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| "Another life had placed me [and I was reborn] as a Black woman," Kendrick, "Reincarnated" |
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| I hope in my next lives I never see Drake again. |
Well, whose are they then? (One might as well insert "God" here like your aunt would because the idea that "they are neither ours nor someone else's" is just too much for most to fathom. So if we imagine they belong to some omniscient, omnipotent, all-good being with some grand plan, then religions and our aunts can get us to do whatever they tell us.
Whose are they? The five parts of an impersonal process are identifying and clinging with the functional whole (the five all together: (1) Form (body, materiality) is forming; (2) feeling is feeling, (3) perception is perceiving, (4) mental formations are mentally forming, and (5) consciousness is being conscious. That is what is really happening.
Read the Heart Sutra for a poetic (or HEAR THE RAP VERSION) of this subtle but unbelievable Truth. That's all one thing, that there isn't really what seems to be at the heart of this entire impersonal process. And it is ignorance, greed, and aversion (hate and fear) that keep the process going, mostly ignorance because by not seeing the harm, assumptions keep happening. And based on these wrong assumptions, actions (karmas) keep happening. And karmas have the power to bring about their natural results.
- NEWSFLASH: Sorry if you are about to hear this for the first time and it violates the "identity" you cling to, but no one is strictly male or female insofar as one person might be 100% male and hetero and macho, but in past and future lives, that person is a female. We can be reborn as either sex or as intersex or as asexual. This means, among other things, that a bad boy can and will find himself being reborn as a poor girl sometime down the line for his oppressive behavior toward girls. Be forewarned and knock it off. And all those girls who think being a boy is so great, you've been it and will be a boy again. You aren't either. We are not what we identify as and cling to as our identity.
- REBIRTH IN CHRISTIANITY? Know what else is strange? Most Black people in America believe in rebirth. They don't realize they do, but they do. How so? Most are Christian, and every Christian is taught that we are alive now, we will die soon, we will rise from the dead, be judged, and then live again -- for eternity -- in heaven or hell. At least Catholics have some other options (purgatory and limbo). These are rebirth teachings, just very impoverished ones, true in their own way or possessing nuggets of truth. Does Islam believe in rebirth? Yes, in just the same way. That's how the Abrahamic religions believe. Judaism is strange because it does not seem to believe in karma, preferring instead a very popular alternative (that YOU probably believe in, too) called kismet or fate, destiny, predetermination. And most Jews are taught that the afterlife is the same for everyone, a trip to Sheol or Hades or a dull place where not a lot happens so that it's very important to live now and not waste time worrying about the hereafter. This may be why they achieve such great things in this world while having miserable futures to deal with because, if this is all there is, then who needs mitvahs (meritorious credits or "good deeds")?
The other thing is that, now that we understand that rebirth IS real, we can ask, How long has this been going on? In other words, how many past lives have I (or you or they) lived? An uncountable number, too big to count. Okay, and how many future lives do I (or you or they) get? An uncountable number, too big to count. Okay, and how long does each last, and who or what will I be? It depends. (What does it depend on? Karma/deeds/what we do, say, and think). Who decides? It's an impersonal process with no one "deciding," no one "rewarding" or "punishing." How is that possible? Like this:
- When you stick your hand in a fire, who decides to burn your hand?
- No one "decides."
- When you stick your hand in, do you get a reward or a punishment?
- A pun -- neither, actually, it just happens. It's a natural but very regular result, like a rule of the universe. Fire just burns; get close and get burned; stay back and be warm.
- No, no, no, someone has to decide, someone has to be rewarding you and punishing you for putting your hand in fires. It must be a father figure, a Sky Father who knows and sees everything, and He's punishing you for our stupidity of putting your hand that-thing-that-burns (the fire), and He sends scars and blisters and redness, you know, so we don't do it again, even when it's an accident because He works in mysterious ways, and also because He's mad that we killed His son.
- I get it, I get it. In some cases, it's possible that no one is deciding, rewarding, or punishing.
- Right.
- But other times, aren't we kind of deciding? And aren't we kind of rewarding ourselves and punishing ourselves by what we do?
- Right, yes, kind of. But we didn't decide that fire burns or that it should burn, right?
- Right.
- And if it were our choice, we'd always reward ourselves and not punish ourselves, right?
- Right, I mean, I know I would. I might punish myself, too, a little, you know, for contrast.
