No Guru, No Method, No Teacher by Van Morrison.

I will not be going out today. I am listening to one of my favourite Van Morrison albums and updating, revising, and hopefully improving what I said about it a long time ago…..The opening words of the novel The Go Between by L.P. Hartley are, The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. I think Van Morrison might have read The Go Between because in the opening song on No Guru, No Method, No Teacher Van sings, I've been living in another country that operates along entirely different lines. This album is a journey through the past for Van. Similarities can be seen between this album and Astral Weeks, not in mood but in imagery and lyrics. Words and phrases used in both albums such as gardens misty wet with rain, childlike visions, kissed my eyes, chariots, mansions all make one wonder if this album is Astral Weeks revisited. In Astral Weeks Van hints at reincarnation and this is another theme in No Guru.

I am almost certain Van took the album title from the words of Jiddu Krishnamurti who often used a similar expression in his talks and writings. Van was very influenced by Krishnamurti during the 80's. This is what Van said in an interview- Although I came across and read Krishnamurti's books in the early 1970s, I only heard him speak once, at Masonic Hall in San Francisco. As far back as I can remember I have been influenced by religious and philosophical works and I had a big change in my state of mind just prior to discovering Krishnamurti's books. His philosophy corresponded to what I myself was going through on an inward level. I feel the meaning of Krishnamurti for our time is that one has to think for oneself and not be swayed by any outside religious or spiritual authorities.

I had the good fortune to see Krishnamurti myself in 1983. A friend of mine called Kevin had read a lot of his writings and lent me several books. We heard that Krishnamurti was giving a series of talks at Brockwood Park near Winchester, so me, Kev, and another friend Wally went along to see him. Krishnamurti was then an old man of about 88, but his mind was as sharp as a razor blade. I felt privileged to have seen him because he died only three years later. I forgot, or did not understand most of what he said that day, but a seed had been planted because I am still interested in his teachings to this day. What he taught is not far removed from what Eckhart Tolle teaches in the present day.  Another memory of that visit was an arboretum with trees from all over the world, including giant redwood trees from California. I would like to return one day to Brockwood Park.

J Krishnamurti.

The opening track Got To Go Back is one of Van's best songs in my opinion. The words When I was a boy back in Orangefield I used to look out my classroom and dream remind me of myself, because I was a daydreamer and still am in many ways. Van says, Oh that love that was within me, you know it carried me through, well it lifted me up and it filled me. When Van was a child he had mystical experiences and visions and in adulthood his interest in spirituality was a search to find where this mysticism came from. That is why he had to go back for the healing because he believed in the healing power of music. As with Astral Weeks this album is also a love story as seen in Oh The Warm Feeling.  The lyrics are quite simple but evoke an emotion of spirituality and oneness. The contributions of the musicians on this album should not be overlooked. Richie Buckley's saxophone and Bianca Thornton's backing vocals are particularly impressive. Also, I have always liked Kate St John’s contributions to Van’s albums on oboe and cor anglais

Foreign Window makes me wonder if he is referring to  Dylan with the line You were singing about Rimbaud because Dylan mentioned Rimbaud on his Blood On The Tracks album. Van and Bob once famously sang this song together on a hill overlooking Athens. Reincarnation or enlightenment is hinted at here with the words And if you get it right this time, You don't have to come back again, And if you get it right this time, There's no need to explain. In A Town Called Paradise he complains about copycats ripping off his songs, but Van has done plenty of ripping off himself. In Cyprus Avenue for example he lifts great stretches of All Shook Up by Elvis. It is not one of my favourite songs.

In The Garden is one of Van's crowning achievements. The words say: The light of God was shinin' on your countenance divine, And you were a violet colour as you sat beside your father and your mother in the garden. I find that interesting because I have heard that people all have auras which are different colours, and some enlightened beings can see other people’s auras. Violet is also the name of Van's mother, but I don’t think that has any significance. In The Garden is the best song I have ever seen Van perform live. That was in the winter of 94 in the Great Hall at Exeter University. Tir Na Nog is a mythical Irish kingdom and Van might have been inspired to write it by reading the work of W.B. Yeats. The same could also be said about Here Comes The Knight which quotes the words on Yeats grave-Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman pass by!  Thanks For The Information is possibly my least favourite song on this album. To me, the line When he's breaking through to a new level of consciousness is reminiscent of The Doors with Break on through to the other side. Reaching a new level of consciousness could be another example of the influence of Krishnamurti. I have read somewhere that the original title of One Irish Rover was One Roman Soldier which would have given the song an entirely different meaning.  The album ends with Ivory Tower which was released as a single. I remember him singing it on the Terry Wogan television show.

To my ears the 1980s were a golden age of Van Morrison music and despite me being indifferent to a couple of the songs I think No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is possibly his greatest album of that decade and In The Garden and Got To Go Back are among the finest songs of his long career. 

Wisdom Of Krishnamurti.