A touch of Tinseltown comes to Tayside this week with the arrival of Hollywood director Khashyar Darvich, the award winning director of Dalai Lama Renaissance. Narrated by Harrison Ford, the film is a stunning and thought-provoking documentary which was screened by the DCA in June as part of the celebrations of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Dundee.

Khashyar has been invited to Scotland by Dundee charity, Nilupul Foundation, as part of the upcoming celebrations for Scottish Inter Faith Week. A special screening and Directors Q&A session will be held on Saturday, 1st December from 6 – 8 pm at the Nilupul Centre, 51 Reform Street, Dundee. There is a £5 suggested donation for the screening.

Dalai Lama Renaissance has received 12 international film festival awards and has attracted audiences across the globe telling the story of what happened in 1999 when 40 Western intellectuals, including renowned quantum physicists Fred Wolf & Amit Goswami (stars of movie phenomenon; What the Bleep Do We Know!), travel to India to meet the Dalai Lama and discuss how to solve the world’s problems.

This is a great opportunity for fans of the film to meet with Khashyar and for those who missed this summer’s screening this is another chance to catch this wonderful film here in Dundee.

This year Scottish Inter Faith week takes place between 25th November and 2nd December bringing people together in peaceful dialogue, throughout Scotland. Dundee is a truly diverse city and a wonderful example of successful multiculturalism. In celebration of this, Dundee Inter Faith Association has organised a number of events this year, including a special lecture by Prof Seaton Baxter OBE of Dundee University entitled A Faith Full Nature which will take place at the Hannah Maclure Centre at 7 pm on Tuesday 27th November.

Tickets for Dalai Lama Renaissance and A Faith Full Nature are available by contacting info@nilupul.org, tel. 01382 872020 or you can drop into the Nilupul Centre, Second Floor, 51 Reform Street, Dundee, DD1 1SL.

Khashyar Darvich and the film are currently on a 10-city Ireland and Scotland tour until Dec 9. The entire schedule can be found here: http://dalailamafilm.com/ireland2012

For Press: A press event will be held Friday 30th November at 2 pm at the Nilupul Centre, 51 Reform Street, Dundee, DD1 1SL. Khashyar and Kumanga Andrahennadi of the Nilupul Foundation will be available for interviews at this time. Please contact Kumanga Andrahennadi of Nilupul Foundation for further information. Tel. 01382 872020 Mob. 0785 556 5907 e. info@nilupul.org

Narrated by actor Harrison Ford, ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ attracted sold-out audiences and rave reviews during its first successful 10 city tour of Ireland last July.

DUBLIN – Can an award-winning film that presents the Dalai Lama’s transformational wisdom in action truly change audiences who watch it? How can the Dalai Lama’s message of compassion lead to a “Quantum Leap” from the head to the heart?

After 12 film festival awards, thousands of screenings around the world, and hundreds of inspiring filmmaker Q&A’s, audiences this winter in Ireland will experience those answers for themselves, as the Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film and its director Khashyar Darvich travel to Ireland in November and December 2012 to begin a 2 week Irish screening and Director Q&A tour, after a very successful earlier 10 city tour of Ireland last July.

Because of the success of the previous Irish film screenings, the Irish Government’s film council, Access Cinema, invited Darvich and the film back to Ireland for additional screenings so that more Irish audiences would be able to see and experience the inspiring film and thought-provoking Director Q&A.

Recently appearing on the Irish national Newstalk radio program ‘Shenanigans’ with radio host Sila, Director Darvich commented about his experience with the Dalai Lama, which includes two interviews with the Tibet Spiritual Leader: “The Dalai Lama has a palpable powerful presence that you can feel, whether you are sitting in a room with him, or are in a stadium with 20,000.”

Featuring the Dalai Lama, and narrated by actor Harrison Ford, the film tells the story of 40 Western innovative thinkers who travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world’s problems. What happened was powerful and unexpected, and was captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

Dalai Lama Renaissance, and Director Khashyar Darvich, will appear in several cities in Europe

The film features two of the starring quantum physicists from the hit theatrical documentary What the Bleep Do We Know, Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami. Also appearing in Dalai Lama Renaissance are Michael Beckwith (who appears in The Secret), radio host and author Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Vandana Shiva (social activist, The Corporation), and other prominent thinkers.

Amy Wong of LA Yoga Magazine writes: “it is a stunning tour-de-force [and an] intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama’s life.”

Film Critic John Griffin of the Montreal Gazette calls Dalai Lama Renaissance “a provocative, even enlightening film… fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically soothing.”

