First release of a musical composition by Amir Mourad – The Bardo Suite (I.The Dark Bardo, II.The Light Bardo)

This is a two-part suite depicting the inner struggles in a journey through the Bardo states, heavily inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Amir Mourad’s own experiences with meditation. The first release of a two-movement musical composition by Amir Mourad. Enjoy, it is a complex piece to listen to which demands one’s attention, not only because of the length of the piece but the complex orchestration and the large sound that is the result.

The word Bardo means an “intermediate state”. The “intermediate state” is often understood to be continuity of consciousness after death of the body where various visions and mental perceptions may arise. “Bardo” also refers to any intermediate state – whether it be between wakefulness and sleep, concentration and meditation, ignorance and wisdom, or life itself which is an intermediate for rebirth. Loosely speaking, a Bardo can mean any transition of being and has various significance when it comes to the journey of inner transformation and mental purification.

In tantric sciences it is said that if the individual is unable to maintain lucidity of awareness after the death of the body, he is bound to fall prey to being identified with these visions – some terrible and nightmarish, others wonderful and benevolent. However, all of them must be understood as being self-created mental projections and expressions of one’s own karmas.

If approached consciously with the recognition that such visions are none other than the projections of one’s own mind – then the Bardo is an opportunity for discovering the empty, non-dual consciousness which is the ground behind all such appearances. It can be an opportunity for Nirvana. With clear and integrated awareness, such visions lose their power over the psyche and dissolve into universal emptiness.

If the individual is unable to remain anchored in luminous presence of one’s own nature of mind, then he falls into stages which can be considered equivalent to self-created “heavens” or “hells”. It is with the terrible and nightmarish visions that the first movement, “The Dark Bardo” begins. Fearful, foreboding, threatening, and ominous yet tremendously purifying, once what has remained hidden in the darkness has come to the surface of awareness, only then can their karmic imprints be resolved. The key is to remain non-identified with such visions. “The Dark Bardo” eventually transforms into the second movement, “The Light Bardo” – which is the “calm after the storm”. In “The Light Bardo”, the terrible visions resolve into an atmosphere of ecstasy, knowledge, and equanimous union.

Listening with headphones highly recommended.
Amir Mourad – Everything (guitars, vocals, programming, orchestration)