Hollywood Fringe Festival (June 12-29)

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; HollywoodFringe.org

Saving the children of India (video)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Rocky Braat "Blood Brother"

(BBD) Rocky Braat met a group of Indian children diagnosed with HIV while drifting through India. He wanted to save them all, but in reality he couldn't cure even one of them. They teach him, daily, that love is the only thing that makes life worth living. The truth is, he needs them as much if not more than they need him. (BloodBrotherFilm.com/Facebook/twitter) 

Reaction: "Let's get them low cost drugs!"?

[Not covered in the film: Why do they really have this diagnosis? Poverty and poor nutrition from processed foods like white rice and Monsanto's chemcial-laden agricultural products. And why will they die? Capitalism and the commodification of Big Pharma "health care" that wants more and more such diagnoses -- that will show up if anyone taking an "AIDS test" has a flu, malnutrition, is generally sickly or normally fending off an infection AND is interpreted as being in an at-risk group by test result interpreters -- whether in gay and poor neighborhoods in the USA or in the developing world, all to boost sales of their products with the help of government and NGO funds for more misguided R&D.]

Chilling documentary: Koch Brothers Exposed!

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman, Gonzalez (DN!, 5-21-14)

There is a chilling new documentary about the billionaire Koch Brothers (focusing on David and Charles although there are five). And some Republicans do not want people to see it.

On Monday, Republican Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan tried to block an event at the Capitol unveiling the film, "Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition." 

Miller claimed the documentary could violate House rules and "cross the line into partisan politics." She unsuccessfully argued that showing the documentary was an inappropriate use of taxpayer-funded facilities.

Group helps fund right wing agenda

On Tuesday evening, the film event proceeded as planned. The updated documentary shows how the Koch Brothers have used their vast [multi-billion dollar] fortunes to oppose government programs such as: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, as well as obstruct efforts to raise the minimum wage, tackle climate change, and expand voting rights.

Director Robert Greenwald, founder and president of Brave New Films, appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the film. More

• VIDEO: Facing Senate uproar, Obama Admin. to release memo "justifying" drone extrajudicial murders, internationally-illegal assassinations of Americans overseas
• VIDEO: Guantanamo suicides revisited: Did CIA hide deaths of tortured prisoners?
• VIDEO: "Dirty Wars" filmmaker Jeremy Scahill on Drone President, NSA cover up
• VIDEO: Death By Metadata: NSA role in overseas assassinations (Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald) 
• REPORT: Doctors designed, helped U.S. torture of prisoners at Gitmo, secret prisons 
• India elects hard-right Hindu Nationalist as new Indian prime minister -- a poor Indian Everyman -- backed by corporate interests

• 2 MINS HATE: Suspected Boko Haram bombing kills 118
• U.S. vows to halt fake CIA vaccinations, health ruses
• Federal judge strikes down Penn. same-sex marriage ban
• Missouri Death Row prisoner wins stay of execution!
• Republicans defeat Tea Party challenges in primary votes
• Oregon counties vote to ban GMO crops
• V.A. widens probe of clinics in cover-up of veteran deaths
• GM recalls another 2.4 million vehicles over defects
• Video shows Israeli killings of unarmed Palestinian youths
• NYU apologizes for harsh treatment of workers in Abu Dhabi
• Activist destroys $500 million worth of student debt records

Behind the Koch Brothers: Secrets of US’s Most Powerful Dynasty

Dalai Lama: "Road to Peace" (screenings)

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; KPFK.org, HopeDance.org, RoadtoPeace.com

"Road to Peace"

This intimate documentary candidly reveals the Dalai Lama's nature and wisdom and shows how he inspires millions of people of all nationalities and spiritual paths to live more meaningful lives in harmony with one another and with our nurturing planet.

Saving Tibet by appeasing China and working with the CIA? A rock and hard place (RC)

"Road to Peace" is available to watch here from anywhere or by DVD from Wisdom Books.

• Friday, March 21st, 2014, 7:00-9:30 pm
• Location: Center of the Heart, Goleta
• 487 N. Turnpike Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93109
• Contact: (805) 762-4848, HopeDance.org

• Friday, March 28th, 2014, 7:00-9:30 pm
• Location: Green Lotus Center, Morro Bay
• 550 Morro Bay Blvd., Morro Bay, CA
• Contact: (805) 762-4848, HopeDance.org

A Brewing Controversy

Dalai Lama, stop lying (dorjeshugden.com)

Will angry Tibetan Buddhist monks, nuns, and laypersons who worship Dorje Shugden be protesting the event? Probably not, but they might in order to bring attention to their plight. Organizers might then quote Tushar Gandhi, "The message of peace and non-violence will be taken into homes hearts and minds" to overcome the "Dalai Lama's WikiLeaks shame."

