If you liked Seven Years in Tibet or Kundun, you are going to love Milarepa.  From the trailers, it looks like they might have achieved the cinematographic excellence of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but judge for yourself:

http://milarepamovie.com/

You can also hear a very fine introduction by the Venerable Khandro Rinpoche:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=t_36UK2p89U&NR=1

Now for some politics.  Many of you know this and some do not, but Tibet was once upon a time a reclusive Buddhist country ruled by a succession of Dalai Lamas who were believed to be the reincarnations of each other.  When the reborn Dalai Lamas were discovered as children, the country was ruled by regents, and like all political systems, there was always intrigue despite the high mindedness of religion and the keen sense of karma underlying Buddhism in general but Tibetan Buddhism in particular.

The present Dalai Lama is the 14th and ancient prophecies had predicted that he would be the last.

Prior to the Chinese takeover, Tibet had its own government, its own language, its own currency, and diplomatic relations with a few countries, unfortunately not many.  There were no Chinese government offices collecting taxes or conscripting Tibetans into the military.  In short, whatever the claims, Tibet was not part of China.

I first met the Dalai Lama in India in 1969 when I was a diplomat. I had been invited, on very short notice, by Prof. Lokesh Chandra to accompany him to the first ever speech in exile, ten years following the establishment of the government in exile in Dharamsala.  We now know that the CIA played a part in the escape of the Dalai Lama and that it trained insurgents in a very secret camp in Colorado.  The agents who were involved have made a very long film that can be seen on YouTube.com.  For those who love Tibet or for those who love integrity, the relevations in these YouTube videos are going to upset your equilibrium.  I was unaware of these facts until very recently when a subscriber sent me links.

The ostensible purpose behind the CIA activities was to create issues for China which, of course, is why China responds by demanding that countries desist from meddling in its internal affairs.  What very few people, even Chinese and Tibetans, realize is that decades ago China published a new map of the world in which Tibet and the "five fingers of the Himalayas" were shown as part of China.  The five fingers were Mustang, Sikkim, Bhutan, and now my memory is running away from me but probably Nepal and Assam.  In any event, shortly after this map was "revealed," Chinese troops invaded part of India and occupied it.  India did not respond at all and a week later, the troops left.

This is very interesting but if we go back to the time when Tibet was first seeking international support for its dilemma, Nehru was gutless and the U.S. was indecisive.  In short, fear of China kept nations from behaving in a conscionable manner and the Tibetan people and its culture have suffered accordingly.

Tibetans are, however, absolutely amazing people and they have a strength that is not to be underestimated by anyone.  I felt that the time had come to externalize the Dharma.  It had been preserved in a way in Tibet and the rest of the world needed what Tibetans had carefully nurtured for so many centuries.  Painful as it was to see the living conditions of Tibetans in exile and to see their numbers scattered across the globe, I knew the rest of the world would be inspired by their spiritual strength and warmed by their humor. 

For as long as I have imbibed Tibetan culture, I have known the Songs of Milarepa and one friend of mine composed an opera, but now we have a very timely film, perhaps the most important ethical film since Gandhi, but much deeper because it addresses the risk taken by a soul who strays way far off the Path and has to find his way to peace and enlightenment in one lifetime. 

I am so excited by this event and if you go to the film website, you might even be able to catch an earlier viewing by seeing where else the film is being shown.

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2010

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