News of the Day: Spiritual movies (video)

Seven, Pat Macpherson, Irma Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly, News of the Day, Nov. 2012

Calming prints on the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city (WeGoTwo/flickr.com)

• Obama drops in on Cambodian dictator Hun Sen after visit with Burma's rulers
• 10,000 Days of Hun Sen: “I not only weaken the opposition, I’m going to make them dead...and if anyone is strong enough to try to hold a demonstration, I will beat all those dogs and put them in a cage.” 
• WalMart and others kill Bangladeshi workers

Happiness
Happiness in Teen Years linked to Higher Income later

Happy Samurai Girl (imdb.com)

(HuffPo) Gloomy teens, take heed -- your more happy-go-lucky classmates will likely earn more than you, according to new research. Researchers followed more than 10,000 U.S. adolescents over a decade and found that happiness during the teen years and young adulthood was linked with income at age 29.

Life Lessons I Learned from my Baby
Declines in Quality of Life of all EU states, alarming

Declines of over 20% in levels of optimism and happiness are reported in some countries across the EU and over a third of people indicate a... 

Happiness first for youths

The top motivating factors for Malaysians aged 18-35 are happiness, success, family, and ambition -- according to the latest Generation-Asia...

Led Zeppelin movie released: "Celebration Day"

Jimi Hendrix NEW album: "People, Hell, and Angels"

WATCH: Soundgarden plays live concert

Hundreds attend happiness panel

(Yale Daily News) Hundreds of students flooded into LC 101 last night to hear a panel of professors discuss happiness. The talk, hosted by Vita Bella ["Good Life"]... 

Study: Happiness in workplace is key to employee productivity

To complement this study, The Wall Street Journal examined the role that happiness has in workplace productivity, and how both employees... 

Workers now happiest they have been in ages, finds study

(Herald Sun, Nov. 25, 2012) Workers now happiest they have been in ages, finds study... Happiness among their workers also is up by 40 per cent as they too enjoy better... 

"Female PORN STARS are happier"

(MSN NZ News, Nov. 26, 2012) A study claiming porn actresses are happier in their sexuality and self-image than other women has been discredited by an Australian expert.

  
"Travelers and Magicians"

In Bhutan, the last Himalayan Buddhist kingdom, dreaming of coming to Buddhist America

  
A Bhutanese fable [available for DVD rental] about lives in transition will be shown Monday at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor St., Hartford. "Travelers and Magicians" tells the story about Dondup, who wants to leave Bhutan for America, and a monk who tries to talk him out of it. To do this, the monk tells the story of another man restless and dissatisfied, whose story does not end well. It is the first movie shot entirely in Bhutan, and is in the Bhutanese language, Dzonghka, with subtitles. More

Bollywood's Sherlyn Chopra to star in Kama Sutra in 3D
Kashmir: Canada and India's new relationship
LA Yoga: Ayurveda and Health (Magazine)

Kindle eBook: India Was One

iJAN helps FREE Palestine: The WorldSocial Forum Free Palestine (WSF FP) is approaching. More than 10,000 Palestinian and solidarity activists from 36 countries will converge on Porto Alegre to learn from each other and together organize to build a strong movement to confront Israel and Zionism and the broader injustices they represent and support. The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and activists in the US, Canada, and around the world are building a joint struggleframework to the WSF FP.  More

Filling US prisons with "modern slaves" for profit
The North America Bigfoot Search (Paulides)
UFO sightings warm up on Australia's Gold Coast
Research in Open and Distance Learning  (Journal)
China dissident Ai Weiwei basks in his relative liberty
PHOTO GALLERY: Buddhist beauty in China (wow)
PHOTOS: TraceLUX's trip to Tibet
Bhutan gives cold shoulder to Nepal
Rooftop news: The Himalayan Times 
English eBooks (Tusita Hermitage)

"Life of Pi"

(LINK) Director Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") recruits an actual trained Bengal tiger to create a groundbreaking movie about a young man who survives a tragic disaster at sea. He is hurtled on an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While marooned on a lifeboat, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with the ship's only other survivor, the tiger. WARNING: Many viewers say the movie tries to inspire wonder and awe and a belief in GOD.

