Tag: Contemplative

• The Monkey, the Cow, and the Crown Jewel

  

  “The Monkey, the Cow, and the Crown Jewel” is a musical journey into a profound spiritual paradox from 13th-century Japan. Inspired by Nichiren Daishonin’s letter, the Urabon Gosho, the song tells the story of Lord Jibu, a priest described as lacking wisdom and dignity—like a “monkey or a cow”. Yet, he is praised in the…

  William Altig

  October 31, 2025

  music

  Acoustic Guitar, Borrowed Light, Broken Vessel, Buddhism, Cinematic, Contemplative, Crown Jewel, daimoku, Diamond Chalice Precept, Dignity like a Monkey, Dragon Guarding Relics, Epic, Eternal Light, faith, faith alone, Flawed Priest, folk rock, indie folk, Japanese history, Jibu-bō, Latter Day of the Law, Lord Jibu, Lotus Sutra, Mappo, Mappō, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Nichiren Buddhism, Orchestral Folk, Philosophy, Primacy of Faith, Seven Generations, Singer-Songwriter, Snake Holding a Gem, Spiritual, Strings, Supreme Jewel, The Monkey the Cow and the Crown Jewel, The William Altig Choir, Theology, Treatise on the Ullambana Service, Uplifting, Urabon Gosho, Wisdom like a Cow, Wonderful Dharma, Śākyamuni Buddha

• Twigs and Leaves

  

  A stark, bluesy folk ballad that tells a heavy story. Inspired by the dramatic schism in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra, “Twigs and Leaves” is a song about one of the most subtle dangers on the spiritual path: arrogance (māna). It recounts the moment when 5,000 practitioners, believing they had already achieved enlightenment, walked…

  William Altig

  October 30, 2025

  Uncategorized

  acoustic, arrogance, bluesy folk, Buddha, Buddhism, Contemplative, Dharma, Ekayāna, Enlightenment, folk ballad, Houston, humility, Intimate, Lotus Sutra, mournful, Māna, original song, Singer-Songwriter, Spiritual, Stark, Storytelling, The William Altig Choir, Twigs and Leaves, wisdom

• Already Home

  

  A slow blues ballad about the moment everything changes. I spent so long trying to earn my way, step by step, brick by brick—keeping score, watching the clock run down, wondering if I’d ever be good enough. Then one single moment of grace broke through, and I realized: I don’t have to keep trying anymore.…

  William Altig

  October 25, 2025

  Chapter 17, music, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  acoustic blues, acoustic storytelling, already enlightened, always already, Americana, apocalypse, appalachian folk, arriving, assurance, authenticity, awakening, bent notes, beyond measure, blue note, Blues, blues ballad, born again, bottleneck, breakthrough, buddhist blues, burden, burden lifted, Campfire Song, cathartic, celestial shore, chains breaking, coming home, Comparison, confessional, Conscious Music, Contemplative, contemporary folk, conversion, country blues, darkness to light, Deep Listening, delta blues, destination, dharma folk, divine presence, earned salvation, emotional journey, end of wandering, Enlightenment, eternal now, eternal presence, existential blues, face to face, faith, fingerstyle guitar, flash, folk ballad, Folk Blues, found, freedom, good enough, gospel blues, grace, grace over works, harmonica blues, here and now, home, honest, Imagery, immanent, incomparable, infinite value, instant, instant faith, intimate encounter, intimate vocals, kingdom within, letting go, liberation, life changing moment, light breaking through, lightning, live feel, lo fi blues, long road, lyric driven, meditation music, melancholic blues, Merit, Metaphor, minimal production, moment of clarity, mountain music, muddy waters, Mystical, narrative folk, natural sound, never left, no longer lost, old time, one take, one thought, organic production, original enlightenment, peace, pearl of great price, personal relationship, philosophical blues, piedmont blues, poetry, porch blues, presence, promise, promised land, raw recording, raw vocals, redeemed, redemption song, release, relief, religious exhaustion, religious folk, resonator, rest, rest for the weary, Revelation, roots music, sacred music, safe harbor, Samsara, sanctuary, saved, score keeping, self acceptance, singer songwriter, single moment, slide, slow blues, Southern gothic, spiritual blues, spiritual burnout, spiritual folk, Storytelling, striving, sudden grace, sudden vs gradual, suffering and liberation, testimonial, testimony, texas blues, thunder, timeless truth, Traditional, traditional blues, transcendent, Transformation, transformational, treasure, triumphant, trying too hard, unconditional love, unveiling, vertical leap, vintage sound, voice calling, Vulnerability, vulnerable, wheel of life, witness, worth more than

• The Same Moon

  

  A late-night story told on a worn-out porch, “The Same Moon” is a bluesy folk parable about an old teacher and a young student. It explores the timeless Zen wisdom of the “finger pointing at the moon”—the idea that teachings and scriptures are only signposts, not the destination itself. Driven by a fingerpicked acoustic guitar…

