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FEATURES | EASTERN HORIZON 51

asked the monk whether he was Sometimes, I can easily get annoyed ‘In order to practise love, you
scared while being held by the by things, such as a rude driver also need practice of tolerance’
Chinese, and the monk answered or cyclist, or people not doing His Holiness said. I think it is
yes. We would all think that it was their job. Little did I realise that very important for us to cultivate
normal to fear losing one’s life in that all these negative emotions come tolerance, benevolence and
situation, but he was afraid of losing from my own mind, rather than compassion, and I will start by
his compassion towards the Chinese. the outer environment, and what I reminding myself regularly that
After all the torture and harsh experienced is nothing compared to every being has the essence and
treatment by the Chinese soldiers, he the compassionate monk. I always nature of Buddha within.
did not want to lose his bodhicitta. reflect on how we can practise
That is a real practice of compassion, limitless compassion as a way of life For more information, please refer
and I am completely touched. and contribute to the ‘force for good’, to https://www.neverforgettibet.
making our world a better place. com/ EH

How Tina Turner’s Buddhist

faith gave her the strength to

leave Ike Turner

MAY 24, 2023

recite Buddhist chants daily, even chanting on national
television on Larry King’s CNN show in 1997, a practice
she continued until her death on Wednesday, at 83, in
her home in Küsnacht, near Zurich, Switzerland, where
she had kept her own Buddhist shrine.

As tributes for the “Proud Mary” performer poured
in online, many recalled the influence Turner’s
faith had on their lives, inspiring them to start
practicing Buddhism and some to also leave harmful
relationships.

“Tina Turner is the reason I found Buddhism,”
While Tina Turner is heralded as an R&B and rock icon, tweeted Jessica N. Pabón, a professor of women’s, gender
her Buddhist faith was the soul that drove her eventful and sexuality studies at SUNY New Paltz in New York..
life and career.
“She was my strength when I left my abuser,” former
She often credited the religion with helping her find journalist Laura Keeney wrote while tweeting a Turner
the strength to leave her abusive relationship with Ike obituary, “and she introduced me to Buddhism as a balm
Turner in 1976. In the years since, Turner was known to for my soul.”