Finding Buddha

Can a film festival in the Capital help you find the 'Enlightened One'? Read on and find out

"Look within, thou art Buddha," said the Enlightened One. Of course, it isn't as easy as Buddha made it sound. The rat race, relationships, monetary temptations, insecurity, anxiety and indigestion, the woes of living a mortal life... Spiritual examination of inner thoughts, desires and sensation and trying to find the Buddha within in circa 'Occupy Everything' isn't a simple exercise.



"Thus it is all the more important to understand the message of non-violence, peace and interdependence in this age," says Ashok Wangdi, the festival director of SAMBODH -- a Buddhist themed film festival. Come Saturday and the Global Buddhist Congregation 2011 with support from Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs will screen a collection of films in the Capital which represent Buddhist thoughts and philosophies commemorating the 2600th anniversary of Buddha's Enlightenment.



"These are not Buddhist films per se. For instance, we will be screening Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. Now the film has nothing Buddhist about it but look deeper and ask yourself, aren't non-violence, tolerance and truth about the teachings of Buddha?" asks Wangdi.

During times when nations and individuals are all about civilisational conflicts and taking stances, documentaries like Gaetanio Maida's Peace in Every Step: Meditation in Action is a lesson in meditation and deep acting as well. "Plus a lot many other things," says Wangdi. "Nothing wrong about progress. It would be hypocritical to think so but we also have problems like global warming, displacement and conflicts in the name of progress. We humans are progressing but what about the progress of animals and plants? Don't they also have a right?" he says, driving home the point.

Buddha himself had said, 'There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting'. So, let a series of motion pictures get you moving and started!

Cut-n-keep schedule
November 26
Ladakh- A cradle of Buddhism, Kabuliwala
November 27
Land of the Buddha, The Sun Behind the Cloud, Prem Sanyas
November 28
Path of Compassion, Milarepa, Gandhi, The Cup
November 29
Way of Buddha, Peace in Every Step: Meditation in Action, Katha, Panchwati

At: NDMC Convention Centre, Sansad Marg
Timings: 10.30 am to 6pm
Entry: By invitation (can be collected from the registration counter)