First Zen Institute

Zen Film Series -- Free Screenings on Friday Nights at 113 East 30th Street

Friday February 10, 2012 7:30 PM.

Ghost Dog (116 Minutes) © 2001 Lions Gate

Download Ghost Dog Screening Notice

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is an unusual modern urban film with frequent references to Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure, "In the Shadow of Leaves," a Japanese text on the Samurai code of honor published in 1716. The Hagakure expounds the code of Bushido - the "Way of the Warrior" in a series of short anecdotes and reflections. The ancient text is loosely a "Zen" piece of writing complete with occasional references to the Prajnaparamita Sutra. However it definitely comes from the martial arts side of the Zen world. Forest Whitaker plays the role of a professional hit man living by the Samurai code of honor. The hit man, "Ghost Dog," apparently of Haitian extraction, appears to be living in Newark, New Jersey in an unusual rooftop space where he keeps carrier pigeons - his main form of communication with the gangland boss who he serves. In the end, he squares off against an entire Mafia family, which has its own code of honor. This is an interesting film with unusual cross-cultural references. Forest Whitaker's performance as a modern urban Samurai is fully convincing.

Friday January 6, 2012 7:30 PM.

Blue Collar and Buddha (57 Minutes) © 2008 Collective Eye, Inc.

Download Blue Collar and Buddha Screening Notice

Blue Collar and Buddha is an award-winning documentary about refugees from Laos who settled in the Midwestern United States following the Vietnam war. The factory town which they have made their new home does not take kindly to the recent arrivals, and their new Buddhist temple is bombed on several occasions. The film investigates the opinions of townspeople, Vietnam veterans, local officials and Christian ministers. This dramatic and moving documentary discusses the Laotians' struggle to succeed as Americans while maintaining their ancient religious traditions.

Friday December 2, 2011 7:30 PM.

Master of Zen (95 Minutes) © 2001 World Video

Download Master of Zen Screening Notice

Master of Zen presents the legend of Bodhidharma. The historical Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen Buddhism and kung-fu to China from India. This film contains all of the elements of the Bodhidharma myth - his growing up as a prince in India, his journey to China, his meeting with the Chinese Emperor, and his famous disciple Huike - who cuts off his own arm in order to receive Bodhidharma's teaching. Bodhidharma's "nine years facing the wall" is presented as literally nine years of continual meditation, without stopping for even one minute to eat or drink. He is in possession of the "Chi" energy - and this accounts for his amazing mysterious powers. This film is partially fanciful, and partially a glorified Hong Kong kung-fu movie. Needless to say, Bodhidharma always says wise things and has powerful kung-fu skills. This film is not meant to be historically accurate and does not give us the real Zen teachings of Bodhidharma. It is nevertheless an entertaining presentation of the Bodhidharma legend. Spoken in Chinese with English subtitles.

Friday November 11, 2011 7:30 PM.

Samsara (138 Minutes) © 2001 Pandora Film Productions GmbH

Download Samsara Screening Notice

This is the story of a young monk brought up in a monastery from early childhood who completes an arduous three-year meditation and is promoted to the rank of teacher. Not being free from the realm of desire he falls in love with a local village girl, abandons his position as a monk and gets married. What happens after that is horrendous - all of his years of meditational discipline and austerity appear to help him very little in the real world of ordinary life. The historical Buddha abandoned his wife and set off in search of enlightenment, but this film explores the other side of that separation. It asks penetrating questions about what sort of responsibilities the former monk has toward his beautiful young wife and toward their son. Shot in the Himalayan foothills near Ladakh, India, this film was released in more than sixty countries, and won more than thirty international awards. It is short on dialogue and long on emotional intensity. It is an eloquent discussion of sex and spirituality, and the dramatic conflicts which can develop between secular and religious life. Spoken in Tibetan with English subtitles.

Friday October 14, 2011 7:30 PM.

     Milarepa (90 Minutes) © 2008 Cinequest, Inc.
     Teachings on Milarepa (30 Minutes, excerpts) © 2008 Cinequest, Inc.

           Download Milarepa Screening Notice

The historical Milarepa was a great sinner and also a great saint. This film deals with the first part of his career, when, according to Buddhist legend, he was cheated out of his inheritance and turned to sorcery to destroy his enemies. Set in 11th century Tibet, Milarepa's life of privilege is overturned by his greedy uncle and aunt, and out of his despair, humiliation, pain and anger, he embarks upon a quest for vengeance. Buddhist Lama Neten Chokling - the film's director - shows us the first half of Milarepa's life, when he meets with magicians, sorcerers and demons and learns black magic. A sequel is planned to deal with his later repentance, conversion to Buddhism and meeting with the Buddhist saint Marpa the Translator. We've selected Milarepa for screening at this time of year since it's a good film to show around Halloween. Teachings on Milarepa is a companion film in which His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje, Khandro Rinpoche and Ani Pema Chodron give commentaries and insights about the importance of Milarepa in Tibetan life and culture.