"Terms and Conditions May Apply" (trailer)

Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Cullen Hoback (vimeo.com)

The "may" is a courtesy. They do apply. Snowden reveals the secret documentation.

(Trailer) Terms and Conditions May Apply, directed by Cullen Hoback, 2013 documentary about contractual terms of user-service agreements used on spy-friendly sites like Facebook, Google, Linkedin, Twitter, Snapchat, and so on. Mark Zuckerberg appears in the film.
 

Admit it: no one really reads the endless terms and conditions connected to every website we visit, phone call we make, or app we download. No one can. But every day, billion-dollar corporations are spying and learning more about our interests, our friends and family, our finances, and our secrets... 

I f'd the country, it's true, maybe even the world. But I made a billion doing it, mo-fo's! Selling out to the CIA, NSA, FBI, and MIC pays big. Ask Jobs, ask Gates, ask... Oh, I've said too much. See you online...even if you don't see me seeing you, lol! Don't watch The Social Network.

  

Not only are they selling our information to the highest bidder, they are freely sharing it with the government (NSA, CIA, DHS, Pentagon, FBI, member corporations, or any of the many arms of the military-industrial complex). And you "agreed" to it when you clicked SUBMIT.

 

With fascinating examples and so-unbelievable-that-they're-almost-funny facts, filmmaker Cullen Hoback exposes what governments and corporations (together referred to as the military-industrial complex) are legally taking from us every day -- making the future of both privacy and civil liberties uncertain.

 

I agree. Spy on me: NSA malware via my Facebook (Ryan Gallagher/The Intercept)

 

From whistleblowers and investigative journalists to zombie fan clubs and Egyptian dissidents, this disquieting exposé demonstrates how everyone has incrementally "opted-in" to a real-time surveillance state, click by click. However, it also explains what, if anything, can be done about it. 

• In North America WATCH on: vimeo.com/ondemand/tacma

CULLEN HOBACK grew up in L.A. At 17 he started his own public access late night TV show but was kicked off the air for making offensive statements that angered some viewers. Hoback enjoyed sharing his perspective on strange and unfamiliar topics. In college he produced short films and a feature when digital cameras first came out. At 21, he made “Freedom State,” a comedy that captures the daily life of individualists who live “on the edge of the world.” Another narrative feature he made was “Friction,” a film about summer camp members who enact a scripted tale as the line between utopia and entity blur. In 2007, he was granted a budget to direct the LARPing documentary “Monster Camp,” which featured social outcasts coming together to create a community where magic is real and identity is limited only by imagination. In 2011, Hoback came back to the screens to create his documentary “Terms and Conditions May Apply.”

"Invisible Young" - White, homeless kids in USA

Seth Auberon, Dev, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Steven Keller (invisibleyoung.com, differentialfilms.com); Pasadena Area Liberal Arts Center (PALAC), Throop UU Church

What I do is never shower: If I stink, I won't get raped. Hungry? Go to the dumpster; dive in.

SEATTLE, Washington, USA - Dumpsters are their cafeterias. Trash bins are their supply stores. If they're lucky they can find enough cardboard for some warmth and a temporary makeshift shelter. The homeless young in Seattle have found ways to survive.
 

I'm trying to get away from all this.

Documentarian Steven Keller has lived outside Seattle for over ten years. Like most Americans, however, he didn't really see homeless youths he encountered. They become invisible. When he did see them he asked, Why?

What did the system do to protect me?

Eighteen months later "Invisible Young" was completed. In it Keller answers the most compelling question of all, "How does a 13-year-old end up on the streets of a prosperous country?" In his film he focuses on the riveting stories of four youths who were homeless in Seattle, in the great Pacific Northwest of the USA. Synopsis

• The potheads of Denver: smoking and driving 
• Hard labor: women pregnant in the fields (Nepal)

Can you spare some change for an all-American girl, mister?

Alan Watts: "Why Not Now" (video)

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Mitch Jeserich (KPFA.org); TragedyandHope (youtube.com) 

"Why Not Now" and "Dhyana: The Art of Meditation" by Alan Watts (redtelephone66.com)

 

Alan Watts in Buddhist robes, California

January, 2014 - There is a new documentary film (two DVD set) on the life and works of British-American Buddhist broadcaster Alan Watts. Each film comes with "The Animated Alan Watts" and "The Essential Alan Watts," a bonus disc of video materials that did not fit into the film.

