I've been studying Zen Buddhist philosophy on a personal level these past few months, and I'm really indebted to Edgar for piquing my interest in the subject over time. I was listening to "Cool At Heart" from
Melrose an hour ago, and I couldn't help but marvel at how its soothing melody helps me return to the present moment. A few minutes later, something on Google caught my eye. Unless I'm mistaken, Edgar named the track using an English translation of a Buddhist text, the
Sudatta Sutta:
Always indeed he sleeps well,
The Brahmin who is fully quenched,
Who does not cling to sensual pleasures,
Cool at heart, without acquisitions.
"Cool At Heart" was already a personal favorite of mine, so now it's just been elevated to a whole new level!
There are potentially many other track titles that reference Buddhist subject matter. The
Atomic Seasons series has always been rather obvious, so I tend to look elsewhere. I have a feeling that "Turning Off The Wheel" from
Optical Race was originally intended to read "Turning
Of The Wheel" (as a couple of fans have previously pointed out). In Buddhist circles, the so-called turning of the dharma wheel refers to the incremental arrival of teachings that allow sentient beings to overcome suffering. Since a few of us agree that the track was largely written by Edgar, this seems feasible to me. And finally, there is "Passing All Signs" from
Views From A Red Train. I didn't know what to make of the meaning for the longest time, but I now have a working theory. The
Diamond Sutra talks a great deal about signs, which are essentially illusory phenomena in the world that delude and ensnare people on a regular basis. The text advocates seeing beyond these delusions, thereby literally "passing all signs" (so to speak). The track's otherworldly atmosphere seems to support this notion by depicting a sort of higher consciousness where all sensory deceptions fall away. You're free to disagree with these interpretations, but I've personally been having fun doing this detective work. Edgar may be gone, but the impressions he left are truly profound and deeply appreciated.