Inner World is the debut studio album by the 14th Dalai Lama, released under the name Dalai Lama. It was released on the Dalai Lama's 85th birthday, 6 July 2020.[3] It is the first time The Dalai Lama has released an album.[a]
The album was inspired by New Zealand musician and Buddhist Junelle Kunin, who in 2015 proposed an album fusing music with mantras and chants.[5][6] Kunin was turned down when she wrote to The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama about her idea, but on a trip to India she handed a letter to an assistant of the Dalai Lama. Her idea was met more positively in person, as Kunin described the Dalai Lama agreeing that "music can help people in a way that he can't".[6] She and her husband, Abraham Kunin, both contributed to the album over the next five years.[6] She later said "The entire purpose of this project is to try to help people. It's not a Buddhist project, it's to help everyday people like myself, even though I am Buddhist. The messages couldn't be more poignant for our current social climate and needs as humanity.".[6]
The album debuted on multiple Billboard Album Charts: #1 Billboard New Age Chart,[7] #4 Top New Artist Album, #8 Billboard World Music,[7] #13 Record Label Independent Album, #14 Current Digital Album, #17 Digital Album, #43 Top New Artist - Consumption, #55 Top Current Album, #98 Billboard Top Album,[7] #125 Top Albums w/TEA
Track listing
Inner World track listing
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
1.
"One of My Favorite Prayers"
Dalai Lama, Abraham Kunin, Daniel Ryland, Gandhaar Amin
^The box set Living Wisdom, published in 2006, included background music and traditional chanting by the 14th Dalai Lama among companion media to a hardcover book.[4]
^Dalai Lama (author), Don Farber (photographer) (September 2006). Living Wisdom With His Holiness the Dalai Lama (multimedia). Sounds True. ISBN978-1-59179-457-8. OL8857253M.
