Movie: Unmistaken Child (2008)

I gasped as the camera panned over a crystal steam and showed a misty green valley shadowed by the moutains that climbers dream of.  The camera tracks characters through the otherworldly narrow passageways between rough stone buildings that could just as well have been built in Middle Ages Europe as living villages in Nepal. Not just once, but several times while watching  Unmistaken Child, I had to fight the urge to call an airline– book a flight– get to Nepal. Now!

You’ll want to travel. This is the kind of movie that could make a bump on a log turn into a wheel.

No mere travelogue,  the documentary film about a gentle Buddhist monk and his search for the reincarnation of his master, could make the staunchest practioner of any other faith more seriously consider Buddhism.

I learned so much about the culture of Nepal and the traditions of Buddhism as I watched this film. An Israel director, Nati Baratz, filmed the documentary with great sensitivity and a great eye for natural beauty of landscapes and people.

The monk who is sent on this quest, Tenzin Zopa, had spent more than twenty years serving his master, the Lama.

We’re not talking about the Dalai Lama, who as most everybody knows fled Tibet and now travels the world. But the Dalai Lama himself asks Zopa to go on this journey. Dalai Lama fans will be thrilled to see a brief appearance by His Holiness.

Dalai Lama performing ceremony with the child

Zopa served a lower-ranked but still world-famous Lama, Geshe Lama Konchog. Konchog was a man who inspired love form a multitude of people around the world and everyone in Nepal is eager to help find his reincarnation.

The younger monk grieves and explains that he truly does not know what to do next.  He has never had to think about what he is going to do, since his was the life of a follower.  Despite–or because of–this unworldliness, the lamas of his monastery recommend him for the task of finding the Rimpoche–the true reincarnation of the recently deceased. And as the movie site explains, Tenzin Zopa is in reality a pretty impressive person himself.

Prayers go up and astrological calculations fill sheets of paper.  Some clues emerge.  He must go to the valley where he was born–the valley where his late master had a stone-walled retreat on the mountainside. The second clue–the child’s father’s name starts with “A”.  Not a lot to go on, but he walks through small villages asking for a child one to one and a half years old becasue when he starts out, it has been just over a year since the lama died.

We follow along as Zopa shows little boys the rosaries he carries, until he finally finds a child who does not want to give back the rosary that had belonged to Konchog.  Zopa conducts some simple tests. Miraculously, the toddler’s favorite occupation is dragging a hose to water a particular tree–one that was planted by the lama who died. The senior monks at the monastery test the child again and he chooses all the right objects that belonged to his former self. They give him their blessing, he is presented to the Dalai Lama, and the young monk has a new master–or rather he has his old master back in a young body. The very human story of the bewilderment of the small child at having his hair cut off and being separated from his parents and the mixture of pride and grief of his parents makes this a heart wrenching story.

The child being presented to the Dalai Lama

It is a very satisfying film for traveler’s libraries. As my brother, the cynical film critic said (was that sarcasm I detected?), “You mean its even better than Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet?”  Well, yes, I preferred the documentary movie, Unmistaken Child.

I have become more and more fascinated with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.  You can read frequently about these cultures at Wanderlust and Lipstick and Hole in the Donut.

Posts here at A Traveler’s Library on similar subjects:

• Thriller in Tibet
• The Heart of the Buddha
• The Geography of Bliss

Want to know more about Tenzin Zopa? Visit his Facebook page. But wait, there’s more. Here’s the Dalai Lama on Facebook.

Have you been to Nepal or Tibet? Have you seen the Dalai Lama? Do you practice Buddhism? Tell us about your experiences

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Buddha Statue, Tibet

Destination: Bhutan

Book: The Heart of the Buddha by Elsie Sze (Released October 1, 2009)

When I was younger I wanted very much to go to Bhutan.  I bought a detailed travel book about trekking in Bhutan that included information about the country’s people and history. I never got there and now I am settling in to a different kind of travel, and can only go to these more challenging locations vicariously.

WHAT I LIKED

For that reason, when the publicist sent me a copy, I read The Heart of the Buddha, a  novel/travel book, with  appreciation for the details of daily life, descriptions of the cities, and particularly information about Tantric Buddhism. I appreciated the glossary that allows the author to use the proper Bhutanese words in the narrative and allows me to check the meaning as I read along.

Buddhist Monastery in Tibet

THE PLOT OF THE BOOK

Briefly, a young woman has gone to Bhutan as a librarian, and when she goes missing, her twin sister goes to search for her. Along the way, the first young woman falls in love with a Buddhist monk, they steal into Tibet to obtain a sacred book that belongs to Bhutan, and the sister, following their trail, falls in love with her Bhutanese guide.

WHAT DID NOT WORK

As a novel, The Heart of the Buddha fails to hold my attention.While the plot line has potential, the exposition comes in sodden lumps rather than being scattered seamlessly within dialogue and story. We  constantly get almost apologetic explanations of why some particular action is possible:  something like, “Since he studied the Tibetan language in school, he could pass as a citizen of the country.”

Although at times, the language mimics the hot panting (or is that hot pants?) of a romance novel, it also tries to be a story of  suspense.

Cliff hanger questions are stated boldly and relentlessly. “What did he look like? Would he answer to Marian’s description of him? And the question that worried me most–where was Marian?”  Trust the reader. We kinda know what she is thinking about since she went all the way to Bhutan to find her sister.

The worst thing about the book, though, is the violation of the most sacred principle of story telling–show, don’t tell. Part of the story is told through a written memoir and most of the rest, is related in conversations.  The memoir also contains long passages of dialogue so that there is no difference in style between the supposed memoir and the novel itself.

In the near future, I will be writing about Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Guilliland. I am currently reading this book that serves as a model of how a writer can be a careful researcher, include the tiniest details of daily life plus a broad overview, and still make the writing sparkle. Unfortunately, Ms. Sze is not at that point.

Both photos in this post are courtesy of Bob and Clare Rogers, all rights reserved. Bob and Clare are currently on a bicycle trip across China, Tibet, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Click on the picture to follow their adventure.

IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR MY READERS: How do you feel about my writing about books I do not recommend? Would you rather that I only tell you about recommended books, or do you want the bad apples as well? I am particularly interested in your reply because I currently have on my coffee table a book about a very interesting place that I simply cannot slog through–despite the fact that it has been recommended by lots of people in high places. (The authors have a lot of friends.) So do you think I should discuss books like that, too?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.