Erik Jampa Andersson’s “dharmatized” version of Lady Gaga’s hit song “Born This Way” is currently making the rounds on Facebook with his own unique spin on the title: “Reborn This Way.” The title references the Buddhist concept of rebirth, the belief that mind and energy is reborn after death until enlightenment is reached.
Reborn This Way – Gaga in Bhutan
I’m usually reluctant to post my dharma songs online because they’re sometimes silly and it feels a wee bit vulnerable, but the last one was well-received so I figured I’d try.
Last fall, while my pilgrimage group was staying with the local community at Druk Zangri Khangmar, a remote monastery in the northern Bhutanese region of Lhuntse, I was requested by Rigdzin Longyang Rinpoche (the resident tulku) to sing some dharma songs. The monastery is actually comprised of a community of female and male householders dedicated to the teachings of Machig Labrön, the great dakini and matriarch of Chöd. So I figured a tune by Lady Gaga, a kind of dakini in her own right, would be appropriate. I “dharmatized” this song about 8 years ago, based on teachings on the precious human birth.
In Gaga’s tune, she includes a wonderful verse about sexual, racial, and gender diversity that I only moderately alter in my version. While Longyang Rinpoche (the man sitting to the left in the video), is one of the many progressive Vajrayana masters who emphatically supports and embraces those in the queer community, Bhutan as a whole is not politically favorable towards sexual, gender, or ethnic minorities, and it is currently very illegal to be gay or trans in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Things are shifting, however, and the overall openness of the community here was heartwarming.
PS if anyone has access to Gaga, she should know that Tibetan Medicine is quite adept at working with fibromyalgia, and that mayyybe she should contact me. 😉
The video doesn’t catch the beginning of the song (and I fumble the words a bit throughout), but here are the full lyrics for those who are interested:
Reborn This Way
(based on Lady Gaga’s Born This Way)My lama told me when I was young,
A human birth is hard to find.
Complete with freedoms and advantages,
And a threefold faith within my mind.
This precious body can bring you up,
But it can also bring you down.
The choice is yours, right now it’s do or die.
The only moment is right now.I’m beautiful in my way,
This karma’s no mistake,
I’m on the right path,
Baby, I’m reborn this way.
Don’t waste away in despair,
Seize every day, cuz they’re rare.
We’re on the right path,
Let’s all practice ’till we’re awake.Don’t be a meanie, be a dakini*,
Don’t be a meanie, be a dakini,
etc…Compounded dharmas are impermanent,
The earth will change and so will we.
We’re born, get old, fall ill, and then we die,
Cycling through eternity.
In all the realms that we will travel through,
Our karmic deeds decide our fate.
So strive for virtue in all that you do,
Life’s too short for us to hate.I’m beautiful in my way,
This karma’s no mistake,
I’m on the right path,
Baby, I’m reborn this way.
Don’t waste away in despair,
Seize every day, cuz they’re rare.
We’re on the right path,
Let’s all practice ’till we’re awake.There’s wisdom in this old cliché,
So don’t just throw your life away.
The Dharma’s here for us to use,
The choice is yours, go on and choose.
And if samsara’s got you down,
Let rainbow light enter your crown.
Rejoice that Dharma’s reached your ears,
Cuz baby, that’s what brought us here.No matter gay, straight, or bi,
Lesbian, transgender life,
We’re on the right path,
Deshin shekpa’i nyingpo** survives.
No matter black, white, or beige,
Chola or Orient-made,
We’re on the right path,
Yeah, our Buddha Nature’s the same.***Orgyen yul-gyi nupjang tsam
Pema gesar dongpo la
Yatsen chok-gi ngödrup nyé
Pema Jungney jesu drak
Khordu khandro mangpo kor
Khyé-kyi jesu dak drup kyi
Jin-gyi lop chir shek-su sol
GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG
PEMA SIDDHI HUNG
PEMA SIDDHI HUNG
OM A HUNG VAJRA GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG-Erik Jampa Andersson
*A dakini is broadly a female wisdom being, but also refers both to layered manifestations of enlightened feminine energy and particularly remarkable human women. Also lolz to these lyrics.
