| William F. Haardt
FILM GUIDE TO KUNDUN (You may want to check out the films Seven Years in Tibet, Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, The Cup, and Little Buddha. Mr. Haardt will give you extra credit for viewing any or all of the films, you will just need to write a 1-2 pg. typed reflection on the film, describing the film and giving your reaction . Contrast and compare with Kundun . ) • Overview of Film
Kundun , released in 1997, represents a startling change of subject for the director, Martin Scorcese. Kundun literally means the Presence, and is the term many Tibetans use for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Scorcese has made a reputation for himself as a brilliant director of films focusing on the darker side of urban life, especially the harsh codes, the brutality and moral squalor of organized crime. Many of his films deal with Italian-Americans in New York . His best known films include Mean Streets , Goodfellas , Raging Bull and Taxi Driver . Hard driving narratives, startling violence and Catholic imagery are some of the notable features of his film making.
This film represents a radical departure in theme and style. Instead
of driven and tormented street criminals, Kundun examines
the early life of the Dalai Lama (literally, Ocean
of Wisdom ) , the spiritual
leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and formerly the secular ruler of Tibet
. The Dalai Lama is revered for the purity and holiness of
his life, as well as for his resistance to the Chinese Communists.
He eventually fled Tibet in 1959, much against the will of the Communist
authorities, and has lived in exile. Instead of the streets of New
York , Kundun is set in the magnificent and remote country
of Tibet . Instead of Catholic ritual, Scorcese focuses on
the symbolism and spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism. Instead
of fast moving and violent narratives, Scorcese adopts a leisurely,
dreamlike pace. Reality gives way abruptly to otherworldly and often
frightening visions. Scorcese uses this slower pace to illustrate
first the leisurely consciousness of a child discovering the world
and secondly the visionary quality of Tibetan Buddhism. Instead
of gangsters, prize fighters and urban loners, Scorcese tells us
how the Dalai Lama is identified as a child, how he grows in spiritual
understanding, and how he confronts the invasion of his country
by the Chinese Communists in 1948. A man dedicated to ideals
of Buddhism, including non-violence, he tries to come to terms with
the Chinese invaders and tries to find common ground with his own
tradition and the atheistic Marxism of the Chinese. He finds
parallels between the Buddhist emphasis on the value of compassion
and the Marxist emphasis on equality and justice for the working
class. The Chinese initially give the Dalai Lama and Tibet
a certain degree of autonomy, but gradually, they impose tighter
control on the country and start repressing Buddhism, especially
monasteries, which are centers of tradition and national feeling.
In response, the Dalai Lama flees to India . • Basic Facts About Buddhism
The founder of Buddhism was an Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, (563 BC to 483 BC) who troubled by the problem of suffering, surrendered his life of wealth and privilege and went in search of enlightenment. For six years, he lived a life of harsh asceticism, determined to discover the meaning of human existence. He finally received insight in the form of the
Four Noble Truths :
1. Life is dukkha, usually translated as suffering. More precisely the term refers to unsatisfactoriness. 2.
Suffering springs from tanha, or the craving for individual self-fulfilment
by seeking material pleasures, power, etc. Tanha separates humans
from the universe at large, creating a deep sense of isolation,
pain, dissatisfaction and spiritual unrest. 4. The way to do so is to follow the Eightfold Path, a moral and spiritual guide to living.
The Eightfold Path
1. Right Understanding- Humans must know the Four Noble Truths to attain salvation 2. Right Purpose- Humans must aspire to salvation 3. Right Speech- Humans must never lie or slander 4. Right Behavior- To attain salvation, humans must avoid actions that encourage violence and individual self-gratification. Specifically, believers must never steal, kill, lie, engage in unchaste behavior or drink intoxicating beverages. 5. Right Means of Livelihood-Humans must engage in activities that assist salvation, preferably by entering the monastic life. 6. Right Effort-Humans must exercise will power to succeed in their search for salvation 7. Right Awareness-Humans must constantly analyze and review their behavior to understand where they may have sinned 8. Right Meditation- humans must meditate constantly on the ultimate truth if they are to find salvation
The goal of salvation
Nirvana , (literally extinction), or release from the cycle of human suffering and desire. By attaining nirvana, the believer avoids reincarnation and the pain of enduring the human condition through another lifetime.