• LISTEN: PLAY AUDIO NOW (download MP3, 10.28 MB)
• Letters and Politics, Feb. 19, 2014 - KPFA.org 10:00 am
• About the Show / Archives of Show / Playlists from Show

One 23-minute DVD includes extracts from the 1972 series "The Fine Art of Goofing Off" as well as a couple of animations produced by SouthPark creators and animators. The reel has met with joyous laughter and standing ovations at recent film showings and is not to be missed.

"Why Not Now" follows the life of one of the most inspiring philosophers of our time -- Alan Watts -- as told though none other than Alan Watts himself accessing a wealth of material and lectures that were left behind after his passing.

"Why Not Now?" was created by Alan Watts' son, Mark Watts, who has given TragedyandHope exclusive rights to create the trailer for the documentary. More (alanwatts.org)

Secrets of China's Ancient Pyramids (video)

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; National Geographic; Nick Redfern (CLE)

Modern Chinese Buddhist pyramid structure and stupa (reliquary), Buddha Memorial Center, Fo Guang Shan Temple complex, Taiwan, Republic of China (Bernard Gagnon)

(National Geographic) Documentary on the pyramids of China and its view of the afterlife

For decades, government agencies have taken a clandestine and profound interest in pyramids and other archaeological, historical, and religious puzzles.

 

Why and how have they been doing this?  What profound and powerful secrets are sequestered in secret vaults and archives, and what would happen if the truth were revealed? Focusing primarily upon the classified work of the U.S. Government, The Pyramids and the Pentagon invites us to take a wild ride into the fog-shrouded past. It is a ride that incorporates highlights such as:

•  The CIA’s top secret files on Noah’s Ark
•  U.S. Army documents positing that the Egyptian pyramids were constructed via levitation
• Claims of nuclear warfare in ancient India
• Links between the "Face on Mars" and the pharaohs...

Modern Buddhist pyramid (Zosoiv71/flickr.com)

Nick Redfern is the author of more than 30 books, including The Real Men in Black; On the Trail of the Saucer Spies; Contactees; and The Pyramids and the Pentagon. He writes for UFO Magazine, Mysterious Universe, and Mania.com. Originally from the UK, Redfern now lives in Dallas, Texas.

• Dr. Patrick Flanagan on the Power of Pyramids, LA 2014
• White man convicted of killing black teen over loud music (and racist "stand your ground" excuse)

"Dalai Lama Awakening" (sneak preview)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; DalaiLamaFilm.com; KPFK; K. Darvich

(KD) Narrated by Harrison Ford, featuring Indian and Tibetan music for a "trippy" feel in honor of the Vajrayana leader's home-in-exile, Dharamsala, India

Our transformation is NOW, says the sequel's producer-director Khashyar Darvich. Come to a sneak preview, a special screening (prior to the official March 2, 2014 premiere of "Dalai Lama Awakening"). Fans of transformation will gather at Yoga Soup on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 at 6:30-9:30 pm ($15) for an in person Q&A with Darvich following the screening.

Dalai Lama at Univ. of Hawaii

This self-reputed "transformational" documentary has the 14th Dalai Lama sounding more like the character George Lucas ("Star Wars") created in his honor, Yoda, than he has ever sounded. (Or was it actually Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche? That unmistakable voice, wisdom, syntax... no, Yoda's modelled on this Dalai Lama for sure).

In the guise of wise

Yoga Soup will be screening Awakening, Volume 2 of the award-winning "Dalai Lama Renaissance" (available on DVD). 

 

Harrison Ford narrates, and the film also features quantum physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami, radio host Thom Hartmann, revolutionary social scientist Jean Houston, Rev. Michael Beckwith ("The Secret"), and others.

Dalai Lama - Compassion: the Source of Happiness (Part 1)

"The Kingdom of Plants" (video)

Dev, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; David Attenborough; Jackal Safaris (video)

Plants can feel, communicate, heal, and maybe even think (Lila Daley)

"In Search of Fairies" (documentary)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Oengus MacOg (video), Wisdom Quarterly; Wikipedia edit

Devas play among blades of grass and woodland groves (myheartsisters.org)

The Fairy Faith (In Search of Fairies - documentary)

A deva (Sanskrit देव) in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human light beings who share the characteristics of in general being more powerful, longer-lived, and more contented than human beings.

