The Dalai Lama's Gift
The extraordinary time in 1981 when one determined monk brought His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Buddhism, to America
2025-02-22 | 76 minutes
Plot Summary
In 1981, a Buddhist monk teaching at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, made the bold request of the Dalai Lama to come and perform a rare ritual, never before done outside of India or Tibet: the Kalachakra, among the highest of the Buddhist tantric teachings. In just a few months, with a team of dedicated students, and cameras rolling, they constructed a temple and organized an event for over a thousand spiritual seekers, in a cornfield outside Madison. The incredible footage was tucked away in the Smithsonian vaults, until now. What unfolds is the story of a powerful ritual, its impact on the people that made it happen, and the meaning behind this ancient initiation.
Cast
Recommendations
Similar Movies
-
Fried Shoes Cooked Diamonds
-
Walk with Me
-
How to Cook Your Life
-
Brilliant Moon: Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
-
The Last Lost Kingdom
-
Becoming Who I Was
-
Wisdom of Happiness
-
The Buddha
-
Peace Is Every Step
-
A Journey
-
Jesus & Buddha: Practicing Across Traditions
-
My Year of Living Mindfully
-
The Life of Buddha
-
Unmistaken Child
-
The Shift
-
Wheel of Time
-
Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
-
Souls of Zen: Ancestors and Agency in Contemporary Japanese Temple Buddhism
-
Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet
-
Anyang, Paradise City