Additional Points to remember about Buddhism
• The Buddha never speculated on the nature of God and the universe. His philosophy avoided any recognition of a controlling creating deity, and salvation is attained solely through the believer's own efforts to follow the Eightfold Path. According to legend, his final words to his followers were "Work out your salvation with diligence." • There is no tradition that the Buddha advocated social or political equality. However he denied religious institutions of class hierarchy. People from any social class could become monks and attain enlightenment. • Over time, the Buddha came to be worshipped as the greatest being in the universe. Within Buddhism itself, variations developed. Mahayana Buddhism became the most prevalent. The aspiration of believers is to become a Buddha. According to Mahayana Buddhism, humans who might otherwise attain nirvana voluntarily remain in the world for the benefit of others. These compassionate souls are called bodhisattvas . • Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama is a supreme bodhisattva. Tibetan Buddhism also makes use of beautiful and elaborate mandalas, or ritual pictures, made of colored sand. These mandalas are created with great skill and then brushed away, a symbol of the impermanence of all things. You will see splendid examples in the film. • One great historical irony: Buddhism died out in India itself by the 12 th century. A Hindu revival (which emphasized the compassion of the gods, a borrowing from Buddhist values) and the Islamic invasions of India accounted for its demise. It enjoyed a revival after India 's successful struggle for independence in 1948. Many untouchables (members of the lowest caste in Hinduism) converted to Buddhism as a gesture of protest against their own poverty and oppression.
• Basic Facts About Tibet
Tibet , as has been noted, is a mountainous nation. India and Nepal lie to the south, while China , which has played an influential role in the history of Tibet , lies to the east. For much of its history, Tibet has been comparatively isolated. As a mountainous country, the population is dependent on herding and on cultivation of crops able to tolerate the high altitudes. Buddhism came to Tibet comparatively late, starting in the 7 th century AD. The monasteries became centers, not only of religious life, but government. The monks ruled Tibet , assisted and supported by a feudal aristocracy. Although Tibet has been idealized as a spiritual paradise, in reality, it had all the problems and struggles of any earthly kingdom. People were enslaved, for example, although the Dalai Lama himself promoted reform and modernization. Although the film rightly points out the nonviolence of the Dalai Lama, monks rebelled and did resist invasions by force, most notably the British invasion of Tibet in 1904. As has been noted earlier, Tibetan Buddhism honors the Dalai Lama (lama meaning teacher) as a supreme bodhisattva, a pure soul. He is not , as is commonly understood, a reincarnation of Buddha. This issue is explained in the film itself. When a Dalai Lama dies, the leading monks undertake a long, careful search to find his reincarnation. Much of the film shows this search, culminating in the identification of the current Dalai Lama as a small toddler. He is then taken to the monastery at Lhasa , the Tibetan capital, to learn the spiritual discipline and philosophy of Buddhism. While the Dalai Lama is probably best known to Westerners, please keep in mind that he is not the only spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of a 17 th century Dalai Lama's spiritual mentor, suffered as much, if not more, under the Chinese Communist regime. He was imprisoned, tortured and humiliated for 15 years for publishing a denunciation of Chinese Communist rule in 1962. His successor, a young boy, is said to be living in Peking , but no one is certain of his whereabouts. Moreover, the Tibetans identify another boy as the true Panchen Lama.
