Compassion
with a Special Message From
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama
Compassion is dedicated to fulfilling the legacy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Thomas Merton by bringing East and West together in compassion.
In 1968 a meeting occured between His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama and Thomas Merton in the Himalayas. This meeting between the two most influential monks of the 20th century would shape the dialogue between the worlds of East and West, a meeting .
Shortly thereafter Merton unexpectedly died prompting the Dalai Lama to commit the remainder of his life to fulfilling Merton's wish of bringing the worlds of East and West together in compassion. This commitment resulted in the historic Gesthsemani Encounter in 1996 at the Abbey of Gethsemani, home of the late Thomas Merton, attended by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and world leaders of the Eastern and Western religious traditions.
The worlds of East and West converged at the Abbey of Gethsemani, the oldest Trappist monastery in the New World, for six days of dialogue, ritual and silence. At the opening of the Encounter something extraordinary was present: a sense of timelessness, of recognition, of a common bond. From that place music spoke, a metaphor for the communion taking place. From the Encounter a new voice was born which inspired the Compassion recording.
The Drepung Loseling Monks
At the time of the last Summer Solstice of the Millennium the Drepung Loseling Monks, the Abbey of Gethsemani Schola and the musicians of Millenia Music recorded Compassion in the Star Chamber of Mammoth Cave, at the Abbey of Gethsemani and at Furnace Mountain Zen Temple, all within a one hundred mile radius in the heart of Kentucky. Other locations included the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Saint Paul's Chapel in New York City.
Compassion contains a CD and an 80 page booklet.
