By Shyamal Sinha
Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism.The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso.
The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, a Bodhisatt
The new feature-length documentary film, “The Dalai Lama –Scientist” is set for its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.
The press release issued in this regard says the film, written and directed by an award-winning female filmmaker Dawn Gifford Engle contains extensive, rare, and never before seen footage that tells the very human story of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that no one knows.
“The Dalai Lama himself tells the unknown story of his lifelong journey into the world of science and technology and how the world has changed as a result,” it revealed.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams of Northern Ireland will present the film in honour of her dear friend His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at the premiere taking place on Saturday, August 31st, 2019 at the Cinema Astra as VPB Market Screening within the Venice Production Bridge.
“We are thrilled to be able to premiere this new film in Venice, and to share the fascinating and unexpected story of the Dalai Lama and science, in a way that no one has ever seen it before,” said the film director.
World-renowned scientists featured in the film include David Bohm, Anton Zeilinger, Paul Ekman, Aaron Beck, Francisco Varela, Richard Davidson, Michael Meany, Eric Lander, Christof Koch, and Nobel Prize Laureates Steven Chu and Yuan T. Lee.
This is the sixth film in PeaceJam Production’s award-winning “Nobel Legacy Film Series”, which began six years ago with the World Premiere of Desmond Tutu’s life story, “Children of the Light”, at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in June of 2014.
The PeaceJam Foundation is an international organization of Nobel Peace Prize winners mentoring youth to change the world.
His Holiness, through an interdisciplinary approach, had initiated dialogues with modern scientists, thought leaders and experts for many decades now, represented best in Mind and Life Dialogues — conversations between leading thinkers and spiritual leaders, addressing critical issues of modern life at the intersection of scientific and contemplative understanding.
Started in 1987, the first of the 32 conversations held so far discussed topics such as “Dialogues between Buddhism and Cognitive Science,” “Latest Findings in Contemplative Neuroscience” and “Mapping the Mind,” among many others.
His Holiness, in his book “The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality” had said, “If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.”
The official trailer of the film can be viewed on Vimeo here.