  William Altig

  October 23, 2025

  music

  acoustic, Americana, Blues, Buddhism, Contemplative, Enlightenment, Fingerpicking, Folk, Folk Blues, Harmonica, Mellow, Mindfulness, Moon, parable, Philosophy, Reflective, Singer-Songwriter, Spiritual, story song, Student, teacher, wisdom, zen

• The Sun Don’t Preach

  

  A raw, Delta blues track that wrestles with the difference between trying to fix a broken world with force and finding strength in a quieter, more patient wisdom. “The Sun Don’t Preach” is a story told through a bottleneck slide and a steady foot stomp, contrasting the “power of a God” with the “wisdom of…

  William Altig

  October 16, 2025

  music

  acoustic blues, Acoustic Guitar, Americana, Blues Music, bottleneck guitar, Buddhism, Compassion, Conscious Music, Contemplative, delta blues, Dharma, dharma song, Folk Blues, foot stomp, gritty, hope, indie folk, letting go, male vocals, Meditative, Original Music, Patience, Power, power of a god, powerful, Raw, resonator, resonator guitar, roots music, Singer-Songwriter, Slide Guitar, Soulful, spiritual blues, Spiritual Music, Spirituality, Storytelling, Struggle, The Sun Don’t Preach, wisdom, wisdom of the sun

• The Light You Already Got

  

  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…

  William Altig

  October 14, 2025

  Chapter 10, music, Parables, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  #interfaith, #Truth, 1960s folk revival, 3am song, accessible wisdom, acoustic, acoustic blues, ageless wisdom, aha moment, ahead of time, alan watts blues, album track, all paths one, already enough, already home, alt folk, American primitive, american zen, Americana, americana archive, amness, analog, analog warmth, artisan, as above so below, attention, authentic, authentic emotion, authentic seeking, authentic voice, awakening, awareness, back to the land mysticism, balanced path, bare, based on ancient teaching, basic, be here now folk, beat zen, beatnik blues, beautiful mess, before and after the same, being itself, being not doing, bespoke, bluegrass adjacent, Blues, both and, both and neither, boundaried yes, breath, Buddha-nature, buddhist americana, buddhist folk, bus stop satori, call and response, Campfire Song, can’t shake it, canonical, chop wood carry water folk, classic, clear, coal miner’s daughter adjacent, coffee and contemplation, commune folk, compassionate refusal, Conscious Lyrics, Conscious Music, consciousness, Contemplative, core, country blues, craftsman, creative, cross cultural wisdom, custom, daily bread, dark night of the soul, dawn breaking, deep, deep cut, deep lyrics, delta blues, democratic dharma, depression era sound, dharma folk, dialectic folk, different rivers same ocean, direct, distinctive, DIY mysticism, documentary worthy, dust bowl folk, ear worm, earned wisdom, Earnest, East meets West, echo, effortless effort, effortless path, empty highway, endurance, Enlightenment, esoteric folk, essence, essential, eternal now, eternal return, everyday enlightenment, everyday sacred, existence, existential folk, exposed, extreme and simple, faith and effort, fermata, field recording adjacent, film music adjacent, fingerstyle guitar, fire and smile, Folk, Folk Blues, folk ecology, folk philosophy, folk religion, folk renaissance, folk tale, for sustained listening, fractals in folk, fresh, front porch blues, front porch sessions, fundamental, gentle force, genuine, glorious imperfection, golden mean, goldilocks dharma, good news folk, gospel blues, grace not works, grassroots spirituality, grocery store kensho, handmade, handmade holiness, Harmonica, Haunting, headphone music, heart, Heartfelt, hegelian blues, here, hidden wisdom, high and low, hippie trail, hold, holographic universe, holy text blues, honest, honest doubt, human, human and holy, hummable, I and thou, imaginative, imperfect, important, indie-folk, individual universal, inherent worth, inner light, inner outer, innovative, instant enlightenment, intelligent, intentional community music, isness, jack kerouac dharma blues, journey not destination, joyful noise, just as you are, just right folk, keeping it real, ken burns folk, kind rebellion, kitchen recording, kitchen sink spirituality, kitchen table folk, knower and known, koan blues, late night, laundromat liberation, legend reimagined, less is more, library of congress, literate, lived experience, lo fi, long drive music, long haul, Lotus Sutra, loving resistance, lyrical, many doors one room, marathon not sprint, meaningful, meditation music, memorable, microcosm macrocosm, middle way, Mindfulness, moderation, Modern Folk, mountain and valley, mountain mysticism, mountain song, mundane divine, mystery tradition, myth retold, naked, narrative song, neo traditional, new, new sincerity, Nichiren, no BS, no irony, no original sin, non dual folk, non striving, not a single, not too tight not too loose, nothing special, noticing, now, old soul music, old tale new telling, old time music, one day at a time, one of a kind, One Vehicle, open, open road, ordinary mind, original, original blessing, parable, paradox song, parking lot awakening, Patience, pause, peaceful power, pema chodron folk, people’s Buddhism, Perennial Philosophy, perseverance, personal political, philosophical, philosophical blues, philosophical folk, piedmont blues, pilgrimage song, plain, plain speech dharma, Poetic, porch music, post ironic, prairie dharma, presence, process not product, profound, prophetic, protest adjacent, question and answer, quiet strength, ram dass adjacent, Raw, real, real faith, real feeling, real talk, reality, recognition, redemption song, relaxed intensity, remembering, resonance, rest, reverberation, riddle song, room tone, roots music, roots revival, sacred and profane, sacred music, sacred story, scripture folk, seer and seen, self and other, Self-realization, separate waves one water, serious, significant, silence, simple, simple living, sincere, singable, Singer-Songwriter, Skillful Means, slow blues, slow burn, smart, smithsonian folkways, social consciousness, soft revolution, Soul, Soundtrack, space, spirit, spiritual americana, Spiritual Music, standard, statement and reply, stays with you, Storytelling, straight up, straightforward, stripped down, stuck in your head, subject object, substantial, suchness, sudden vs gradual, sustain, sustainable practice, sutra song, systems thinking, taking out trash dharma, talking blues, tape hiss, tathata, temperance, tender no, testimony, thesis antithesis synthesis, thich nhat hanh acoustic, this, this moment only, thoughtful, thus, Timeless, timeless present, traditional folk, train song adjacent, true sound, true story, trying not trying, undefended, unique, unity consciousness, universal spirituality, universal truth, vintage sound, visionary, voluntary simplicity, vulnerable, waking up, walking music, warm, washing dishes blues, weighty, whistle while you work, wisdom traditions, witness, witness and witnessed, wordsmith, working class mysticism, wu wei folk, you are enough, zen and the art of folk music, zen blues