 

"Cloud Atlas"

 (LINK) The most "Buddhist" movie of the year?

 

This Wachowski film features handsome Halle Berry and America's very own sweetheart Tom Hanks with Buddhist themes reminiscent of "Looper." Except this is without a time-travel conceit to make the karmic connection perfectly clear. "Cloud Atlas" is an exploration of how the actions (karma) of individual lives impact one another. This happens in the past, present, and future. One living being, in the course of becoming, is shaped from a killer into a hero. And a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
  
Not since Hanks nearly ruined "Cast Away" have we been so torn between wanting to watch a film for thematic reasons and being kept away by its male lead. In that epic adventure, Hanks' character is adrift on a raft ("Life of Pi"-style) with no one to talk to but a soccer ball. He draws eyes on it, places a wig atop it, and constantly whines: "Wilson, will I ever get home? Wilson, does my wife still love me? Wilson, what are we going to do?!!" Later in a hallucination, the ball answers him: "My name is Voit, dumb@ss!" Wait, that pay-off only came much later in a "Family Guy" cutaway:

"Cloud Atlas" might be bearable with the help of co-stars Susan Sarandon, Zhou Xun, Hugo Weaving, Doona Rae, Jim Sturgess, James D'Arcy, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Keith David, David Mitchell, David Gyasi... because if the worst thing one has to say about a prospective film is that Tom Hanks is in it, that is probably one great film.

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Girl vs. Girl: "Pitch Perfect" (video)

Amber Dorrian and Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; IMBD.com; Screen.yahoo.com

In one of the best pop films of the year, it's "Beca" (Anna Kendrick) versus the World. Until college and her professor father nudge her into expanding her horizons beyond beats and DJing, she's the lovable indie alt grrl. How is she converted to befriending females and getting out of her shell?  That is the central conceit of the movie -- acapella renditions of very cool songs. This would be a disaster if the music weren't so good. But behind the shiny songs and unreal (unrehearsed) performances that take place spontaneously throughout the story at Riff Offs and elsewhere is a very real story about what it's like among women, our separation, cattiness, and constant counterproductive competition. 

Drill Sgt. Aubrey (imdb.com)

Thank you Nazi Aubrey (Anna Camp), super-sexy "Stacie" (Alexis Knapp), supermodel "Kimmy Jin" (Jinhee Joung), hilarious comedienne "Fat Amy" (Rebel Wilson), freaky-geek Quiet "Lilly" (Hana Mae Lee), and uber-nemesis "Bumper" (Adam DeVine). There's lesbianism (very jokey), there's misogyny, there's promiscuity, there are jerk adults (color commentators "Gail" and John), there are dance offs, and there is that one eternal truth secretly brewing underneath it all, covert competition in a gynocentric cooperative frame. The movie is not all good news; it is almost ruined by the syrupy "good guy" male lead "Jesse" (Loser). Fortunately other men, like "Bumper" and "Donald" (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and "Benji" (Ben Platt), round out the cast, all straight, all acapella. More

NOTE: This review and focus on a commercial success was written under duress after Wisdom Quarterly staff were forced to watch the movie three times by Features Editor Ashley ("Aubrey") Wells, who seemed to be experiencing some kind of enlightening experience or catharsis from the story. Who knows why the Dharma Editor allowed except that he liked the movie, too. It does grow on a person and is not bad but only compared to Hollywood's ordinary output. It has legs; it came in eighth place in the Top Ten this week.

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"The Bitter Buddha" (comedy)

Wisdom Quarterly, Eddie Pepitone (The Bitter Buddha) via David Feldman (PLAY SHOW)

Fat happy Budai (speakinggod)

"The Bitter Buddha" is coming to theaters and on-demand in late 2012. Screenings and news can be found at TheBitterBuddha (Facebook) and TheBitterBuddha.com. This documentary is an unfiltered look at Eddie Pepitone, a real "comic's comic." His life is on full display in this comedic portrait of creativity, enlightenment, and rage. 

  

A film by Steven Feinartz. Animated segment: audio courtesy of WTF with the Marc Maron podcast. Original animation by Allen Mezquida.
 
