{"product_id":"lyrical-dharma-isbn-9780984627165","title":"Lyrical Dharma","description":"\u003cb\u003e#1 New Release in Black \u0026amp; African American Poetry and Rap Music\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It is hard to express how important I feel this book is.”\u003cbr\u003e—Alice Walker, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Color Purple\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA powerful and poetic illustrated meditation on hip-hop and mindfulness\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I want to create music and experiences for people to understand that it’s okay to be exactly who you are. You are enough.”\u003cbr\u003e—Born I\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReading like a book of poetry with accompanying commentary, \u003ci\u003eLyrical Dharma \u003c\/i\u003eexplores the lyrics and life experience of Born I, conscious hip-hop rapper and meditation teacher. Born I's journey of self-expression from a façade of bravado and materialism to a raw sharing of joy, failure, anxiety, and insight inspires and uplifts. The book offers:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe stories and insights behind the lyrics of Born I's most powerful and popular songs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ea beautifully designed package studded with photos and illustrations\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ean authentic expression of Zen insight and mindfulness practice married to creative expression\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ea resonant invitation to young BIPOC readers seeking a path to navigate the complexities of identity, society, and inner peace in a divided and dissonant world\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ea testament to the power of music and mindfulness to foster well-being, joy, and empowerment\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn I’s core message—“you are enough” rings through these pages, encouraging readers to embrace their imperfections and celebrate themselves just as they are, in the here and now.\"It is hard to express how important I feel this book is. I wept many times, reading it, imagining the sound of music beneath the lyrics of the songs.… I love that Born I encourages us to grow; to know our good fortune. To be blessed with hereness. Like the rest of us, he has suffered. That part of his journey too is offered, beautifully, bravely, thoughtfully, as medicine.\"\u003cbr\u003e—ALICE WALKER, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Color Purple\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Born I is one of my favorite Dharma teachers and podcast guests. Smart, wise, funny—and definitely the only meditation guru who can also rap.” \u003cbr\u003e—DAN HARRIS, host of \u003ci\u003e10% Happier\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A powerful fusion of storytelling and song that weaves the transformative impact of mindfulness, meditation, and self-compassion into the vibrant tapestry of hip-hop … an intimate glimpse into the heart of an artist and the creative process.”\u003cbr\u003e—PANOS A. PANAY, president of The Recording Academy \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eLyrical Dharma \u003c\/i\u003eis a powerful blend of raw vulnerability and wisdom, offering readers an authentic journey through the life and lyrics of Born I. With depth, beautiful design, and an inspiring message of selfacceptance, this book is a beacon for readers seeking to experience inner peace through creative expression in a fragmented world.”\u003cbr\u003e—JUSTIN F. MILES, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sadhana of Awakened Melanin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis poetic and powerful book illuminates the soul of hip-hop and the potential for pure joy when we infuse creative expression with mindfulness.”—TARA BRACH, author of Radical Acceptance \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A groundbreaking exploration of how the lyrical soul of hip-hop intertwines with the timeless wisdom of Dharma. With unflinching honesty and lyrical brilliance, Ofosu Jones-Quartey, aka Born I, transforms his journey from bravado to vulnerability into a profound meditation on resilience, identity, and self-love. A powerful reminder of how music and mindfulness can heal and inspire us to embrace who we are.”\u003cbr\u003e—SPRING WASHAM, author of \u003ci\u003eA Fierce Heart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eLyrical Dharma\u003c\/i\u003e inspires, sparks and illuminates the connective tissue between hip-hop and spirituality. This is a beautiful book, check it out!”\u003cbr\u003e—MC YOGI, performance artist and author of \u003ci\u003eSpiritual Graffiti\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Born I shows us how the path of meditation and vulnerability can create hip-hop that heals. Add this to your library; it’s essential.”