| Cynic – King of Those Who Know Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This song is entirely based on Buddhism, and many of the lines are reworkings and paraphrases from the Dhammapada. "From the mountain top He looks upon the crowds Mindful among the mindless Unbound" This part is a poetic reworking and from verse 29, "Mindful among the mindless, wide-awake among the sleepy, the wise man advances like a swift horse leaving behind a weak jade." "An ocean born of tears for the world" This is a poetic reworking and comes from the Assu Sutta; ""Which is greater, the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — or the water in the four great oceans?... This is the greater: the tears you have shed..." "The churchyard bells Ring mine for just today Save me from hope That I'll be saved" No direct link to Dhamma but essentially Paul means that each "good" moment or time is only that; a moment. The last two lines indicate a plea to awaken from the clinging from these good times and simply strive on diligently, not for hoping with others to uplift. "My thirst unquenchable The rain could become gold And share my box of bones In the ground" This is another poetic reworking of a verse in the Dhammapada, 186-187; "There is no satisfying sensual desires, even with the rain of gold coins. For sensual pleasures give little satisfaction and much pain. Having understood this, the wise man finds no delight even in heavenly pleasures. The disciple of the Supreme Buddha delights in the destruction of craving." "We raise the vibratory level so high that all untruth will fall of its own dead weight" This line is muttered in the first track of the album as well, and simply states that the level of vibratory focus is raised to its highest and destroys all delusion. "King of those who know I’ve taken off my clothes The diamond crushed the stone And gave the world a heart" Paul has been quoted to reference the first two lines "taken off my clothes" to reference spiritual purity and nudity. The last two lines again come from the Dhammapada (verse 161) as a poetic reworking for song; "The evil he himself has done — self-born, self-created — grinds down the dullard, as a diamond, a precious stone." "Our karma's all been burned The molecules emerge In a world beyond this world We dare, speak the word King of those who know To the pure abodes" This is a reference to the King of Those Who Know, the Enlightened one. He who releases himself from five of the ten fetters (the five being identity view, doubt, ritual attachment, sensual desire, and ill will) has depleted his karma and is deemed a "non-returner;" he will be reborn once in a Pure Abode. This all makes sense because Paul Masvidal has been a Buddhist since 2000. |
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