"The Bitter Buddha" takes an unconventional journey through the life of one of America's most original comedic voices.

 

"Want to feel like you've discovered something new? That you're watching a comedian poised to hit critical mass? This is your movie."

- The Chicago Tribune

 

Featuring comedians: Eddie Pepitone, Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis, Paul Provenza, Sean Conroy, Dana Gould, Todd Barry, Todd Glass, Andy Kindler, BJ Novak, James Adomian, Paul Gilmartin, Paul F. Tompkins, Andy Daly, Jen Kirkman, Jim Earl, Leo Allen, Matt Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, Rob Huebel, Scott Aukerman, Todd Barry, and more.

  

LISTEN Fridays or archived for 90 days at KPFK.org

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"YogaWoman" (film)

YogaWoman.TV; Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly

(YogawomanTV) Movie now showing in Los Angeles and other major markets

 

The wonders of inner peace (Yogag33k)

Yoga, as spiritual exercises and an ancient Vedic philosophy, was brought to the West from India by a lineage of male teachers (gurus) and their disciples (chelas). But now a generation of women are leading the way. They're strong, they're inspiring, and they're radically changing people's lives. "YogaWoman" is a groundbreaking film, uncovering a global phenomenon that has forever changed the face of yoga.

  
Comments

Shiva-Shakti, the masculine-feminine in everyon

(Notch76) I am a man, and I practice yoga, but my understanding is that a major aspect of the practice is the move toward dissolving the ego along with any attachment to one's identity (including gender) in favor of a realized oneness with all. That being said, I don't take issue with the fact many women find peace, comfort, and strength through yoga practice. I think it's beautiful when anyone makes such a discovery.
  
(Wendyness01 replying to MagicPonyRides) Unless you have "exposure" in the yoga community (the "casting couch" approach works), one's ability to make a living teaching yoga is VERY limiting. I know several yoga teachers who can't make a living teaching yoga so they "mate poach." Most yoga teachers that I know here in the West are female, NOT married, and DON'T have children. Not very empowering.
  
(ChannelStudioPeace) How fantastic! A film about yoga and women! Yoga's a wonderful way of entering sacred space, feeling your power, and experiencing the connection to yourself and the universe around you. It's interesting how the cycle has shifted from yoga being practiced and taught exclusively by men at one time to today it being practiced and taught almost exclusively by women. As a female practitioner and yoga teacher, I can't wait to see the movie!
  
(Wayne Barrow) As a male with only a cursory interest in yoga, I was blown away by this insightful film as it gave me a fascinating insight into this noble art from a female perspective. I wish the filmmakers and people involved in the production all the best for producing a quality and entertaining product. I wish people would actually see the documentary all the way through before passing judgment!

• YogaMan? Too bad men can't do yoga!

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They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain (film)

Wisdom Quarterly; Photosynthesis Prod; NewYorkerFilms; VOA

  

The Saffron Revolution 2007-2012 (R.A.)

This is the story of the most Buddhist country in the world (with 89% of the population as adherents), Burma. 

  

The military coup that took place a half century ago led to the creation of an Orwellian nightmare -- a police state ruled by General Than Shwe and an elite junta of criminal military men, who changed the name of the country to "Myanmar" as they embezzled its wealth, enslaved its people, and aligned with corrupt totalitarian China over corrupt democratic India. 

  

FREE BURMA from police state oppression: Saffron Revolution (gawker.com)

Orwell, who was a colonial British subject born in Burma, wrote 1984 in 1948 with Burma and England in mind.

Told with stunning footage that was shot clandestinely over a two-year period by filmmaker Robert H. Lieberman, the film provides an astonishing and intimate look inside at what has become one of the most isolated countries on the planet. Lieberman lifts the curtain on the everyday life of the people in what was once the Golden Land now held hostage by a brutal and superstitious military regime for 48 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi freedom mural (AFP)

A revealing interview with Nobel Peace Prize winner Lady Aung San Suu Kyi conducted just after her most recent release from house arrest is interwoven with extensive interviews and interactions with Burmese people from all around this incredibly diverse Southeast Asian nation.

