aigerimsatvaldiyeva The movie provided to us is called "Samsara" about the life and the path of a monk Tashi on his way to realization of the truth. There are several topics that I would like to touch in this review like the main idea of the movie and the presented elements of Buddhism. To begin with, I believe that the main idea of this movie goes around the basic principles of Buddhism: life is suffering. It can be seen that the monk Tashi, who is the main character, is an ordinary person who is greatly influenced and tempted by his desires. From the beginning, we see that his main desire is all about the attraction to the woman and his sexual desires. He was dissatisfied with his monk life, which is evident from his speech to Apo where he asked where is the freedom after his 20 years of monkhood and 3 years of meditation. The main point was that Tashi came to the realization of the truth after he lived full human life with all of its pleasures like having son, having wife, working, having social relationships, and more. His realization happened after he understood that he lost everything he had. Therefore, this shows that every person has his or her own way and path towards the realization that the life is suffering and other truths of Buddhism. The main idea is that person can achieve the Buddhist goals even without having to live as a monk. Moreover, it can be seen that this movie greatly stresses the idea of having to reach the ultimate goal and coming to the truth (four noble truth here), which I believe is implied by the edict on the rock which Tashi takes at the end of the movie. It says "How the rock can be prevented from drying out" and answers the question on the back "By throwing it into the sea". I think that this is the metaphor in which the rock is a human and drying out is the suffering. Hence, in order to stop the "drying out" or suffering, person has to reach the ultimate goal (enlightenment and nirvana) or "be thrown into the sea". The next thing that I would like to point out are the elements from Buddhism that were presented in the movie, many of which actually surprised me. For instance, it is known that monks on their path to ultimate goal need to cut off their attachments like attachment to things, people, and etc. However, we can clearly see that many monks are quite attached to other monks (Tashi and Apo, Tashi and his monk friend who cried when he saw Tashi dreaming of sexual things) and children. Especially, I was surprised to see that children in monasteries are the same children that we see every day: playing and laughing. I, personally, thought that the older monks are stricter and less emotional towards them. However, I think that this part is the hardest for monks to overcome because human beings are social creatures that usually need to have some kind of warm relationships. Moreover, when monks teach these children, they are quite like the parents. So, in some way, it is natural that they act that way towards children. The realization of such things came to me only when I watched these scenes and analyzed them. We also see different scenes from everyday life of the bhiksu. For example, meditations, various ceremonies and interactions with laymen. The movie shows that the lives of monks usually consisted of meditations with mantras, as a path to the enlightenment and nirvana, and everyday activities. It was interesting to see how bhiksus provided services to the ordinary people with mantras, while they repaid them with food and shelter for some time. This was in accordance to what we have learnt on the lessons before. To conclude, I liked this movie because of its main idea that every person has his/her own way to reach the truth of life. I believe that every person is unique and the monkhood might not be suitable for everyone. Moreover, I think that the realization of the truths comes only if the person actually sees and feels the sufferings of life as Tashi who understood that he lost his family. Moreover, this movie shows the aspects of life of the monks, which is quite informative. The only thing that I am still interested is if this movie accurately shows the Tibetian monkhood because movies usually deviate from the reality.

chaos-rampant In Buddhism there is something called 'expedient means'. You won't speak to a fisherman about emptiness in the same way as to a mathematician, the terms and metaphors change according to circumstances. This speaks of the general practicality and suppleness within Buddhism, there is no attachment to scripture, the point is to help ourselves across using whatever is at hand.Here we have a Buddhist parable on faith, a young man who's spent all his life in a monastery is nagged inside that he has been trying to cleanse himself before any dust had time to settle. In the opening scenes we see a procession of monks open up a cave where he has been meditating for three years, his hair and nails have grown, dust has settled on the frail, ascetic body. As they clean him up on the way to the monastery we see a young man's face. This is all counterpointed with the Buddha's lifestory, a prince who didn't set out on the journey until late in his 20s.'Expedient means' in this case means narrative depth is sacrificed so we can get with more clarity the moment of suffering.The consequence from a cinematic standpoint is that it's evocative enough; windswept Himalayan landscapes, textures, passage of time. But the journey is schematic, from purity in the monastery to defilement in the village, from contentment to the onset of desire. A fabled reality means that what's missing here is a fuller trajectory of a person being changed, we simply jump ahead to the crucial points of the parable. Something else from the Buddhist point of view though.Buddhism has developed a robust model about life and practical tools that actually work. Its mission is not really to converse with scientists about the beginning of the cosmos or become bogged down in epistemology about its findings. Its mission from the beginning has been to put an end to suffering; along the way a body of knowledge emerges because in Buddhism ending suffering is not an abstract ideal left to a god's grace, it is a daily practice of observing mind and self, all sorts of insights appear.There's no question that the problem of conveying an insight is mirrored across Buddhism and film. You say too much and you risk obviating the matter, too little and maybe it's not enough. Here as a deep inspection and mindful exercise the film falls short, the fabled reality puts us at a distance. But the narrative moments when desire and dissatisfaction manifest should be familiar to all and carry a simple power that is the essential Buddhist matter, seeing suffering right now. Beginner's Buddhism is some of the most powerful of all.

nishant_r What appears to be a complex exploration of spirituality is to put it mildly - a lame, half-baked con-job. Mind you, the film has very strong production values, it is a well-crafted film - those alone account for my 2 stars. But the questions it tries to raise are childish and the film falls completely flat in the last hour - the filmmaker's intellectual laziness shows through as it descends to melodrama. Not that there is anything wrong with melodrama - but the film sets out on a completely different tone in the beginning. The characters are decidedly stereotypical and the stories and events are particularly predictable and boring. Frankly, the intellectual/spiritual legitimacy that such films get is unnerving.

John Foster 'Samsara' tells the story of Tashi, a young Tibetan Buddhist monk, who renounces monastic life in favour of a relationship with a beautiful young woman named Pema. Together they have a child and as the story unfolds Tashi's life in the material world becomes increasingly complex and difficult.The movie successfully captures the difference between the contemplative life of a Buddhist monk, and the worldly life of a husband. This is most clearly shown in the stark contrast between the opening sequence of the movie, where Tashi is in a long meditation retreat, and the sensual sex scenes later on.The majestic landscapes of Ladakh, one of India's most remote regions, provide a pristine Himalayan backdrop. And the original soundtrack and chanting is haunting at times.The movie has English sub-titles and moves along quite slowly with limited dialogue and many pregnant pauses. This may be disconcerting for some viewers, but to me this reflective mood seemed appropriate for the subject-matter.'Samsara' could be said to build on the groundwork provided by popular movies such as 'Seven Years in Tibet' and 'Kundun', to provide a more authentic and detailed portrayal of the vicissitudes of life and culture in central Asia. (If you enjoy 'Samsara' you may also like 'The Cup'.) This award-winning movie can only enhance a growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism in the West.