Henry Carter Hull

This documentary tells the story of the Buddha's life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world's greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha's life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and...

How does one integrate lessons learned from nature in daily life? This feature documentary is an experiential journey into the mystical practices of Japanese mountain asceticism. In Shugendō (the way of acquiring power), practitioners perform ritual actions from shamanism, "Shintō," Daoism, and Tantric Buddhism. They seek experiential truth of the teachings during arduous climbs in sacred mountains. Through the peace and beauty of the natural...

Lead me from illusion to reality, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to immortality, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28. For the Nath Yogis of Northern India this prayer is an expression of their desire to find the One amongst the many and to return to the source of all things. According to the Naths, only a true guru can guide them through the paradoxes of human life in their search for a centre where nothing must exist. This anthropological...

Sky Burial follows the ritual of "jha-tor", the giving of alms to birds in a northern Tibetan monastery - where the bodies of the dead are offered to the vultures as a final act of kindness to living beings. At the Drigung Monastery lamas chant to call the consciousness from the body. Juniper incense is burned to summon the vultures. Special body breakers, or "rogyapas", unwrap the bodies and cut away the flesh. The bones are crushed and mixed with...

“Buddhism and nat worship are like mangoes and bananas” Whether contending with a deceitful daughter-in-law, forecasting financial prospects for a tea shop, or freeing a husband from government detainment, Friends in High Places reveals the central role of nats and spirit mediums in alleviating the day to day burdens of modern Burmese life. “Leprosy isnt as contagious as peoples problems,” notes one medium, “my clients bring their worries...

Crazy wisdom explores the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism in America through the story of Chogyam Trungpa, who landed in the U.S. in 1970. Trungpa became renowned for translating ancient Buddhist concepts into language and ideas that Westerners could understand and shattered preconceived notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave. Initially rejected, his teachings are now recognized by western philosophers and spiritual leaders as authentic...

Lobsang Tsundu is a 13 year old Tibetan boy living and studying to be a monk (Lama) in Kopan monastery, situated on a little hill at the edge of Katmandu valley. Following Tibetan tradition, Tsundu, the middle son, was chosen by his parents to be a monk.

This documentary provides an excellent introduction to the art of thangka, sacred Tibetan Buddhist painting in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Carefully filmed, it takes you through every step of the painting process of thangkas.

Filmed between 1991 and 1997, Taki Kudo, Shamanic Medium of Tsugaru documents the final years of the charismatic Ms. Taki Kudo, a medium, healer and fortune teller. Every year she comes to Japan's sacred Mt. Osorozan, home of the Akakura grand shrine, where the mediums draw chopsticks for the best places to set up their booths.

Science and Surrealism, ancient myths, Buddhism and feminism are among the frameworks of ideas important to Liliane Lijn’s art. In Paris at the end of the 1950s, in Greece and New York, and in England since 1966, she has worked with light, energy and movement, with archetypal shapes and unconventional materials to produce an art that is clear, complex and strikingly beautiful. Many of Liliane Lijn’s key drawings and sculptures are featured in...