Anton Batagov
Featuring
Telo Tulku Rinpoche

BODHICHARYAVATARA
The Way of the Bodhisattva

Selected chapters from the poem by Shantideva

Remastered digital edition

Bodhicharyavatara: The Excellence of Bodhichitta
Bodhicharyavatara: Adopting the Spirit of Awakening
Bodhicharyavatara: The Practice of Patience
Bodhicharyavatara: Dedication

Total time 59:47

Music by Anton Batagov

Vocals: Telo Tulku Rinpoche
All instruments: AB
Composed, recorded and mixed in December 2008 – February 2009
Mastered in 2021
Cover photo by Alisa Naremontti
Liner photo by Ira Polyarnaya
Design by AB

Executive producer: Richard Guerin

© 2022, SUPERTRAIN RECORDS

Release date: 18 February

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May I be an island for those seeking an island,
A pathfinder for those who are on the road.
May I be a bridge, a boat, and a ship
For those who would cross.

Shantideva

It's not just a music for meditation. It's a real drama that leads a modern listener towards deeper understanding of a heroic path of the Bodhisattvas. I'm sure it will bring great benefit to those who appreciate contemporary music.

Telo Tulku Rinpoche

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This 60-minute composition is based on selected chapters from the famous poem Bodhicharyavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva). Composed by an eighth-century Indian master Shantideva, Bodhicharyavatara is one of the greatest classics of Mahayana Buddhism. Since the 8th century, this text has been an inspiration to millions of Buddhists and non-Buddhists throughout the world. It describes the path of the bodhisattvas, those who vow to become enlightened in order to help all beings awaken into the state of freedom.
"...If I have any understanding of compassion and the practice of the bodhisattva path, it is entirely on the basis of this text that I possess it." (H. H. the Dalai Lama).

The vocal part is performed by The Shajin-Lama (Supreme Lama) of Kalmykia, the Honorary Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia and Mongolia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche.
Telo Tulku was born in 1972 in the US into a family of Kalmyk emigrants. At the age of four he told his parents about his desire to become a monk. At the age of six, on the advice of the Dalai Lama, he was sent to study at the Tibetan monastery of Drepung Gomang in India. He spent 13 years there, studying Buddhist philosophy under the guidance of outstanding Tibetan teachers. He was recognized as the new reincarnation of the great Indian Saint Tilopa (988—1069).

I've been extremely fortunate to meet Rinpoche in person. We first met in 2008. He looked at me and said: "We should record some music together." He suggested that he sing several chapters from Bodhicharyavatara in a studio, and then I compose music based on this vocal track. That's the compositional technique I had implemented in some of my earlier works: using a Tibetan prayer or a philosophical poem chanted in traditional manner as a foundation for a new composition – wrapping a "core" melody with instrumental textures made of harmonic / melodic patterns and other elements thus creating a contemporary musical form. Rinpoche chose chapters #1, 3, 6 and 10 from Bodhicharyavatara. His performance sounds not just like a Tibetan chant but sometimes exactly like Gregorian chant or Russian Old Believers' monody. I also clearly hear some rock and blues intonations. In my composition, I filled this structure with sounds that bear imprints of a variety of musical styles, traditions and epochs.

In 2009 the album Bodhicharyavatara was released on CD. However, it has never been available digitally. In 2021 all tracks were remastered and prepared for this digital release.
I am deeply grateful to Rinpoche for such a unique collaboration.

Anton Batagov

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