Director Khashyar Darvich with a fan if the film 'Dalai Lama Renaissance' after a film screening in Australia

Film Threat Magazine’s Rick Kisonak said Dalai Lama Renaissance is a “comedy sensation,” adding, “I can’t remember the last time a movie made me laugh so hard.”

Audiences around the world have shared that the film screening and Q&A by Director Khashyar Darvich is more like a transformational event than just a film screening.

“Be prepared to leave the Dalai Lama Renaissance event a different person than when you first arrived,” commented Debbie from a screening during the film’s Australian’s tour. “I was thoroughly inspired by both the film and Khashyar Darvich’s Q&A.”

“I look forward to returning to Ireland,” says Director Khashyar Darvich, “to share the film with Irish audiences, as well as speaking with them about the inner journey of personal transformation, in the presence of the Dalai Lama, that was captured in the film.”

The previous July 10-city Irish film and director tour was organized and hosted by Neil Steedman of ‘Tibet House – Young Generation.’ Steedman has also organized events with the Dalai Lama in Ireland during each of the revered Tibetan leader’s Ireland visits.

“The possibility presented of bringing ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ and Director Khashyar Darvich for the film’s Dublin premiere… was an opportunity not to be missed,” says Steedman. “The Dalai Lama’s message of universal responsibility, the importance of individual action for inner growth, compassion for all beings, and positivity is one that will resonate with audiences in Dublin and countrywide.”

Dalai Lama Renaissance has screened in cinemas in several countries around the world.

'Dalai Lama Renaissance' has screened in cinemas around the world in several countries, including in over 100 cities in the United States.

The current film tour schedule includes:

Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich answers questions from the audience after a sold-out 800-seat screening of 'Dalai Lama Renaissance'

IRELAND:

- Nov 22 – Naul, Co. Dublin – Venue: The Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre

- Nov 26 – Belmullet, Co. Mayo – Venue: Aras Inis Gluaire

- Nov 27 – Castlebar, Co. Mayo – Venue: Linenhall Arts Centre

- Dec 1 – Dundee (Scotland) – Venue: Nilupul Centre

- Dec 3 – Waterford – Venue: Garter Lane Arts Centre

- Dec 4 – Cork – Venue: University College Cork (UCC) Boole3

- Dec 5 – Bandon, Co. Cork – Venue: Bandon Film Club (Brogans Inn)

- Dec 6 – Clonakilty, Co. Cork – Venue: Clonakilty Film Club (The Park Cinema)

- Dec 8 – Dublin 2 – Venue: The Chester Beatty Library

- Dec 9 – Bantry – Venue: Maritime hotel

(Detailed ticket and venue info is at the bottom of this page)

You may watch the trailer for the film, at: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com, or on the film's Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/DalaiLamaFilm

If you are interested in hosting a film screening and Director Q&A, or know of a cinema or organization that might be interested in hosting a film screening event, please contact Wakan Films at: Bookings (at) DalaiLamaFilm (dot) com.

No shows booked at the moment.

Coinciding with the Dalai Lama’s 2012 Summer European visit, Dalai Lama Renaissance (narrated by Harrison Ford) and Director Khashyar Darvich travel to the United Kingdom and Europe for an 8 week screening and Director Q&A tour June-July 2012

LONDON - Dalai Lama Renaissance Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich is packing his bags and preparing to travel from his home in Los Angeles to London on May 30 for the beginning of his award-winning film’s 21 screening film tour of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The documentary film (which is narrated by Harrison Ford) has won 12 awards, is the official selection of over 40 film festivals, and has screened in hundreds of cities around the world in mutliple languages.

Actor Harrison Ford (narrator of the 'Dalai Lama Renaissance' Documentary Film), with the film's Producer-Director, Khashyar Darvich.

Filmmaker Darvich himself has traveled and appeared for Director Q&A’s with Dalai Lama Renaissance for at least 300 international film screenings.

“One of the most rewarding aspects in producing and directing Dalai Lama Renaissance,” says Director Darvich, “is sharing the film and its inner journey of personal transformation with audiences, and hearing the insights and new perspectives that they share with me.”

Aside from the Dalai Lama, the film also features Quantum Physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami (from What the Bleep Do We Know), Michael Beckwith (The Secret), and other notable and rennaissance thinkers.

