Tag Archives: meditation

Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy

Four years in the making and hailed as a “masterpiece” on its theatrical release in 1979, Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy takes you to the heart of an ancient Buddhist culture. Filmed in the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamasala, and captured on film with startling beauty, the trilogy begins by observing Tibetan monks engaged in furious metaphysical debate giving lie to the stereotype of the placid Buddhist. The film goes on to create an intimate portrait of the Dalai Lama’s everyday life, before he was known to the western world, in his dual role of political leader and spiritual teacher, from naming children to orating on the value of preserving Tibetan culture. In elegant cinematic style, the first part explores the ways in which inner knowledge of Tibetan Buddhist culture is developed in monasteries through vigorous debate and solitary meditation, and communicated to the masses.

With extraordinary authenticity Part II of the Trilogy journeys deep into the mystical inner world of monastic life. The film follows the lamas of the Phulwary Sakya Monastery through their contemplative retreats, the building of an intricate cosmogram, and the performance of an ancient protective ritual known as ‘A Beautiful Ornament’. Gracefully shot and with a subtitled commentary based on the teachings of the great 20th century master Dudjom Rinpoche, the essence of tantric Buddhism is powerfully revealed.

Set in the majestic mountain landscape of Ladakh, Part III is a meditation on impermanence and the relationship between the mind, body and environment. It follows the monks and farmers through a day, ending with an unflinching depiction of the monastery’s moving ritual response to a death in the community. As described in the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”, the departed is guided through the dream-like intermediate state between death and birth.

From a portrait of the Dalai Lama, as a spiritual and temporal leader, to the unprecedented revelation of the mystical inner world of monastic life and its rituals, Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy brings you face to face with the unbroken continuity of Tibet’s ancient culture.

The Fake Funerals of South Korea

Whilst the rest of the world gorges itself on K-Pop, Korean movies, and smartphones produced by Korean tech giant Samsung, Koreans themselves have never been more bummed out. With over 14,000 of its citizens killing themselves in 2012, South Korea is the suicide capital of the developed world, despite its booming economy.

This troubling trend has resulted in a lot of national soul-searching and the formation of the “Well Dying” or “Near Death” movement, which aims to help people appreciate their lives more and thus reduce the number of suicides. The most bizarre manifestation of this movement is the rise of “Fake Funeral” services, where people are lectured by a philosophical guru, told to write out their own eulogies, and ultimately climb into a coffin to meditate for 30 minutes so as to experience the afterlife.