Yoga Documentaries
(screened Saturday, 2nd January 2010 - 140 minutes in all)

Since September 2009 we have been holding yoga classes in the temple, and to mark the coming of the New Year we had a video show and refreshments after the class. Here are two of the videos we showed that day along with two more we didn't have time for.

The Future of Food
(screened Friday, 25th September 2009 - 88 minutes)

The Future Of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, The Future of Food examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.

The discussion focused on the impact the situation in the States was having on the developing world, and especially on farmers who are being driven into a state of virtual slavery. We also discussed the necessity to choose foods carefully, and to be aware of the labelling on foods so as to make a wise choice that will in fact affect the production and therefore spread of GMO foods.

Vajra Sky Over Tibet by John Bush
(screened Friday, 31st July 2009 - 89 minutes)

Vajra is the Sanskrit word signifying the thunderbolt of illumination, and yatra is the word for pilgrimage or spiritual journey. This enthralling third documentary offers a cinematic pilgrimage to central Tibet, bearing witness to the indomitable faith of its endangered Buddhist community and the imminent threat to its very survival.

Traveling through breathtaking Himalayan terrain, Vajra Sky Over Tibet visits extraordinary temples, monasteries, and festivals. The enduring power of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism resonates in all of its sacred shrines and echoes within the bustling Jokhang Temple and the empty Potala Palace, home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The discussion afterwards focused on the destruction of the Buddhist Cultures in Tibet and throughout S.E. Asia and how people are slowly regaining an awareness of their traditions and history.

Prajna Earth by John Bush
(screened Friday, 24th July 2009 - 85 minutes)

Prajna is the Sanskrit word for radiant wisdom, and yatra is the word for pilgrimage or spiritual journey. This visually stunning documentary is a cinematic pilgrimage exploring the lost civilization of Angkor in Cambodia, including the largest temple in the world - the magnificent Angkor Wat. The journey continues to sacred sites of the natural world, traveling through Bali, witnessing trance dancers in the jungles of Java, and discovering the gigantic seven level mandala of Buddhist Borobudur.

The discussion afterwards focused on how these cultures were at an extremely high level of civilisation far surpassing anything that came after them, but were now being neglected and forgotten in a deliberate attempt to dispossess the peoples of Malaysia in particular of their heritage and therefore their identity.

Wake Up! On the Road with Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn
(screened 17th April 2009 - 55 minutes)

A video following the Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn on his European tour in 1991. Struggling with poor health, Sueng Sahn travels from city to city throughout Europe trying to wake people up to their true Buddha nature.

After the screening there was shown a series of maps outlining the development of Buddhism as it spread first throughout India and then throughout Asia. The maps also illustrated the development of the schools, and the eventually rise of Ch'an, Seon or Zen Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan.

A Class Divided
(screened Friday, 6th February 2009 - 55 minutes)

This video is about the effects of arbitrary discrimination. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, Jane Elliott, a remarkable teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination, which they never forgot. The programme which she initiated that day was later taken up in the prison service and elsewhere.

Afterwards we discussed how discrimination hurts not only those against whom the discrimination is wielded, but also leads to moral degeneration in the priviliged. The discussion also widened to include the devotees own experience with being discriminated against, and the situation in Malaysia as a whole.

Death in Gaza
(screened Saturday, 3rd January 2009 - 80 minutes)

The last documentary filmed by James Miller, at the end of which he is shot dead by a sniper. The film focuses on what life is like for children caught up in the war on the Gaza strip, and shows how brutalised people become when they are in continual conflict and fear.

The discussion was about how the environment plays such a great role in the formation of childrens' lives, and how important it is to create a supportive environment so that good qualities of heart can be developed.

SPACE - Spiritual Reality
(screened 14th November 2008 - 57 minutes)

A very well produced animation video from the Hindu tradition covering various aspects of meditation, including the development of Meditation while Breathing, the opening of the 3rd eye, astral travel, the journey from life to life, and nirvana.