Milarepa and Teachings On Milarepa are being screened courtesy of Cinequest, Inc.

Friday September 9, 2011 7:30 PM.

     Antony Tudor (60 Minutes) © 2008 The Princeton Book Company
     Antony Tudor Centennial (Excerpts) © 2008 Antony Tudor Ballet Trust
     Jardin Aux Lilacs (American Ballet Theater in San Francisco) (10 Minutes) © 2005 Kultur

              Download Antony Tudor Screening Notice

Antony Tudor was President of the First Zen Institute of America from 1964 until his death in 1987. Tudor was also head of the ballet section at the Juilliard School at the same time that Martha Graham was head of Juilliard's modern dance section. Although less well known than Martha Graham, He was considered one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, having choreographed more than 40 ballets, of which half a dozen were considered absolute masterpieces. We will screen excerpts from Undertow, Little Improvisations, Continuo and Judgment of Paris, done at the studios of the Juilliard School, as well as a complete performance of Jardin Aux Lilas by the American Ballet Theater. Also included is an extended sequence of interviews with dancers who worked with Tudor interspersed with brief sequences from Tudor Classics such as Pillar of Fire, Dark Elegies and Kinderscenen.

Antony Tudor is being screened courtesy of Princeton Book Company (www.PrincetonBookCompany.com)
Antony Tudor Centennial is being screened courtesy of the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust (http://www.antonytudor.org)
Jardin Aux Lilas (American Ballet Theatre in San Francisco) is being screened courtesy of Kultur (www.kultur.com)

Friday August 12, 2011 7:30 PM.

Cry of the Snow Lion (104 Minutes) © 2004 New Yorker Films

Download Cry of the Snow Lion Screening Notice

Tibet Cry of the Snow Lion is an award-winning documentary ten years in the making, filmed during nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. It gives a picture of life in Tibet before and after the Chinese occupation. Traditional Tibetan culture is represented in rarely seen rituals, horse races and nomadic Yak caravans set against a background of magnificent Himalayan peaks. The dark secrets of Tibet's recent past are chronicled through riveting personal stories and interviews of Tibetans in exile, with a rich collection of archival and undercover images. 6,200 of Tibet's monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, when Chinese artillery units used monastery buildings for target practice. Widespread starvation was a consequence of Mao's decision to force Tibetans to grow wheat instead of barley. Today, the Tibetans are outnumbered in their capital city, which has brothels to service the occupation army. The film mentions that Apartheid fell apart in South Africa, and the Berlin Wall fell unexpectedly. Can the same happen in Tibet, against all odds? Tibet Cry of the Snow Lion is an epic story of courage and compassion. 104 minutes.

Friday July 8, 2011 7:30 PM.

Naked in Ashes (103 Minutes) © 2005 Paradise Filmworks

Download Naked in Ashes Screening Notice

The 13 million yogis of India are a highly unusual group of individuals. In the classic stories of the Buddha's life, prior to his enlightenment he spent many years with a group of sadhus practicing various austerities. This film gives intimate portrayals of a small handful of these holy men. Their austerities include living naked but for a loin cloth and a covering of ashes when other members of society are dressed in winter clothing. Or keeping one arm raised straight up continuously for more than a decade, or walking barefoot through the snows in the Himalayas, or practicing meditation in the center of a circle of burning fires, or standing up continuously, without even once sitting or lying down, for years on end. Some of these sadhus became religious ascetics as young orphans, and others have crippling deformities. All are intensely devoted to their spiritual practices. The film includes shots from the 2001 Kumbh Mehla. Naked in Ashes is being screened courtesy of Paradise Filmworks International, www.ParadiseFilmworks.com; The film is unrated, but includes explicit male nudity.

Friday June 10, 2011 7:30 PM.

     Ajanta: The History and the Mystery (56 Minutes) © 2010 Kultur
     Carving Monasteries at Ajanta in India (30 Minutes) © 2009 The Teaching Company

              Download The Ajanta Caves Screening Notice

In 1819, some British officers were hunting a tiger in the Indian jungle. The tiger disappeared into a ravine, and when they followed it, they discovered an amazing complex of rock-cut caves. The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta, India were built between 200 B.C. and 600 A.D. The caves and their sculptures were developed over a period of 800 years, but then abandoned and forgotten. Isolation of these caves for several hundred years accounts for the excellent preservation of their paintings and sculpture. Originally homes for Buddhist monks, the caves were part of a highly sophisticated, graphically rich culture. Ajanta is a three-dimensional canvas, capturing the changing forms of art, culture, architecture, attires, jewelry, fashion and culinary rituals, all painted in vibrant colors. The Ajanta caves are listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Ajanta: The History and the Mystery is being screened courtesy of KULTUR, www.kultur.com. Carving Monasteries at Ajanta in India is being screened courtesy of The Teaching Company, www.teach12.com.