The current film tour schedule includes:

SCOTLAND:

- June 6th – Stirling – Macrobert Cinema

- June 7th – Dumfries – Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre

- June 9th – Findhorn – Findhorn Universal Hall

- June 10 – Bo’ness – Hippodrome

- June 10 – Glasgow – GFT Cinema

- June 11 – Inverness – Eden Court Cinemas

- June 12 – Edinburgh – Dominion Cinema

- June 12 – Dundee – Dundee Contemporary Arts

ENGLAND:

- June 22 – Bristol – Hamilton House

IRELAND:

- June 29 – Kildare – Venue: TBA

- July 1 – Cork – Venue: Triskel Arts Cetre

- July 2 – Ennis – Venue: Old Ground Hotel

- July 3 – Carrick-on-Shannon – Venue: The Dock

- July 4 – Sligo – Venue: TBA

- July 5 – Belfast – Venue: TBA

- July 6 – Dublin – Venue: Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street

ENGLAND:

- July 7 – London – Jamyang Buddhist Centre – The Old Courthouse

- July 8 – London – Jamyang Buddhist Centre – The Old Courthouse

- July 15 – York – City Screen Picturehouse

IRELAND:

- July 18 – Birr – Birr Theatre & Arts Centre

- July 20 – Bray – Mermaid Arts Centre

More information about the DLR 2012 European tour, can be found here: http://dalailamafilm.com/europe2012

You may watch the trailer for the film, at: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com, or on the film’s Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/DalaiLamaFilm

If you are interested in hosting a film screening and Director Q&A, or know of a cinema or organization that might be interested in hosting a film screening event, please contact Wakan Films at: Bookings (at) DalaiLamaFilm (dot) com.

Dalai Lama Renaissance, and Director Khashyar Darvich, will appear in several cities in Europe

Dates of Screening: April 29, 2012

Film being screening: Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film, with Film Director Q&A

Screening Venue: Rio Theatre

Address: 1205 Soquel Avenue ; Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Website: http://www.riotheatre.com/event.html

Contact Phone: (831) 423-8209

Additional Details: Screening of Dalai Lama Renaissance Film (Vol 1), and Q&A with Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich. Screening Venue: Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Avenue ; Santa Cruz, CA 95062; Screening Sponsor: Santa Cruz Karma Thegsum Choling; Email Contact: zeinob1 (at) aol (dot) com

Dates of Screening: February 17, 2012

Film being screening: Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film, with Film Director Q&A

Screening Venue: Unity of Sedona (Arizona)

Address: 89 Morning Sun Drive; Sedona, AZ 86336

Website: www.unityofsedona.com

Contact Phone: 928-282-7181

Additional Details: Screening of Dalai Lama Renaissance Film (Vol 1), and Q&A with Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich. Screening Venue: Unity of Sedona (Arizona), 89 Morning Sun Drive; Sedona, AZ 86336; Screening Sponsor: Unity of Sedona; Email Contact: blessings (att) unitysedona (dot) org

Sponsoring Organization: Unity of Sedona

Coinciding with the Dalai Lama’s 2012 Summer European visit, Dalai Lama Renaissance (narrated by Harrison Ford) and Director Khashyar Darvich travel to the United Kingdom and Europe for an 8 week screening and Director Q&A tour May-July 2012

EUROPE – Can an award-winning film that presents the Dalai Lama’s transformational wisdom in action truly change audiences who watch it? How can the Dalai Lama’s message of compassion lead to a “Quantum Leap” from the head to the heart?

After 12 film festival awards, thousands of screenings around the world, and hundreds of inspiring filmmaker Q&A’s, audiences this summer in the UK and Europe will experience those answers for themselves, as the Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film and its director Khashyar Darvich travel to the UK and Europe in May 2012 to begin an 8 week UK and European screening and Director Q&A tour, in conjunction with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visits and teachings in Europe.

Previous organizers of the Dalai Lama’s visits the United States, Canada and around the world have invited Dalai Lama Renaissance and Director Darvich to appear at their events, and their audiences have commented that they have been moved by the experience.

Featuring the Dalai Lama, and narrated by actor Harrison Ford, the film tells the story of 40 Western innovative thinkers who travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world’s problems. What happened was powerful and unexpected, and was captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

Dalai Lama Renaissance, and Director Khashyar Darvich, will appear in several cities in Europe

The film features two of the starring quantum physicists from the hit theatrical documentary What the Bleep Do We Know, Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami. Also appearing in Dalai Lama Renaissance are Michael Beckwith (who appears in The Secret), radio host and author Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Vandana Shiva (social activist, The Corporation), and other prominent thinkers.

Amy Wong of LA Yoga Magazine writes: “it is a stunning tour-de-force [and an] intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama’s life.”

