🎵 Dhammapada Blues: The Twin Verses The William Altig Choir

Ancient Buddhist wisdom. American Blues soul.

2,500 years ago, the Buddha spoke 423 verses that changed millions of lives. This playlist translates the first chapter—the Twin Verses—into the language of the Mississippi Delta, the juke joint, the midnight hour.

Each song takes a teaching from the Dhammapada and lets it breathe through slow shuffles, gospel warmth, and weathered vocals. Not Buddhism explained—Buddhism felt.

The Songs:

🎵 Get Your Head Right (Verses 1-2) Your mind writes the first verse of your life's song. Everything else follows.

🎵 Put That Record Down (Verses 3-4) Stop replaying the old hurt. Lift the needle. Let the room go quiet.

🎵 We All Running Out of Time (Verses 5-6) Hate can't kill hate. And we're all dying here. So love while you can.

More songs coming as we walk through all 423 verses...

Part of the Dharma Reborn project—Buddhist sutras translated through American Blues. Because the truth sounds better when it swings.

🙏 May these songs serve your liberation.

🎵 Dhammapada Blues: The Twin Verses The William Altig Choir

At 3 AM when your mind won't stop running—replaying every failure, every hurt, every argument—there comes a moment when you catch yourself. 

This song is about that moment.

"Get Your Head Right" draws on 2,500-year-old wisdom: your mind writes the first verse of your life. What you feed it determines what grows. The Blues has always known this—now The William Altig Choir makes it plain.

What are you thinking about tonight?

[Verse 1]
Woke up this morning with my troubles on my mind
Said I woke up this morning, troubles heavy on my mind
Been thinking hateful thoughts all night
Now I'm falling way behind

[Chorus]
'Cause your mind writes the first verse
Your hands just play along
Yeah, your mind writes the first verse, baby
Your hands just play along
Better get your head right, honey
Or your whole life's a sad, sad song

[Verse 2]
I was cursing at my enemies while laying in my bed
Reliving every wrong they done, playing movies in my head
Didn't raise my hand, didn't make a sound
But I poisoned myself instead

[Chorus]
'Cause your mind writes the first verse
Your hands just play along
Yeah, your mind writes the first verse, baby
Your hands just play along
Better get your head right, honey
Or your whole life's a sad, sad song

[Bridge]
The wheel follows the ox, the ox don't follow the wheel
What you're thinking 'fore you move is what you're gonna feel
Your shadow sticks to you from morning until night
So fill your mind with kindness if you want to walk in light

[Verse 3]
Three in the morning, phone glowing in the dark
Replaying every failure, every miss, every mark
But I caught myself this time—I know how this thing goes
What I'm feeding in my head is what my tomorrow grows

[Chorus]
So your mind writes the first verse
And the body sings the tune
Yeah, your mind writes the first verse, baby
Body just sings the tune
Better get your head right, honey
Or your whole life's a sad, sad song

[Outro]
What are you thinking about tonight?
'Cause that's what tomorrow's made of.
Get your head right.
Everything else follows.

---

📿 Based on Dhammapada Verses 1-2
🎵 The William Altig Choir
🪷 Lotus Sutra devotees | Awakening through American Blues

Get Your Head Right

We All Running Out of Time The William Altig Choir

🎵 Dhammapada Blues Series – Song 3 (Verses 5-6)

The Buddha said: "Hatred never ceases by hatred—only by non-hatred does it end. This is the eternal law."

And then he reminded us: "Others do not understand that here, we are perishing."

This song is about letting go of the grudges you've been carrying. Not because the people who hurt you deserve it—but because your time is too precious to waste on hate. We're all running out of time. Every tick of the clock is yours and mine.

Warm acoustic gospel blues. Resonator guitar. Brushed drums. A choir lifting you on the final chorus. This one's for anyone who's been holding onto bitterness longer than they should.

Here's my loving trick for you tonight: stop fighting fire with fire. Meet hate with something softer, something wiser. Your time is precious, baby. Don't waste it being angry.

We running out of time... so love while you can.

🙏 Part of the Dhammapada Reborn project—ancient Buddhist wisdom transmitted through American Blues.

Lryics:

We All Running Out of Time. 

