Mr. Altig’s Overview of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra

A bluesy folk tale about a man who burned for a thousand years and a girl who smiled just once—and how they both found the same light.

This song weaves an ancient Buddhist paradox into American roots music tradition. It’s the story of Strong-Heart, who gave everything—even setting himself ablaze for centuries—trying to reach enlightenment on a distant mountain. And it’s about an ordinary kid who heard the same teaching and just… smiled.

When the teacher tells Strong-Heart that both journeys are equally valid, everything changes. The mountain you’re climbing? It’s already inside you. The light you’re searching for? You’ve been carrying it all along.

Fingerpicked guitar, mournful harmonica, and a walking bass line carry this tale from the darkness of extreme sacrifice into the revelation that we already have what we’re looking for. We just forgot.

Written in the tradition of delta blues meets Appalachian storytelling—where Son House meets the Lotus Sutra, where ancient wisdom gets translated through American folk music’s soul.

“You got the light, you got the light / You got the light you already got”

Sometimes the hardest journey is realizing you’re already home.

Inspired by: The Lotus Sutra’s teaching on instantaneous enlightenment (Chapter 10), the paradox of extreme effort vs. simple faith, and the idea that Buddha-nature is always present, just waiting to be recognized.

For fans of: Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Son House, Mavis Staples, Johnny Cash, American folk Buddhism, spiritual blues, story songs that make you think.

VERSE 1
[Fingerpicked guitar, minor key, lonely and sparse]

Well, there’s a mountain that glows in the eastern sky
Strong-Heart said, “I’ll climb that peak or else I’ll die”
He gave away his silver, gave away his gold,
Set himself on fire — burned for ages untold.

[Harmonica wail – mournful, sustained note]

He burned his arms to stumps, seventy-two thousand more
Till ain’t nothing left of Strong-Heart but ash upon the floor
But the teacher at the mountain top, he just shook his head
“Son, you’ve been carrying what you’re looking for,” he said

CHORUS 1
[Full band enters, bass line walking, brushes on snare]

You got the light, you got the light
You got the light you already got
Ain’t no mountain you gotta climb
Ain’t no fire you gotta burn
You got the light, you got the light
Just waiting on your turn

[Harmonica answers each line with a bent note]

VERSE 2
[Guitar returns to fingerpicked pattern, add subtle bass]

Now there’s a girl in the valley, she ain’t done nothing much
She heard a story ’bout that mountain, felt something in her gut
Just one moment, just one smile
Like sunshine breaking through the clouds of doubt

The teacher turned to Strong-Heart, said “Listen here to me
That girl who smiled just one time? She gets the same guarantee”
Strong-Heart said, “Now hold on, that don’t seem quite right”
“I burned for thirteen hundred centuries, she just smiled at the light!”

CHORUS 2
[Same as Chorus 1, but add vocal harmony on “you got the light”]

She got the light, she got the light
She got the light she already got
Ain’t no mountain she gotta climb
Ain’t no fire she gotta burn
She got the light, she got the light
Just waiting on her turn

BRIDGE

[Tempo slows, everything drops to just guitar and voice, contemplative] [Speaking rhythm, like an old preacher]
Now listen, Strong-Heart,” said the teacher kind,
“Your fire was the smile she found in her mind.
If I’d told her your story, she’d have turned away,

But you, who burned the longest, can hear what I say…”

[Guitar builds, bass returns]

“See, I told it to YOU, old friend
‘Cause if I told it to the lazy ones
They’d say it was too easy, just a game to play
But you, who burned the longest,
You can understand what I say…”

[Drums enter with a steady heartbeat]

“The mountain that you’re climbing
Is already in your chest
And every single step you take
Whether fire or whether smile
Is just remembering what you are
What you been all the while”

[Full band crash, then sudden silence]

VERSE 3
[Just voice and guitar, intimate]

So Strong-Heart, he starts laughing
Through the tears running down
“You mean all that burning I was doing
Was the light I’d already found?”

“That’s right,” the teacher whispered
“Your fire and her joy
Are the same recognition
Can’t be measured by what you destroy”

FINAL CHORUS

LEAD: We got the light!
BACKING: (We got the light we already got!)
LEAD: We got the light!
BACKING: (We got the light we already got!)
Ain’t no fire we gotta burn
Ain’t no truth we gotta learn,
We got the light, we got the light —
Been shining since we were born.
Every single one of us, waiting on our turn

[Repeat, building]

Yeah, we got the light, we got the light
Whether you burn or whether you smile
We got the light, we got the light
Been carrying it all the while

OUTRO/SPOKEN WORD
[Band drops to just bass and brushed snare, finger snaps]
[Spoken in rhythm, like a talking blues]

Now some folks gonna burn for a thousand years
Some folks gonna smile just once
But the teacher said they’re both the same road
Just different ways of coming home

The question ain’t how hard you try
The question is: do you remember?
Do you remember what you are?
Do you remember you’re already
Already…
Already home?

[Single guitar note, let it ring out and fade]