A mystical-themed evening blending Himalayan folk sounds with new wave rock, inspired by the legend of Shambhala
music
Veteran Japanese Musicians Hiroki Okano and Kitaro Team Up for Kukai’s 1250th Anniversary
Veteran composers and musicians Kitaro and Hiroki Okano will be performing at the birth temple of one of Japan’s most significant Buddhist figures
Echoes from the Mogao Caves in Tan Dun’s “Buddha Passion”
Exploring the poetic power behind Tan Dun’s “Buddha Passion,” performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 22 January
The Melody of Bodhi: A Conversation with Imee Ooi
A chat with Buddhist musician Imee Ooi on her recent work and ideas for Dharma music
Poem for Chris La Tray
you pour coffee into your cupin montana it turns into tea in my cupin scotland
Imee Ooi and JSJG Home Concert – Sending off 2021
On 29 December, Imee Ooi and her male vocal group, JSJG, livestreamed a Buddhist-themed concert to send off 2021 and welcome the New Year. On their YouTube channel, Imee Ooi and JSJG stated: “2021 is coming to an end. In these trying times of the pandemic and natural calamities, may we survive and stay strong […]
“Seven Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava” – A Milestone Translation and Song
I remember first listening to the magical Imee Ooi over the speakers of a souvenir shop at Ngong Ping Village, which leads to the famous Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. It was 2010. Her songs, which are contemporary renditions of Buddhist dharanis, mantras, and passages from Buddhist texts, evoke aural Pure Lands. Her ethereal, […]
Spiritual Melodies: Tully MacKay-Tisbert
The landscape of America is dotted with Christian influences, from the lamentations of oppression and hope of liberation that fused with African influences to form the melancholy blues, to the Christian rock that arose in the 1960s to become a formidable force of conversion in mega-churches. It is extraordinary that the culture of a republic […]
The Image of Sarasvati in Buddhist Art
White Sarasvati, mural at the Namdroling Monastery in South India. Image courtesy of the author Sarasvati (Tib. yang chenma) is the goddess of knowledge, education, music, poetry, and culture. Her name can be found in the Vedic hymns. In these ancient Indian texts, she is worshiped as the divine power of ritual chants and sacrificial […]
Postcard from Raymond: Taking Care of Your Magic Dragon
There is a magical dragon dwelling inside every one of us. Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow’s Puff the Magic Dragon, which was masterfully sung by folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, is a melancholic song about losing the capability for imagination, for wonder. When I first heard this song as a kid, I thought that […]