Hi Folks !
I'm lucky to be living in Pune !
It is the only city apart from New Delhi, which, since the last 3 years has started to hold an annual festival of Buddhist films called 'The Inner Path'.
I had missed it last year and made up by going for all the 18 films this time !
In a couple of posts, I want to tell you some wonderful stories and the Buddhist way of life as shown in these beautiful films.
You know, before going for the first festival, I had wondered how the Buddha's teachings would be interpreted on celluloid.
He asks us to be non-violent.
And compassionate.
And to practice loving kindness.
Live in the present.
Find your own truths and live by them.
It's all so abstract and euphemistic, enigmatic and esoteric, what kind of stories would the writers and directors tell?
How will they be understood?
Won't they be boring?
So many questions !
And as usual, so very unnecessary !
The films have been an eye - opener.
They have complex stories of relationships, tragedies, longings, forgiveness, finding oneself in the most unexpected places and situations, moving on and growing up .
Maybe same as mainstream films of Holly/ Bollywood, but the treatment, the language, the pace is gentle, giving time to understand, to absorb and come to one's conclusions.
There is no shoving of any philosophy, just an alternative way of resolving which is peaceful, giving rise to contentment.
The festival opened with 'The Cup', a Bhutanese - Australian film based on a true incident about an 8 year old young monk's fervent obsession for soccer and his determination to watch the final match of the world cup held in France.
The monastery is strict, the routine busy, everybody's caught up in the fever furtively as the rules a re strict.
The film's other layer is about 2 young boys who have managed to escape from Tibet to live in exile.
Monks, young or old cannot keep money, the TV rental is steep, the head lama has no idea what all the fuss is about -
oh - there are so many layers! - and there's magic too !
It is an absolute delight and if you haven't already seen it, hurry up and do.
My Mandala, a Taiwanese film had a poignant subject.
A very wealthy couple lose their only son in a car accident.
The wife feels his soul is still wandering and asks a young monk she's met in a shop to come and stay in their house and chant for him.
The husband is disdainful of these practices.
And the lama is actually a conman just out of jail.
He likes the opulent house, the great reverence shown to his (stolen) robes and the beads and the chanting he has hurriedly mugged up or reads from.
His boss shows up and spills the beans to the husband.
The fraud monk has been changing slowly, unconsciously, from inside.
Then fate deals a twist and everything gently settles into place.
The denouement is unexpected and satisfying.
The Sun Beaten Path is a Chinese film about Nima, a normal, young man who is reaching home after completing an arduous pilgrimage to Lhasa.
His beloved mother and brother come to meet him at the bus stop - and on way home, there is an accident.
His mother who was on the brother's motorcycle, ahead of him, falls at a bump and dies under the wheels of his tractor.
Racked with intense guilt, Nima leaves home again and traverses the vast expanse of the Gobi desert.
An old man attaches himself to him, taking care of him, but gives up at Nima's silence.
The vastness and barren vistas of the desert, the long, unending road, the occasional trucks and buses the drivers knowing the regulars and Nima's emptiness is very powerful.
Here, the sudden change comes with the turning of seasons.
One evening, the scene is as bleak as it was since long.
The next morning, everything is covered with a fine blanket of snow.
Nima learns, that nothing remains the same.
Everything changes and attachment only leads to sorrow.
He finally starts back, at peace with himself.
Avalokitesvara is another Chinese film about a porcelain maker who makes a mystical statue of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva.
Just when he has finished firing it, he chances upon a beautiful little orphan baby girl and takes her home.
She grows up as Little Lotus, extremely compassionate in nature and people believe her to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara himself.
There is a Japanese monk who wants the statue as that would bring peace to his country but the statue seems to have a mind of its own.
This theme too has human emotions like greed, fear, ambition, faith and compassion.
More in the next post.
If you can catch any of these, see them.
No idea what effect these themes and their handling have -
but there is no boisterous behaviour, no shouting into cell phones during those 3 days.
It's an an enhancing experience.
Enjoy and be good.
I'm lucky to be living in Pune !