- Right, a little -- not the amount of "punishing" we actually get. Who would choose that?
- No one, I guess.
- We do kind of do it to ourselves, not by conscious active choice. We do it by karma (our deeds) that, naturally by impersonal rules of the universe, bring about certain results even when we didn't know they would bring about those results because if we had known, we wouldn't have done it.
- Right.
- That reminds me. This is called Wisdom Quarterly, yeah? What is "wisdom"?
- I'dunno, knowing?
- The best definition we ever heard for "wisdom" came from Sir Winston Churchill (this fat British warmongering politician with a great wit who is very beloved). He defines "wisdom" as "that thing you get just after you need it."
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| Has Kendrick gone cray-cray? Sing about sex* |
In this song, Kendrick has a past life regression that causes him to remember 100+ past incarnations (physical rebirths in the human world). He has no idea about the spirit-worlds or the immaterial-worlds. He's only going on the Western Hindu idea that the reason for rebirth/reincarnation is to learn lessons then go to heaven for ever and ever, which if you think about it is the Christian idea, too. Jesus lived in India for 18 years, so it's no surprise that he brought back all those Eastern ideas. Our whole society, thanks to the New Age, knows we suffer "lessons" and learn and evolve and then never have to be reborn again. This is not true in an ultimate sense, but it's what we all believe in this society. When we get enlightened, we'll see that it wasn't true, but until then, this is how we operate.
In the meantime, mind your karma (deeds, physical actions, verbal actions, and thoughts/beliefs/views). "Karma, it's everywhere you're going to be."
Why does everybody love Kendrick (and hate Drake)? It's because he's deep and confessional. Think of his first hit, which is still may one of his best songs, "Swimming Pools (Drank)."
- Strangely, it is not good to think and wonder about rebirth because it leads to foolishness. How? We ask all the wrong questions about it, which boil down to four things. Instead, we could be spending all that time and mental energy asking four other questions that would lead us out of this mess, that would make us wise, that would make us compassionate, that would deliver us, emancipate us, liberate us because, as we all know by now, "The Truth shall set you free." The four foolish questions are constantly asking, Was I? Who was I? Will I be? Who will I be? (Did we exist in the past? As what? Will we be reborn? As what?) What are four much better questions to spend our lives asking? The Buddha, who himself found enlightenment and spent the rest of his life (45 years) teaching everyone how to become enlightened, taught living beings to ask these four good questions that lead to wisdom and freedom: What is suffering? What is the cause of suffering? What is the end of suffering? What is the way to the end of suffering? (The answer in a nutshell is penetrating, not memorizing, the Four Enlightening Truths).
LYRICS: "Reincarnated"
[Intro: Deyra Barrera]
- [This Spanish line can mean, "As it mirrors your look/The night, you, and I" but it seems to actually be saying, "That reflect your gaze, the night, you and I," which makes little sense out of context. Lamar uses this singer elsewhere on the album, so the theme is probably linked in those songs of his. See Genius Lyrics for the latest interpretations. But we found these two clips, and Reddit has come to the rescue:]
album #kendricklamar #deyrabarrera #spanishlyricssinrapsongs
- (Hallgvild/Reddit) "I felt your presence last night and we can cry" (e nos ponemos a llorar or "and we can help each other" if it is e nos podemos ayudar). Interlude -> "that reflects your gaze" (que reflejan tu mirada) "the night you and I (la noche tu y yo)..." Anyhow, that's what I heard! Some words from the singer heard throughout the album, Deyra Barrera : r/KendrickLamar
- This makes much more sense. Kendrick hired Deyra to sing this for his album; he did not sample it. Mexican culture is very romantic and sentimental, particularly Mariachi music, which is something only Morrissey (of The Smiths) and Kendrick understand. ;) So we think the lines mean, "that reflects your gaze/the night you and I [did something]."
