Habitual Patterns (1998)
by Alan Anderson
Habitual Patterns.mp3
Habitual Patterns.pdf

While visiting with Lama Chonam one afternoon, I saw him pick up a book, and rather than simply read the text, he began to sing it. As a musician, I wondered if I was capable of doing such a thing. Not long afterward, while reading a 1979 Kalapa Assembly talk by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, I was struck by a certain passage that seemed to be both prosaic and poetic. One line from it —“You are more concerned about the fly sitting on your cup, than about the great sun that is coming up.”—inspired me to spontaneously sing it to my brother who encouraged me to write it down. After composing the melody and lightly editing the text, I created the background music. I hope you enjoy it.