Friday May 13, 2011 7:30 PM.

The Burmese Harp (116 Minutes) © 1956, 2007 The Criterion Collection

Download The Burmese Harp Screening Notice

Based on a novel by Michio Takeyama, The Burmese Harp is set during the final days of World War II. The Japanese are fighting a desperate campaign against superior British forces in the Burmese jungle. Private Mizushima, previously untrained in music, has taught himself to play the Burmese harp. His company commander was a music teacher in civilian life, and has taught his soldiers to sing as a way to boost morale. Mizushima accompanies them on the harp, and also acts as a scout - dressed as an ordinary Burmese, and speaking the Burmese language, he travels ahead of the company and plays a tune for "all clear" on his harp if it is safe for them to pass. In the end, almost all of the Japanese either die or surrender to the British, but not Mizushima. Badly wounded and wrapped in bandages, he finds himself being cared for by a Buddhist monk, who tells him: "Foreign armies come and foreign armies go, but Burma is Buddha's country." Mizushima emerges from the war as a Buddhist monk. The Burmese Harp has been described as "One of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy." In black and white. Spoken in Japanese and Burmese with English subtitles.

Friday April 8, 2011 7:30 PM.

Buddha's Lost Children (97 Minutes) © 2009 EMS Films

Download Buddha's Lost Children Screening Notice

Luong Por Khru Bah is a Thai boxer turned Buddhist monk who runs the Golden Horse monastery, located in the golden triangle - the opium growing region near the borders of Thailand, Burma and China. Buddha's Lost Children shows what a monk living in the tradition of the Theravadin forest ascetics can do in service to the hill tribe villagers and children of this area. Some of these rural children are orphans, their parents victims of poverty, drug addiction and tuberculosis. The Golden Horse monastery is part orphanage, part school and part clinic. Loung Por Khru Bah is a father figure to many of the children at the orphanage, and is assisted by Khun Mae Ead, a Buddhist nun. The children range in age from pre-school up to their teens. At the Golden Horse monastery, they learn to read and write, basic hygiene skills, cooking, Thai boxing and animal husbandry. Each child is given his own horse to take care of - a major responsibility. The film features stunning cinematography and fascinating subjects. Spoken in Thai with English subtitles.

April 8 is the traditional Buddha's Birthday celebration, and we will be celebrating with a brief ceremony and cake starting at 7:30 PM. The film will start at approximately 7:50 P.M. The First Zen Institute will solicit donations to help support the Golden Horse monastery and orphanage.

Friday March 11, 2011 7:30 PM.

Travelers and Magicians (108 Minutes) © 2005 Zeitgeist Films

Download Travelers and Magicians Screening Notice

Travelers and Magicians – Travelers and Magicians is the story of Dondup, a young Bhutanese government official who feels trapped in his small mountain village. He learns from a friend that he can earn ten times as much money by picking fruit in America as he can in a responsible government job in Bhutan. Setting out on his journey to get an American visa, he misses his bus and starts hitch-hiking. He falls in with a Buddhist monk, an apple seller, an old man and his beautiful daughter. The pace of the journey is slow, leisurely, much like life in Bhutan itself. The Buddhist monk starts telling a story and within the story there is an extended dream sequence involving lust and murder. The story and the dream sequence are laden with metaphor which ultimately relate to Dondup himself and his aspirations. The director, Khyentse Norbu is a high Lama in the Tibetan tradition, and a native of Bhutan. Like his earlier film, The Cup, Travelers and Magicians deals with the sharp conflicts between modern and traditional cultures, but remains a fun, light-hearted film. Spoken in Dzonghka with English subtitles.

Friday February 11, 2011 7:30 PM.

     Sanshiro Sugata I (79 Minutes) © 1945, 2010 The Criterion Collection
     Sanshiro Sugata II (82 Minutes) © 1945, 2010 The Criterion Collection

             Download Sanshiro Sugata Screening Notice

Sanshiro Sugata I – Jujitsu and judo – alternative forms of the Japanese martial arts – came into conflict in the 1880s in Japan, when judo started to replace jujitsu. The national police force held a contest to determine the superiority of one form of fighting over the other. Judo prevailed, and the Japanese police thereafter trained in judo instead of jujitsu. The Sanshiro Sugata films are set in the late 1800s. Sanshiro Sugata is a rickshaw driver who learns judo, and goes on to become one of the foremost judo masters in the nation. His life becomes complicated when he unintentionally kills one of his opponents in a judo match. Spoken in Japanese with English sub-titles. 79 minutes.

