Editing Ray Lynch (section)

== Influences ==
Throughout his career, Lynch did not want his music to be classified as "New Age".<ref name=NotNA>{{cite news|title=While Elvis is rolling over|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/66231314/|access-date=February 27, 2017|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=August 5, 1994|page=35|language=en|quote=Ray Lynch, who with his 1984 album "Deep Breakfast" practically defined New Age music, is now saying, no, he is not a New Age composer.}}</ref> In an interview with [[CD Review]] in August 1989, Lynch said he didn't really mind being labeled as a "new age" artist, but says that he doesn't like "being grouped with music that I felt is, in general, pretty mediocre and boring". Lynch also said that "'classical' would be the best category for me."<ref name=CDReview5>{{cite journal|last=Van Ness|first=Chris|title=New Age's Renaissance Man|journal=[[CD Review]]|date=August 1989|volume=6|issue=12|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iw9AQAAIAAJ&q=Its+juxtaposing+two+things+that+you+wouldn%27t|access-date=February 28, 2017|quote=Still, Lunch is uncertain about where his music belongs. 'I would say that 'classical' would be the best category for me,' he says with some reservation. 'It's just that I'm not dead, and I'm not a contemporary experimenter who can be easily labeled. I don't really mind the 'new age' label, but I don't like being grouped with music that I feel is, in general, pretty mediocre and boring.'}}</ref>

Lynch had been both a student and follower of [[Adi Da]] since 1974.<ref name="Primary1"/> In regards to the spiritual nature of his music, Lynch believed that it "has to be judged subjectively by the listener, not the composer."<ref name=LifeMag>{{cite magazine|title=New Age Nostrum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvwxAQAAIAAJ&q=%22has+to+be+judged+subjectively+by+the+listener%2C+not+the+composer%22|access-date=April 2, 2017|magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]]|volume=11|issue=2|date=February 1988|pages=108–111|quote=Ray Lynch, a classically trained composer and synthesist, is a follower of Da Love-Ananda...'the spiritual worth of any given piece has to be judged subjectively by the listener, not the composer,' says Lynch, 44.}}</ref> Lynch named several of his songs and albums after the themes found in Da's novel, ''The Mummery Book''.<ref name=1987-1>{{cite journal|title=Ray Lynch: Deep Breakfast|journal=Digital Audio & Compact Disc Review|date=January 1987|volume=3|issue=5|page=19|quote=Several of his themes, "The Oh of Pleasure," "Your Feeling Shoulders," and "Tiny Geometries," as well as the disc's title, were taken from the unpublished Buddhist novel ''The Mummery'' by Da Free John.}}</ref><ref name=Arizona5/> However, in a 1989 [[Arizona Republic]] interview, Lynch clarified that he wasn't trying to promote Da's work through his music.<ref name=Arizona5>{{cite journal|last=Means|first=Andrew|title=Ray Lynch prefers studios to stages for his harmonics|journal=[[The Arizona Republic]]|date=May 30, 1989|volume=100|issue=12|pages=18–19|access-date=March 13, 2017|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9328019/ray_lynch_6_the_arizona_republic_may/|quote=Many of the titles on Deep Breakfast and No Blue Thing come from The Mummery, Love-Ananda's unpublished novel. Lynch said the novel is about "the transcendence of the ego," and it may be published this year. [...] Despite the references to Love-Ananda's book, Lynch said he's not trying to promote a particular philosophy through the music.}}</ref>  After the death of Adi Da, Lynch performed various songs for Da's tribute album, "May You Ever Dwell In Our Heart", in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=May You Ever Dwell In Our Hearts|url=http://www.dawnhorsepress.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=3867|website=The Dawn Horse Press|access-date=April 10, 2017|language=en}}</ref>