[Verse 1]
I used to carry grudges like a second set of keys
Kept 'em in my pocket, polished them with memories
Every name that wronged me, every hand that did me dirty
Had a file in my heart that I updated past thirty

[Chorus]
But we all running out of time
Every tick of the clock is yours and mine
Why you gonna waste it holding on to hate?
We all running out of time, don't let it be too late

[Verse 2]
Fire don't put out fire, that's the oldest law there is
My grandmama told me that, and her grandmother told her kids
You want the burning to stop? You gotta bring something different
Non-hate for the hatred, that's the healing, that's the treatment

[Chorus]
We all running out of time
Every tick of the clock is yours and mine
Why you gonna waste it holding on to hate?
We all running out of time, don't let it be too late

[Bridge]
Look around this room, every soul is headed home
Could be tomorrow, could be tonight, nobody knows
So what you fighting for? What grudge is worth your breath?
Let it go, let it go, we're all just walking toward death

[Verse 3]
Wise ones figured this out, they don't bother with the brawl
When you know the clock is ticking, you stop sweating the small
Put your sword down, brother, sister, lay your burdens on the ground
This old world's too beautiful to miss while you're angry at the sound

[Final Chorus]
We all running out of time
Every tick of the clock is yours and mine
Don't you wanna feel that peace before you go?
We all running out of time, let the hatred flow

[Outro]
Here's my loving trick for you tonight:
Stop fighting fire with fire—it only burns the house down.
Meet hate with something softer, something wiser.
Your time is precious, baby. Don't waste it being angry.
We running out of time... so love while you can.

We All Running Out of Time

The Buddha said: "He abused me, he struck me, he defeated me, he robbed me"—for those who dwell on such thoughts, hatred is never appeased. For those who don't dwell? The hatred settles.

This song is about that record player in your head—the one that keeps spinning the same old hurt on repeat. You didn't choose what happened to you, but you do choose whether to keep rehearsing it.

Slow Chicago blues shuffle. Warm tube amp. Midnight bar feel. A song for anyone who's ready to lift the needle and let the room go quiet.

You ain't denying what happened. You're just choosing what you feed.

🙏 Part of the Dhammapada Reborn project—ancient Buddhist wisdom transmitted through American Blues.

[Verse 1]
Sat up in the kitchen with the lights down low
Old hurt spinning like a late-night show
He talked bad about me, took what I earned
Needle in the groove where the anger burns

[Chorus]
Put that record down, let the hate lie down
Set the vinyl on the shelf, let the needle rest now
You can sing that pain forever, but it never makes you free
Put that record down, let your heart get out the key

[Verse 2]
Screens glow blue, feeding all your doubt
Same five memories keep wearing you out
She betrayed me, left me, broke my name
Playing it on loop like it's earning you fame

[Chorus]
Put that record down, let the hate lie down
Set the vinyl on the shelf, let the needle rest now
You can sing that pain forever, but it never makes you free
Put that record down, let your heart get out the key

[Bridge]
You ain't denying what happened, you're just choosing what you feed
You can water thorns all evening or plant a kinder seed
Hate is a squatter, stop paying the rent
Drop the stylus, walk away, that's how the fury's spent

[Verse 3]
Morning sun creeping, whole house still
Coffee steam rising, quiet on the sill
You breathe in mercy, breathe out the fight
Let the track go silent, feel the room fill with light

[Final Chorus]
Put that record down, let the hate lie down
Set the vinyl on the shelf, let the needle rest now
You can sing that pain forever, but it never makes you free
Put that record down, leave the loop, step into peace

Put That Record Down

The Buddha taught about two kinds of people: weak trees and mountains.

Weak trees chase every pleasure, let their senses run wild, don't know when enough is enough, slack on the work. When the storm comes—and it always comes—they go down hard. Māra (temptation, delusion, death) knocks them flat.

Mountains are different. They trained themselves. Restrained their senses. Know their limits. Did the work when nobody was watching. When that same storm hits? They don't move. Not an inch.

This song is for everyone fighting addiction—to substances, screens, shopping, scrolling, whatever your poison is. The storm's coming. What are you made of?

Driving blues with gospel fire. A song for building yourself before the tempest hits.

🙏 Part of the Dhammapada Reborn project—ancient Buddhist wisdom transmitted through American Blues.

