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Friday, June 15, 2012

"When the Iron Bird Flies" (film)


() "Can these age old teachings help us find genuine happiness and save the planet as well?" This is a timely look at the impact Tibetan Buddhism is having on western society. It is a comprehensive exploration and collaboration between East and West. See film below.
   
The film's directors at work with final editing
An ancient Tibetan prophecy states that "When the iron bird flies, the Dharma will reach the West."
  
Western Theravada nun Ayya Khema explores this through meditation, particularly reviving the Buddha's teachings on fruitful "right concentration" through the absorptions (jhanas).
   
Western  Vajrayana allies have gone further to explore the arrival of the Dharma by going on KICKSTARTER and raising funds to make a pivotal feature film. About 480 backers pledged $32,000 taking the project over its goal.
There have been other Westerners -- such as the French Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard and the American Tibetan Buddhist monk, professor, and father of actress Uma Thurman, Robert Thurman -- who have worked closely with the current Dalai Lama to translate the teachings and make them more accessible to European and American audiences. 
 
Funding and making the movie from inspiration to realization

Tibetan Buddhism Arrives in the West
This is the first feature-length documentary to take a comprehensive look at the impact Tibetan Buddhism (a variety of Mahayana called Lamaism, Tantrayana, or Vajrayana) is having on Western culture. 
   
14th Dalai Lama (Reuters)
The film presents a vivid portrait of the world of Tibetan Buddhism as it is manifesting in the West -- from the personal experiences and insights of teachers and practitioners to the wide ranging dialogues taking place between the Buddha's Dharma and the worlds of science, psychology, and the arts.
   
The filmmakers began shooting in April of 2009. It was a huge undertaking that has come to its thrilling final phase of editing. They hope all Buddhists in the West will feel inspired to contribute, spread the word, or simply take time to learn about this important project. More
  
When the Iron Bird Flies

Psychic Powers in Nepal (documentary)

Text: Wisdom Quarterly editors; video: "Curiosity" (Discovery Channel)
() European illusionist Dan White ("The Supernaturalist") travels to magical, mysterious Nepal in search of real magic in the Himalayas. Is what he finds real? Do the and Curiosity stand by it? 

Saddhus in Durbar Square (AFP)
BHAKTAPUR, Nepal - Psychic powers (abhinnas or siddhis) are real in Buddhism. They are important only because they reveal what the real world. We are immersed in an illusion, in a small fraction of what is real. Powers open us up to the possibility of what is really going on. While we instinctively love the sense of wonder, it is sometimes accompanied by fear or awe. 
  
Illusionists create illusions that hint at a greater reality. Yet, there are magicians who are not creating illusions but working perplexing feats of what is humanly possible. They do not violate the laws of physics -- only our ridiculous view that most of us have any idea what the actual laws of physics are. 
   
(-William/flickr.com)
Nepal is the world's only Hindu nation, but that seems to stem from census manipulations. The nation is very Buddhist but utterly dependent on India for its survival. As an officially if only nominally "Hindu" country, it is the home of many saddhus (holy men), yogis, babas, shamans, and Western wanderers in search of the real. Bhaktapur may be the spiritual center of the country. 

Durbar Square with its famous Freak Street was its central hippie haven in the 1960s and '70s. The ancient outpost is a conglomeration of blended Buddhist/Hindu pagodas and temples grouped around a 55-window brownstone palace. Nepal is the home of the "living child goddess" whose feet are kept from touching the Earth.
  
Such occupied individuals are known as Kumari. But this is a temporary channeled position for pre-pubescent virgins, ten in all. The real goddesses are devis who are said to enter select children with blemish-free bodies (32 perfections in all). This being the custom in the former Himalayan kingdom (now a Maoist-liberated republic), could displays of real magic be anything surprising?

"BuddhaFest" Film Festival (video)

BuddhaFest.org 2012 Washington, D.C. adjacent