Sanshiro Sugata II – The plot line for part II is based on a blood feud stemming from the killing which took place in Sanshiro Sugata I. The Karate master who seeks revenge vows to fight to the death. This 1943 film was partly a Japanese war propaganda film, and in it Sanshiro Sugata fights with an American sailor and an American boxing champion. The Americans are portrayed as shallow, venial, stupidly aggressive and beatable. In general, Kurosawa de-emphasizes combat and violence, and instead focuses on the spiritual and contemplative side of the martial arts. Sanshiro Sugata is unfailingly sensitive and honorable and has expert fighting abilities. Shortly before his match with the Karate master, he approaches a Zen Buddhist priest for advice on how to proceed. The priest and he do zazen through the night, after which he goes out to face his most ferocious opponent. The final duel is brilliantly shot – dark, gripping and intense. Spoken in Japanese with English sub-titles. 82 minutes.

Friday January 7, 2011 7:30 PM.

     Buddhism: The Origins of Japanese Buddhism (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Buddhism: Honen, Shinran and Nichiren (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Buddhism: Zen (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Buddhism: Buddhism in America (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company

           Download The Great Courses: Buddhism Screening Notice

The Origins of Japanese Buddhism - Buddhism was first introduced into Japan from Korea in the year 535, and the Japanese adapted Chinese Confucianism and Buddhism to their own culture. Shinto, Japan's indigenous religions tradition, had a rival set of deities and initially opposed the practice of Buddhism. The Nara Period (710-784) saw the first appearance of Buddhism as a de-facto Japanese state religion. 30 minutes.

Honen, Shinran and Nichiren - The Kamakura period in Japan (1192-1333), was particularly bloody, and the country was torn by warring clans striving for power. The Pure Land school of Honen and Shinran responded to this crisis with their doctrine of faith in Amida Buddha. Nichiren was a Buddhist prophet who believed in salvation based on faith in the Lotus Sutra, and whose sect survives to this day as the movement known as Soka Gakkai. 30 minutes.

Zen - Zen also grew out of the religious atmosphere of the Kamakura period, and was a direct product of the Chinese tradition of Ch'an. Eisai (1141-1215) and Dogen (1200-1253), the founders of the Rinzai and Soto Zen schools were important figures in the early history of Zen. Over the centuries, Zen has had a large influence on Japanese arts and martial arts. 30 minutes.

Buddhism in America - The first European and American contacts with Buddhism in the 19th century included the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the Theosophists Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, and the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. More recent Buddhist teachers in America include Shunryu Suzuki, Yasutani Roshi, Chogyam Trungpa, and Geshe Wangyal. Buddhism has had a significant influence on American popular culture. 30 minutes.

Friday December 3, 2010 7:30 PM.

     Buddha on the Silk Road (51 Minutes) © 2010 Magic Play Entertainment
     Lost Treasures of Tibet (56 Minutes) a NOVA film © 2003, 2007 WGBH Educational Foundation

           Download Buddha on the Silk Road Screening Notice

Buddha on the Silk Road - is a documentary about art along the old silk road, and particular about the ancient city of Dunhuang, formerly the western gate to the Chinese empire. Dunhuang is an oasis desert town, where even today caravans of camels set out to traverse the vast expanse of the Taklamakan desert. Dunhuang was the departure point for the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Zang during his 6th century journey to India. It was in Dunhuang, in 1907, where a sealed cave was discovered containing priceless manuscripts dating from the Tang dynasty. To the southeast of Dunhuang are the Magao caves "The caves of the Thousand Buddhas," and the location of the beautiful fresco paintings of the "Michaenangelo of the Silk Road." Buddha on the Silk Road is being screened courtesy of MagicPlay Entertainment. 51 minutes.

Lost Treasures of Tibet - is a NOVA documentary about the process of restoring 13th - 15th century Tibetan frescos in Buddhist temples in the kingdom of Mustang, in present day Nepal. Some of the art restoration professionals who worked on the Sistine Chapel are brought in to repair and restore dazzling art objects damaged by the elements and by centuries of neglect. 56 minutes.

Friday November 12, 2010 7:30 PM.

The Sun Behind the Clouds (79 Minutes) © 2010 Zeitgeist Video

Download The Sun Behind The Clouds Screening Notice

The Sun Behind the Clouds - Tibet's Struggle for Freedom is a documentary about the Dalai Lama’s ceaseless struggle for justice and recognition for the Tibetan people. It focuses on the pivotal and tumultuous events of 2008, highlighting the Buddhist monks’ protests in Lhasa on the 50th anniversary of the Chinese invasion, just as China was preparing for the 2008 summer Olympics. It presents the four-month, 2,500 kilometer march of exiled Tibetans through India to the Tibetan boarder. Also included are discussions between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government. The film uncovers a growing rift between the Dalai Lama – who advocates political autonomy for Tibet within China – and the younger generation of Tibetans some of whom advocate a more confrontational approach and full independence. It almost looks as if the Dalai Lama is losing his ability to keep the more radical members of the free-Tibet movement in check. “…an eye-opening, provocative, vital and well-balanced examination of Tibet's multifaceted, ongoing struggle for independence.”

