Chakai Bardo

Meditation and Prayer

The spirit begins his journey in the after-life in a state of consciousness called the Chakai Bardo. At the commencement of this state the spirit sees a pure light which symbolizes pure thought. This is the buddha consciousness. If the spirit is unenlightened, then it will not join the buddha consciousness and will continue into the world of death. Soon the light becomes dull and unclear, symbolizing confusion, and the spirit begins to see visions of death and preparations being made for death.

Being a composer I saw this image in the form of sound. The piece begins with a sine wave representing the pure light. As time passes the sound becomes harsher, eventually becoming screams and sirens. The sound then returns to a sine wave and the section ends. Integrated into the music is the form of a tibetean incantation ceremony. In my version, as with a tibetan incantation ceremony, a gong is sounded, followed by horn sounds and another gong before the music begins. But, I took this a bit futher in order to make the section palindromatic. So, after the section ends the incantation is repeated.

The performance itself is also based on a tibetan incantation ceremony, arranged to look like a funeral. At the center under the screen lies the body of the spirit on a death bed. Four monks dressed in white appear and sit across from each other, two on each side. They pray and meditate over the body while images of death appear on the screen. After the cycle is complete and the gong is sounded, the body is carried off the stage. The sensation of the piece is that of patience and meditation. The music itself, although electronic in nature, has an organic feel which subtly mutates in a slow, graceful way.