''Sunyata'' (1982) is the debut album by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

musician Robert Rich. The title refers to

śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā; ), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other p ...

, the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

concept that all things in the material world are empty of meaning and independence.

Overview

The album was recorded during Rich’s studies at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. It was originally released on

audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...

. In 1994, the title track, “Sunyata (Emptiness)” was included on the two-disc compilation ''

Trances/Drones ''Trances/Drones'' (1994) is an album by the American ambient musician Robert Rich. It is a two-disc compilation of Rich's drone music albums ''Trances ''Trances'' is the second album by the American ambient musician Robert Rich. Like h ...

''. Because of the length restrictions of the compact disc format, when ''Sunyata'' was finally released on CD in 2000, this track was omitted.

Track listing

#"Dervish Dreamtime" – 19:00 #"Sunyata (Emptiness)" – 24:00 #"Oak Spirit" – 43:00

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunyata (Album) 1982 debut albums Robert Rich (musician) albums Hypnos Records albums