Onsite watch party at Jewel Heart Ann Arbor
Online via Zoom
Jewel Heart is pleased to be given permission to screen the movie, The Dalai Lama’s Gift, an official selection of the South Asian International Film Festival, Tricycle Film Festival, International Buddhist Film Festival and many others. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with the director, Ed Bastian.
$10 Suggested Donation to be shared by Jewel Heart,
Spiritual Paths Foundation and other Buddhist education partners.
Registration Required
About the movie:
In 1981, a Buddhist monk teaching at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, made the bold request of the Dalai Lama to come and perform a rare ritual, never before done outside of India or Tibet: The Kalachakra, among the highest of the Buddhist tantric teachings. In just a few months, with a team of dedicated students, and cameras rolling, they constructed a temple and organized an event for over a thousand spiritual seekers, in a cornfield outside Madison.
The incredible footage was tucked away in the Smithsonian vaults, until now. What unfolds is the story of a powerful ritual, its impact on the people that made it happen, and the meaning behind this ancient initiation.
Director’s Note:
I was privileged to be asked, along with co-producer Sharpa Tulku, to film this extraordinary event 43 years ago, both the preparations for the ceremony and the ceremony itself: 124 camera rolls of 16mm footage have been waiting patiently for my life’s journey to bring me to this place where I can now share this with the world.
-Ed Bastian
About Ed Bastian:
Ed holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies under direction of Geshe Lhundub Sopa at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the founding President of Spiritual Paths Foundation that develops books, courses, films and websites on Buddhism, InterSpiritual Meditation and the Mandala Process after four decades of research and teaching, with esteemed teachers from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and Native American traditions.
He is the award winning co-author of “Living Fully Dying Well,” author of “InterSpiritual Meditation”, author of “Mandala – Creating an Authentic Spiritual Path,” and producer of documentaries on religion for the BBC and PBS.
Ed was the co-director of the Forum on BioDiversity presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Academy of Sciences, and a teacher of Buddhism and world religions at the Smithsonian Institution and a Global Trustee of the international United Religions Initiative.
He has also been a faculty member of Antioch University in Santa Barbara where he has taught courses on Buddhism, Mindfulness Meditation and religion. He has led retreats and programs at such organizations as the Parliament of World’s Religions, the Chaplaincy Institute, One Spirit Interfaith, CIIS, Omega Institute, the Esalen Institute, Hollyhock, La Casa de Maria, and the Garrison Institute.
