Beth Orton on National Public Radio: “When I was 19, my mom passed away very suddenly. … She left [me and my brothers] 2,000 pounds each. It was a bit like a fable — you know, what do we do with our money? I bought a ticket to Thailand with some friends, and then we all kind of peeled off. Me and this girl, she’s like, ‘I know of this place we can go and meditate.’ And I was like, ‘Meditation, what’s that?’ I didn’t know what she was talking about. I went because it sounded like a laugh. After a while I just opened up to it.

“The strangest …

Rob Pattinson, Ormskirk Advertiser: A talented teenager has made it through to the regional finals of a national singing contest – with a little help from meditation.

Amy Wilkinson began singing while at primary school at St Michael’s in Aughton.

The 14-year-old, from Narrow Moss Lane, Scarisbrick [West Lancashire], entered Britain’s Got Talent last year but missed out on a chance to sing for the TV judges.

But, undeterred, she entered the Open Mic UK competition and, having performed a version of the Noisettes track Never Forget You, she has successfully made it through to the regional finals on October 14, where she will …

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It can be difficult to get people excited about religion in Japan. No doubt, Japan’s culture and its religions are deeply intertwined, but the vast majority of Japanese people say that aren’t very religious.

With membership in religions across Japan in free fall, many are trying to make themselves more appealing to attract more followers. How do you get people excited about religion? Do you pull a Pope John Paul II and get some sweet-ass breakdancers to get the kids all excited about God?

Japanese Buddhists have found their weapon of choice: hunks. Not just any hunks, but hunky monks. Earlier this year …

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The famous rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, which will be performing in Romania on August 31, asked for a relaxation room where they can unwind before the Bucharest show on the National Arena. The meditation room should have plenty of natural light, drapes, carpets and many green plants, but should by no means be blue. The band members asked for coffee, still water, non-alcoholic beer, scented candles, fruits and vegetables, cheese and rice cookies.

Two additional, sound proof rooms are also required for practicing before the concert for drummer Chad Smith and singer Anthony Kiedis, according to eMagic, the organizers of the show …

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Before they could even read, they were hailed as reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist legends in the vein of the Dalai Lama. Now young adults, these reluctant would-be spiritual leaders are stepping out of their monk’s robes, becoming rappers and moviemakers, and blowing the whistle on sexual abuse at Buddhist monasteries.

During a break in a mixing session at a recording studio in Milan, Gomo Tulku, a Tibetan-American hip-hop artist, plays the sample he’s inserting into the intro of his debut EP—a group of vocalists singing what sounds eerily like a Tibetan Buddhist chant. One of his Italian producers had it programmed into his …

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Adam Yauch, one of the founders of the hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died of cancer at the age of 47.

Yauch, who went by the name MCA, had been battling cancer since 2009.

Yauch was a practicing Buddhist, who actively supported Tibetan causes.

In 1994, he established the Milarepa Fund — an organization dedicated to the promotion of nonviolence — and became a leader of the movement to liberate Tibet from Chinese occupation. The fund was named after the 11th century Tibetan singer-yogi Milarepa, and was originally intended to distribute royalties from Yauch’s Beastie Boys’ 1994 songs “Shambhala” and “Bodhisattva Vow,” which had sampled the chanting of Tibetan monks, to …

This isn’t really anything to do with meditation or Buddhism directly, but it’s very cool nonetheless. And it’s not an ad! This is just something I’m enthusiastic about and want to share with you.

The Buddha Machine is a palm-sized plastic box that plays meditative music loops composed by Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian. It looks like a 1970′s transistor radio, and the music is absolutely gorgeous. I have one of the loops playing in the background right now, and it’s luscious, expansive, and relaxing.

The Buddha Machine costs $23, but there’s an iPad app available which is free for the next five days. For some strange reason the iPhone/iPod app is set …

Rolf Hind: It was a rainy October afternoon in Huddersfield two years ago. I was fresh off a silent retreat – 10 days in the countryside being instructed in sitting and watching my thoughts, and I was brimming with epiphanies. I was between gigs at the new music festival, whiling away time with some old friends and new acquaintances, and trying not to bore them with my breathless “insights”.

But in every case, with each new person, I was blindsided or scotched by their response to my enthusiasm. It seemed that I was the last person to have discovered meditation… Read the rest of this article…

Video directed by Matt Marzulo, shot in Sedona, AZ.

I recently made contact with Kellee Maize — a young, blonde, female rapper from small-town, Pennsylvania, who moved to Pittsburgh and started her own guerrilla-marketing company, Näkturnal. She formed her first rap group at age nine, and music has been an important part of her life. Her debut album, Age of Feminine, was released independently in May 2007, and has had over 100,000 downloads on iTunes.

Kellee’s lyrics are often urban and gritty, but spirituality plays a large role in her music, which see sees as a way to transcend the ego. Here she talks about what the “third eye” means to her.

“What is

…

Kaki Hunter is no stranger to success. Her background includes a career as a successful film actress, a published author and a recognized guru in sustainable building.

Two years ago, however, despite all of her success, Hunter says she found herself miserable and at what she describes as, “an extremely low point in life emotionally, spiritually and physically.”

After hearing about friends’ experiences with Vipassana, a 2,500-year-old silent meditation technique designed to eradicate human suffering, Hunter decided to enroll in a 10-day retreat.

The program required all participants to abstain from all communication, including talking, eye contact, writing, music, and reading. As Hunter entered into “noble silence” and …