Film Critic John Griffin of the Montreal Gazette calls Dalai Lama Renaissance “a provocative, even enlightening film… fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically soothing.”

Director Khashyar Darvich with a fan if the film 'Dalai Lama Renaissance' after a film screening in Australia

Film Threat Magazine’s Rick Kisonak said Dalai Lama Renaissance is a “comedy sensation,” adding, “I can’t remember the last time a movie made me laugh so hard.”

Audiences around the world have shared that the film screening and Q&A by Director Khashyar Darvich is more like a transformational event than just a film screening.

“Be prepared to leave the Dalai Lama Renaissance event a different person than when you first arrived,” commented Debbie from a screening during the film’s Australian’s tour. “I was thoroughly inspired by both the film and Khashyar Darvich’s Q&A.”

“I look forward to traveling to the United Kingdom and Europe,” says Director Khashyar Darvich, “to share the film with European audiences, as well as speaking with them about the inner journey of personal transformation, in the presence of the Dalai Lama, that was captured in the film.”

Dalai Lama Renaissance has screened in cinemas in several countries around the world, and will screen during the European tour in English, as well as subtitled in French, Italian and Spanish.

'Dalai Lama Renaissance' has screened in cinemas around the world in several countries, including in over 100 cities in the United States.

The current film tour schedule includes:

Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich answers questions from the audience after a sold-out 800-seat screening of 'Dalai Lama Renaissance'

SCOTLAND:

- June 6th – Stirling – Macrobert Cinema

- June 7th – Dumfries – Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre

- June 9th – Findhorn – Findhorn Universal Hall

- June 10 – Bo’ness – Hippodrome

- June 10 – Glasgow – GFT Cinema

- June 11 – Inverness – Eden Court Cinemas

- June 12 – Edinburgh – Dominion Cinema

- June 12 – Dundee – Dundee Contemporary Arts

ENGLAND:

- June 22 – Bristol – Hamilton House

- June 25 – Glastonbury

IRELAND:

- June 29 – Kenmare – Venue: Carnegie Arts Centre

- July 1 – Cork – Venue: Triskel Arts Cetre

- July 2 – Ennis – Venue: Old Ground Hotel

- July 3 – Carrick-on-Shannon – Venue: The Dock

- July 4 – Sligo – Venue: The Model

- July 5 – Belfast – Venue: The MAC

- July 6 – Dublin – Venue: Wynn’s Hotel, Dublin 2

ENGLAND:

- July 7 – London – Jamyang Buddhist Centre – The Old Courthouse

- July 8 – London – Jamyang Buddhist Centre – The Old Courthouse

- July 15 – York – City Screen Picturehouse

IRELAND:

- July 17 – Wexford – Wexford Arts Centre

- July 18 – Birr – Birr Theatre & Arts Centre

- July 20 – Bray – Mermaid Arts Centre

ENGLAND:

- July 23 – Newcastle - Tyneside Cinema

- July 25 – Derbyshire – Gothic Warehouse, Mill Lane, Cromford

- July 29 – Chichester – Chichester Cinema at New Park

- July 30 – Oxford - Phoenix Picturehouse

You may watch the trailer for the film, at: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com, or on the film's Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/DalaiLamaFilm

If you are interested in hosting a film screening and Director Q&A, or know of a cinema or organization that might be interested in hosting a film screening event, please contact Wakan Films at: Bookings (at) DalaiLamaFilm (dot) com.

No shows booked at the moment.

Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film Director Khashyar Darvich interviews an inmate for his new film about personal and spiritual transformation within prison walls

by Gayle Gregory

Truth is so rare and so astounding when you meet it face-to-face. A sadness, a burgeoning of compassion, often settles in as I become aware of the infrequency of real, close to the bone, human interaction.  My heart aches for its presence, to hear truth’s pure voice. It speaks so many delicious languages: the language of raw hurt and pain, of the slow and tender acceptance that life won’t work out in the ways we long for, of shamed but willing disclosure, of recognition – that one’s words weren’t quite accurate, and with that, a deep listening for what is in actuality, true right now. When it is accurate and authentic, it also speaks of joy, caring, beauty, and of love. All these languages have a common foundation – a trust in this that is unfolding as our human experience, and if not trust, at the least, simple surrender to life’ twists and turns and our inability to alter this moment.

