Spiritual Movies
It is a joy to watch spiritual movies since in an entertaining way they remind us of the essence of life. These choices provide movies who have hit the mark.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The film is initially told entirely from the restricted point of view of Bauby, as he wakes from his three-week coma in a hospital in Berck, France. A neurologist explains that he has Locked-In syndrome, an extremely rare condition in which the patient is almost completely physically paralyzed, but remains mentally normal. The viewer hears the thoughts of Bauby, which are unattainable to the other characters, and sees through his one functioning eye...
The Edge of Heaven
Retired widower Ali, a Turkish immigrant living in the German city of Bremen, believes to have found a solution to his loneliness as he meets Turkey-born prostitute Yeter[2].
He offers her a monthly payment to quit whoring and move in. After receiving threats from two Moslem Turks, she decides to accept his offer. His son Nejat, a professor of German literature, initially disapproves of Ali's choice of Yeter as a live-in girlfriend. However, he grows fond of her when he discovers that she sends money back home to Turkey for her daughter's college education...
The Sea Inside
The Sea Inside (Spanish: Mar adentro) is a 2004 film by the Spanish/Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar. It is based on the real-life story of Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), a Spanish ship mechanic left quadriplegic after a diving accident. Sampedro fought a 28-year campaign in support of euthanasia and his right to end his own life.
Bab Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
Sufi Musical
Banned in Iran. A grandfather is walking with his granddaughter through the desert to find a sufi gathering. She asks innocent questions about life and he answers.
What about me?
(1 Giant Leap Film)
...a truly astonishing project from former Faithless man Jamie Catto and Artist/Producer Duncan Bridgeman called 1 Giant Leap, an album/DVD recorded on a six-month trip around the world, which includes musical and spoken-word contributions from Michael Stipe, Kurt Vonnegut, Dennis Hopper, Brian Eno, Baaba Maal, Tom Robbins and Arrested Development among others
Meetings with Remarkable Men
Dokumentary
The book takes the form of Gurdjieff's reminiscences about various "remarkable men" that he has met, beginning with his father. They include the Armenian priest Pogossian; his friend Soloviev, Prince Lubovedsky, a Russian prince with metaphysical interests, and a couple of others.
In the course of describing these characters, Gurdjieff weaves their stories into the story of his own travels, and also into an overarching narrative which has them cooperate in locating spiritual texts and/or masters in various lands (mostly Central Asia). Gurdjieff calls this group the "Seekers of Truth"...
The Holy Mountain
A man (later identified as a thief) representing The Fool, a tarot card typically depicting a young man stepping off a cliff, lies face down on the ground, having fallen from the cliff. He is befriended by a footless, handless dwarf (representing the five of swords: defeat) and goes into a city to make money from tourists. The thief's resemblance to Christ inspires some to use his likeness for the crucifixes which they sell. After a dispute with a priest who rejects the thief's wax likeness of himself, the thief eats off the face of his wax statue and sends it skyward with balloons, symbolically eating the body of Christ and offering "himself" up to heaven. Soon after, he notices a crowd gathered around a large tower, where a large hook with a bag of gold has been sent down in exchange for food. The thief, wishing to find the source of the gold, ascends the tower; finding the alchemist (played by Jodorowsky)...
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Graham Faulkner portrays Francesco, the spoiled son of a wealthy merchant. Following his return from war, Francesco renounces all his worldly possessions to live an ascetic and simple life as a man of God and nature. Much to the dismay of his family, friends and the local bishop, he gradually gains a large following amongst the poor and the suffering.
Clare, a young woman also of a wealthy family, serves and cares for lepers of the community. Francis is inspired by her example, and in return, after his community forms, she comes to join the brothers in their life of poverty...
Away From Her
Grant (Pinsent) and Fiona (Christie) are a retired married couple living in rural Brant County, Ontario. Fiona begins to lose her memory, and it becomes apparent she suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
When she feels she is becoming a risk to herself, Fiona decides to check into a nursing home, where one of the rules is that a patient can not have any visitors for 30 days, in order to "adjust". Unsure of this policy, Grant agrees anyway, at the insistence of his wife whom he loves...
Rivers and Tides
Rivers and Tides is a 2001 documentary directed by filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer about British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who creates intricate and ephemeral sculptures from natural materials such as rocks, leaves, flowers, and icicles. The music was composed and performed by Fred Frith and was released on a soundtrack, Rivers and Tides (2003)...
Little Buddha
Little Buddha is a story about the quest of a group of monks, led by Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying), to seek out the reincarnation of his great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje (Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen). Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate of Dorje's reincarnation within a boy named Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger) in Seattle. While Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, his parents, Dean (Chris Isaak) and Lisa (Bridget Fonda), are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he would like to take Jesse back with him to Bhutan to be tested...
Latest
Read about the transforming power of man's sexuality when experienced with an attitude of surrender...
Breathe in, breathe out, but let it be love coming in, going out...