The Dalai Lama will release an album of mantras to music next month on the occasion of his 85th birthday, The Guardian reports Tuesday.
The album Inner World will be released on July 6 and contains eleven songs on which the Dalai Lama recites sacred mantras and teachings, accompanied by the music of more than thirty instruments.
One of the songs, Compassion , was released on Tuesday. It is a version of one of the most famous Buddhist prayers.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader took five years to make the album. “The message that warmth and concern for others is the real source of happiness reaches many more people in the form of music.”
Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar makes a guest appearance on the album and plays Ama La , a song honoring mothers. Shankar said it was a great honor to be invited to the album.
The fourteenth Dalai Lama, known to Buddhists as His Holiness, has been a spiritual leader for more than 75 years. This makes him the longest working Dalai Lama.