“The affairs of the entire world,” His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama reminds us, “are now internal affairs.”
This was the prevalent thought that returned to me again, and again as I had the privilege of listening to Beyond – Buddhist and Christian Prayers – an album featuring a spiritual message from the legendary Tina Turner, and the vocal talents of Dechen Shak-Dagsay and Regula Curti.
Inspired by the admonitions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Swiss-Benedictine Abbot Martin Welin, these amazing women bring to music the potent reminder that interreligious and interspiritual dialogue can deepen our individual spiritual quest, by cultivating a more mindful awareness of the shared values across all cultural and belief systems worldwide.
Regula Curti (a Christian) and Dechen Shak-Dagsay (a Buddhist) began to understand their own spiritual journeys, and recognised a desire to find the commonality between their seemingly different paths, much in the same way that pioneers in the field of interreligious dialogue -- Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh -- did decades earlier.
Of course, for me, as a non-sectarian, post-denominational contemplative monk, whose spiritual path is heavily-influenced by my own Buddhist-Camaldolese-Benedictine heritage, I found myself sitting in a pool of grateful tears, as I listened to the interwoven prayers from the Buddhist and Christian traditions -- in a music that transcends the traditions themselves and cuts to the core of the Dharma of the Christ and the Buddha Dharma perfectly... and the deepest (non-academic) levels.
Tina Turner, another of my personal inspirations, sets the tone for the work of these amazing women, with a spiritual message that says it all. Drawing inspiration from the work of Deepak Chopra, the ancient spiritual texts and masters from many different cultures and traditions, and interwoven with her own deep, raw and encouraging spiritual experience and wisdom, Tina Turner bowls us over with the reminder:
Nothing lasts forever, no one lives forever, the flower that fades and dies, winter passes and spring comes, embrace the cycle of life: that is the greatest love. GO BEYOND FEAR Beyond fear takes you into the place where love grows, when you refuse to follow the impulses of fear, anger and revenge.
BEYOND MEANS TO FEEL YOURSELF Start every day singing like the birds – singing takes you beyond, beyond, beyond, beyond We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training to let go our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing...
...Sing – singing takes you beyond, beyond, beyond, beyond TAKE THE JOURNEY INSIDE OF YOU.
I heartily recommend adding this amazing work to your personal collection, and encourage you to share in supporting the work of these dedicated and beautiful women.
For more information, visit them at: http://beyondsinging.com
Namasté!
-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda
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