Hollybudd

In an easier tone, there are several films worth viewing, or re-viewing. Once there was the great Kobayashi, who brought a superb Earless Hoichi (jap. Miminashi Hoichi) in his Kwaidan(after Lafcadio Hern's Kwaidan stories). Then there was the great Kurosawa with his Dreams (Yume), that also bring several short stories. Those were great movies, so one would think all was said and done. After the very cruel Little Buddha, an average Kundun and a not so satisfactory Seven Years of lovely Brad Pitt, we were left for awhile with just "Why did Bodhidharma leave to East?" (as a note, Zen-people have been asking this question for centuries but their formulation was why did Bodhidharma come from the West) and the postcardish "Spring summer autumn winter... and spring" (flash site). Movies inspired by Buddhism have regularly displayed basic, introductory tenets of the Buddhist view, such as the transitoriness of all appearances, unsatisfactoriness of all conditioned relations, and the unsubstantiality of personal identity. And then they'd stop. More or less. And one'd want to commit suicide, or worse. But then came Khyentse Norbu (aka Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche) with his Cup, and the beautiful Travelers and Magicians (flash site) - there is hope, after all! Also came the documentary "Words of My Perfect Teacher" (flash and quicktime) a sort of hunt after Dzongsar Khyentse on various continents, where we find out the teacher is really a hitman hired to dismantle the students. Well, now it's getting better... Although Dzongsar Rinpoche himself admits he cannot hold such a level of integrity. In his interview to WIE, he says, "I think on both continents I have mastered the art of pretense. I go to Bhutan and I know what to do for them, to do what is most harmonious. Because if I act or say things in Bhutan or in Tibet that I say in the West, I'll be in trouble. Now that is what I was referring to before. I do this because I don't want to lose disciples; I don't want to be criticized. Of course, I can justify those actions by saying, “Oh, it's coming from a good motivation, because I don't want to jeopardize the spiritual path of hundreds of people.” etc. Back to Hollybudd. Now we have Rosenbush's "Zen Noir" (quicktime trailer). It's finally funny, because after the basic tenets have been introduced, there's a certain sobering effect, but then life goes on with it's usual unrelenting force, and not without humour! And finally, of course, there's the long awaited Milarepa by Neten Chokling. Enjoy!