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Olive Moksha

by Darshan Pulse

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Zarvoc
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Zarvoc I'll be honest, I've been in a love affair with this album ever since it was released. It's quite stark for prog; it's easy on the guitar pyrotechnics, but heavy on the unusual melodies and filmic content. My favorite part is when the guitars and pianos double up in the chorus of Anatta, while the bass and drums carve out strange counter-rhythms. Favorite track: Anatta.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a gatefold digipak case, with full-color artwork (the Universal Calendar) and photography by RemBrandt Miller.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Olive Moksha via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    Purchasable with gift card

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1.
Dukkha 04:37
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2.
Vihara Devoir 07:46
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3.
Avalokiteshvara 12:47
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4.
Wandering Bhikkhu 13:48
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5.
Request to Laura 04:35
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6.
Pala Moksha 04:26
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7.
Sidpa Bardo 03:23
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8.
Tulku Bhava 03:18
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9.
Ici Avant 05:30
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10.
Quarry Unhewn 06:15
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11.
Padme In The Orchard 08:03
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12.
Anatta 05:21
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about

This is an instrumental concept album expressing the essence of samsara, the Buddhist doctrine of cyclical existence.

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Dukkha, the state of suffering and want, begins our tale. Upon this background the curtains rise on three monks, performing their daily duties at a nameless monastery. They cut wood, carry water, tell stories -- Vihara Devoir.

On the monastery grounds there is an olive orchard, where the monks work and meditate. One night, while the monks are meditating under an ancient olive tree, Avalokiteshvara, an enlightened being, appears to them in a vision. He tells them to leave the orchard and become bodhisattvas, and wander the earth spreading good works. They immediately depart, giving their lives over to public service, each having a grand adventure and struggle greater than the next. Wandering Bhikkhu. By and by, they live out their lives, gradually winding down, passing peaceably into the spirit world without malice or despair. Their bodies are sent back to the monastery for burial.

Upon death, each of them sees for the first time the transient nature of all things -- a movement of lightness and air enters them. Request for Laura. They pass through the bardos between death and rebirth, first re-experiencing their lightest thoughts and moments of fleeting grace -- Pala Moksha -- followed swiftly by a re-telling of their darkest, most selfish thoughts, and moments of weakness. Sidpa Bardo. Unable to remain coalesced into a separate Will, facing an unknowable choice between rebirth and nirvana, each monk's selfhood is torn apart in the transition.

Tulku Bhava. Years pass, and three children are born, each somewhere in the first world. They come of age in an ailing society, overfull with violence and thoughtlessness, and struggle with the desire to take the right action instead of the easiest action. Ici Avant. Desperate for an answer to the deepest questions that plague them, they each search for their own Truth, wherever it may lead. By and by, through hill and vale, the children find themselves at the doors of an ancient monastery. The scent of fruit oil and brine fills the air with peace and sweetness. Quarry Unhewn.

The abbot of the monastery meets with each child. It is clear from their meeting that this is not the first time they have met. The children know too much at too young an age. The children and the abbot talk long into the night, contrasting stories of a bygone time of a natural rise and fall with those of woes of present unmet wants. Exhausted from the revelation, the children stay the night at the orchard, sleeping under an old half-dead tree. Padme in the Orchard.

During the night, the children awaken at once to the brightness of the full moon, she having suddenly slipped off her blanket of cloud. They are struck still by the realization of the doctrine of no-self, that there is no difference between themselves, the old monks, and the bodhisattva nature of all sentient beings. Anatta. They rise with the Knowledge, the Sight, and the Truth, and whether they live long and well, it is not for us to say. But having experienced moksha, they are free.

credits

released November 8, 2021

Graham Woolley and RemBrandt Miller - concept
All tracks composed by Graham except Quarry, which is by Sean McChesney

All improvised solos by Sean McChesney except on Vihara, which is by Graham Woolley

RemBrandt Miller - rhythm and lead guitars, acoustic guitar on Wandering
Sean McChesney - lead and rhythm guitars, synth on Ici Avan, Dukkha, and Padme; acoustic guitar on Quarry
Graham Woolley - drums, piano on Dukkha, Request and Anatta; tambourine, triangle, sleigh bells, synth on Dukkha, Vihara; guitars throughout
Stephanie Mansfield - bass and metal horns (\m/)

Megan Makeever -- flute on Tulku
Justine Flynn -- harp on Avalo and Dukkha; horn on Request
Adam Keele -- trumpet on Vihara
Jessica Catron -- cello on Request and Anatta
Brandon Zimmer -- MIDI programming and hand percussion on Request
Gabriel Vasichek - throat singing on Avalo

Engineered, mixed and produced by Brandon Zimmer and RemBrandt Miller

Mastered by Jason Hicks at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, Montana

Created via proprietary music theory

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all rights reserved

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about

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Darshan Pulse Missoula, montana

The Darshan Pulse Collective is a group of like-minded individuals who found their truth in the wilds of Montana, and lived to tell the tale.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. ... more

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