Dechen Shak-Dagsay: Day Tomorrow
So, I was so touched when they called me. And I told Regula, “Regula, isn’t it unbelievable, you know, Catholic priests listening to Buddhist mantras? That’s so touching.” And Regula asked whether she could come along, so we went there together. I explained the mantras to the Catholic priests and fathers, and they were very impressed, very touched, so I sang for them.
And somehow with the help of the abbot of the monastery there, we were able to invite His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, for an interfaith meeting between Christians and Buddhists up in that church. And that was 2005.
At that time, Regula was chanting more the Hindu or the Buddhist mantras, but she had somehow neglected the Christian prayers. And at that interfaith meeting, His Holiness expressed how important it is that people should stay within their own faith rather than changing faith and exploring the depth and beauty of their own faith.
And that’s when Regula started to chant Christian mantras again with her students and discovered the beauty of that. And so, Regula and I, we started to chant together inter-combining Christian and Buddhist mantras. And one day we thought, well, wouldn’t it be lovely to make a CD?
And so, we did that, and all of a sudden we thought, well, it would be so beautiful to have someone like Tina Turner helping us to bring this message of understanding between the religions into the world. And Regula asked Tina whether she would like to join, and surprisingly Tina said, “Well, I’ve been waiting for such a moment for a long time.”
Dechen Shak-Dagsay: So, can you imagine how amazed we were? And so, this is how it all started. And of course, you know, the rest we all know.
We have three albums out. And they’re really all over the place and touching really a lot of people’s hearts, and especially, you know, promoting understanding, respect, and tolerance between the faiths, because that’s so imminently important nowadays because there should be no wars fought, you know, in the name of the faith. That’s totally wrong. So, we just hope that we can contribute to really restore peace.
