Cultural Proof: Teachings from His Holiness The Dalai Lama

            While staying in McLeod, we had the opportunity to hear His Holiness The Dalai Lama give teachings at the Tibetan temple. It may be assumed that this would be a frequent occurrence since the temple stands directly in front of His Holiness’ home. However, he is a very busy man, frequently traveling to talk all over the world. In fact it seems somewhat ironic that in the time we’ve been here, he has given more teachings in the United States than in the next-door temple.

            So this was a big deal. Before we could even go to the teachings, we first had to get a pass that would allow us to enter the temple grounds on the big day. And not just us foreigners; everyone had to have a pass. So the day before the teachings we found ourselves in a very long line of Tibetans and foreigners, waiting to get our passes. The wait was long, but we finally got them. We also had to buy a small AM/FM radio, as the teachings were to be given in Tibetan and translated over radio broadcast into English.

            There were, I believe, three different sessions of teachings over two days. The first day had a morning and afternoon session. Because the morning session was very early and people were getting there even earlier to get a spot, we decided to wait until the morning session got out. Then when everybody was leaving to get lunch, we’d swoop in and grab a spot and wait until the afternoon session started.

            We managed to get pretty good spots too: upstairs, just outside the temple and to the right. We weaved through the crowd and found a nice vacant area next to a pillar. There are no chairs, so we brought cushions to sit on, and the pillar provided back support. We were at an angle that we couldn’t see His Holiness directly, but there was a nice, flat screen monitor set up fairly close with live video of what was happening.

            Thus far, everything resembled very much my own faith’s general conference meetings. So I expected it to continue as such. I was ready to get some good, inspired insight on life that would help me make myself a better person… and maybe I did. I’m still trying to make sense of it.

            We tuned our radio to the English translation channel as His Holiness began to speak. After a while, he stopped, and the translation began. The teaching was on “emptiness”.

            I listened to the teaching, doing my best to understand and even took notes. I’m not sure if I understood everything (in fact I’m sure I didn't), and my notes may not even be correct, but this is what I took from it:

Sketches

Before coming to India, Julia got me a great little moleskine notebook that fits right in my pocket. I promised myself with this new handy-dandy book that I would do a lot more drawing, something I've always loved to do, but haven't done enough.

So since we've been in India I've taken several opportunities to sketch the people and places around me (and some dinosaurs). The following are those sketches. I'll try to provide brief descriptions of each. Enjoy!

Our first day in India. This was a man sitting outside the airport.

The Poisonwood Bible

This novel, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is about a Baptist preacher and his family who go to live in the Congo, where the father hopes to convert the Congolese to Christianity. The story is told from the perspectives of the wife and their four daughters and recounts their experiences and difficulties living among a people that are so different from themselves.

“If somebody was hungry, why would they have a big fat belly? I don’t know.”

- Ruth May Price (Preacher’s youngest daughter)

This book should probably be required reading for travelers (especially first-time travelers), as it has the power to help its readers become more sensitive to cultural and religious differences.

Although I have never been to Congo or anywhere else in Africa, my own experiences traveling to Mexico and India have been similar in many ways. First there is a period of bewilderment and endless questions, “What is that? What are those for? Where is that sound coming from? What’s wrong with that person?” As you begin to answer those simple questions (“That’s a prayer wheel. Those are for eating.  That’s the music the gas truck plays. That person has elephantitis.”) then you can start looking a little deeper to see the why behind everything, “Why do they do that? Why does this happen? Why do they believe this?” etc.

Thoughts

Over the last week I’ve edited and re-edited the script to my film trying to get it to the right place. But I’m having a hard time looking past the basic events and interviews and really seeing the story and the theme. So I decided to back things up, ask myself some questions and see if that could guide my thoughts any better. This blog post is not eloquently written or originally meant for an audience. It’s just me trying to get my thoughts out. But it’s all part of the filmmaking process, and so I figured, why not share it? I actually recommend it to anyone who is having trouble organizing their thoughts. Just sit down and write it out. It really helps.

