Between Angels and Insects - Papa Roach

Hola ! I thought for this post I'd try to expand on one of the themes that emerged from looking more closely at the second verse of the song from the previous post: Halo - Depeche Mode. Those lyrics touched on the aching we have in our hearts (dukkha) and how "all life's luxuries are there for you and me". To me this all resonates with the truism that "the best things in life are free!"

Many songs have expanded on this theme but I've chosen to look at Between Angels & Insects by Papa Roach - as much as anything to tackle a song from a completely different musical genre from those we've covered so far. Rock Music has long had an association with the occult, the mystic and even satanism - there's none of that here you may be glad to hear - just a very raw exposition of the 4 noble truths of buddhism !

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There's no money, there's no possessions,
Only obsession, I don't need that shit,
Take my money, take my obsession

I just want to be heard, loud and clear are my words,
Coming from within man tell them what you heard,
It's about a revolution, in your heart and in your mind,
'Til you find a conclusion, lost out in obsession,
Diamond rings get you nothing but a life-long lesson,
And your pocketbooks stressing,
You're a slave to the system, working jobs that you hate for that shit you don't need,
It's too bad the world is based on greed,
Step back and see,
Stop thinking about yourself, start thinking aboutâ?¦

There's no money, there's no possession, only
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit

Because everything is nothing,
And emptiness isn't everything,
This reality is really just a fucked up dream,
With the flesh and the blood that you call your soul,
Flip it inside out, it's a big black hole,
Take your money burn it up like an asteroid,
Possession, though you're never gonna feel the void,
Take it away and learn your best lesson,
The heart, the soul, the life, the passion

There's no money, there's no possession,
Only obsession, I don't need that shit
Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit

Money, possession, obsession,
Present yourself, press your clothes, comb your hair,
And clock in,
You just can't win, just can't win,
And the things you own, own you
No!

Take my money, take my possession, take my obsession,
I don't need that shit
Fuck your money, fuck your possession, fuck your
Obsession, I don't need that shit
Money, possession, obsession, I don't need that shit

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Strictly speaking buddhism isn't a form of mysticism - buddhists are nothing if not extremely practical realists, and you can't say that about many mystics ! But mystics do often pick-up many buddhic tendencies and as the Dalai Lama has said himself  "Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need more buddhists. Do practice compassion. The world needs more compassion!”

Its important to say that as far as I'm aware Papa Roach are not buddhists. However, by some means or other this song absolutely nails the 4 noble truths:
1. People suffer
2. People suffer because they crave
3. People can stop suffering
4. They can stop suffering by following the eightfold path

The eightfold path is: right worldview, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. As the lyrics above show, Jacoby Shaddix has some work to do on the "right speech" part but unlike Christianity's 10 commandments - the eightfold path is not a set of hard and fast rules. Rather they form the backbone of the "dharma" which in literal sense means  "that which maintains the stability and harmony of the universe", but practically means the "mode of living" to be encouraged.

For anyone that wants to learn more I strongly recommend the following:
Buddhism Plain and Simple - Steve Hagen
Awakening the Buddha Within - Surya Das

There is a huge amount of wisdom in this message:
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
"You will not be punished for your anger (love of money / sins), you will be punished by your anger (love of money / sins)"

I'm not going to analyse the song line by line because for me when viewed through the lense of buddhism the lyrics have no hidden meaning - they are very explicit !

What I will indulge myself to say is that Jacoby is channeling some great philosophers in his lyrics:

"There's no money" ~ "All money is a matter of belief" - Adam Smith
"There's no possessions" ~ "Property is theft" - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and others
"Reality is just a fucked up dream" ~ "All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream." Edgar Allan Poe

Much more on dreams to come in future posts . . .