For many, myself once included, prison seems a surprising place to find truth and yet, there it is.  We have been filming at Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) since June 2010 when I invited Khashyar Darvich to screen “The Dalai Lama Renaissance” for the inmates. Yesterday was our sixth day inside the walls and once again, the experience enriched us all as we listened to five inmates share their stories for a documentary on compassion and forgiveness. Each of us, film crew and prison staff, were deeply impacted. As we talked about our experience later we became consciously aware that we had been in the presence of truth. The truth had touched us, was felt in each of our bodies, minds, and souls.  It resonated loudly, purely, with an uncommon energy and yet, as uncommon as it was, it felt natural, healing, like we had discovered the missing ingredient of life.

I have been volunteering at OSCI for four years now, and likely, for many years to come. Why? The men and their ability to be vulnerable, their hunger to learn and grow, their desire for spiritual freedom, and most of all, their willingness to pay whatever price is required. Having lost community, status, money, reputation, and most of their ability to choose, many consciously enter onto the spiritual path, looking for peace, hope, and comfort – peace of mind in meditation, hope for insights into reality, and the comfort of belonging to a spiritual family.  They look for redemption and perhaps, more that we on the outside, perhaps not, they withhold it from themselves with their conviction of their unworthiness, needing forgiveness from their victim or victim’s family, a forgiveness that may never come.

This is the raw material with which the inmates work. Can I accept the possibility of life in prison, of dying without those I loved knowing how much I changed? Can I live with my crime, without the forgiveness that my heart cries for? Can I learn to forgive myself regardless of how others react to me? Can I see through the darkness of my past into the light within? Can I be here, now, without any needs at all? Questions like these lead the men into their truth, into the resistance, into the pain, into the reality that lies just beneath the surface so they can meet the conditioned beliefs and fears and learn to be present with their reality, whatever it is. Unlike most, the men aren’t afraid to admit to their fears, to share them openly and lay them on the table before us.  They have learned the power of transparency, fully aware that secrecy is a soul killer.

Khashyar is crafting a powerful film. I am ready for it to be finished and to share its timely and potent message with the world. And yet, I trust Khashyar’s instincts for what is needed to make it even more powerful. Having been present for the interviews I can’t imagine the experience being more powerful for the audience, but I know the finished product will be. Khashyar has many more interviews planned to tap into the wisdom of our world – the Dalai Lama and others. So I live in patience, something the men can teach us all.

Truth – feel it in your bones. Feel it in your heart. Let it resonate throughout your entire life and watch as it transforms our world. When the movie premieres you will see it on the screen and its pure power will rewrite much of what you believe to be true.

–
Gayle Gregory
Coach|Speaker|Author
gayle.a.gregory (at) gmail (dot) com

To find more information about the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film (which is narrated by actor Harrison Ford), please visit: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com. Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich’s new DVD project, “Illumination Matrix: Shifting into a New Dimension,” will be released at the end of November 2011. More information about “Illumination Matrix” can be found here: www.IlluminationMatrix.com

Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film Director Khashyar Darvich speak with an inmate after an interview for his new film about personal and spiritual transformation within prison walls

Director Khashyar Darvich after signing a DVD for an audience member after a film screening of DLR

LETTERS from the Heart: I feel grateful when I receive letters from viewers of DLR who warm-heartedly express how much they have been impacted by the film.

Director Khashyar Darvich after signing a DVD for an audience member after a film screening of DLR

It’s touching to receive emails from around the world from viewers of ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ who have been touched and impacted in some way by the film. I feel humbled, honored and grateful as I read them.

I would like to share two recent letters with you.

The first letter came from a viewer from San Francisco:

Dear Khashyar Darvich:

My name is [C] and I live in Mountain View, CA about 45 minutes south of San Francisco.  I recently watched your beautiful film Dalai Lama Renaissance and it changed my life.  I am on a path of spiritual awakening, and your film was such an important step in my amazing journey.

I noticed that Netflix and Blockbuster didn’t offer it for rent, so despite my tight budget, I purchased it.  I had a higher calling to see this film and there was no other way to see it.  Buying the DVD was definitely money well spent.

Is there any way that we could make it available to Netflix and Blockbuster so that other people, perhaps on even tighter budgets than myself, can have the opportunity to watch it?  Also I noticed that my local public library did not have it available.  I’m not sure if you do not like the commercial values of businesses like Netflix and Blockbuster, or if these companies just need to be contacted and asked to purchase DVD’s and have them available for rent.

The more people who watch your enlightening film, the better…it benefits the individual as well as families and communities.  If there is any way I can help in this process, please let me know.  I’d love to be a part of a project that is doing so much good.

