Prayers to the Protector

Steve Roach

October 1, 2000

Ambient / Drone

This project started during a 1996 visit from Thupten Pema Lama to Tucson. After Linda had written the liner note for his large Tibetan ensemble, Thupten ended up spending the night at Steve's house/recording studio on the outskirts of Tucson. During that visit in 1996, the chant portion of the present recording was made, having been inspired by Thupten's daily chanting of prayers from the Lama Chopa (also known as Guru Puja in Sanskrit), an essential compendium of daily prayers for Tibetan Buddhists. Quickly, the conversation turned to combining his prayers and Steve's soundworlds. "In Paris, I heard a recording of Tibetan singing with this more modern music, and I thought someday I would like to do this myself." Thupten said yes almost immediately. Steve set up a microphone, and Thupten proceeded to sing from the Lama Chopa that he carries with him wherever he goes. Some of these chants are devotions to the gurus and deities who assist seekers on the path to enlightenment. Others are prayers to the protectors who deflect evil influences and cleanse the world of imbalances, negative emotions, and ego-driven states of mind. The chants, which are sung formally at the monastery by all the monks twice a month, are an integral part of the individual's practice. Thupten told us that he recites these prayers alone at least once a day, sometimes letting them flow silently through his mind, other times feeling the compassion and strength they provide rising from his own voice. He sang his favorites during that impromptu session in the Timeroom. An hour later, after he closed his prayer book and recorded a brief interview, it was time for him to go. While there is an enduring quality of great power and comfort in these age-old chants, Thupten Pema Lama felt that Westerners and young monks taking the tradition into the 21st century would benefit from hearing them in an updated setting. For Steve, it was an unexpected challenge: from the afternoon of December 31, 1999, through the first 18 days of 2000, he held vigil in the Timeroom, creating a sacred sonic space worthy of supporting, and at certain moments amplifying, the feelings of devotion, compassion, protection, and unfathomable mystery resonating throughout Thupten's recitations. "When the chants were originally recorded, Thupten and I talked about how we could bring them to the West in a context of clear and direct understatement," Steve remembers. "I waited for the right moment to bring my own soundworlds into the picture, for a time when I was ready to devote myself to the task with the reverence it deserved." During those first weeks of a most auspicious new year, I absorbed Thupten's chants from day into night, adding sounds from the deep well of inspiration these ancient chants inspired in me, stripping away what was unnecessary until finally the circle was complete. Considering the way in which the initial idea practically came knocking on my door, and the place I had to go in myself to contribute to the project, Prayers to the Protector is, for me, a very special release."