Friday October 1, 2010 7:30 PM.

     The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (60 Minutes) © 1945, 2010 The Criterion Collection
     Bodhidharma's Shoe (27 Minutes) © 2008 Davenport Films

           Download The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail Screening Notice

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail is an early (1945) Kurosawa classic depicting what appear to be six Buddhist monks on a pilgrimage to solicit alms for construction of the Great Buddha of Nara. In reality, they are samurai disguised as monks, and their mission is to deliver Minomoto Yoshitsune across a border guarded by hostile forces working for his brother, the Shogun Minomoto Yoritomo. It is based on the well known kabuki play Kanjincho, which is in turn based on the Noh play Ataka, written in 1465, during the Muromachi Era by playwright Kanze Nobumitsu. This film was censored by Japanese authorities during World War II, and also by the occupying American forces after the war. Starring Denjiro Okochi and Susumu Fujita, it runs for 60 minutes. Spoken in Japanese with English subtitles.

Bodhidharma’s Shoe is a film about a seven-day intensive Sesshin with Joshi Sasaki Roshi at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Videos of the retreat are interspersed with watercolor drawings of traditional Japanese monastic life painted by Giei Sato in the 1940s, and taken from the book “Unsui: A Diary of Zen Monastic Life,” (University of Hawaii Press.). The drawings depict life at Tofukuji monastery, and are Giei Sato’s recollections of his life as an Unsui – a novice monk. Tom Davenport is an independent film producer and distributor and has studied Zen with Joshu Sasaki Roshi since 1976. This film is being screened at the First Zen Institute courtesy of Davenport Films (www.davenportfilms.com). 27 minutes.

Friday September 10, 2010 7:30 PM.

Rikyu (116 Minutes) © 2000 Slingshot Entertainment

Download Rikyu Screening Notice

Rikyu tells the story of Sen-no Rikyu, a Buddhist priest and master of the Tea Ceremony. Rikyu lived during the 16th century, a turbulent, bloody period of Japanese history. Rikyu had been a trusted retainer under both Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Under Hideyoshi's patronage, Rikyu made significant changes to the aesthetics of the tea ceremony – changes which had a lasting influence over many aspects of Japanese culture. In the movie, Rikyu – in keeping with the tradition of absolute blunt honesty in the tea room – tells Hideyoshi Toyotomi that he disapproves of his plans to invade Korea and Ming China. Rikyu pays for his honesty with his life.

Friday August 6, 2010 7:30 PM.

     The Schools of Tibetan Buddhism (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     The Dalai Lama (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     The Origins of Chinese Buddhism (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     The Classical Period of Chinese Buddhism (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company

           Download The Great Courses: Buddhism Screening Notice

These films are the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th lectures in the Teaching Company series "Buddhism," featuring Professor Malcolm David Eckel of Boston University. In 1998, Professor Eckel received the Metcalf Award for Teaching Excellence, which is Boston University’s highest award for teaching. He holds a PhD. in Comparative Religion from Harvard.

The Schools of Tibetan Buddhism discusses the Nyingma school and the saint Jigme Lingpa, the Kagyu school and its principal teachers Marpa and Milarpa, the Sakya school and its founders Drogmi and Kongchog, and the Gelugpa school of Tsongkhapa. The Dalai Lama focuses principally on the fourteenth Dalai Lama, his leadership of the Tibetan people while in exile, his Nobel Peace Prize, his discovery via the Tulku system, and the history of his formal position and the men who have occupied it since the fourteenth century. The Origins of Chinese Buddhism traces the history of Buddhism from the second century of the common era, when Buddhist monks first appeared in the capital of Han China. The Taoist tradition is discussed in detail, along with its principal text, the Tao Te Ching, and similarities between the Taoist and Buddhist traditions. The Classical Period of Chinese Buddhism presents Buddhism under the T'ang dynasty; the Hua-Yen ("Flower Garland") school, the T'ien-T'ai ("Heavenly Terrace") school, and the Ch'an ("Meditation") school.

Friday July 9, 2010 7:30 PM.

     Mysteries of Asia - Jewels in the Jungle (50 Minutes), © 2000 The Learning Channel.
     Journey into Buddhism - Prana Earth (85 Minutes), © 2005, 2006 Direct Pictures.

