Inner World

Inner World is the debut studio album by the 14th Dalai Lama, released under the name Dalai Lama. It was released on the Dalai Lama's 85th birthday, 6 July 2020. It is the first time The Dalai Lama has released an album.

The album was inspired by New Zealand musician and Buddhist Junelle Kunin, who in 2015 proposed an album fusing music with mantras and chants. Kunin was turned down when she wrote to The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama about her idea, but on a trip to India she handed a letter to an assistant of the Dalai Lama. Her idea was met more positively in person, as Kunin described the Dalai Lama agreeing that "music can help people in a way that he can't". She and her husband, Abraham Kunin, both contributed to the album over the next five years. She later said "The entire purpose of this project is to try to help people. It's not a Buddhist project, it's to help everyday people like myself, even though I am Buddhist. The messages couldn't be more poignant for our current social climate and needs as humanity.".

The album debuted on multiple Billboard Album Charts: #1 Billboard New Age Chart, #4 Top New Artist Album, #8 Billboard World Music, #13 Record Label Independent Album, #14 Current Digital Album, #17 Digital Album, #43 Top New Artist - Consumption, #55 Top Current Album, #98 Billboard Top Album, #125 Top Albums w/TEA