It is the only city apart from New Delhi, which, since the last 3 years has started to hold an annual festival of Buddhist films called 'The Inner Path'.
I had missed it last year and made up by going for all the 18 films this time !
In a couple of posts, I want to tell you some wonderful stories and the Buddhist way of life as shown in these beautiful films.
You know, before going for the first festival, I had wondered how the Buddha's teachings would be interpreted on celluloid.
He asks us to be non-violent.
And compassionate.
And to practice loving kindness.
Live in the present.
Find your own truths and live by them.
It's all so abstract and euphemistic, enigmatic and esoteric, what kind of stories would the writers and directors tell?
How will they be understood?
Won't they be boring?
So many questions !
And as usual, so very unnecessary !
The films have been an eye - opener.
They have complex stories of relationships, tragedies, longings, forgiveness, finding oneself in the most unexpected places and situations, moving on and growing up .
Maybe same as mainstream films of Holly/ Bollywood, but the treatment, the language, the pace is gentle, giving time to understand, to absorb and come to one's conclusions.
There is no shoving of any philosophy, just an alternative way of resolving which is peaceful, giving rise to contentment.
The festival opened with 'The Cup', a Bhutanese - Australian film based on a true incident about an 8 year old young monk's fervent obsession for soccer and his determination to watch the final match of the world cup held in France.
The monastery is strict, the routine busy, everybody's caught up in the fever furtively as the rules a re strict.
The film's other layer is about 2 young boys who have managed to escape from Tibet to live in exile.
Monks, young or old cannot keep money, the TV rental is steep, the head lama has no idea what all the fuss is about -
oh - there are so many layers! - and there's magic too !
It is an absolute delight and if you haven't already seen it, hurry up and do.
My Mandala, a Taiwanese film had a poignant subject.
A very wealthy couple lose their only son in a car accident.
The wife feels his soul is still wandering and asks a young monk she's met in a shop to come and stay in their house and chant for him.
The husband is disdainful of these practices.
And the lama is actually a conman just out of jail.
He likes the opulent house, the great reverence shown to his (stolen) robes and the beads and the chanting he has hurriedly mugged up or reads from.
His boss shows up and spills the beans to the husband.
The fraud monk has been changing slowly, unconsciously, from inside.
Then fate deals a twist and everything gently settles into place.
The denouement is unexpected and satisfying.
The Sun Beaten Path is a Chinese film about Nima, a normal, young man who is reaching home after completing an arduous pilgrimage to Lhasa.
His beloved mother and brother come to meet him at the bus stop - and on way home, there is an accident.
His mother who was on the brother's motorcycle, ahead of him, falls at a bump and dies under the wheels of his tractor.
Racked with intense guilt, Nima leaves home again and traverses the vast expanse of the Gobi desert.
An old man attaches himself to him, taking care of him, but gives up at Nima's silence.
The vastness and barren vistas of the desert, the long, unending road, the occasional trucks and buses the drivers knowing the regulars and Nima's emptiness is very powerful.
Here, the sudden change comes with the turning of seasons.
One evening, the scene is as bleak as it was since long.
The next morning, everything is covered with a fine blanket of snow.
Nima learns, that nothing remains the same.
Everything changes and attachment only leads to sorrow.
He finally starts back, at peace with himself.
Avalokitesvara is another Chinese film about a porcelain maker who makes a mystical statue of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva.
Just when he has finished firing it, he chances upon a beautiful little orphan baby girl and takes her home.
She grows up as Little Lotus, extremely compassionate in nature and people believe her to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara himself.
There is a Japanese monk who wants the statue as that would bring peace to his country but the statue seems to have a mind of its own.
This theme too has human emotions like greed, fear, ambition, faith and compassion.
More in the next post.
If you can catch any of these, see them.
No idea what effect these themes and their handling have -
but there is no boisterous behaviour, no shouting into cell phones during those 3 days.
It's an an enhancing experience.
Enjoy and be good.
1 comment:
I had a question. I want to know what is psychic death.
I dont know whether we can ask questions this way. If this is not the right way please provide me the right procedure.
Thanks Arundhati
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