Here are the questions I asked myself:

What first drew my attention to the idea of my film?

What is the theme of this film?

What do I hope to accomplish with this film?

What is the story?

Here are my answers:

Cultural Proof - Bhagsunag Temple

            “Please remove your shoes,” said the sign outside the Hindu temple, though I probably could have figured this out by the pile of shoes at the bottom of the stairs.

I stood outside trying to observe as much as I could about the temple and its attendants before ascending the stairs myself. The temple looked small and even a little run-down, but that didn’t stop its visitors from showing their complete respect.

            After removing their shoes, visitors would touch the first three stairs and then their forehead before beginning their ascension. Some would even bow down, touching their head directly to the stairs.

            Partway up there hung a bell overhead. As people passed under it they would reach up, grab the clapper and ring it against the bell. Children jumped to try and reach the bell, but most could not. Of the teenagers and adults, some rang the bell softly while others gave much heartier rings. One man in attempt to impress his wife and kids, grabbed the clapper firmly and banged it as hard as he could against the bell. He laughed as it rang quite irrelevantly, but if anyone was bothered, they didn’t show it.

            To my left was a table piled high with little plastic gifts: fake flowers, bracelets, and small packages wrapped in newspaper. Here temple visitors stopped to purchase these items to take into the temple with them: an offering.

            I watched person after person go into the temple and tried to get up the nerves to ask someone if I could go in. I was pretty sure I could, as I’d seen several non-Hindu people enter, and it seems as a rule in India that temples are very visitor friendly, but I hoped that by asking someone they might let me go in with them and maybe even explain some of the temple to me.

            So I sat there, watching people go in, and tried to guess who might speak some English. Finally I asked a man, “Can I go in?” He didn’t understand. He called his son over who listened to my question and replied with a simple, “yes” and a head wag.

Script = Direction

I have heard plenty of times that scripting a documentary film is one of the best things you can do if you want to produce a good story. With this project however, I kept putting it off, saying that I didn’t know enough about my characters or my subject to write out a whole script. So instead I settled for brief, basic outlines for the film. These outlines however did not seem to be getting me very far or giving me much direction with the film.

So this week I finally sat down and scripted out the film in as much detail as I could.  There are still a few parts left fairly open, and I am also open to any unforeseen events that may arise, but I now have something concrete, a direction I can follow that is reasonable and accomplishable in the following month that I will be here. I no longer feel like I am wondering about, hoping for a story to happen. I have my story, and now all I have to do is collect the different parts and then put them all together.

I am the kind of person who works much better if I have a checklist; something that shows me everything I need to do, and then I can systematically go through, do each item and check it off. That’s exactly what this script is for me: a big checklist. Now all I have to do is follow it, get each of the scenes, and then put it together. And if, along the way, anything else interesting pops up, I am more than willing to be flexible with the script.

I am also very lucky to have a wife, a field study coordinator, and two film professors who are able to read the script and give me feedback on it. With their help the film will be much better than I could have ever hoped to make it on my own. 

Cultural Proof: Lotus Temple

It’s time to catch up on my cultural proofs. These are things I do, places I visit, etc. that are meant to help me get more involved and immersed in India’s culture. I have done several already and taken notes, but now it is time to blog about them.

So today’s cultural proof will be about the Lotus Temple!

This was one of my first sites to see in India, maybe two days after arriving in Delhi. I knew almost nothing about it beforehand, and what I did know, or what I guessed I knew, only made me more wrong. First, I had imagined that it was probably a Hindu temple, and second, I confused the word “lotus” for “locust” and so after hearing that it was named for its shape I imagine a building shaped like a giant grasshopper.
Well, it was neither a grasshopper nor a Hindu temple. For any who are ignorant like me, a lotus is a flower:

and the temple actually belongs to the Baha'i faith.

However, the temple itself is purposed as a place where people of all faiths can come to pray, meditate, and draw closer to God.