Dechen ShakDagsay
Artist Bio:
Dechen Shak-Dagsay was born the same year her parents fled from Tibet to India due to the Chinese occupation in 1959. She is the eldest daughter of the late Yishi Tsedön Zatul and Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche. Together with her family Dechen grew up as one of the nearly 2500 Tibetans residing in Switzerland. Her family played an important role in founding the Tibetan Institute of Performing Art for Switzerland and Dechen was the youngest member of the group. She graduated from the Swiss Business School in 1979 and married her husband Dr. Kalsang Thutop Shak. They have two daughters, Yuri and Tara, who are both studying. Dechen worked in the Commercial Department of a big international Company for nearly 20 years. It was during that time that Dechen realized that especially the people that are constantly exposed to a lot of tension at work need to find a way to relax and find inner peace. It was due to her father's book on Tibetan Meditation that her first debut album "Dewa Che, Universal Healing Power of Tibetan Mantras" was released by Polyglobe Music in Austria in December 1999. In that book "Practice of Tibetan Meditation" Rinpoche instructs the ancient Meditation techniques to Buddhist as well as Non-Buddhists. He wanted to also introduce the chanting of mantras since Buddha had emphasized that they would bless the beings regardless of their nature, belief or social status. It was his wish that Dechen would sing the mantras in her own way. With her unique family background as the daughter of a Tibetan Lama and a highly spiritual mother Dechen grew up absorbing the beautiful wisdom of her parents and yet at the same time integrating the modern western world with all its short-lived values bringing only temporary pleasure and wellbeing. Convinced that the chanting of the ancient mantras that filled her Tibetan environment when she was a child could also be beneficial to her Western friends, Dechen found a way to open the hearts of the Westerners for the Tibetan Mantras. After the the release of the CD "Dewa Che, Universal Healing Power of Tibetan Mantras" in December 1999, Dechen decided to concentrate on her artistic career. At the end of 2002 Dechen released her second album called "Shi De, A Call for Worldpeace" containing beautiful Tibetan songs promoting peace in the world. Her latest album is called "Compassion: Inner Peace through the Power of Dcham Sem," containing a selection of the long versions of the ancient Tibetan Mantras that are particularly helpful in cultivating the seed of compassion in people's hearts. Within a short period of time Dechen's music has spread incredibly fast. Her concerts are always fully booked and her music seems to attract not only insiders but many others that come because they clearly feel the universal message of the mantras.