Sincerely

[C]

*****

A second letter I received recently, was sent from Europe:

Dear Mr. Khashyar Darvich,

Your movie “Dalai Lama Renaissance” has had a great impact on my creative and personal life, I would therefore like to thank you for that impact.

If I remember correctly you once said in an interview that the whole process of making of the Dalai Lama Renaissance movie was a personal and spiritual journey. I feel the exact same thing about my music. Everytime I write a tune, strike a chord, look for sound, I feel as if I go on a inner journey towards myself. That’s why I’ve called my musical and creative project “Dalai Lama Renaissance”, as an allusion to your movie and the spiritual feeling music gives me.

I’ll be releasing an (electronic-mindend) album in Europe shortly (November) and I was wondering if you have any problems whatsoever with me using your movie title as a musical project/band name.

It just crossed my mind that it would be polite to ask your permission in using this name as a bandname in the future.

Yours Sincerely,

J.C.

In this modern world of busy schedules, quick ‘hellos,’ and forgotten promises, there are few life-changing opportunities that we encounter along the way, where we feel that with a little bit of effort, or an amount of money that feels very small to us, that we can profoundly and dramatically make a difference in another person’s life.

When I was in India for 3 months this Spring (2011), in production for my new documentary film entitled ‘Matrix of Compassion,’ I was walking down the dusty streets of Dharamsala, India in the Himalayan mountains, when I was surprised to see a face that I vaguely recognized.

Sitting on the ground on the side of the road, with his portable shoeshine and cobbler supplies positioned on a wooden box and a dusty blanket, and in front of the same hotel where I had stayed 10 years earlier during the filming of my previous ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ film, was Viru, a 30-something year old shoe cobbler who had repaired my sandles during that previous first trip to India.

I was surprised to see that he was still there, setting up his portable one-man business in the exact same spot.

His mustache was just as thick, and his hair was just as healthy-looking and bushy (although now a salt and pepper color).

As I looked down onto his face, I was happily surprised that he recognized me as well, and I felt the comfort of meeting a friend again after 10 years.

He offered me a free shoeshine, but I was on my way somewhere, so I thanked him and took a rain-check.

Whenever I would walk down the street past his building-less roadside shoe repair business, he would offer to shine my shoes for free.

After one month of filming for the “Matrix of Compassion” documentary film, I decided that it would be helpful if we added an Indian crew member to the team, and I spent a couple of days reflecting upon who would be the best choice. I wanted to find someone who had a good heart, and who I thought would work hard and was open to receiving direction, and who could learn quickly.

I decided to offer a paying job to Viru as a video cameraman, and I made the commitment to teach him the art and craft of cinematography.

Viru has never used a video camera before in his life, but I imagined that because his shoe-repair work required him to sew carefully and do detailed work with his hands, that he probably had good hand-eye coordination. I also observed that he was one of the most hard-working people I had met in India, and unlike some of the other impoverished Indians I had met, Viru had NEVER asked me for money, even though I knew that he and his family were poor.

I just had a good feeling in my heart about him.

So, I gave Viru one of our video cameras, and had him join our film crew. Each day, after he walked one hour up the mountain from his village to upper Dharamsala, I directed him as to how to use the camera, how to hold it, how to frame a shot, and the types of things to film. And at the end of each day, we would spend one or two hours at a cafe and conduct film-watching sessions to review the footage that he had filmed that day, and offer suggestions as to how to improve his technique.

It was inspiring to see how, through hard work and dedication and sheer effort, Viru’s camera work became better and better every single day, until after 2 months working on the crew, Viru was the hardest-working member of our film crew, and he shot some of the best and most beautiful video footage that I brought back with me to the U.S. from India.

I could only imagine that if Viru, with his intelligence, character and work-ethic, had the same opportunity that I had to receive an education, what he could have accomplished in his life.

One day, half-way through our 3 month film production, Viru invited me to come to his home in the village where he lived, for dinner, and to meet his family.

I took a taxi with Viru for the 30 minute drive down the monkey-filled and windy roads of the rocky mountain-side, to lower Dharamsala, towards his village.

Driving around a curve in the road, I saw his village, nestled on an elbow of land that no one else wanted: a haggard hodgepodge of black plastic tents, that looked like they could be blown away by a strong wind.

As I walked down the dirt path inside his village, through groups of black plastic tents and naked children who were not wearing shoes, I was somehow surprised to see that Viru’s house was the same: a one room bamboo frame hut covered with black plastic as the walls, with a fire pit inside for cooking, and no running water nor electricity.

When they needed to use the toilet, they walked down a path to a rocky exposed stream, and did what they needed to do there, then washed themselves in the stream water, and walked back.

