Tina Turner's Spiritual Legacy
her spirituality saved Tina Turner's life, and she deeply desired to gift the world with her spiritual autobiography. here are a few lessons from her journey.
In 2020, Tina Turner gifted the world with her book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life For Good. This text is essentially her spiritual autobiography, and contains stories and insights that she gleaned from her phenomenal journey of stardom, survival, and success. In her opening lines, she writes, “My awakening began five decades ago through my practice and study of Buddhist teachings. Sharing the story of this most precious part of my life with you is a long-cherished dream.”1
As I experienced the chaos of that year, I purchased her book, thinking to myself, if anyone knows anything about happiness, it’s Tina Turner. It isn’t necessarily publicized that this book is about her spiritual journey, but from the first page, she’s clear that her spirituality saved her life, and that this was the story she most longed to tell.
Like many Black Americans, Anna Mae Bullock was raised in the Black Church. In rural Nutbush, Tennessee, she attended a Baptist Church with her paternal grandparents. This quiet, respectable church was a site of profound domestication and de-wilding for the young woman. She enjoyed the Sanctified church that she attended with her parents in Knoxville, Tennessee. With the music, the freedom to “catch the Spirit,” and the varieties of spirited expression, she felt permitted to be her full, free-spirited, dancing and music-loving self in a spiritual space. However, neither the reserved Baptist nor the “action packed” Sanctified church resonated with her spirit.
We all know what happened when Anna Mae Bullock met Ike Turner. As her musical career took shape and she became an international superstar, she and her children suffered at the hands of her abusive husband. While we may know and love her as Tina Turner, her name change was one of Ike Turner’s first acts of control over her life, her decisions, and her identity. For years, physical and sexual abuse were compounded by emotional neglect, isolation, infidelity, and manipulation. Anyone who has seen “What’s Love Got To Do It,” her 1993 biopic, has seen glimpses of the hell she endured in her marriage. Based on her written work, the movie captured only a scant image of the breadth of the abuse she experienced, and the depth of the trauma she suffered.
Like many of us who turn to spirituality when we desire to change our lives, Tina Turner’s spiritual practice was the source of her agency, strength, and ultimately, her healing. It enabled her not only to process and overcome her hardships, but to expand into a life of sublime happiness. Her spirituality was her catalyst for finding her voice, as an artist and a human. Famously, Tina Turner was a devoted Buddhist, but she had a respect for the vastness of spiritual possibilities by which anyone could come into a state of enlightenment: “Spirituality isn’t tied to any one religion or philosophy. It isn’t the property of a priesthood or clergy. Spirituality is a personal awakening and relationship with our Mother Earth and the universe that increases openness and positivity.”2
I remember watching her biopic as a young girl, and being mesmerized by the scenes of Angela Bassett chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the chant that Tina Turner calls, “The Anthem of Angels.” Whether she was timidly, curiously murmuring the chant or belting it from her belly, learning this chant was the turning point in her story. At the time, my purview of Black American religion didn’t go further than the Black Catholic parishes and Baptist congregations that my family and I attended. I had never seen Black folks adhere to a non-Christian religious tradition, so I was intrigued by this image and moved to witness the power that she drew from her Buddhist spirituality. I remember feeling the schism between the idea of Christian supremacy that was preached in the church and the image of this Black woman experiencing sho’ ‘nuff salvation through something other than Jesus. She was my first vision of the expansiveness of the Black American religious experience. I’ve since learned the rich and powerful history of Blacks practicing everything from Islam to Zoroastrianism to Agnosticism. We often speak of the Black Church as the sole site of Black religious practice and spiritual community, but this is so far from the truth, both historically and contemporaneously. And, I’m glad that it is. It reminds me that Black religion, as expressed in innumerable traditions and rituals, is just as vast as Black aesthetics, as expressed through our hair, fashion, nails, language, art, and music.3
From this expansive perspective, Tina Turner opens her heart in this book, to share the “spiritual truths [I’ve] learned on my unlikely path to joy, from childhood to today.” She never seats herself as a spiritual expert. Rather, she is adamant that the wisdom she shares has been gleaned from her personal journey.
I want to share are a few beautiful spiritual insights that I gleaned from her book. I hope that this will help us to remember her spiritual journey, in addition to her powerful creative catalog, her status as a sex symbol, and certainly the pain that “the culture” has so often mimicked. In this era, where public discourse of religion in this country is dominated by White Christian Nationalism and the absolute damage that it has wrought upon our lives, I hope that we will hold on to Tina Turner’s spiritual model of peace and belonging as a witness to the true power and purpose of spirituality and spiritual practice. In a time of heightened anxiety and despair, I hope that her model reminds us of the agency that we all possess to make peace with our past, find joy in our present, and expand into a limitless future.
The invitation to immerse oneself in Mother Nature is always open to us. If accepted, time in Creation can yield peace, calm, and perspective.
“I first learned about the workings of the universe from my daily experiences growing up in Nutbush, Tennessee, a small rural town. I loved spending time outside, running through the fields, looking up at the heavenly bodies in the sky, spending time with animals - domestic and wild ones - and listening to the sounds of nature.