           Download Angkor Wat Screening Notice

Mysteries of Asia - Jewels in the Jungle presents a very good overview of the art and architecture of Angkor Wat, its role Cambodian history, and it's transformation from a Hindu to a Buddhist temple. Originally a temple to Vishnu, Angkor Wat was built by Cambodian King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. It is decorated with a wide variety of carvings, many of them depicting scenes from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, but it currently functions as a Buddhist temple. Mysteries of Asia - Jewels in the Jungle also discusses the destruction of Cambodian culture under the Khmer Rouge. The film was made for The Learning Channel in 2000, is narrated by Michael Bell and runs for 50 minutes.

Journey into Buddhism: Prana Earth is a documentary film on "Yatra" - sacred pilgrimage. Made for Public Television, it visits sites in Southeast Asia where the Buddhist and Hindu traditions have intermingled over the centuries - most notably Angkor Wat. It shows us the current state of Cambodian Buddhism, with old and young monks, but no middle generation, most of whom were lost to the genocidal policies of the Khmer Rouge. The film also takes us to Borodpur - another massive Buddhist temple in Java, Indonesia, and then on to Bali. Journey into Buddhism: Prana Earth was directed by John Bush, narrated by Sharon Stone, and runs for 85 minutes.

Friday June 18, 2010 7:30 PM.

Seven Years in Tibet (136 Minutes), © 1997 Mandalay Entertainment.

Download Seven Years in Tibet Screening Notice

Seven Years in Tibet tells the story of Heinreich Herrer, an Austrian mountain climber who attempts to scale the treacherous peak of Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas when World War II breaks out. As an enemy national, he ends up in a British POW camp in India. Escaping from prison, he and a fellow Austrian mountain climber make it across the Himalayas to Tibet. Tibet in the 1930s was one of only three Asian nations to have escaped Western control, along with Japan and Thailand. Tibet’s defense was to hide behind the Himalayas and prohibit foreigners from entering the country. Seven Years in Tibet gives a clear picture of Tibet’s diplomatic isolation and backwardness, and presents a sympathetic portrayal of the young Dalai Lama. Tibet’s extreme diplomatic isolation is broken only by a single diplomatic mission from Chiang Kai-shek’s China. With the collapse of the Chinese Nationalist government, Mao Tse Tung’s army is able to move in and take control. Seven Years in Tibet presents much of the historical backdrop to the current Tibetan tragedy.

Friday May 14, 2010 7:30 PM.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (90 Minutes), © 1994 National Film Board of Canada.

Download The Tibetan Book of the Dead Screening Notice

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the Bardo Thodol, otherwise known as the “Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation” was written by the great Tibetan saint Padmasambhava in the 8th century. It is probably the most celebrated and widely read work of Tibetan literature outside Tibet. Depending on different interpretations, it is either a practical guide to prepare the soul for its next incarnation or an advanced guide for practitioners of Buddhist meditation. Either way, it is a difficult and abstruse text.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a pair of documentary films about death and dying, narrated by Leonard Cohen. Part I: A Way of Life, discusses the history of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and its application in the Himalayas today, where it is used as a guide to help the deceased navigate the treacherous passage to the next life. It is also presented in the context of a modern hospice in California. Part II: The Great Liberation shows an old Lama and a young acolyte as they guide a newly deceased Himalayan villager through the afterlife using readings from the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Friday April 9, 2010 7:30 PM.

     Fearless Mountain (64 Minutes), © 2009 Fearless Mountain.
     Buddha Wild (60 Minutes), © 2006 Carpe Diem.

           Download Fearless Mountain Screening Notice

Fearless Mountain and Buddha Wild are a pair of documentary films dealing with the transmission of Theravadin Buddhism to the West. Fearless Mountain is a 64-minute documentary exploring the world of the forest-dwelling monks of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California. Abhayagiri means “Fearless Mountain” in Pali, and this film features candid interviews with the monks and other practitioners, and their daily routine. They live entirely on alms donated by members of the local community. We have a chance to see them in paddimmokka,or confession. Also featured is an ancient Thai ceremony in which a young boy – the son of immigrant Thai parents – formally joins the order. This is a film about American Buddhists who have taken vows as Theravadin monks, following in the Thai forest monastic tradition of Ajhan Chah. This film is being screened courtesy of Fearless Mountain Film.

Buddha Wild is a 60-minute documentary about Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhist monks in a missionary monastery in Christchurch, New Zealand. “Wild” means at one with nature. The film explores Theravadin religious beliefs and practices with primary focus on a community of celibate monks. The monks give candid accounts of their lives, their profession and Buddhist beliefs in a manner which is unpretentious and at times humorous. The “Monk in a Hut” refers to a sequence when the narrator, Anna Wilding, who is obviously liked by these monks, gets an invitation from one of them to visit his hut. The monks are primarily servicing the Thai and Sri Lankan expatriate community in New Zealand.

Friday March 12, 2010 7:30 PM.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (102 Minutes), © 2004 Sony Pictures.

Download Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring screening notice.