I was told later that if every person in the world used toilet paper, then there would not be any trees standing.

As I met his family, I learned that Viru had 4 children, ages 12, 10, 6 and 2, and that none of them had EVER been to school.

They could not read nor write, nor could they speak English.

But they were such good kids, with sincere smiles and good-hearted faces. I could see: like father, like children. Viru’s wife was also a wonderful person, dedicated to her children and family, as she cooked her family’s Indian food over their fire, and washed their clothes in the same river that their village used for a toilet.

When there was work, Viru’s wife would accept a job collecting bottles and other recyclables for a local recycling company.

I knew that Viru and his family perhaps made a total of 100 rupees per day (less than $3 US dollars).

I wanted to experience, feel and know how Viru’s family lived, so I decided to stay in their village for 3 days. I lived in their black plastic tent house, ate what they ate (which was some of the best India food I ever had), slept where they slept, and yes, I went to the bathroom where they went to the bathroom.

That first time walking to the river was difficult     But after I did what I needed to do, it wasn’t so bad, and I realized that we in the U.S. and in more developed countries, have SO much. We are so wealthy and fortunate, even if we don’t own a house, or are millionaires.

Nearly all of us have enough food. We have shelter. We have indoor toilets. We are not in danger of starving.

Viru told me that there was days when they did not have enough money to buy food, and on those days, his children did not eat.

But, THEY did have something that many Americans did not: the realization that THINGS do not bring us happiness. Happiness comes from within, as well as what we share with our family and friends.

Happiness does NOT come from material things, or possessions, or… cars or money or status. It comes from who we are.

And then, one evening, my heart told me that aside from the calling I felt to make this documentary film about personal and spiritual transformation, that I had something else meaningful and important to do. And that, with what is really very little money for an American, that I can make a huge and life-long difference in the lives of Viru’s children.

I knew on my heart that I had no choice but to act.

This was my chance to make a real difference in the lives of 3 children.

I learned that after the cost of the registration fee for each child (about $75 per child), as well as purchasing school clothes and shoes (about $20 per child), that the cost of sending each child to a decent private school was only about $8 per child per month.

How could I go to a restaurant in my home city of Los Angeles, knowing that for the cost of what I pay for my meal, that I can send 3 children to a good private school for an entire month?

So, I decided to spend $24 per month to send 3 of his school-age children to school, give them an education, and change their lives forever.

It was something that I HAD to do.

If I did not act on this opportunity to make a real and lasting and powerful difference in the lives of these 3 children, then… I would not be able to sleep at night.

So, today, I just sent the money today to register his 3 children to school, to pay for their school clothes and shoes, as well as to cover their first month of tuition fees. I also sent about $45 (2,000 rupees) extra just so his family could buy food or other essentials, and reduce their financial stress for perhaps a month).

Right before I left India, I promised Viru that I would help his children go to school, and I told him that it was important that they received an education. (Viru had to drop out of public school when he was 10, to go work as a shoeshine boy and shoe cobbler, just like his father had done before him).

Because of the succession of poverty in his family, neither Viru, nor his father before him, had the opportunity to break the cycle of needing to work beginning at a small age, and consequently did not receive a basic education so that their lives could be better than the generation before them.

As a child, I took for granted that I went to school every day, that I had clothes and food, that I attended and graduated from High School, that I went to college, and now I am doing something that I really enjoy (Producing and Directing documentary film that have positive and inspiring messages).

Viru cried when I made him this promise to fund his children’s education, and now he calls me his big brother.

I called Viru tonight, and told him that I had sent the money, and Viru again thanked me from a place deep in his heart, in a way that I have been rarely thanked or appreciated or valued before.

It seems unfair that what is so little money for me can make such a huge and momentous difference in the lives of 3 children, whose eyes are so clear and bright, but who were facing a life of poverty and illiteracy, and a lack of hope.

I was blessed that as a result of traveling to India to make a film, that I serendipitously and unexpectedly came across 3 young children who I could easily, directly and personally help. Yes, I could have, from America, sent money to an aid organization that helps to feed children and families. But it is rare that we have the opportunity to directly meet people whose lives we can easily change, and it somehow feels more satisfying that I help this family, and these children, directly.

They know that there is one person in the Western world (that they have only seen in distant images), who cares about them and who wants to help.

If Viru only really knew how much knowing him and his family has changed me, and how helping him has filled my heart with joy, warmth and love, and a deep satisfaction that comes only from make a real difference in the world.

