Perfect Love
The chord pattern for the verse of this song is a traditional Spanish progression which I first heard in Carlos Santana’s beautiful instrumental “Europa’. Since the great Carlos doesn’t sing, I took the liberty of expressing my feelings about perfect love that can exist between the Devotee and the Lord.

No Distance
In 1990, with no obvious warning, my Spiritual Master left this world. Now when I am alone, gazing up at the stars I love to wonder which planet He is on now, and imagine Him up there, still thinking of me. It helps me to understand how Love lives on, even after death.

Remember Me
This is just a simple spiritual love song – I love Him, and I don’t know whether or not He remembers me, but I will never forget Him.

Hou Yi shooting the suns
In 1984 a friend of mine returned from a period of study in China, and showed me some photographs he’d taken of some incredible paintings by a brilliant yet unknown Chinese artist who was considered to be a subversive by the government and had been forced to work in secret in a stone walled cell. Amongst them was one entitled "Hou Yi Shooting the Suns". This painting depicts “Hou Yi” a figure from Chinese mythology who appeared at a time when the world was oppressed by the heat of nine suns. Hou Yi climbed a mountain and shot down eight of the nine suns with his great bow, leaving us just one, and saving the people. The painting inspired a song about the Chinese peoples lost dreams of freedom. Later, after the Tiananmen square protest and the massacre of the students by troops in 1989, I modified the lyrics to commemorate that brief flash of hope, their struggle and their sacrifice.

The Chant of Pemulwuy
When I was living in Australia I read a book called “Pemulwuy, the Rainbow Warrior.”
More than two hundred years ago the British invaded Australia, declaring it uninhabited in order to justify their claim to sovereignty. All reports of resistance were suppressed by the British, but resistance there was, and many deeds of courage were left unsung. Pemulwuy, a tribal leader and shaman of the Eora people united the tribes near Sydney to fight the invaders. He swore never to us the weapons of the white men as he considered them to be evil. It was commonly believed that this gave him the power that he could not be killed by those weapons. On one occasion he was wounded and captured, bound hand and foot in chains and imprisoned in a guarded cell. Then his people began a chant and continued for five days and five nights. On the fifth night Pemulwuy disappeared and was soon seen leading his warriors against the whites again.

A Dream
I wrote this in bits – part of it in a whimsical mood in Finland during the summer where the sun shines until midnight. The chorus I wrote in a more devotional frame of mind. I stole the line about the Lords hand in my hair from my good friend Dada Acalananda to whom the album is dedicated.
Lake Gardens Before My Master, Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji departed from this world. I spent many beautiful moments with Him at his home in Lake Gardens, Calcutta. When I went there again, I still felt His presence as continued to teach me about the hidden side of reality.

No Distance Kiirtan
To the tune of “No distance” I’ve set a mystical chant commonly used before meditation. This chant, “Baba Nam Kevalam” is a “Siddha Mantra” or Perfect Mantra. The words carry a special power to help the listener feel the love within, and all around us. Baba Nam Kevalam means that “Everything is a Manifestation of One Cosmic Consciousness”, or more simply, “Love is all There Is”.

The Return of the Magic
We are at a critical juncture of human history. On the one hand we have the possibility of destroying ourselves and our planet, and on the other the great hope that our inner humanity will rise to the occasion, that we will respond to this crisis with wisdom and compassion, and create a civilization worthy of the name.
To realise this beautiful dream may seem next to impossible, but I believe that we are not alone in our struggle. Behind all of creation lies the power of its creator, the power of Universal Love, and it is awakening…..

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