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Television - Buddhism Concerns Us
To access the mind of the Buddha, it is not enough to simply fulfill one’s duties: one must also know how to listen to nature. Friedel M. Brückner films the places where Siddhartha lived and taught, then offers a panorama of the places where Buddhism is practiced and taught in Europe and North America. We discover the absence of a central authority and the diversity of the schools:
- Nichiren, where one tirelessly chants the six syllables Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a path to happiness and self-mastery;
- The Thai, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese (Fo Guang Shan) communities who bring rites and rituals to the West;
- The Zen of Master Deshimaru at La Gendronnière, with zazen, kōans, kyosaku, and ritual rigor;
- The Tibetan lamas and centers such as that of Dagpo Rinpoche near Fontainebleau, emphasizing the richness of the texts and the compassion of the Dalai Lama.
The film also explores Western adaptations:
• The Shambhala movement of Chögyam Trungpa in Halifax and its schools for children, meditation integrated into daily life (notably through kyudo);
• The Greyston Mandala of Bernard Glassman in Yonkers, blending street meditation, a shelter for the homeless, and a bakery as a practice of mindfulness;
• Ecological and political engagement according to Thich Nhat Hanh, where gardening becomes an act of collective mindfulness;
• The universe of Frédérick Franck in Warwick, sculpture, drawing, and “zen” meditation in a cocoon-like garden;
• The media: the journal Tricycle, the bestsellers of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama, cinema (Little Buddha, Kundun), and finally the Internet with CyberSangha and the Tiger Team Buddhist Information Network.
The documentary shows how Buddhism, in constant evolution, responds to Western spiritual quests—from mental health to education, from ecology to social action—by offering a universal teaching, free from any fixed cultural dogma.