Viru told me that his children felt despair and shame, when they saw some other children in their village go to public school, when, because of a lack of money, they could not.

I saw the pain and the shame on Viru’s face as he answered my question that he wanted to send his children to school and give them a better life, but he couldn’t.

I feel that I have already made a difference in their lives, by simply expressing that someone cares about them. Someone in this big large world that they cannot touch or see from a television that they don’t own, nor on webpages on a computer that they can only dream of using, cares about them and is showing it through action.

Every single person has a way to help others and make the world a little bit better than when they first arrived on the planet.

It is up to us to listen quietly within our hearts, and understand what gift we have to share with others, and then act on that realization.

Khashyar Darvich
Producer-Director
‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ and ‘Matrix of Compassion’
www.DalaiLamaFilm.com and www.MatrixOfCompassion.com

ROME, ITALY – In a recent film review, the prestigious Italian film magazine ‘FilmTV’ called the ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ documentary film “an Illuminating document,” in a Spring 2011 issue of their magazine.

They describe the personal transformation that occurs in the film as being “the journey of a group of eminent scholars and writers to the place of spiritual leadership in India [which] becomes a metaphor for a journey within oneself.”

‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ (which is narrated by Harrison Ford) was released with Italian subtitles in Italy in the Spring of 2011, and has been released in several other countries and languages, including in German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, English and other languages.

It is the winner of 12 awards, and is the official selection of over 40 international film festivals.

Bob Graham of the ‘San Francisco Bay Times’ calls the film “an extraordinary portrait of His Holiness at work… [the film includes] some of the best comic scenes in any new film out there right now.”

The DVD of ‘Dalai Lama Renaissance’ is available on the film’s website: www.DalaiLamaFilm.com

The Italian release of the film includes a booklet with interviews with Director Khashyar Darvich and other information.

The following is the Italian and English text of the FilmTV review:

ENGLISH (Google Translation):

Alternative Visions

Born with a purpose ambitious project Macroticonzero young home video publisher that aims to tell, in the series documentary conscious, new styles of life and thought.
Garde to the mystical, from ecology to new technologies, it outlines an interdisciplinary journey in achieving the synthesis has the potential for unexpected change, unprecedented.
Synthesis is an encounter of opposites, the fusion of contrasting perspectives, openness to sharing. It is the thread that ties the stories shown in the documentary Macroticonzero. As in Dalai Lama Renaissance, where the journey of a group of eminent scholars and writers to the place of spiritual leadership in India becomes a metaphor for a journey within oneself, one’s own culture and their faith. The result is a confrontation / clash between selfishness and narrowness of vision “Western” requires the involvement of Eastern wisdom, the irony of a man able to experience a genuine feeling of compassion for their fellow humans, making them rediscover the disruptive revolutionary charge. And the real antidote to the conditions of existential malaise that go under the name of greed, fear and indifference, becomes the change in perspective, the ability to go beyond the mere sphere of the individual to feel part of humanity that becomes a whole, real synthesis of its constituent parts. A document illuminating.

*****

ITALIAN Language:

Visioni Alternative

Nasce con un fine ambizioso il progetto di Macroticonzero, giovane casa video editrice che si propone di raccontare, nella collana documentaristica Ecoscienze, nuovi stili di vita e di pensiero.
Dall’avanguardia alla mistica, dall’ecologia alle nuove tecnologie, si delinea un viaggio interdisciplinare che ha nel raggiungimento della sintesi un potenziale di cambiamento inaspettato, senza precedenti.
Sintesi è incontro degli opposti, fusione di prospettive contrastanti, apertura alla condivisione. Ed è il filo rosso che lega le storie mostrate nei documentari di Macroticonzero. Come in Dalai Lama Renaissance, dove il viaggio di un gruppo di eminenti studiosi e letterati verso la sede della guida spirituale in India diventa metafora di un viaggio all’interno di se stessi, della propria cultura e della propria fede. Ne deriva un confronto/scontro che tra egoismi e ristrettezza di visioni “all’occidentale” necessita dell’intervento della saggezza orientale, dell’ironia di un uomo in grado di provare un genuino sentimento di compassione per i propri simili, facendone riscoprire la dirompente carica rivoluzionaria. E il vero antidoto alle condizioni di malessere esistenziale che vanno sotto il nome di avidità, paura e indifferenza diventa il mutamento di prospettiva, la capacità di andare oltre la mera sfera individuale per sentirsi parte di un’umanità che diventa un tutto, reale sintesi delle parti che la costituiscono. Un documento illuminante.