Here’s a great short clip animated by South Park co-creator Matt Stone. Love this stuff. Enjoy!

VIDEO

Beautiful photo of Buddhist children and prayer flags. A friend of mine sent this to me. I’d like to credit the photographer, but I have no idea where it’s from. (click to enlarge)

The Dalai Lama hour-long interview with Charlie Rose. The first 8 minutes or so has snippets from a Washington D.C. science conference he spoke at (as well as some bits from interviews with Richard Gere and Robert Thurman)

Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama – here’s his wikipedia page.

Beautifully done documentary that gives you a snapshot into the average Tibetan life, as well as insight into the life of an up and coming Buddhist monk. Very cool.

Official Synopsis:

For the first time, the BBC has been able to film inside Tibet unsupervised by Chinese authorities to bring you this bold, compelling and highly topical series.

Isolated in the midst of the world’s highest mountains, the Himalayas, Tibet is one of the most remote and least accessible places on the planet. This series focuses on the medieval town of Gyantse and the beautiful Baijin monastery. It is both an intimate observation of a society and a compelling insight into how Tibetans cope with living under imposed Chinese Communist rule. Gyantse is a town of two halves: part jumble of tiny streets with traditional wooden houses, part modern commercial centre – an intriguing mix of the ancient and the modern. Here cows, bikes, intrepid travellers in ancient buses and 4×4’s jostle each other along the potholed streets.

Through a handful of powerful and engaging characters, follow the reality of daily life for ordinary people living in an extraordinary place. From the hotelier struggling to attract more tourists; to the 13 year old novice monk trying to pass his exams; to the young girl who doesn’t find out until her wedding day that she is to be married to two brothers.

Episode 1 – 59 minutes

Episode 2 – 59 minutes

While not strictly spiritual or religious, this great documentary does give some insight into the world of Tibet, its people, and Tibetan monastic life.

In the 19th century, as it became aware of the colonial designs of European power on central Asia, Tibet expelled westerners and closed its frontiers. As its isolation deepened, so did Tibet’s allure and mystique. But in the early 1900s, Francis Younghusband, a British colonialist, managed to penetrate the hidden city of Lhasa and bring to an end the country’s years of isolation.

Photo: reurinkjan

Amazing documentary, beautifully done. Very nice intro for anyone looking to get a flavor of Buddhism and the life of Buddha.

Interesting post on a BBC “World Have You Say” blog. With the Dalai Lama saying his “job is too much for one man”, it raises the interesting question of whether a single person can be both a spiritual and political leader.