\u003cbr\u003e—EAST FOREST, musician and producer\"It is hard to express how important I feel this book is. I know almost nothing about hip-hop and yet, when Ofosu shared one of his songs with me, I was immediately moved. I could feel the energy of loving self-acceptance—that we are all here, in the Universe, experiencing pain, yes, but also wonder, together. Ofosu Jones-Quartey encourages us to grow, to know our good fortune, to be blessed with hereness. Like the rest of us, he has suffered. His journey is offered beautifully, bravely, thoughtfully: as medicine.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eAlice Walker\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Color Purple\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Born I is one of my favorite Dharma teachers and podcast guests. Smart, wise, funny—and definitely the only meditation guru who can also rap.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eDan Harris\u003c\/b\u003e, host of 10% Happier\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This poetic and powerful book illuminates the soul of hip-hop and the potential for pure joy when we infuse creative expression with mindfulness.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eTara Brach\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eRadical Acceptance \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lyrical Dharma is a powerful blend of raw vulnerability and wisdom, offering readers an authentic journey through the life and lyrics of Born I. With depth, beautiful design, and an inspiring message of self-acceptance, this book is a beacon for readers seeking to experience inner peace through creative expression in a fragmented world.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eJustin F. Miles\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sadhana of Awakened Melanin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A powerful fusion of storytelling and song that weaves the transformative impact of mindfulness, meditation, and self-compassion into the vibrant tapestry of hip-hop … an intimate glimpse into the heart of an artist and the creative process.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003ePanos A. Panay\u003c\/b\u003e, president of The Recording Academy \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A groundbreaking exploration of how the lyrical soul of hip-hop intertwines with the timeless wisdom of Dharma. With unflinching honesty and lyrical brilliance, Ofosu Jones-Quartey, aka Born I, transforms his journey from bravado to vulnerability into a profound meditation on resilience, identity, and self-love. A powerful reminder of how music and mindfulness can heal and inspire us to embrace who we are.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eSpring Washam\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eA Fierce Heart\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lyrical Dharma inspires, sparks and illuminates the connective tissue between hip-hop and spirituality. This is a beautiful book, check it out!\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMC YOGI\u003c\/b\u003e, performance artist and author of \u003ci\u003eSpiritual Graffiti \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Born I shows us how the path of meditation and vulnerability can create hip-hop that heals. Add this to your library, it’s essential.\" \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eEast Forest\u003c\/b\u003e, musician and producerOfosu Jones-Quartey (Born I) is a meditation teacher, author, and musician dedicated to sharing mindfulness, hip-hop, and self-compassion—his live events are a hip-hop and meditation experience.  Ofosu leads meditation classes and retreats nationwide, having taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight, and Inward Bound Mindfulness, among others. Ofosu has also worked with schools and has co-written a mindfulness-based suicide prevention curriculum for teenagers as well as the children’s books \u003ci\u003eYou Are Enough\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLove Your Joyful Self\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003ePreface: Lyrical Dharma \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCan hip-hop be contemplative art?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy music, my work as a teacher (encourager), is for anyone who experiences suffering and is working to overcome it. It is for people who are imperfectly on the path of self discovery and awakening. It’s for all of us humans, for people who struggle, as I have and continue to. The lyrics in this book and the stories behind them are expressions of my life as a human walking on, drifting from, and returning to the path of transforming intense suffering into liberation of the mind, body, and heart, again and again. They are the stories of my life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve been an artist for as long as I remember—music, words, and visual arts have always been mediums I love. My love for the arts is inspired by my parents. My love for music is inspired by my father’s devotion to it. I remember writing a poem about the ocean at four years old that my teacher was convinced I plagiarized. Apparently it was too sophisticated for a four-year-old (and a Black four-year-old at that). I remember my father, who used to play songs from the titans of jazz—John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis—on our way to grab a slice of pizza after my karate classes, giving my teacher the read of a lifetime over the phone about that poem. Those pizza runs—listening to my father over the swell of music as he explained the depths of jazz’s innovation and spoke to how this music impacted art and global culture as well as the happiness these songs brought him as a kid in Ghana—are part of the reason you’re holding this book today. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoth my parents showed me the power of language as art. As an only child, I had plenty of time to absorb my parents’ influences in our small townhouse outside of Washington DC. My father’s command of the English language is an art in and of itself. He speaks with no words wasted and can express himself with seemingly endless erudition on any topic. His way with words and his command of a room often landed him in the role of MC at various functions in the Ghanaian community. I, in psychological osmosis, soaked it all in. My mother speaks in a slightly more casual but no less masterful way. To hear her sing-song cadence is to be hypnotized in the best way; she speaks purely, compassionately, and honestly, with an underpinning of modest regality. To listen to my parents speak and to read their words, to have been immersed in them all my life, is a gift I cannot fully grasp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a teenager, one seminal event transformed my life: discovering hip-hop. Hip-hop became my best friend, my older sibling, my teacher, and my therapist. Eventually I decided to make it my life. Hip-hop (and Buddhism) freed me from the feelings of isolation and nihilism I experienced as I grew and gave my heart and mind a voice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn college, my then-girlfriend now-wife and I discovered we were expecting our first child. I followed my intuition and immersed myself in the Dharma—the teachings of the Buddha—to prepare for fatherhood and the life journey to come. Perhaps the Buddhist wisdom tradition could help me cultivate the stability, kindness, and wisdom I would need to be a supportive and loving parent, I thought. The influence of those early years in the temple with my mother, coupled with an almost cosmic push toward the Dharma on behalf of this child, strengthened my spiritual conviction. The greatest gift I could offer my child, I thought, would be the Buddha’s teachings of love and liberation. I recognized that this would involve facing and moving through my own suffering. “If we don’t transform our pain, we’ll transmit it,” as priest and writer Richard Rohr says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI see myself as an encourager, someone on the ground level willing to share their experiences with difficulty, struggle, and relief. Mostly I want to encourage people to be kind to themselves, not to give up on themselves, and to keep returning to the path when they stumble. I hope to normalize the struggles we all face as humans and encourage people not to harm themselves or others—I know the pain of these harms well. If it is easier or more helpful to think of me as a teacher, please know I hold the title lightly and with deep reverence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the early years of my hip-hop journey, I wanted to be a full-time hip-hop artist. I didn’t see how the worlds of hip-hop and Dharma could ever mix. In fact, I did everything I could to keep them separate, fearing I would lose my “edge” as a rapper if people knew I taught meditation and be perceived as “too edgy” if I allowed my rapper persona to coexist with my teaching role. Furthering this deluded approach, I also tried to keep my personal life and my struggles hidden, both as a rapper and teacher. Although I was suffering deeply with issues around mental health, substance abuse, personal identity, surviving sexual assault, and more, I rarely spoke about these challenges in my music or from the teacher’s seat, fearing I would lose my respective audiences if I told the truth about how deeply in pain I was. Resonating with hip-hop as a listener felt far safer than expressing my truth as an artist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLooking back, even though I know this was a misguided approach, I have compassion for my younger self, the artist and teacher afraid to share his struggles with the world. Over time, I’ve found the best way to connect with people is to simply be myself, whether in a song or on a retreat. In the role of a teacher, I have found it powerful to normalize our collective experience of suffering—no one is immune from the Buddha's first noble truth that suffering exists. As a hip-hop artist, it became important for me to drop the façades of bravado, materialism, and presumed mental health in my lyrics and to fully express the ups and downs of being human: my joys, failures, insights, and anxieties. As I became more comfortable sharing what was true in my experience, both from the teacher’s seat and from behind the microphone, some core themes began to emerge: self-compassion, healing, and the wisdom of interbeing (everything is connected). These topics have become the foundation of all my work. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThough I am not an exemplary one, I am grateful to be a Buddhist practitioner. As a rapper, I’m passionate about sharing from the heart—which often includes how the Buddha's teachings have impacted my life—in a (hopefully) accessible way. I owe my parents a debt of gratitude I can never repay for setting me on the path of Dharmic artistry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book is a collection of lyrics from three albums—In This Moment, AMIDA, and Komorebi (a Japanese word that means “sunlight leaking through the trees”). Some lyrics are followed by breakdowns to highlight themes, backstories, Dharma teachings, and insights, while others are left to speak for themselves without further explanation. Everything in these pages can be read as poetry. You can listen to the songs while reading to deepen the experience of both the book and the music. Feel free to flip to any verse at any time, or to read front to back. Back to front will work, too. Return to a particular verse, line, breakdown, or story as many times as it speaks to you. Take your time. Feel free—this book is yours. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese days, I’m happy to say I am more in touch with a sense of peace within myself, a peace which was once so elusive. It's been hard, and in many cases I made it harder than it needed to be (for myself and others), but I can feel a more peaceful heart emerging now, like the sunlight leaking through the trees: komorebi. It doesn’t mean life is easy, just that I can stay a bit more centered as I roll with its punches. Healing remains a process. I share my life through art and anecdotes with the hope that you come away with the following messages tattooed on your heart: be kind to yourself, don’t give up on yourself, continue to pursue your greatest aspirations, keep rising no matter how many times you fall down, and remember—“every new breath is a chance, every new step is a dance.” In short: you are enough.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Hundreds\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ewrote a hundred rhymes\u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times\u003cbr\u003eblew a hundred lines \u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times \u003cbr\u003elisten for the sniff \u003cbr\u003eI ain’t hard to find \u003cbr\u003ewalking in the dark\u003cbr\u003eI was colorblind \u003cbr\u003eI lived a hundred lives \u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times \u003cbr\u003efor every pot of gold \u003cbr\u003eI found a way to undermine \u003cbr\u003ealmost lost my wife \u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times \u003cbr\u003ewhat do you see in me? \u003cbr\u003eshe told me love is blind \u003cbr\u003ehundred hours of meditation \u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times \u003cbr\u003eI must’ve cried at least a hundred thousand times \u003cbr\u003eattempted suicide a couple times \u003cbr\u003esaved by the power \u003cbr\u003ewhen understanding and love combine \u003cbr\u003eall the shit I did to numb my mind\u003cbr\u003eso many bottles \u003cbr\u003evampires said my blood was wine \u003cbr\u003eor rather Tito’s \u003cbr\u003eshout out to my amigos \u003cbr\u003ewho tuck the nine \u003cbr\u003efor coming in the clutch \u003cbr\u003elike a hundred times\u003cbr\u003ecall my therapist\u003cbr\u003ediscussion time \u003cbr\u003eturns out the pain that I was holding \u003cbr\u003ereally wasn’t mine \u003cbr\u003estill I had to heal from it \u003cbr\u003efor the hundredth time\u003cbr\u003eunderlying fears turn to thoughts \u003cbr\u003eand become the mind\u003cbr\u003efrom Noah’s ark to Napoleon Bonaparte \u003cbr\u003eI was blown apart \u003cbr\u003ea hero in disguise\u003cbr\u003elike I am Joan of Arc \u003cbr\u003eI know the feeling \u003cbr\u003ewhen it’s cold and dark \u003cbr\u003espiritual surgery \u003cbr\u003epreferred me with an open heart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eooooooooo…\u003cbr\u003eI've tried a hundred times\u003cbr\u003eooooooooo…\u003cbr\u003eI've cried a hundred times\u003cbr\u003eooooooooo…\u003cbr\u003eI've died a hundred times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s morning. I walk quietly to the altar in my bedroom. I light incense, place it on the altar, and bow. Then I sit cross-legged on my meditation cushion, facing the wall as is customary in Zen. The wall represents my mind, a symbol of the veil I’m working to see through, the karma I’m practicing to transcend. I’ve faced this inner wall hundreds of times, cried at this wall, tried my best to scale it, only to fall again and again. Hundreds and hundreds of times. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeyond the physical wall I’m facing, today the wall in my mind holds up hundreds of photos and moving pictures, showing me all the unskillful ways I have spent my life, all the ways I’ve suffered, all the ways I’ve tried to run from my suffering, all the ways I’ve tried to heal and make sense of my life. I feel the impact of spinning my wheels in these painful cycles again and again, of walking uphill and downhill in spirals that feel like closed circles. Part of my heart, part of my soul, part of my mind feels utterly exhausted from countless therapy sessions, moments of real and attempted self-harm, and dealing with the monster of OCD day in and day out. It’s all taken its toll. In my exhaustion, in compassion for myself, I’ve had to make changes. As I sit in meditation, the wall I face today is a wall of changes. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEach change has been significant, challenging, humbling, sad, powerful, and liberating. These days I spend more time in temples than clubs, more time offering sound baths than sound bites. It’s been years now since I’ve been on the party-to-be-seen, afterparty scene. My entourage is my wife and children, along with my fellow practitioners and the friends who I’ve called family since day one. My favorite drinks are water, oat milk lattes, and hibiscus tea. I broke up with my dealer long ago. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter meditating, I reach out for more help. A new therapist finally gives me an actual diagnosis and eventually suggests medicine to help ease my OCD symptoms. I feel a mix of relief and humiliation at being a practitioner, a teacher, and an artist who needs so much help, but I think of what I would say to a best friend or a loved one in the same situation and know I would completely support them taking care of themselves however they could. Knowing this reduces my humiliation a bit, and I can allow myself to be humbled by being human. The medication I take is an expression of compassion for myself. I refer to it as “the Medicine Buddha.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the most significant changes has been how I approach meditation. Although I initially trained to keep my attention in one place—either on my breathing, physical sensations, or sounds—I have found that practicing with a sense of openness, of open awareness, feels much healthier. These days, I simply sit and watch things change. It’s been liberating to find an approach to meditation that allows me to practice without enduring unnecessary cycles of pain, anxiety, and shame. When I sit, I leave the door open for meditation to happen. I don’t force or expect anything. I don’t try to achieve anything. If intrusive thoughts arise, I meet them with love or just let them pass without engaging. If I’m really struggling, I might mentally whisper the name Avalokiteshvara to activate the energy of compassion in my mind and embrace whatever pain is there with loving awareness. Mostly, though, I just sit and watch things change or, as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi puts it, “… sit and observe the universal activity, that is all.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFacing this wall of changes, I feel into the impermanence of the sounds from the street outside that come and go, the hum of engines that fill the air with vibrations and quickly drift into silence. A crow’s call breaks the silence—the ancestral voice of my grandmother, reassuring me. I remain open. I return to the wall. I watch things change. Thoughts arise, some pleasant, some painful, some neutral. They drift through the sky of my mind like drops of indigo ink in a large body of clear water. The water perpetually refreshes itself; the ink fades into vastness. I return to the wall. I watch things change.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy music has become my practice. I’ve written hundreds of songs. Hundreds that may never be heard by anyone but me—they reflect times in my life I don’t want to perpetuate or relive. Music that expresses my spiritual path and celebrates how the Dharma guides my relationship with life is the music my heart most deeply wants to make. Facing the wall of changes, I see the past, my suffering, and my many attempts to reconcile and heal my life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWithin this wall is a song that wants to be written. My duty is to watch the wall in silence, to let the song write itself. For the first time in my life, I feel mentally healthy. Hundreds of thousands of hours, tens of thousands of days to get here. No time wasted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI know the feeling when it’s cold and dark \u003cbr\u003espiritual surgery preferred me with an open heart.\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Parallax Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305350287589,"sku":"NP9780984627165","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780984627165.jpg?v=1767731999","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/lyrical-dharma-isbn-9780984627165","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}