An old Buddhist monk is living on a floating temple in the middle of breathtaking scenery, and a young boy comes into his life. The monk raises the child, who becomes his protégé. Later, the boy grows up and falls in love with a young woman who visits the temple for a cure.

“Award – winning Korean writer/director Kim Ki-duk has crafted a lushly exotic yet universal story about the human spirit and its evolution, from innocence to Love, Evil to Enlightenment, and ultimately to Rebirth that Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News calls ‘a beautifully composed canvas, the sort of film one falls into, resurfacing at the end with great reluctance.’” Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring is spoken in Korean with English subtitles.

Friday February 12, 2010 7:30 PM.

Asoka was the first Buddhist King of India, an Emperor of the Mauryan empire. As a boy, Asoka was brought up as a sword-fighter and a warrior. Well liked and highly intelligent, his older half-brothers became wary of him as a possible successor to the throne. As the commander of several Mauryan army regiments, he successfully quelled an uprising in Taxshila, a city in the Punjab. His half-brothers, wary of his growing popularity, persuaded his father, King Bindusara, to send him into exile. While in exile in Kalinga, and living incognito, he fell in love with a fisherwoman named Kaurwaki (a princess of Kalinga in the movie), who historically became his second or third queen. He was called out of exile by his father to quell a violent uprising in Ujjain. Wounded in battle, he was nursed back to health by Buddhist monks and nuns, and fell in love with his personal nurse, a woman named Devi, who he married upon recovering from his injuries. After his father’s death, his older half-brother sent assassins to murder his wife and child, but the assassins killed his mother instead. Asoka retaliated against them, seized the throne and expanded the boarders of his empire to the point where – in some places – they exceeded those of present day India. In one particularly bloody conquest, he conquered and destroyed the state of Kalinga, killing 100,000 people in the process. It was after this conquest that he underwent a change of heart and became a follower of the Buddha’s teachings. The movie is a loose rendition of the story of the historical Asoka, complete with cavalry charges, beautiful dancing girls and battle elephants. It includes several song-and-dance numbers which – although well executed – appear to be designed for less-sophisticated Indian audiences. This is not the History Channel, but is nevertheless, a fun, interesting, entertaining film. Asoka is spoken in Hindi with English subtitles, and is being presented at the First Zen Institute courtesy of First Look Home Entertainment.

Friday January 8, 2010 7:30 PM.

     Buddhist Philosophy (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Buddhist Tantra (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     The Theory and Practice of the Mandala (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     The First Diffusion of the Dharma in Tibet (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company

Download The Great Courses: Buddhism Screening Notice

These films are the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th lectures in the Teaching Company series "Buddhism," featuring Professor Malcolm David Eckel of Boston University. In 1998, Professor Eckel received the Metcalf Award for Teaching Excellence, which is Boston University’s highest award for teaching. He holds a PhD. in Comparative Religion from Harvard.

In Buddhist Philosophy, Professor Eckel discusses discusses Buddhist philosophy as “practice seeking clarification,” and touches on the philosophy of Nagarjuna, the Madhyamaka school of philosophy, the Svatantrikas and Prasangikas, the Yogacara school, Asanga and Vasubandhu.

Buddhist Tantra discusses the historical emergence of Tantric Buddhism in the sixth century, Tantra as a pan-Indian (Buddhist and Hindu) phenomenon, the Vajrayana, the Mantrayana, wrathful buddhas, and the story of Maitregupta.

The Theory and Practice of the Mandala introduces the mandala as a meditational device, the Buddha Akshobhya, the mandala as a symbol for the world, the chakras, the three-dimensional mandala at the Kumbum in Gyantse, Tibet, and use of mandala in the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

The First Diffusion of the Dharma in Tibet discusses the destruction of Buddhist monasteries in India, the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet during the seventh century, a line of Tibetan kings who protected and fostered the growth of Buddhism in Tibet, founding of the first Tibetan monastery, the great teacher Padmasambhava, and the Bon tradition.

Friday December 11, 2009 7:30 PM.

Into Great Silence takes the viewer into the Grand Chartreuse, the head monastery of the Catholic Carthusian order. The monastery was founded by St. Bruno in 1084, although its present construction dates from 1676. As the title implies, the film is mostly in silence. We see the monks at prayer in their private cells, performing Gregorian chants, attending Mass, working in the kitchen, the vegetable gardens, chopping wood, sewing robes and reading spiritual texts. The monastery is located in a remote valley high in the alps. The film features two newcomers just admitted to the order, and tracks the course of life in the monastery through the seasons. The walls of the monastery are devoid of artwork except for a few crucifixes, the food is plain, and most modern electronic equipment is lacking -- a notable exception being a laptop computer used by the abbot. Rather than giving the viewer verbal discussions of Catholic philosophy or practices, the film puts the viewer face to face with the monks and gives a sense of how they live.

