Adam Yauch, known to Beastie Boys’ fans as MCA, died from cancer on Friday at the age of 47. In The Huffington Post, Jaweed Kaleem writes that Yauch had been a practicing Buddhist since 1994 and was known for his activism for Tibetan independence. In 1994, Yauch “explained his attraction to Buddhism” in an interview for Tricycle magazine: “The feeling I get from the rinpoches and His Holiness [the Dalai Lama] and Tibetan people in general. The people that I’ve met are really centered in the heart; they’re coming from a real clear, compassionate place.”