Even as a little girl, I sensed an unseen universal force as I walked through through wide-open pastures each day. Communing with nature taught me to trust my intuition, which always seemed to know the way home when I was lost, the best branch on a tree for swinging, or where a treacherous rock was hidden in a stream.”4
Self-reflection is necessary for spiritual growth. To illustrate the Buddhist principle of The Ten Worlds, Tina Turner shared a reflection of a day in her life in 1977, where her inner “worlds” ascended to the heights of awareness and happiness, and descended to the depths of worry, fear, and self-criticism.
“The Ten Worlds describes ten categories of our “life conditions” - our ever-changing moods, thoughts and general states of being - that powerfully influence our emotions, our actions, and our view of ourselves and others.
… By becoming conscious of these conditions, I was able to see the tendencies that were holding me back and bringing me down, including low self-esteem, codependence, denying my worth, and deferring decisions about my life to other people. If I could see these aspects of myself more clearly, I could begin to change them, opening the way for me to build lasting success and happiness.”5
The spiritual path to peace and actualization is seeking us, even as we are seeking it. Repetition is often a sign that a message is attempting to come through from the other side, awaiting our response. In her narration of the origin of her Buddhist practice, she shares that the invitation to chanting came to her at three different times, from three different people. After invitations from her sound engineer and her son, a random houseguest invited her again:
“A few weeks later, Ike brought home a cheerful-looking woman to meet me. He was always parading people thorough our house to “see Tina.” Out of nowhere, she started talking about chanting. She was a Buddhist.
Apparently, the universe was trying very hard to send me an important message. This time, I was ready to listen.”6
Faith is not as esoteric as we’ve made it out to be.
“To me, faith is cherishing and developing the potential of one’s own precious life.
In this way, I wish for everyone to have faith.”7
5.Mentors are necessary, not only for professional growth, but also for personal and spiritual growth. If you’re open to it, your mentor can appear in the most unlikely persons.
“Mentors also help us see ourselves in ways that we can’t on our own. At any age, we can find a mentor in life.
… And then, I met Erwin Bach, my mentor in true love, my unwavering life partner, my soul mate and husband. Being with Erwin taught me to love without giving up who I am, as we grant each other the freedom and space to be individuals at the same time we are a couple. Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame. He shows me that true love doesn’t require the dimming of my light so that he can shine. On the contrary, we are the light of each other’s lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can together.”8
Human revolution - revolution of the heart - is an powerful framework for moving forward out of our “comfort zones,” expanding our capacities, and realizing our potential.
“The truth was, I didn’t like myself.
That is, until I discovered the powerfully freeing wisdom and “human revolution.” For the past forty-seven years, I’e used this this process of inner transformation to unlock the joyous potential of my life.
By revitalizing myself each day, my life condition improved, an dI moved forward within myself, even if just a step at a time. I achieved new heights of creativity and gained a new awareness of the sanctity of my own life and the lives of all around me. The is the best kind of revolution I can imagine.”9
A healthy spiritual practice can serve as a bridge over the chasm between our present lives and the lives that we dream of.
“When we dream, especially when we dream big, there is always a gap between the reality of what we have and our goals. The key is finding a way to bridge that distance.
My spiritual practice is what bridged the gap for me. … Before I learned about chanting, I already had the work ethic and I was tenacious, but what I lacked was spiritual fortitude.
I found that as my spiritual fortitude increased, my tenacity also increased, which further boosted my work success. Achieving personal fulfillment, in all areas of my life, started by unlocking the door of my wisdom, my Buddha nature.”10
Stop using religion to judge, belittle and condemn others. No tradition is better than another. They all exist for the purpose of lifting us up to a higher plane of being and understanding.
“However you travel to your higher worlds - whether you choose the same path as me, or another one - I’m cheering for you with my whole heart.”11
There are so many timeless and beautiful insights in this book. Tina Turner was more than gracious with her wisdom and generous her story. It’s not a complex read, but it challenging in its push to gain a “crystal clear” vision of oneself through a committed spiritual life. It is nourishing to the soul.
Treat yourself and order the book from your preferred bookseller. In the meantime, take a moment to chant with Tina here:
Turner, Tina. Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good (New York: Atria Books, 2020), xi.
Ibid., xi.
For those who are interested, this endless landscape of Black American religion and spirituality is highlighted at the current NMAAHC exhibition, Spirit in the Dark. This short, but powerful, mixed media showcase is a powerful point of entry into a study of Black religion including, and beyond, Christianity and the Black Church. I loved it.
Ibid., 1-2
Ibid., 22.
Ibid., 19.
Ibid., 58
Ibid., 103.
Ibid, 112. Also, shameless plug!! I preached a sermon entitled, “Expansion Season” late last year, and it is in deep alignment with Ms. Turner’s concept of “human revolution.” This sermon grew into a 3-part sermon series and became a framework for my personal healing and flourishing. I’m going to be teaching a 3-day virtual ingathering for women of faith on Expansion Season this summer, where I’ll be sharing a range of tools, practices and ideas on expansion. If you would like to get the updates, please sign up here. I’d love to have you!
Ibid., 57.
Ibid., 58.