MusicTibet.com

Dharma Bums

The Dharma Bums were founded by songwriter Phil Void in the early 1970s in India and Nepal, and since then the group has performed and recorded all over the world. Their music arouse out of their encounter with the Buddha Dharma, resulting in a fierce commitment to the cause of a free Tibet.

The band has travelled and performed all over the world, including numerous trips to India, Thailand, France, Germany, Holland, and the Czech Republic, and has even appeared in Lhasa, Tibet in 1986. During the Year of Tibet (1991), the band was featured at many Tibet support events, and toured in the U.S. with numerous shows in New York, California, Colorado, and Arizona. In the spring of 2000, the band toured India with the World Festival of Sacred Music, visiting Bangalore, New Delhi, and Dharamshala, performing for His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a private audience. His Holiness subsequently wrote a letter of support for the band's music, published as the introduction to the Dharma Bums Songbook.

The Dalai Lama wrote:

Many of the original followers of the Buddha followed his example and gave up the household life and its entangling attachments to wander on foot from place to place, depending for their livelihood on whatever alms they were given. Their aim was liberation, freedom from the sufferings of the wheel of existence. This is the aspiration that Phil Void and his friends are alluding to in calling their musical group the Dharma Bums. Not only have they taken a keen interest in Buddhist teachings over many years, but they have also made the themes of such teachings the substance of many of their songs. What's more, they have sought at every opportunity to draw attention to the cause of Tibet and to sing up for the freedom of the Tibetan people, for which I thank them. The Dharma Bums continue to tour on behalf of Tibet, and will continue to sing their songs until Tibet is free again! In the words of Robert Thurman, "Phil Void and the Dharma Bums occupy a unique place in the spread of the Dharma to the West: utilizing the skillful means of folk- rock music, they are bringing the words of the Buddha to the ears of countless beings who otherwise might never have heard his teaching."

The Dharma Bums have also initiated a multi-national project to translate their classic Tibetan anthem "Rangzen - Free Tibet!" into all the languages of the world. This project includes, to date: French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, and of course Tibetan.

The Dharma Bums would like to bring their music to you and your event. Their website is www.dharmabums.org, or email them at