• The Woman in 4B

  

  A Blues Folk Ballad Three voices, one family breaking apart. A mysterious neighbor with an open door and endless tea. A blues-folk story about the three poisons we carry—greed, anger, and numbness—and the unexpected way we learn to set them down. Told through the eyes of a daughter scrolling her pain away, a son burning…

  William Altig

  October 13, 2025

  Chapter 10, music, The Great Teachings of the Lotus of the True Law

  acoustic, alt folk, Americana, Anger, apartment, apartment living, awakening, Blues, Blues Folk, Bob Dylan inspired, Bodhisattva, Buddhism, buddhist folk, call and response, city life, community, Compassion, Connection, Conscious Music, Contemplative, contemporary folk, Dharma, elder wisdom, Enlightenment, existential, family, finger picking, Folk, folk ballad, found family, gospel folk, Greed, grief, Harmonica, healing, healing journey, hope, indie folk, letting go, loneliness, Lotus, meditation music, mental health, Mindfulness, modern parable, mother daughter, multi-voice, narrative song, neighbor, open door, philosophical folk, Redemption, roots music, siblings, social isolation, Spiritual, Storytelling, tea, tea ceremony, therapeutic, three poisons, three voices, Tracy Chapman style, Transformation, urban folk, urban stories, wisdom

• Relational Rhythm

  

  A contemplative folk‑blues piece that turns cosmic physics into a back‑porch hymn. Relational Rhythm (Gravity’s Song) is a cosmic folk‑blues single by The William Altig Choir, blending finger‑picked acoustic guitar, slide‑guitar “spacetime bends,” and warm, soulful vocals. Inspired by Einstein’s curved spacetime and Buddhist insights into inter‑being, the track turns gravity into a groove that binds every heartbeat,…

  William Altig

  May 23, 2025

  music

  acoustic slide guitar, Americana, Contemplative, Cosmic Blues, delta shuffle, Folk Blues, gravity song, interbeing, mindful music, relational rhythm, roots music, soulful storytelling, spacetime, spiritual blues, stargazer folk, William Altig Choir

• The Lantern and the Crystal

  

  “Embark on a mystical journey with ‘The Lantern and the Crystal.’ This folk ballad draws inspiration from a timeless parable. It explores themes of perception, reality, and the search for truth. This song weaves haunting melodies and poetic lyrics to explore the interplay of light, shadow, and inner awakening. Let the story of the traveler…

  William Altig

  November 18, 2024

  music

  acoustic, Acoustic Guitar, Ballad, Calm, Contemplative, Enlightenment, Folk, introspection, love, Meditative, Mystical, parable, Perception, philosophical, poem, poetry, reality, Reflective, Soulful, Spiritual, Storytelling, tarot, Timeless, wisdom, writing

• Lookin’ for the Realms

  

  “Lookin’ for the Realms” is a folk-inspired song with Eastern influences. It explores the idea that heaven and hell, suffering and enlightenment, are not external places. They are states of mind we experience within ourselves. The song encourages listeners to embark on a journey of self-discovery. It asks them to become mindful of their inner…

  William Altig

  October 15, 2024

  music

  acoustic, Compassion, Contemplative, eastern influences, Folk, god, hopeful, indie folk, Inner Peace, introspective, Mindfulness, Self-Discovery, Singer-Songwriter, Spiritual, Spirituality, Transformation, wisdom