 

Burmese space-nats (article.wn.com)

Synonyms in other languages include English fairy or sprite or angel, Tibetan lha, Japanese ten, Thai Thevada (from the Pali devata), Mongolian tenger (тэнгэр), Chinese tiān (天), Khmer tep (ទេព) or preah (ព្រះ), Burmese nat, Korean cheon, Vietnamese thiên. 

 

The kami in Shinto and Buddhism (OMP)

The concept of devas was adopted in Japan partly because of the similarity to the Shinto religion's concept of kami.

 

Other words used in Buddhist texts to refer to similar supernatural beings are devatā "deity" and devaputra (Pāli devaputta) "son or offspring of the devas." which refer to devas born in space, leading to the loose English translation "angel" or "being of light." Bhumi-devas live on Earth, particularly in quiet woodlands. 

Powers

Burmese deva or nat (WQ)

From a human perspective, devas share the characteristic of generally remaining invisible to the physical human eye, having its luminosity extend beyond the range of ordinary human sight on the light spectrum. Shamans and children can often see them due to their greater innocence and sensitivity, something that is lost if and when they become enmeshed in the world.

 

"Wings" (Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty/TA)

The presence of a deva can, however, be detected by humans who have opened the "divine eye" (divyacakṣus, dibbacakkhu), an extrasensory power by which one can see beings existing on other planes.

 

Their voices can also be heard by those who have cultivated divyaśrotra (Pali dibbasota), a similar power of the ear. (The external ear does not become more sensitive so much as the internal portion of the brain, mind, or ear-sensitivity does).

  

Transformation (shape shifting)

Luminous avian-deva (garuda, suparna), Thailand (00_prototype/flickr.com)

 

Lakshmi, India's greatest goddess or devi (NB)

Most devas are capable of constructing illusory forms by which they can manifest themselves to beings existing on lower planes, such as Earth. Higher and lower devas even have to do this between one anothers' planes.

 

Devas do not require the same kind of sustenance as do humans, although the lower kinds do eat and drink. Higher devas shine with their own intrinsic luminosity. Humans also give off light, scientists have confirmed, but it is usually very weak.

 

Devas are also capable of moving great distances quickly and of flying through the air, although lower devas sometimes accomplish this through magical aids such as a flying "chariot," "mansion," or extraterrestrial craft (vimana). More

• Lord of the Rings: Facts Behind the Fiction (History)
• Irish Fairy Beliefs: Folklorist Dr. Jenny Butlerby
• Secret Tibetan Book of the Dead (History Channel) 

(onmarkproductions.com)

(Japanese devas) BENZAITEN, BENTEN: River Goddess, Water Goddess, Bestower of Language and Letters, Goddess of Wealth and Good Fortune, Patroness of Music, Poetry, Learning, and Art, Defender of Nation, Protector of Buddhist Dharma. Origin = Hindu River Goddess Sarasvatī (サラスヴァティー). Every major city in Japan has a shrine or temple dedicated to Benzaiten. Her places of worship number in the thousands and are often located near water, the sea, a lake, a pond, or a river. She is one of the nation's most widely venerated deities. More

"At Berkeley" (new film)

CC Liu, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Frederick Wiseman (zipporah.com); KPFK.org

"At Berkeley" is a documentary film by Frederick Wiseman about the University of California at Berkeley -- the oldest, most prestigious, and most radical member of California's ten-campus public university system.

Berkeley is one of the finest research and teaching facilities in the world, excelling most of the world's private institutions while rivaling Ivy League schools. This film shows the major aspects of university life with particular emphasis on the administrative efforts to maintain the academic excellence, public role, and the economic, racial, and social diversity of the student body of America’s premiere public university.

(Mandy Whittles) "Berkeley in the Sixties" documentary of the student movement in Berkeley in the 60's. Uploaded for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only.

 

Berkeley in the Sixties

All of this is taking place in the face of drastic budget cuts imposed by the State of California, big business (represented by its hand selected Board of Regents), and competing colleges. The goal of the film is to show how a major American university is administered and to suggest the complex relationship among its various constituencies -- students, faculty, administrators, alumni, the City of Berkeley, the State of California, and the federal government.