The discussion afterwards centered on explaining the differences and similarities between early Buddhism and the perspective shown in the video, with special reference to the psychic powers (iddhividha) which are a forgotten, or ignored, part of the Buddha's Teaching.

The Yogis of Tibet
(screened 31st October 2008 - 76 minutes)

Much more than the title suggests, the video gives a lot of background on Tibet's recent political history, the dangers it is facing in exile, its migration to the West, as well as surveying the teachings and practices of the yogis. Includes rare interviews with some of the masters, and footage from remote hermitages.

The Art-gallery in the Desert
(screened 10th October 2008 - 55 minutes)

The 3rd part of the "Silk Road" series produced by NHK (Japan) and CCTV (China) in the 1980s, The Art-gallery in the Desert explores the wonderful 2 km long Mo-gao caves in the Gobi desert, once a thriving Buddhist monastery and center for the arts, now fallen into decay.

The discussion focused on the lost treasures of Buddhist art that are neglected or even systematically destroyed in countries where Buddhism is no longer strong, and the need to preserve our heritage so as to inspire our present cultural efforts.

John Pilger - Burma - Land of Fear
(screened 26th September 2008 - 52 minutes)

This is a BBC documentary dating from around 1996, and so is somewhat out of date, but in fact nothing much has changed since that time and the brutal military regime's dictatorship continues to oppress the Burmese people unabated.

The video was shown on the anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, and the discussion after the video focused on the need to continue sending moral and physical support to Myanmar in the wake of the Cyclone Nargis disaster.

Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
(screened 19th September 2008 - 59 minutes)

Remarkable true life story of Khun Kampol Thongbunnum, a Thai man, whose life had been turned upside down by an accident that left him paralysed from the neck downwards. In his search to come to terms with his predicament, he discovered the path in Buddhism, and this finally led to the transformation of his life.

The discussion was about how crisis is often a focal point around which people start questioning how they are living their lives and can often be a catalyst for spiritual transformation. We also discussed the need to reach out to people who find themselves in difficult situations and to make the Dhamma available to them also.

Thich Nhat Hanh - Peace is every Step
(screened 29th August, 2008 - 52 minutes)

Filmed around 1999, shortly before the entry of the USA into the Iraq War, this moving documentary focuses on the feelings of Vietnam war veterans, some of whom are still trying to come to terms with the experiences their time in the war caused them.

The discussion focused on the terrible physical and mental consequences of war, both for those who are civilian casualties during war, and for those who fight in them.

Children Full of Life
(screened 22nd August, 2008 - 49 minutes)

Very moving award-winning documentary from Japan NHK which follows the life of a class of 10 year old students through an academic year in which they learn more about the realities of life and especially death and coping with emotions under the inspired guidance of their extraordinary teacher.

As a lot of our devotees are teachers this video caused a lot of soul-searching about the way education functions in our society and whether the right values are being inculcated into our kids. A number of teachers asked for copies of the video in order to show it to their fellow teachers at school.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead
(screened 18th July, 2008 - 93 minutes)

Realistic video on the ideas contained in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which charts the progress from one life to the next according to the Tibetan tradition. Partly animated to show the spirit leaving the body and so on.

The discussion centered on the differences in the Buddhist tradition regarding this central doctrine, and the Theravada theories of the way rebirth takes place were explained using Ven Aggacitta's book Dying to Live.

The BBC Life of the Buddha
(screened on 4th July, 2008 - 50 minutes)

Acclaimed video documentary on the traditional life of the Buddha. Quite realisitcally portrayed, and a very positive film, even though it presents myth as history. I have been unable to ascertain who the authorities are who are interviewed in the film, but they sometimes give views which differ from any tradition I am aware of.

The discussion centered on explaining how much biographical material is obtained from the earliest sources, and what is a result of tradition that has grown up over the years