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

A grounded folk-blues inspired by Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra and the Eightfold Path

“The Sky of Merit” is a grounded folk-blues meditation on wisdom, merit, and the Eightfold Path. Inspired by Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra, this song strips away superstition to reveal the true heart of practice: seeing clearly and walking rightly in a world that’s both muddy and luminous.

With fingerpicked guitar, upright bass, and a dust-road harmonica, the song feels like a conversation with the Dharma at dusk—honest, soulful, and unvarnished. It reminds us that merit isn’t something earned by ritual, but awakened through right view, right thought, right word, and right action.

Like the lotus rising through mud, it’s a hymn for those who stumble but keep walking, who find their clarity not in temples or incense, but in the way they live and love each day.

This is blues for seekers—a truth song for anyone learning to see through the haze and find freedom right where they stand.

Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
I laid down my offerings, a flower and a flame,
Thought I’d buy a piece of heaven, but it don’t work that way.
The Sutra said, “Child, don’t count your prayers in gold—
Merit’s in the seeing, in a mind grown whole.”

[Chorus]
It ain’t in the incense, it ain’t in the song,
It’s in the seeing clear what’s right and what’s wrong.
Right view, right word, right deed, and right way—
That’s how you walk the night into the bright of day.

[Verse 2]
I copied down the verses, ink dark as the sea,
Every word a mirror holdin’ truth back to me.
The letters start to shimmer, the self fades away—
One breath, one thought, one step in the Way.

[Chorus]
It ain’t in the temple, it ain’t in the name,
It’s the mind that’s steady in the heart of the flame.
Right thought, right work, right rest, right play—
That’s how you live the Dharma every day.

[Bridge]
Now some chase heaven, and some chase fame,
But I found wisdom in the dirt and the rain.
The lotus blooms muddy, but the light shines through—
The merit’s not above you, it’s the truth in you.

[Final Chorus]
It ain’t in the riches, it ain’t in the praise,
It’s the still small truth that clears the haze.
Right view, right love, right peace, right way—
That’s how you find the sky of merit today.