The late singer's Buddhist spiritual advisor Dechen Shak-Dagsay has claimed that the musician had chosen to 'retreat' from public life for the last couple of years to 'prepare for death.'
- May 30, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tina Turner was "not afraid of dying" and was "curious" about the afterlife, according to her Buddhist spiritual advisor, Tibetan Buddhist mantra musician Dechen Shak-Dagsay. In an interview, she has claimed the late music legend, who died last week at the age of 83, had chosen to "retreat" from public life for the last couple of years to "prepare for death."
Dechen told DailyMail.com, "Tina told me, 'I'm not afraid of dying.' She was curious to see what is coming. I did not see Tina for the last couple of years after she began suffering serious health problems. But I know she was not afraid of dying. In the Buddhist tradition at a certain part of your life you choose to retreat."
"This is a very important phase of your life because preparation for death is something considered the most important part of human life. We all know that death will come but most of us totally neglect it. She prepared incredibly well. She chose to retreat. She only went out a few times. She was a Buddhist practitioner and she knew that it is so important to keep all the distractions of life outside of the mind," she continued.
Dechen "admires" Tina for preparing for her passing, and praised her for giving "everything" for her supporters throughout her career. She said, "Tina definitely believed in reincarnation. It is a pillar of our religion. Without reincarnation Buddhism does not make sense. It's all about karma. That is why I admire her for retreating for the past couple of years, preparing for her death. She gave everything she had to her fans - her voice, her love, her performances, her beauty, her grace. And she helped so many artists. Tina is not gone. Her spirit, her energy continues. And she had the freedom to prepare for that."
Dechen believes the likes of successful female artists such as Madonna, Rihanna, and Beyonce Knowles would not around today if it wasn't for Tina. She added, "They would not have been there, had there not been a Tina Turner, who went on the stage first in the male-dominated music world."
In 2020, Tina, who found fame alongside abusive partner Ike Turner before making it as a superstar on her own, claimed Buddhism had "saved" her life. She told The Times Magazine, "Buddhism saved my life. In the midst of my most difficult times, including domestic violence, I started chanting and learning about Buddhist principles. Who knows if it was predestined, but I can say for sure that chanting came to me at exactly the right time."
She added, "When I was going through some of my hardest times, perhaps it would have felt easier to give in to quick fixes, like smoking, alcohol, or drugs. Instead I chose to look inward, to tap the wellspring of my greater self. My dear friend David Bowie, who had a lifelong interest in Buddhism, used to call me a phoenix, the mythical bird who rises from the ashes."
