His Holiness the Dalai Lama will release a new album called ‘Inner World’ on July 6, the Tibetan spiritual leader’s 85th birthday.
The 11-track album is a compilation of his mantras set to newly composed music, the Associated Press reported.
His Holiness had previewed the album with the track “Compassion,” which is based on one of the most famous Buddhist prayers, Rolling Stones reported.
The song is led by a steady bass and drum beat set along to the Dalai Lama chanting the Sanskrit mantra, “Om mani padme hum.”
The album has been composed in collaboration with musician couple Junelle and Abraham Kunin from New Zealand. According to the AP report, the idea has first come to the couple when Junelle Kunin, stressed from work had been searching for Dalai Lama’s teachings paired with music to calm herself down.
Junelle had first suggested the idea to the Dalai Lama’s office years after she couldn’t find such an album online but was politely turned down. She had pitched it again in 2015 during her trip to India via a letter handed to one of the Dalai Lama’s assistants and the pitch was accepted.
She had then prepared a list of topics and mantras for the spiritual leader and recorded their conversations for the album that also includes the Dalai Lama’s discussions on topics like wisdom, courage, healing and children.
The couple later created all the music to go with his words. One of the tracks “Ama La” also features grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar.
The 11-track project will be released on July 6 with a companion booklet. Net proceeds from the album sales will be donated to Mind & Life Institute and Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning), an international education program developed by Emory University and the Dalai Lama, the report said.
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