• Tibet and China
The Chinese governments claim Tibet because in their view it has always been part of China and secondly because they have "modernized" a backward, oppressive, superstitious regime. As for the first claim, it is certainly true that China and Tibet have had close ties. The ruling families of China and Tibet intermarried, and both the Chinese and Tibetans were conquered by the Mongols in the 13 th century. By 1387, the Ming, a Chinese dynasty, had assumed control of China . A powerful nobility and Buddhist spiritual leaders, most notably the Dalai Lama, governed Tibet . In 1720, a Dalai Lama was assassinated and a dispute arose over his successor. Claiming that he was acting in a spirit of righteous retribution, the Chinese emperor Kangxi invaded and conquered Tibet . From the 18 th to the early 20 th century, ambans , or governors, ruled Tibet on behalf of China . As a rule, these ambans did not interfere with the basic religious structures of Tibet . In 1911, largely because of political breakdown in China itself, Tibet attained independence. Tibet remained an independent country, under the authority of the Dalai Lama, until 1951. China became a Communist state under the rule of Mao Zedong in 1948. Although the Communists were officially "anti-imperialist", they re-asserted control over the Tibetans within three years of their own revolution. Their rationale: they were re-uniting all parts of the motherland after China 's degradation at the hands of Western powers and they were benefiting Tibet by introducing the superior rule of Marxism. The Communist government, unfortunately, introduced conflict and upheaval. Communist cadres destroyed monasteries, major centers of Tibetan cultural and national life. The new government also destroyed the basic farming economy of Tibet by insisting on the cultivation of wheat, which was totally unsuitable for the climate. Above all, it imposed Marxist ideology in place of traditional religious values. The policy of the Chinese government toward Tibet has moderated since the death of Mao. Traditional religious practices are now allowed, though Tibetans in exile claim that the monks know more about Marxism than they do about Buddhism. Nevertheless, waves of persecutions do take place and the Chinese government forbids images of the Dalai Lama. The general population remains abysmally poor. Moreover, a more peaceful, though no less culturally disruptive, transformation is taking place because of the settlement of large numbers of Sichuanese, Chinese from the impoverished western province of Sichuan. They have found in Tibet an opportunity to make money, often as restaurant owners and truck drivers. Most of them plan to return to China as soon as they have made enough money. It is very important to understand the motives and perceptions of the Chinese government. A proud and great civilization, the Chinese had suffered horribly during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries from internal unrest and from incursions by foreign powers. Their attitude toward Tibet , in part, stems from their traumatic historical memories. A few events that have had a powerful influence on the Chinese:
• From 1839-1841, the British waged war to make the Chinese to buy opium from their colony in India . Although opium addiction was a major social problem in China and caused great suffering, the British saw this drug as an essential source of income for their economy in India . The British defeated the Chinese and forced them to re-open this lethal trade. The Chinese also were forced to cede Hong Kong to British as a trading base. The French and the Americans, taking advantage of Chinese weakness, also forced trade concessions. • In the 1900, the Europeans brutally suppressed the so-called Boxer Rebellion , another doomed effort to drive them out. A savage invasion by the Japanese in the 1930's, as well as internal civil wars further ravaged China . • Finally, Tibet alone did not suffer from Communism. The excesses of the Communist regime have resulted in the death or imprisonment of countless Chinese, including ardent Marxists. China took decades to recover from radical campaigns by the Communist government to industrialize China (The Great Leap Forward), and to impose cultural purity (the Cultural Revolution). The film To Live is a powerful portrayal of the sufferings of the Chinese people under Mao.
• Tibet and the West
Western views of Tibet have generally alternated between ignorant loathing and equally ignorant idealization. To the handful of Catholic missionaries who first encountered Tibet in the 16 th and 17 th centuries, Tibetan Buddhism was "paganism". To many 19 th and early 20 th century Protestant missionaries and imperialist ideologues, Tibetan Buddhism was little better than an eastern version of Catholicism, superstitious and idolatrous. Tibet also was a constant source of anxiety to the British during the 19 th century. The British were terrified that the Russians would try to invade India , their wealthiest and most strategic possession. Because of rumors that Russian agents had made contact with the Dalai Lama, the British invaded Tibet in 1904, though finding little of either strategic or economic interest, they soon withdrew. After World War I, many Europeans and Americans became disillusioned with Western values and Western religions. Tibet became a magical, unspoiled land, populated by Buddhist sages and gentle, peace-loving people with amazing spiritual powers. The Hollywood fad for Tibet is the most current manifestation. Films like Seven Years in Tibet with Brad Pitt and the vocal support of Buddhist converts like Richard Gere for the Dalai Lama are prominent examples. But it remains questionable whether most Westerners really understand Tibet on its own terms, not as a projection of romantic fantasy or spiritual restlessness.
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