(check out from 10:05 onwards)
TIGER WOODS:During the press conference where he apologized in "public", Tiger Woods cited a return to Buddhist principles as an important part of his recovery. "People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist,” the 34-year-old golfer said, “and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught." His re-dedication won over the Dalai Lama, who admitted he had not heard of Woods, but told the AP: "Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important," he said. "Self-discipline with awareness of consequences."
KEANU REEVES:In 1993, Reeves played Siddhartha in Little Buddha, a role that may have turned the actor onto Buddhism. In a video series called "Discovering Buddhism," Reeves notes, "There is a profound power that is awakened in us by contemplating impermanence and death. We are inspired to practice the dharma in everything we do and not to waste another moment of our precious lives."
K.D. LANG:Nearly a decade ago, k.d. lang began studying the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism, but the 48-year-old singer says she has been drawn to the practice since childhood. "From a very early age I have considered myself to be a Buddhist. I don’t even know where that came from, it was just an innate feeling," she said in an interview with the Shambhala Sun. "Then the older I got and the more I learned about Buddhism, the more I felt at home with its principles and philosophy."
RICHARD GERE:Among the most famous Buddhists in Hollywood, Richard Gere has been a very vocal supporter of human rights in Tibet and is often seen in the company of the Dalai Lama. Their first meeting even included a vital acting lesson for Gere: “‘So when you do this acting and you're angry, are you really angry?’” Gere recalled His Holiness asking. “ ‘When you're acting sad, are you really sad? When you cry, are you really crying?’ I gave him some kind of actor answer, like it was more effective if you really believed in the emotion that you were portraying. He looked very deeply into my eyes and just started laughing. Hysterically. He was laughing at the idea that I would believe emotions are real, that I would work very hard to believe in anger and hatred and sadness and pain and suffering.”
UMA THURMAN:In 1964, Uma Thurman’s father, Robert Thurman, became the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Though she is named after “dbuma chenpo” (“the great middle way”) she considers herself to be agnostic and regrets that her father didn’t give her a more formal religious upbringing: "My father didn't impose his religion on us as children,” the actress has said. “To the point that maybe it would have been nice to have a little more—something to rebel against."
ORLANDO BLOOM:The Pirates of the Caribbean star has been practicing Buddhism since he was 19, adhering to the Nichiren principles. Over the years, the faith has been “ a real anchor” for Bloom, because it has given him “an unshakeable sense of self,” the 33-year-old actor says. “You just have to keep focused on living life, being good to the people around you, and respecting all life.”
KATE HUDSON:After trying on Kabbalah with Madonna, Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez was reportedly “flirting” with Buddhism when he was dating Kate Hudson. Though Hudson was raised Jewish—the faith of her mother, Goldie Hawn—the family also practiced Buddhism. Hudson would even bring Buddhist prayer beads to Yankee games, and perhaps it worked: The team won the World Series in 2009.
TINA TURNER:Seventy-year-old Tina Turner credits her Buddhist faith for giving her the strength to leave her abusive husband, Ike, even though she was penniless in 1976. ''I tested it, and it worked,'' Turner told Rolling Stone. ''When I started practicing, something happened to me inside.''
OLIVER STONE:In a commencement speech to the UC-Berkeley class of 1994, filmmaker Oliver Stone spoke of the importance of his faith in the world. “Buddhism in this country is not really understood; it's regarded as sort of quaint, it seems to be an old-fashioned religion,” the 63-year-old Stone said. “But it isn't, really. It's a very active one and has a place in the modern world.”
RUSSELL SIMMONS:Rap mogul Russell Simmons samples from a smorgasbord of spirituality: He is a vegan who practices yoga and Buddhism. Simmons says his business decisions are influenced by the ethics of his faith. “[My] book Do You! is about your inner voice. And when you connect to that voice then you—then the freedom comes. And we're only here to be happy. So happy makes money. Money doesn't make happy.” Buddha himself could not have said it better.
LEONARD COHEN:Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has practiced Buddhism since the 1970s, but it was only after he finished touring for his 1992 album, The Future, that he decided to devote himself completely into the faith. The man who wrote “Hallelujah” lived for five years in a Zen Buddhist monastery in Los Angeles.
STEVEN SEAGAL:Steven Seagal has been studying Buddhism since he was a boy, and in 1997, the action star was declared to be a reincarnated lama, or tulku (a sacred vessel of Tibetan Buddhism). Seagal also served as the American protector of the daughter of the tenth Panchen Lama while she was in college. Seagal had heard she was in danger, so he contacted people in Tibet. “I spoke with my friends there, and they said I was one of the few people who could protect and take care of her… be her father figure, her guardian,” Seagal said. “Try to guide her so that she kept her heritage in the dharma… You're born naked, you die naked… In between, you should find a spiritual guide.”
HERBIE HANCOCK:Jazz legend Herbie Hancock has been practicing Buddhism, since the early 1970s. He discovered it one night on stage when his bassist started playing something innovative, even “magical.” “People were freaking out,” Hancock said of his satori, “it was so incredible what he was playing.” The bass player said he’d been chanting. Hancock was intrigued, and discovered the Buddhist faith lined up with what he’d already believed. “I said, This sounds like what I always believed in anyway. I thought I was the only one.”
PHILIP GLASS:Composer Philip Glass was first drawn to Buddhism in the late 1960s, when he traveled to India. In 1972, he met the Dalai Lama and eventually scored the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film about His Holiness, Kundun. Scorsese said of Glass, "His Buddhist faith and deep understanding of Tibetan culture combine with the subtlety of his composition to play an essential role in our movie on the life of the Dalai Lama."
STEVE JOBS:In 1974, as soon as Steve Jobs earned enough money working for videogame-maker Atari, he traveled to India where a Buddhist monk shaved his head and he began practicing the faith. A few years later, Jobs began studying Zen Buddhism under Kobin Chino who would later officiate at his wedding. While being a billionaire may seem to go against Jobs’ faith, his Zen-like business attitude has certainly paid off when it comes to the religion Jobs founded in 1976: Apple.