[VERSE 1]
I got this fire burnin' in me from within
Concentrated thoughts on who I used to be
I'm sheddin' skin
Every day [becoming] a new version of me
A third of me demented, cemented in pain
Juggling opposing kinds of fame
I don't know how to make friends
I'm a lonely soul
I recollect this isolation
I was four years old
Truth be told, I've been battling my soul
Trying to navigate the real and fake
Cynical about the Judgment Day
I did past life regression last year
And it f*cked me up
Reincarnated on this earth for a hundred plus
Body after body, lesson after lesson
Let's take it back to Michigan in 1947
My father kicked me out the house
'Cause I wouldn't listen to him
I didn't care about his influence
Only loved what I was doing
Gifted as a musician
I played guitar on a grand level
The most talented where I'm from
But I had to rebel
And so I'm off in the sunset,
Searchin' for my place in the world
With my guitar up on my hip
That's the story unfurled
I found myself with a pocket full of money
And a whole lot of respect
While the record business loved me,
I was head of rhythm and blues
The women that fell to they feet
So many to choose
But I manipulated power as I lied to the masses
Died with my money
Gluttony was too attractive, reincarnated
[VERSE 2]
Another life had placed me as a Black woman in the Chitlin' Circuit
Seductive vocalist as the promoter hit the curtains
My voice was angelic, straight from heaven
The crowd sobbed
A musical genius what the articles emphasized
Had everything I wanted
But I couldn't escape addiction
Heroin needles had me in fetal position,
Restricted
Turned on my family
I went wherever cameras be
Cocaine, no private planes for my insanity
Self-indulged, discipline never been my sentiments
I needed drugs
To me an 8-ball was like penicillin
F*ck love
My happiness was in that brown sugar
Sex and melodies gave me hope when nobody's lookin'
My first assistant was a small town scholar
Never did a Quaalude 'til I got myself around her
My daddy looked at her the way
He saw sin in me
I died with syringes pinched in me, reincarnated
How did the genius make a new album?
[VERSE 3]
My present life is Kendrick Lamar
A rapper looking at the lyrics to keep you in awe
The only factor I respected was raisin' the bar
My instincts sent material straight to the charts, huh
My father kicked me out the house
I finally forgive him
I'm old enough to understand the way I was livin'
Ego and pride had me looking at him with resentment
I close my eyes, hoping that I don't come off contentious
I'm yelling, "Father, did I finally get it right?
Everything I did was selfless
I spoke freely,
When the people needed me, I helped them
I didn't gloat
Even told 'em, 'No' when the vultures came
Took control of my fleshly body when the money changed"
"Son, you do well, but your heart is closed
I can tell residue that linger from your past creates a cell"
"Father, I'm not perfect,
I got urges, but I hold them down"
"But your pride has to die"
"Okay, Father, show me how"
"Tell me every deed that you done and what you do it for"
"I kept 100 institutions paid"
"Okay, tell me more"
"I put 100 hoods on one stage"
"Okay, tell me more"
"I'm trying to push peace in L.A."
"But you love war"
"No, I don't"
"Oh, yes, you do"
"Okay, then tell me the truth"
"Every individual is only a version of you
How can they forgive when there's no forgiveness in your heart?"
"I could tell you where I'm going"
"I could tell you who you are
You fell out of Heaven 'cause you was anxious
Didn't like authority,
Only searched to be heinous
Isaiah 14 was the only thing that was prevalent
My greatest music director was you
It was colors, it was pinks, it was reds, it was blues
It was harmony and motion
I sent you down to earth 'cause you was broken
Rehabilitation, not psychosis
But now we here now
Centuries you manipulated man with music
Embodied you as superstars to see how you moving
You came a long way from garnishing evilish views"
"And all I ever wanted from you was love and approval
I learned a lot, no more putting these people in fear
The more that word is diminished, the more it's not real
The more light that I can capture, the more I can feel
I'm using words for inspiration as an ideal"
"So can you promise that you won't take your gifts for granted?"
"I promise that I'll use my gifts to bring understanding"
"For every man, woman, and child, how much can you vow?"
"I vow my life just to live one in harmony now"
"You crushed a lot of people, keeping their thoughts in captivity"
"And I'm ashamed that I ever created that enemy"
"Then let's rejoice where we at"
"I rewrote the devil's story just to take our power back, 'carnated"
- It's interesting that he ends with "'carnated" rather than reincarnated, which is not necessary for the beat or meter. It's as if he's saying that now he is being "born for the first time."
- VIDEO: "The Heart Sutra" (RAP version)
- What if one life you wake up in a Bugatti?
- Hey, Kendrick, you call yourself a "rapper," musing about all this deep stuff. Why don't you sing us a party song, an explicit anthem about sex, like these guys?
A$AP Rocky (ft. KL) "F*cking Problems"
*WARNING: Explicit content, especially from that short guy at Min. 2:41
- Kendrick Lamar; Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven, Sheldon S., Wisdom Quarterly SONG ANALYSIS
