and friends have recently made some very excellent recordings of this music as well as some of my other music. One of the recordings of The Flower Garland of Existence is attached to this article together with the words and the written music.
This article is more about the circumstances in which this music was written than it is about the verses and music—though I think that it must be about both, because in my own mind and heart they can never be separated.
During the last five years, a number of people with whom I have been very close have died. And right in the midst of this period when friends (and my mother) were dying, three of our temple dogs—the three dogs who lived with me—died. I wrote The Flower Garland of Existence while I stayed close to one of my dying dogs. Looking back on it now, I think that I was following an intuition to give voice to a teaching that I needed at the time that I wrote the music, and that I would need in the months to come—and that I need today.
The third dog, Buddy, died last spring right after the Ten Precepts Retreat. He seemed to be in perfect health, and one day he had a seizure. Within a week he was in a constant state of seizure and no amount of medication could prevent the seizures. I finally chose to put an end to his seizures through euthanasia. With the help of a compassionate veterinarian, this was done at home in our temple right in the room where Buddy had lived for years. This is the only time I have felt the need to euthanize a dog.
Nine months have passed since Buddy’s death. I am still grieving. Somehow this particularly sudden death seems to have summarized the flow of deaths in the last few years (which also began with a sudden death–that of Rev. Master Alexis in an automobile accident). There is no better teaching than birth and death. Even while I am grieving, I do not wish things to be other than they are. Grief comes and goes: the Eternal is.
The few words that I borrowed from the Avatamsaka Sutra emphasize the beauty and majesty of existence: the universe contemplated as the Body of the Eternal. This beauty and majesty, this Dharma Body, includes our life and our death.
A flower garland is made up of many flowers joined together in a line on a string. The Flower Garland of our life is made up of flowers of beauty and flowers of ugliness, flowers of joy and flowers of grief, flowers of life and flowers of death.–All are within the Great Immaculacy. We can know this even in the midst of the deepest suffering. This is the purpose of meditation.
Rev. Master Jiyu used to say, “I’m in this [Buddhist training] for me and one other person.”–Meaning that she was completely content if her training benefited one other person in addition to herself, though in fact many, many people have benefited from her training, and many more will do so in years to come. Of the religious music I have written, I can say the same thing: “It has helped me to write it, and I will be very happy if it benefits one other person.”
- Recording of The Flower Garland of Existence
- Lyrics for The Flower Garland of Existence
- Music for The Flower Garland of Existence
The recording is performed by:
♪ Wyanda Yap, Soprano
♪ Gerchien Vermeer, Alto
♪ Roelf Wind, Baritone
♪ Rev. Hector van der Marel, Baritone
We began this project with the wish to produce a basic recording of this composition, so as to provide Rev. Master Koshin with an audible sample of his creation. Initially, the thought was to have two people—Wyanda Yap (S.) and myself (Ba.)—each sing two parts separately and then afterwards mix those together. This may sound easier than it actually is, for both pitch and timing have to be exactly identical in the course of the ten minute piece. However, we never got that far. For very soon the happy idea arose to supplement our challenged duo with a couple more singers, and in Gerchien Vermeer (A.) and Roelf Wind (Ba.) we found two experienced singers willing to join us. Together with Rob Brunekreeft, our organ player, our ensemble, which later came to be called Musica Dharma, was formed.
Just as the lyrics of the piece describe the many manifestations of the One Buddha Nature, so does the music utilize a wide variety of forms to express this. Without becoming too technical, as singers we had to adapt to the many changes within this one piece: sometimes the beat of the music is in fours and sometimes in threes; there are also tempo changes and key changes; it has solo sections, contrapuntal sections, and hymn-like harmonic choral lines. For us singers it was not just challenging, but also quite interesting, to properly honor all these continuously changing facets and musical colors. For the listener, the music just takes one on a joyful, fascinating ride through all these different planes, spheres, realms and worlds that ends with the majestic final chord which reveals the truth underlying them all: "the One in all things."
On June 14, 2019 we had the honor to give the first public performance of this piece, together with three other compositions by Rev. Master Koshin, in a local church in the Netherlands. The other compositions were: As Rivers and Streams, Wind and Leaves, and I Ask, “Who is the Believer?” This was a joint concert with Wiltsangh, a local a capella quartet. Two of the Musica Dharma members are also part of the Wiltsangh quartet. The concert was well received by the audience.
Not long before this concert took place, we learned about an opportunity to have a professional recording done at a special rate for amateur musicians. And so on June 26 we went to another local church for the recording session, which of itself was quite a learning experience. Although the recording took place during a heat wave and the church was rather stuffy, I don't think the singing was much affected by it. And thanks to the professional equipment and assistance of Arnoud van der Laan of AE Audio Productions we are pleased to present this recording of The Flower Garland of Existence.