Boris Grebenshchikov - Religion and Mysticism

Religion and Mysticism

BG is also known as a student of religion and mysticism. He translated several Hinduist and Buddhist books for publication in Russian, travelled the Orient widely, and is friends with A-list spiritual celebrities. He is just as familiar with the Russian Orthodox tradition (Aquarium web site has had a call for discovery of Orthodox relics going for years), and used to mix them freely in his lyrics. Russian Nirvana (Russkaya Nirvana) off Kostroma Mon Amour, for example, is a dual-pointed send-up containing a reference to "sitting down in the lotus posture in the middle of Kremlin". His relentless promotion of Tibetan buddhism in the 1990s and his tendency to use buddhist-derived logic with touches of absurdism to avoid answering questions in interviews make him pretty distinct amongst other Russian artists.

BG also translated several Buddhist and Hinduist texts to Russian, including:

• Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche (son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche) Bardo Guidebook - "source material for the Tibetan Book of Living & Dying also known as Tibetan Book of the Dead Bardo Thodol, in 1995;
• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Repeating Words of the Buddha - "the essential points of spiritual practice, inseparable from everyday life.", in 1997;
• Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche Rainbow Painting - "addressing the topics of practices of accumulating and purifying to facilitate unification of view and conduct", in 1999;
• Shibendu Lahiri Kriya yoga - "authentic teachings and techniques of Kriya Yoga", in 2003;
• The Katha Upanishad, Upanishad belonging to the Yajur Veda, in 2005.