This album is a meditation on kindness, compassion, and the fundamental desire of all sentient beings to be happy and free from suffering. Each song is a small narrative centered around the Buddhist method for cultivating compassion known as the 11 Points of Bodhicitta: 1) Meditation on equanimity free from attachment and hatred; 2) Recognizing all sentient beings as our own mother; 3) Remembering the kindness of beings, the common and uncommon methods; 4) Returning Others’ Kindness; 5) Equanimity Between Ourselves and Others; 6) Meditation on the shortcomings of the selfish motivation; 7) Meditation on the qualities of the altruistic motivation; 8) Based on the actual motivation of exchanging ourselves with others, driven by the force of compassion we take on their sufferings; 9) Based on a motivation of actual equanimity to exchange ourselves with others that is driven by the force of love, we give; 10) Great mind; 11) Bodhicitta.
We’re All in the Changing
Meditation on equanimity free from attachment and hatred, since everything changes: friend, foe, or stranger it’s just a label which may change in any moment.
Mothers of the Flow
We can see all sentient beings as our own mother, or sister or brother, we all are related one with the other through the years, so we are a whole great family.
Hey Ho, Kindness Grows!
Everything in our lives is deeply reliant on the kindness of others, from the very day of our birth. This song celebrates the interdependence of our existence with that of all sentient beings.
I Still Remember
By regarding the kindness of all beings as that of our mother, we feel gratitude and the need to reciprocate it, even when those before us are hostile.
In Your Shoes (And Mine Too)
We can cultivate equanimity toward others by exchanging ourselves with them, realizing that all beings desire to be happy and avoid suffering just as we do.
The Ballad of Hollow Jack
Selfish motivation, which fails to consider the importance of relationships with others and nature—being focused solely on oneself—always leads to negative consequences. This ballad tells the story of a deeply selfish man who, seeking happiness by fixating only on himself, ends up living a wretched life.
The Song of Giving Joe
Giving Joe is a friend of Hollow Jack, but he has an attitude toward life that is exactly the opposite, and thus lives a full and happy life.
I Have Seen
Observing human suffering, a sense of compassion arises in the heart, leading us to wish to take upon ourselves the suffering of others.
The Genie’s Dream
Observing human suffering, a sense of compassion arises in the heart, leading us to wish to take upon ourselves the suffering of others.
For You
This song is like a love song to all sentient beings, playing on the ambiguity of the word ‘you.’ The singer pledges to lift beings from suffering and gift them happiness.
Lobsang's Journey
This song tells the story of Lobsang, a Tibetan boy who witnesses his parents’ tragic murder by a violent man. Fleeing to India with his sister, they endure poverty and hunger until a compassionate woman offers them refuge, enabling Lobsang to grow and study. As an adult, Lobsang vows to repay the kindness he received, yet grapples with the human inability to fully comprehend how to help every being. He dedicates his life to studying the human mind and nature, traveling the world in search of answers. Years later, he reunites with the man who killed his family, who tearfully begs for forgiveness—a forgiveness Lobsang grants with love. In that moment, he realizes that everything changes, and embracing this impermanence becomes the key to freeing others from suffering and attaining true happiness.