 

In a more abstract way, the film looks closely at Berkeley’s intellectual and social mission, its obligation to the state, and to larger ideas of "higher" education. It illustrates how decisions are made and implemented by the administration in collaboration with its various constituencies. Tickets

Rave review (The New Yorker)
Jordan Moore (Nov. 13, 2013)
Frederick Wiseman, one of our greatest and most prolific documentarians, always delves deeply into his subjects. And for his latest, "At Berkeley," that’s truer than ever. He found one of California’s great treasures, U.C. Berkeley, such a rich subject that it required a four-hour film. It is receiving some rave reviews, including one from astute film critic David Denby of The New Yorker. Laemmeles is proud to open the movie at the Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

 

REVIEW (Oliver Lyttelton, The Playlist, indiewire.com) Over the years, veteran documentarian Frederick Wiseman has covered what sometimes feels like almost [every] kind of institution and every aspect of life in America (and occasionally, life abroad too). "Titicut Follies," "Juvenile Court," "Zoo," "Racetrack... More

"The Summit" of the most dangerous mountain

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Pat Falvey and Pemba Gyalje Sherpa (thesummitk2book.com, Beyond Endurance Publishing), ImageNowFilms.ie

The film The Summit, produced and directed by Nick Ryan. In US theaters Oct. 4, 2013. (DVD and downloads available early 2014).
 

Not all Westerners respect Buddhist Sherpas

It was the deadliest day on the world's most dangerous mountain, K2. This is an early trailer for the feature book and documentary film "The Summit."

On August 1st, 2008, 18 climbers from around the world reached the summit of K2, the world's second highest (some argue the highest) and most dangerous mountain. It is a peak which claims the lives of one in every four climbers who attempt it. Over the course of 28 hours, however, K2 had exacted a deadlier toll: 11 lives were lost in a series of catastrophic accidents.
 

Beware: mountains do not exist to be climbed

Standing at 8,611 meters and attracting a climbing elite along the Pakistan-China border, K2 is known as the "Mountaineer's Mountain" (much like Denali in Alaska) because of its extreme technical challenges, its dangerously unpredictable weather, and an infamous and hazardous overhanging wall of glacial ice known as the Serac.

Snowbound at Base Camp for weeks on end and increasingly despairing of their prospects for success, an unexpected weather window finally gives the climbers the opportunity they were waiting for. In their collective desire to reach the summit, seven expeditions agreed to coordinate efforts and share equipment. Triumph, however, quickly turns to tragedy when a seemingly flawless plan unravels with lethal consequences.

Over the course of three days, a Nepalese Sherpa called Pemba Gyalje, along with five other Sherpas, was at the center of a series of attempts to rescue climbers who had become trapped in the Death Zone (above 8,000 meters), unable to escape its clutches and debilitated by oxygen-deprivation, chronic fatigue, delirium, and a terrifying hopelessness.

The tragedy becomes a controversy as survivors walk away from the catastrophe on the mountain into an international media storm. Countless stories emerge, some contradictory and many simply untrue.

More recent trailer of "The Summit" to be released in US on Oct. 4, 2013

Mahakala, Yeti, a fierce spirit, Tibet (MTP)

Based on Pemba Gyalje's eyewitness account and drawing on a series of interviews with the survivors, which were conducted for an award-winning documentary. "The Summit: How Triumph Turned to Tragedy on K2's Deadliest Days" is the most comprehensive interpretation of one of modern-day mountaineering's most controversial disasters.
 

Also at the heart of The Summit lies a mystery about one extraordinary man, Ger McDonnell. By all accounts, he was faced with a heartbreaking dilemma -- at the very limit of his mortal resources, he encountered a disastrous scene and a moral dilemma: Three climbers were tangled up in ropes and running out of time.

In the Death Zone, the body is literally dying every passing second. Facing one's mortality, morality is skewed 180 degrees from the rest of life off the mountain. When a climber falls or wanders off the trail, the unwritten code of the mountain is to leave them for dead. Had Ger McDonnell stuck to the code, he might still be alive.
 
"The Summit" is about the very nature of modern adventure, one that remains contentious and fiercely debated. The book "The Summit" deals with the logistics, excitement, fears, successes, rescues, and fatalities of ill fated days on the world's most dangerous mountain.

Nepal: "Light of the Valley" (LA screening)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Roberto Ayala (Public Engagement, LACMA)

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) is holding a FREE screening (advance tickets required) of the Nepalese Buddhist documentary Light of the Valley: Renewing the Sacred Art and Traditions of Svayambhu on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 at 7:00 pm.

With a running time of 32 minutes, "Light of the Valley" documents the 15th renovation of one of the most important Nepalese temple monuments (stupas) in the Buddhist world. It has been worshiped continuously for centuries. Following the screening at LACMA, on the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Spaulding Ave., the film's producer and the assistant art director and coeditor of the accompanying book will discuss the topic in a Q&A session.

• LACMA's Bing Theatre (not named after Chandler)
• Call (323) 857-6010 or reserve online
• Free, includes complimentary parking