  

Burma is the home of the modern emphasis on insight meditation (vipassana) in Buddhist practice thanks to its extraordinary monastic system that has produced such luminaries and scholars as Mahasi Sayadaw and the accomplished Pa Auk Sayadaw.

(Kaye Lin) Burma is going through a transition, reform Associate Producer Harold Dinkins says makes this film more relevant than ever before because the film portrays many sociological aspects in the country from health and education issues to the problem of child labor. It is now screening in select theaters across America.

  

The film, culled from over 120 hours of striking images, is an impressionistic journey that leads viewers across the vastness of Burma. It traces the history of Burma from its beginnings in the ancient city of Pagan (Bagan), through colonial times, the rule of Daw Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, recent uprisings by Theravada Buddhist monks called the Saffron Revolution after the color of their robes, the devastating Cyclone Nargis that killed 150,000 people, up to the present day.

Buddhist monk faces off with police (dvb.no)

During Lieberman's time in Burma he shot video constantly, even though it was forbidden and a risky thing to do in a totalitarian state, which could have led to him being thrown irretrievably into Insein Prison. Now this rare footage forms an unexpected and deeply expressive portrait of a place the world now calls "Myanmar."

Actor Ellen Page explains who dictator Than Shwe  is to Burma

• John Kabat-Zinn's Science of Mindfulness
• AUDIO: Late night Buddhist radio on KPFK
• VIDEO: Gangnam Style LIVE for 80,000

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"Craving" the movie (Trishna)

IFCfilms.com/films/Trishna; Trishna the Movie

Slumdog Millionaire's breakout starlet Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed co-star, with original songs by Amit Trivedi and an original score by Shigeru Umebayashi, in Trishna (Sanskrit tṛṣṇā, "craving," Pali tanha). Shot in India and based on the novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, TRISHNA is the story of a girl named Trishna.

She lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India's largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed) is the wealthy son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father's request, he meets Trishna at a dance and fate takes its course: Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna's affection, and she accepts his advances with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Bombay (Mumbai) and become a couple, Jay's deep family bonds threaten the young lovers' bliss.
 
Produced by Melissa Parmenter and directed and shot with Michael Winterbottom's agile camera, TRISHNA is a powerful look at the tension between ancient privilege in India and modern equality, between codes of urban and rural life. Ultimately it is a hymn to both the glory and the tragedy that accompanies beauty in all forms. 

• Twitter: updates and information @TrishnaMovie

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"Killing Buddha" - the movie (video)

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

(CFL) Betsy Chasse, co-writer/producer of "What the Bleep Do We Know?!," on her latest independent film, "Killing Buddha."

There is a horrific Mahayana Buddhist expression that -- going against the very heart of Theravada Buddhist sentiment -- runs: “If you see the Buddha on the road, [blank] him.”
     
There are, after all, only five heinous deeds with fixed karmic results: (1) intentionally harming a buddha, (2) matricide, (3) patricide, (4) killing an arhat, (5) or causing a schism in the Sangha.
  
The consequence is rebirth in the most dismal subhuman plane of existence (avici) in the very next rebirth. Cultivating the intention to perform one of these unimaginable acts is mental karma that goes on to become a verbal act of encouraging others. What does it mean?

It is meant to be facetious, ironic, and shocking: “Do not follow teachers; do not set up others on a pedestal; depend on yourself; be a light/island (dipa) unto yourself, taking no teacher other than the Dharma itself as an idol or savior.”
   
An American famous for creating “What the Bleep Do We Know?” is setting her sights on Buddhism. Betsy Chasse was perplexed by the message “You are the one you've been waiting for.” But it came to her through what has become a Mahayana commandment of sorts:
  

Linji the shocking iconoclast

“Embrace Nothing. If you meet the Buddha, k*ll the Buddha… only live your life as it is, not bound to anything.” This saying is attributed to iconoclastic Linji, the 9th century founder of the Linji School of Chán (Chinese jhana) Buddhism.
   