[Verse 1]
I knew a man who chased every shiny thing in sight
Pretty faces, fast money, parties every night
Eyes wide open but he couldn't see the cliff
Living for the high with no strength to lift

[Chorus]
You gotta stand like a mountain, baby
When that wind starts to blow
You gotta stand like a mountain
Let the storm rage, let it go
Some folks fall like weak trees
Māra takes them down low
But if you built it right, you built it deep
You stand like a mountain in the snow

[Verse 2]
Screens glow blue, feeds telling you what you need
Every dopamine hit is planting poison seed
No restraint on the appetite, no limit on the scroll
All that pretty empty filling up a hungry hole

[Chorus]
You gotta stand like a mountain, baby
When that wind starts to blow
You gotta stand like a mountain
Let the storm rage, let it go
Some folks fall like weak trees
Māra takes them down low
But if you built it right, you built it deep
You stand like a mountain in the snow

[Bridge]
Train your eyes to see beneath the surface shine
Know when enough's enough, that wisdom's worth more than wine
Put in the work when nobody's watching you
Build your roots down deep, and no storm's getting through

[Verse 3]
Every morning I get up, I do the hardest thing
Face the truth about myself before I hear the bells ring
Keep my senses on a leash, know my limits well
Building strength for when the tempests come, and oh, they will

[Final Chorus]
So I stand like a mountain, baby
When that wind starts to blow
I stand like a mountain
Let the storm rage, let it go
Weak trees falling all around me
Māra trying to take me down below
But I built it right, I built it deep
I stand like a mountain in the snow

[Outro]
You can't control the storm, but you can control what you're made of
Build your roots deep. Train yourself strong.
When Māra comes, and she always comes
you'll be standing while the weak trees fall.

Stand Like a Mountain

Clothes Don't Make the Saint
The William Altig Choir

🎵 Dhammapada Blues Series – Song 5 (Verses 9-10)

The Buddha knew it 2,500 years ago: wearing the robe doesn't make you holy.

You can put on the clerical collar, the mala beads, the meditation aesthetic for the 'gram—but if you haven't done the inner work? That's just a costume. The preacher with the perfect suit who can't keep his vows. The influencer with the crystals who's raging in the DMs. Performance isn't transformation.

But the one who's actually cleaned house inside? Who lives what they preach? Who earned it through discipline and truth? They can wear whatever they want—they ARE the teaching.

This is a song for anyone tired of spiritual performance culture. A call to check yourself before you check in online.

🙏 Part of the Dhammapada Reborn project—ancient Buddhist wisdom transmitted through American Blues.

Lyrics: 
[Verse 1]
Preacher man on Sunday morning, suit pressed clean and white
Got the congregation swaying, saying everything sounds right
But his secretary's crying, his children don't know his name
All that holy talk on Sunday don't mean a thing if it's all a game

[Chorus]
Clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
You can dress up like an angel
And still be something mean
It ain't the cross around your neck
Or the beads upon your wrist
It's what you do when nobody's watching
That's what makes the list

[Verse 2]
Influencer posting sunrise, crystal bowl and sage
Talking bout enlightenment while she's seething backstage
Got a hundred thousand followers but can't look in the mirror
All that spiritual aesthetic just makes the truth get clearer

[Chorus]
Clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
You can dress up like an angel
And still be something mean
It ain't the mala on your arm
Or the mantra that you speak
It's when you're tested by the world
That we see if you are weak

[Bridge]
I've seen women in house dresses with more wisdom than a priest
I've seen janitors with kindness that put bishops at the least
The robe's just cloth, the collar's just white
The question is: did you do the work? Did you make yourself right?

[Verse 3]
Now I ain't saying don't wear the uniform if you earned it true
I'm saying check yourself before you wreck yourself, what's really you?
Cause wise folks been saying this since a long time ago
Costume's easy, character's hard, and it's the only thing that shows

[Final Chorus]
So clothes don't make the saint, baby
The robe don't make you clean
But if you've done the work inside
Then wear it like a queen
It ain't about the symbol
It's about what's in your soul
When you've expelled the poison
Then you're worthy of the role

[Outro]
You can fool the crowd. You can fool yourself for a while.
But truth has a way of coming out in the wash.
So do the work first. Become what you claim to be.
Then whatever you wear? It's righteous.

Clothes Don't Make the Saint

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Welcome to the musical world of The William Altig Choir, where ancient wisdom meets contemporary sound.

Inspired by the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and infused with deep spiritual themes, my music blends the rich traditions of blues and folk with modern elements, creating a unique fusion that resonates with both the heart and soul.

I've been captivated by the Lotus Sutra's messages of compassion, wisdom, and transformation since my youth. It's a journey of self-discovery that has found its voice in my music. Each song is a reflection of my own spiritual awakening and a celebration of universal truths.

My style is characterized by emotive storytelling, powerful lyrics, and a commitment to exploring the depths of human experience. Featuring contemplative blues, acoustic slide guitar, saxophone melodies, and the harmonies of a gospel choir, my music reflects a quest for enlightenment and a better understanding of the self.

Join me on this musical journey. Together, we can explore the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, finding solace, hope, and a deeper connection to the world around us.

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