Ku Shen Chai, an artist in his early 30s, still lives with his mother, but he is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Yang Hui-ching, a mysterious princess on the run. Yang brings Ku into her circle of protectors, including a nameless monk whose spiritual guidance transforms him into a valiant fighter.
Weaving together original film and photographic archives, A CLOUD NEVER DIES tells the story of a humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war. In the face of violence, fear, and discrimination, Thích Nhất Hạnh’s courageous path of engaged action reveals how insight, community, and a deep aspiration to serve the world can offer hope, peace, and a way forward for millions.
A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.
A documentary exploring the rigorous training and meditation practices found at the Shōgen-ji, a Zen Buddhist monastery of the Rinzai school in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
About three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.
Two middle aged German brothers - one New Age and recently divorced, the other uptight and sceptical - travel to a Zen monastery in Japan in search of enlightenment, or perhaps just in search of themselves.
A young man experiences his last few minutes of singular consciousness while examining a wild falcon he has studied for months.
Le Zen
Frank, an introspective astrophysics major, visits a remote lab to work with his mentor; doctor Roberts. After his arrival, he finds that Helen; a young woman seemingly from another world, a metaphysical realm, has been taken in by the doctor. The unexplainable phenomena that follow force Frank and doctor Roberts to look at life from a different angle.
In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen school of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).
Dealing heavily with perceptions of time, Aeon documents the urban cityscape as Wellington transforms through a zen-influenced eternal cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth within a 24-hour period.
An immigrant in Istanbul, the Russian filmmaker finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand, his legal status becomes uncertain amid the turbulence of Turkish presidential elections, on the other hand, the crackdown on dissent in Russia makes his return impossible. In these circumstances he turns to the legacy of Moscow conceptualism, an art movement, which existed under the radar of Soviet authorities, to make a film that would convey his sentiment yet pass through the needle’s eye of censorship.
Reeling from his sister’s death, a NYC playwright searches for fulfillment in a sex-and-drug filled odyssey. When he’s reunited with a childhood love, their shared journey of self-discovery catalyzes a profound, existential awakening.
Developed by Thích Nhất Hạnh himself, the exercises taught here combine simple stretching and graceful gestures with mindfulness meditation. Join Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village monk Brother Michael to explore ten unique movements. Practice them before or after sitting meditation anytime you have a few minutes to refresh your body and quiet your mind.
A film about modern Japanese architecture, its roots in the Japanese tradition and its impact on the Nordic building-tradition. Winding its way through visions of the future, traditions, nature, concrete, gardens and high-tech, KOCHUU tells us how contemporary Japanese architects strive to unite the ways of modern man with the old philosophies in astounding constructions. Interviews with, and works by, Japanese architects Tadad Ando, Kisho Kurokawa, Toyo Ito and Kazuo Shinohara and Scandinavian architects Sverre Fehn, Kristian Gullichsen and Juhani Pallasmaa.
Alan Watts talks about our perception of the world, and how we derive metaphysics from it. Watts recorded this video in 1971 as a pilot for a public television series in the United States.
This VHS video includes two short documentaries by Elda Hartley. In the first, THE ART OF MEDITATION, Alan Watts gives us techniques and advice for meditating. Elda Hartley herself narrates the second film, MEDITATION: THE JOURNEY INWARD, which exposes viewers to different cultural approaches to meditation. Hartley then discusses how meditation enriches one's life, and what it can reveal to us.
Max Gimblett: Original Mind documents the life and process of eccentric, creative genius Max Gimblett. One of New Zealand’s most successful and internationally prominent living painters, Gimblett has been working in America since 1962. The filmmakers spent a week in Gimblett’s Soho loft where he and his devoted studio assistants generously revealed the techniques and philosophy behind his beautiful art.
The influential life and powerful messages of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh are explored in this biographical documentary. For more than 50 years, this amazing social activist has preached self-awareness and compassion for all living beings. Follow him as he travels through France and the United States—including a stop at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.—spreading peace by teaching mindfulness and forgiveness.
Tsutomu lives alone in the mountains, writing essays, cooking Zen food with the vegetables he grows and the mushrooms he picks in the hills. His routine is happily disturbed when Machiko, his editor and love interest, occasionally visits. Tsutomu seems content with his daily life. On the other hand, he still hasn't let go of his wife's ashes, although she died 13 years ago.