This Sunday, May 9th on the American T.V. Channel PBS there will be a documentary on inmates at a maximum security prison who are studying Buddhist meditation.
It is titled, "The Dhamma Brothers." Check your local listings for times. In the Mountain Time Zone (U.S.) where I live it will air from 1:00a.m. to 2:00a.m.
I believe it's a re-airing of the original program but still might be of interest to you. I haven't seen it yet, so I'm looking forward to it.
The Public Broadcasting Service here in America was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of the documentary, "The Buddha" by David Grubin, which is set to air on April 7th (check your local listings). It tells the story of the life of Buddha and the teaches he shared that would bloom into one of the largest religions of the world. As I watched it noticed I noticed that it was very similar to Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's book, "Old Path, White Clouds." It is a book that is very thick and somewhat tedious to read in parts but it is probably the best book I've read on the details of Buddha's life as we know them. If you don't have the time to read such a large book then I highly suggest watching this documentary if you can.
The imagery used in this documentary is as beautiful as it is inspiring. The fields and villages shown look as though they probably did back in Buddha's time, which helps the viewers realize the timelessness to Buddha and his teachings. I found this documentary to be very intimate in that it portrays Buddha in such a humble light. Some documentaries laud him to the point of godhood, which I think the awakened one would caution against. The music blended nicely with the storyline and carried us from scene to scene as if it were Buddha's hand itself guiding us along. In a sense, this documentary not only tells his story but our own as well. After all, the point of his story is to open the door to the path he followed, for ourselves. It is not just a bedtime story but rather a map that explains life itself.
Starting tonight the American Public Broadcast Service channel will begin airing a six part series on the 10,000 year old history of India titled, "The Story of India." The series originally aired on the BBC in 2007. The first episode covers the ancient origins of the Indian civilization while the second one is about the revolutionary years after 500 B.C., which includes the "Age of the Buddha."
I have long been fascinated with India and not just because of the Buddhist connection. I have always seen India as one of the cradles of civilization. So my interest is also motivated from having a university degree in history and a minor degree in world geography. It is a country that seems so rich in culture and that appeals to me coming from a country (America), which is quite culturally barren.
Visiting India is the number 1 thing that I want to do before I die--mostly the Buddhist holy sites as I will most likely have limited time and money. That said if I had the means I would love to visit as much of the country as possible. Speaking of visiting India, I'd love to meet some of my Indian readers some day should I make it to your wonderful country. Maybe you could show me around Bodh Gaya and others places.
I'll be watching the whole, "The Story of India" series and probably do some posts regarding them--especially the "Age of Buddha" segments. Anyway, I wanted to do a little post about the series in case anyone else would be interested in catching the series.
This Sunday, May 9th on the American T.V. Channel PBS there will be a documentary on inmates at a maximum security prison who are studying Buddhist meditation.
