Talking with Buddha

“Talking” may be part of the title of this narration-less documentary, but filmmaker Jon Braeley makes his greatest impressions via stunning color and sound. Designed to offer viewers a glimpse of Tibetan Buddhism as practiced in India, the film adopts a leisurely pace, with imagery including prayer flags segueing into a shot of masses of Buddhist monks, along with scenes of Himalayan glaciers, and a sequence in which a red-robed woman carrying a pink lotus slowly makes her way through a Buddhist temple, prostrating herself repeatedly while others go about their business. Observations on Buddhist practice—from the Dalai Lama, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (a nun who spent 12 years in a Himalayan cave, where she slept upright in a box), among others—are interspersed with extended scenes of life in several monasteries (where, for example, we see young mendicants with shaven heads bobbing and chanting). Viewers will also see crowds of worshippers—men and women—praying together or sitting in silence, as well as footage of ceremonies marked by the sounds of exotic percussion and wind instruments (making raucous, joyous noise) and sights of swirling colorful garments, gilded woodwork, jaunty banners, and regal headdresses. A wonderful feast for the senses, DVD extras include a talk on “Dealing with Anger” by Gelek Rimpoche. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)