Dechen Shak-Dagsay: Day Tomorrow

Dechen Shak-Dagsay: I think so. I truly believe that, because I’ve been traveling to Tibet a few times. And I was always very touched when Chinese people, you know, expressed their deep respect and interest for Tibetan Buddhism. And, you know, China has almost–about 500 million Buddhists by now, and the number is increasing. And they have especially developed a special interest in Tibetan Buddhism. There are so many Chinese people traveling up to Tibet because they consider Tibet as a holy place where they can go, and they can really find their spiritual roots.

And that, I think, is a beautiful development, because I think as long as the Chinese cherish the Tibetan culture, cherish the Buddhist philosophy that comes from Tibet–I mean the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and then the risk, the danger is smaller that they will destroy it. And this is my biggest hope, and I think there is a development that they will preserve the Tibetan Buddhist culture.

Victor Fuhrman: That is our fervent hope also. You’ve been blessed with being a part of the Beyond musical project along with Tina Turner, and Regula Curti. Please tell us about this wonderful project and how it feels to be a part of it.

Dechen Shak-Dagsay: The Beyond project is very special indeed. It all started with Regula Curti, who is a wonderful music therapist and yoga teacher.

She used my very first album, Dewa Che: Universal Healing Power of Tibetan Mantras that came out about 15 years ago. She used that album regularly in her classes, and she thought this woman must be a nun somewhere up in the Himalayas.

And then one day she found out that I just live across the lake from her because–and then she invited me over, and we got to know each other. And a very nice you know, it was a beautiful friendship that started.

There was a moment when I was approached by the Christian Catholic monks from Einsiedeln. This is the biggest Benedictine church in Europe. I got contacted by some of the young fathers, whether I could come to explain to them the mantras because they are listening very often to my album Dewa Che, the same one that Regula was listening to.