Linji's famous sayings

“Followers of the Way [of Chán], if you want to get the kind of understanding that accords with the Dharma, never be misled by others. Whether you're facing inward or facing outward, whatever you meet up with, just kill it! If you meet a [fully awakened] buddha, kill the buddha. If you meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch. If you meet an arhat, kill the arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. If you meet your kinfolk, kill your kinfolk. Then for the first time you will gain emancipation, will not be entangled with things, will pass freely anywhere you wish to go” (Burston Watson, 1999, The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi: A Translation of the Lin-chi lu, p. 52).

  

“Those who have fulfilled the 10 stages of bodhisattva-practice are no better than hired field hands; those who have attained the enlightenment of the 51st and 52nd stages are prisoners shackled and bound; arhats and non-teaching buddhas are so much filth in the latrine; bodhi and nirvana are hitching posts for donkeys” (Ibid., p. 26). 

    
The Next "What the Bleep?!"  
Chasse wants help. She is asking the public (through crowdfundinglive.com) to participate in this project at any level. Watch videos from the set, look at behind the scenes footage, chat online with the cast and the film makers, and more. She is exchanging these enticements for funding.
   

While distributing What The Bleep Do We Know?! Chasse was honored to travel the world talking about the film. The most common question people asked was, “How did a broke, out of work, spiritually unconscious, material Valley Girl who was into sex, tequila, and expensive shoes end up being a writer, director and producer of What the Bleep Do We Know!?”
   
Sometimes it takes the most unlikely of people in the most unusual of circumstances to create something that touches the world like “Bleep” did. The story Chasse told was so funny and resonated with so many people that she decided to write a film about it, a comedy called “Killing Buddha.” 
  

About-Team-Financial-Media-Updates-Funders-Comments

  

Synopsis

When life is chaotic we are forced to change. This is a lesson successful film producer Sara Wells reluctantly learns when her seemingly perfect life comes crashing down. Desperate for work, she takes on a documentary project about spirituality and the new thought movement. Will “Killing Buddha” mark her triumphant return to the riches she thinks her life once contained?
  
Or will she and her mismatched crew of seekers, believers, and cynics find that ultimately it’s not what you have and what you believe in, but who you become that counts? Think “Bridget Jones gets hired to shoot a documentary about finding the meaning of life.”
   
Funny and lighthearted, “Killing Buddha” is a mainstream comedy that is set to include interviews with some of today's greatest pop spiritual teachers -- Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, and others interacting with the actors as they shoot this “film within the film.”
   

Why make the film?

“Killing Buddha” is a reminder that everything we seek can be found within ourselves. More

• VIDEO: Betsy Chasse interview on Cutting Edge Consciousness
• The four most important civil rights hero(ine)s today 
• Dr. Coldwell's 3-day Success Bootcamp
  

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Tibet: "Unmistaken Child" (full movie)

48adidaphat; Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddhist concept of rebirth -- often poorly translated as "reincarnation" -- while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp.

UNMISTAKEN CHILD follows the four-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at the age of 84.

The 14th Dalai Lama, who himself is believed to be the same being reborn on Earth life after life to save or protect the people of Tibet, charges the deceased monk's devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master's reincarnation.

Tenzin sets off on this unforgettable quest on foot, mule, and even helicopter, through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages. Along the way Tenzin listens to stories about young children with special characteristics and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation.

He eventually presents the child he believes to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama so he can make the final decision.

Stunningly shot, UNMISTAKEN CHILD is a beguiling, surprising, touching, and humorous experience.

• Download DVD ISO (mediafire.com)
• Download MKV
  

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Another "Buddha" - Padmasambhava (video)

Buddhist Films; Wisdom Quarterly
(DharmaPublishingBookstore.com)

This is the dramatic story not of Maitreya, the Buddha-to-come, but of the ancient Indian Buddhist missionary Guru Padmasambhava. He was born in Udhyana -- modern Swat Valley, Pakistan -- and traveled across mountains and icy desert plains, moving across the spectacular Himalayas and finally reaching the Tibetan Plateau. Benoy K. Behl created this film to tell his story of one of the most forceful personalities of all history. Padmasambhava, with his magic and flamboyant masked dances, dominated the Rooftop of the World within his lifetime and is still revered today.

