SYMPHONY No. 9
(Orb of Vajrasattva)

The basis of this work, and the sole text for the choir and soloists, is the Hundred Syllable Mantra (associated with the buddha Vajrasattva), whose primary purpose is claimed to be for healing and helping to purify us of negative karma and habitual tendencies. In Vajrayana Buddhism and the preliminary practices for Dzogchen - the highest path recognised in Tibetan Buddhism - this mantra purportedly serves a special function: that of purification of samayas. Those who formally practice these paths make special vows ('samayas')* which commit them to consistent adherence to their spiritual practices and way of life that supports them. Inevitably even the most dedicated practitioners don't succeed in keeping all their vows all the time, and according to the Vajrayana and Dzogchen teachings the karmic consequences of such broken vows in these high paths can be serious. Chanting or reciting the Hundred Syllable Mantra, then, is claimed to be an exceedingly important practice for purification and dissolution of the negative karma created by the inevitable broken vows in one's day-to-day living.

* Later note (October 2007) - I now clearly understand that the making of ANY vow, never mind its supposed 'rightness', is a seriously harmful thing to do, and in the context of ALL religions and spiritual paths it is actually a 'dark' practice in its effect - no more positive in its effect than Satanism. For more about this please see the relevant note and affirmation in The Guide to Complete Self Realization. Similarly, as you will read on that page, even the chanting of mantras is effectively a 'dark' practice - that is, a practice that strengthens the hold upon you of the astral forces of ego-power, control, fear and negativity.

I therefore distance myself totally from all mantras and, as far as I can see at the moment, I would never use mantras again in any music or other artistic composition - though, as you'd understand from the above paragraph, I'm being careful not to make a personal vow about this.

Since I composed this symphony I distanced myself from Buddhism (including the abovementioned view of the way that karma operates and the quaint notion that you can clear karma by reciting a mantra rather than actually putting things right in your life), and I recognise that this work is of very universal intent and from a deep and ancient source that I feel greatly predates Buddhism as we know it, and for all I know may have been elsewhere than on Earth.

On the musical level, my starting point was a transcription of the chant of this mantra by Chagdud Tulku, one of the great Tibetan Buddhist masters. His chant, as recorded, is mostly on one note, with only occasional minor excursions up or down, but it has a strange and powerful energy. The sense of rhythmic drive has much to do with 'vajra' always being pronounced 'banzara' with the bounce of a dotted rhythm at that point.

So, after an initial flash of light (or thunderclap, depending how you perceive it), the work starts with the bass soloist singing the chant in mumbling fashion much as Chagdud Tulku did, and this is then taken up by the choir basses. Then very quietly, out of this emerge in the orchestra the first intimations of the new melody that the choir will be singing, like a beautiful shimmering mist enwrapping the chanting basses. What follows from that is a series of variants of the melodious rendering of the mantra, sometimes accompanied by the original chant or slight variants thereof. In keeping with the nature of mantra chanting, the melody itself is hardly varied apart from an inverted version sometimes being used, but the variation is more in the form of different arrangements, which range from peaceful and plaintive to wild and intense, sometimes with strange chordal harmonization and usually with various canonic treatments. Towards the end the music subsides back into the chant of the beginning, leading to the final flash of light or thunderclap.

Although the work could be seen as basically a set of variations - which isn't usually thought of as the sort of structure that could be called a symphony, in practice this work shows a strong sense of direction and musical argument that runs through it, taking the listener on a powerful and uplifting journey - so in 2004 I decided to reclassify it as a symphony, particularly as it fits into the special category of symphonies which I had introduced with my Symphony 7 (Ancient Chants of Compassion).

The Hundred Syllable Mantra:

(Dashes have been inserted to indicate the musical phrases)