Friday November 13, 2009 7:30 PM.

On Life & Enlightenment: Principles of Buddhism with His Holiness the Dalai Lama is about Tibetan Buddhism in all its multifaceted complexity. The cinematography is spectacular, with shots of Tibetan towns, temples and monasteries set against towering mountains, mainly in Ladakh, in northern India. The film features Tibetan chanting, dances, rituals, ceremonies, philosophy, food, medicine, meditation practices, and lively dharma debates. Also included is some footage of the Chinese takeover of the Tibetan Capital of Lhasa in 1951. The episode on the Bardo deals with the passing of a Lama and his reincarnation as a small boy several months later. The episode on Tibetan medicine touches on various ancient medical techniques, herbal remedies, the Medicine Buddha and Tibetan acupuncture. The film features interviews with Tai Situ Rimpoche, Drubwang Penor Rimpoche, Sakya Trizin Rimpoche, Menri Tirzin Rimpoche, Anila Tenzin Palmo (a British nun), Ngagspa Karma, Tulku Anjam and the Dalai Lama.

Friday October 9, 2009 7:30 PM.

Samurai, The Last Warrior is a documentary film about the Samurai, featuring Dr. Stephen Turnbull, who holds an unusual combination of degrees: MAs in theology and also military history. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on the samurai, and has authored more than twenty books on military history, many of them dealing with the samurai. Stephen Turnbull is currently a professor at the University of Leeds, where he received his PhD. Another Samurai expert featured prominently in this film is David Lowry, who is the author of many books on the Japanese martial arts. This film should not be confused with the film, "The Last Samurai," which is a full-length movie featuring Tom Cruise.

Secrets of the Samurai Sword is a NOVA film which looks at the science and ancient technology behind the manufacture of the katana, the razor-sharp sword used by the samurai. It features discussions with professional metallurgists, and swordsmiths employing ancient techniques. Also included are shots of the katana in action, as used by some modern descendents of the samurai.

Friday, September 11, 2009, 8:00 PM

     Mahayana Buddhism and the Bodhisattva Ideal (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company
     Emptiness (30 Minutes) © 2001 The Teaching Company

These films are the 10th, 11th and 12th lectures in the Teaching Company series "Buddhism," featuring Professor Malcolm David Eckel of Boston University. In 1998, Professor Eckel received the Metcalf Award for Teaching Excellence, which is Boston University’s highest award for teaching. He holds a PhD. in Comparative Religion from Harvard.

In Mahayana Buddhism and the Bodhisattva Ideal Professor Eckel discusses the Lotus Sutra in general and the Parable of the Burning House in particular. He also discusses the ideal of the Bodhisattva who puts off entering Nirvana so that he can return to the human world to save all sentient beings. A featured bodhisattva is Vimalakirti (from the Vimalakirti Sutra), a famous layman who has knowledge of dharma which surpasses that of the Buddha's monks. Other bodhisattvas mentioned in this lecture are Queen Srimala, Sudhana and Samantabhadra.

Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also delves into the Lotus Sutra, and discusses the compassion of Avalokiteshvara (Chinese Kuan-yin), variously presented either as a male or a female. Professor Eckel mentions the famous Tibetan mantra OM MANI PADME HUM, and the celestial bodhisattva Maitreya, "the future Buddha". He also discusses Manjushri and Amithaba, the Buddha of "Infinite Light."

Emptiness -- the docterine of emptiness is presented as a very difficult concept to grasp. It is treated as an extension of the Buddhist docterine of "no self," and Professor Eckel mentions its Upanishadic roots. "Emptiness" is an english translation of the sanskrit "shunya." Emptiness is presented here as a kind of buoyancy, lightness and freedom. Professor Eckel also mentions an anecdote about a lecture given by the Dalai Lama on emptiness.

Friday, August 7, 2009, 8:00

Lost Treasures of Afghanistan discusses the destruction of the giant Bamiyan Buddha statues by the Taliban in 2000, and the Taliban's destruction of Afghanistan's cultural heritage in general. The film highlights the efforts of heroic Afghans who refused to allow their culture to be destroyed. Featured prominently is Russian archiolgist Viktor Sarianidi, and his 1978 excavations of "Six golden burials" at Tillya Tepe. Also discussed is Afghan archaeologist Zemaryalai Tarzi's discovery of a large ancient buried reclining Buddha statue in the Bamiyan valley. The flim shows a simulated re-enactment of Hsuan-Tsang's visit to the Bamiyan valley more than 1000 years ago, and a presentation of what the giant Bamiyan Buddha statues probably looked like when they were new and freshly painted.

A Zen Tale is a film short directed by Magdalena Sole as part of her Film MFA program at Columbia University. Filmed on location right here at the First Zen Institute, this humerous film presents a well-known anecdote about dharma-combat.