  

Behl in Berkeley

Mangalam Centers and the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley co-sponsored a special screening of art historian and photographer Benoy K. Behl’s film “The Second Buddha.” The filmmaker was present to discuss his work and take questions with Mangalam Research Center director Jack Petranker. The program included Sylvia Gretchen, the Dean of the Nyingma Institute, on the importance of Padmasambhava in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
  
“The Second Buddha” follows the journey of Guru Padmasambhava, an emanation of the Mahayana “Buddha” Amitabha who is regarded as the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet and Bhutan.
  
The 25-minute film traces segments of Guru Padmasambhava’s journey across the Himalayas and the cold, high deserts of the Tibetan Plateau. According to Behl, the film tells “one of the greatest true stories of the world and is also the story of one of the most forceful personalities in all history.” More
   

(Myo Edizioni)

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Brains are cool! (Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor)

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor (drjilltaylor.com); Wisdom Quarterly

Dr. Jill "Brain Eye to Eye" (Kip May)

The Brain Extravaganza! was launched in Bloomington, Indiana, in April 2012. Brains, brains, brains! Big beautiful anatomically correct brains with 12 pairs of cranial nerves and all the gyri and sulci one could ever want.

  

There are 22 enormous fiberglass brains (5 feet long, 5 feet high, and 4 feet wide) in the hands of the artists who painted/decorated them for the extravaganza. This thrills Dr. Jill's heart, she explains.

   

Every brain will have a sign attached. On the sign will read five facts about the brain and a special question. Download a really cool mobile app at jbtbrains.org to paint your own brain. Then compare it to other brains, upload the image to Facebook [so the government can get a copy for your file], and talk brains, brains, brains. "YaY! Brains are cool!" the doctor and author of My Stroke of Insight insists. More

• Enlightenment by stroke
• On the heels of her viral sensation TED Talk, Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor wrote My Stroke of Insight. She was interviewed by Teri Gross on "Fresh Air."
• Hemorrhaging Nirvana
• Top 10 quirky facts about mass-produced food
• PHOTOS: Thai novices and the "Second King Monk" 

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"When the Iron Bird Flies" (film)

ChariotVideos.com; BuddhaFest.org; Wisdom Quarterly

(Victress108) "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.

• "Yogis of Tibet," When Buddhism Comes West
• VIDEO: Meditation now, Absorption soon

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

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"Yogis of Tibet" (film)

Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Jeffrey Pill (video); Ayya Khema (book)

The fabled land of Tibet, with Lhasa its capital and Potala Palace its heart (nekorpa.org)

  

(IAmHanuMan)For the first time, the reclusive and secretive Tibetan Buddhist monks (yogis and lamas) agree to discuss aspects of their philosophy and allow themselves to be filmed while performing their ancient practices. They do this to preserve an extraordinary culture being eradicated. Directed by Jeffrey M. Pill.

   

Himalayan Buddhist flags (Bhakti Omwoods)

Once upon a time in Tibet, when people followed the ancient Indian ascetic practices (of the Buddha and the Brahmins) prevalent on the subcontinent below, there were real-life mystics and magicians. Magic and Mystery in Tibet was an early western title by Alexandra David-Neel, embroidered and exaggerated to boost sales. But it hinted at the perplexity of what was possible in the Himalayan wilds, in the isolated home of seers (rishis), Bon wizards, partial shamans, and Buddhist wanderers. It is famously said, "Not all who wander are lost." While the austerities and mortifications once prevalent in Tibet may have reached extremes beyond the Buddha's "sane asceticism" (dhutanga), it produced and kept alive many of the feats that set Indian spirituality apart. This eventuality of taking secrets out into the world beyond the Himalayas did not come entirely as a surprise.
  

There was a prophecy that said, "When the Iron Bird Flies," the title of Western Theravada nun and meditation master Ayya Khema's book, "the Dharma [Buddhism] would reach the West." Like many Native American prophecies, we do not realize that they have come true until we look back on them. The "iron birds" were planes in the Age of Flight a time when we also re-entered the secret Space Age. The ages are cyclical. This is not the first time earthlings have flown in metal "birds." The long-lived devas remind us, and we can develop the capacity to look back to verify it. The bigger question is, What will we do with the liberating Dharma?

• David-Neel: On Tibetan Buddhist Hermits

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