**Tibetan for Tathagathagharba, “The essence of those gone to Suchness,” AKA “Buddha Nature.”
***This is the seven-line invocation to Guru Rinpoche, the master that brought tantric Buddhism from India to Tibet in the 8th century.
#ladygaga #bhutanPosted by Erik Jampa on Monday, March 19, 2018
Andersson sings, “don’t be a meanie, be a dakini” — a female embodiment of wisdom, and a term used to honor dedicated female practitioners and teachers. His revamped lyrics also reference karmic deeds, the seeds we plant through our thoughts and actions that become habitual tendencies, and buddha nature, the fundamental nature of all beings and the concept that we can all reach enlightenment.
Andersson’s performance was filmed at Druk Zangri Khangmar, where Rigdzin Longyang Rinpoche, the monastery’s resident tulku, asked him to share a few of his dharma songs.
He was on a two-week pilgrimage with Lama Tsultrim Allione, visiting sacred sites and receiving teachings with the community at Druk Zangri Khangmar, a remote monastery in the region of Lhuntse and the Bhutanese seat of Machig Labdrön’s chöd lineage.
Andersson is an apprentice teacher and senior ritual leader at Tara Mandala Retreat Center in Colorado, and a trained practitioner and teacher of Tibetan medicine with Sorig Khang International. As he wrote on Facebook, he considers Lady Gaga “a kind of dakini in her own right,” and “dharmatized” her original tune nearly eight years ago to reflect teachings on rebirth.
Andersson also shared his version of John Denver’s “Wild Montana Skies,” which he’s altered to honor the life of Padmasambhava, the Indian tantric master who helped bring Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet. He filmed his version at Paro Taktsang, also known as “Tiger’s Nest,” which was built near the cave where Padmasambhava meditated for three years.
“I had decided at a young age that I wanted to be Buddhist, specifically deciding that I wanted to follow the Nyimgma tradition when I was 13 years old after reading the life story of Padmasambhava,” says Andersson.
Wild Himalayan Skies – Tiger’s Nest, Bhutan
Wild Himalayan Skies
(To the tune of Wild Montana Skies by John Denver)He was born in the Oddiyan valley,
As a grown 8-year old boy.
In a lotus on Dhanakosha,
He was filled with boundless joy.
Then King Indrabhuti found him,
And he took him as his own.
And he said a humble prayer as he placed him on a throne.
Oh, Yum Chenmo, give this child a home.
Give him the Dharma, and a Sangha,
And a consort of his own.
Give him a HUNG in his heart,
Give him an OM at his third eye,
Give him dakas for his brothers
In the vast Oddiyana skies!
Well he named him Padmakara,
And the boy became a man.
Left Indrabhuti’s kingdom
To go explore the land.
From the charnel grounds to the vajra throne,
Then in Zahor he found
The Princess Mandarava,
And in Yab-Yum they were bound.
Well the king and others shunned him,
And they burned him at the stake.
But the Vidhyadhara’s power
Turned the pyre into a lake.
The king was awed and sobbing,
As his eyes laid on this feat.
Gave Thötrengtsel his daughter
As he bowed at the guru’s seat.
Oh, Thötrengtsel, give this child a home.
Give her the Dharma, and a Sangha,
And a consort of her own.
Give her a HUNG in her heart,
Give her an OM at her third eye,
Give her khandros for her sisters
In the vast Himalayan skies!
Well Tibet’s king Trisong Detsen
Heard of Padmakara’s fame.
How he exorcises demons,
And the king needed the same.
Evil beings were converted
To protectors of the land,
And the king became his student,
And he gave him Tsogyel’s hand.
Well the Vajra Guru stayed there
In the mountains of Tibet (and Bhutan :-p )
Where he taught the Vajrayana
And blessed everyone he met.
The beyul and terma hidden there
Are more than you could count.
He said after 55 years,
As he left for his Copper Mount:
Oh, disciples, the Sangha is your home.
The Buddha’s always inside you,
And the Dharma is your own.
There is a HUNG in your heart,
There is an OM at your third eye,
The khandros are your sisters
In the vast Himalayan skies!Posted by Erik Jampa on Wednesday, March 21, 2018
