Khyentse Rinpoche is a renowned teacher in Tibetan Buddhism and is also famous for being a filmmaker, an unconventional role for a lama. He began his film career working with Bernardo Bertolucci on 'Little Buddha', before producing 'The Cup' (2000) and 'Travellers & Magicians' (2003). He stated in the film that Rinpoches, like him, painted Tangkas a thousand years ago to express the Buddha's wisdom and compassion, and here he was doing the same with up-to-date modern film technology.
Lesley Ann Patten introduces us to Khyentse Rinpoche while living in London, following him to the World Cup in Germany, to the United States immediately after the September 11 attack, and finally to Bhutan where we witness Khyentse Rinpoche assuming his traditional role. Along the way, Patten took a detour to Los Angeles to meet Gesar Mukpo, son of Trungpa Rinpoche and the star of action movies Steven Segal, who are two well-known Tulkus reincarnated in the Western world.
What is a perfect teacher? And what is a perfect teacher like? Growing up in the context of traditional monastic formation, Khyentse Rinpoche manages to apply a completely modern way of helping his Western students, but he does not stray from the profound teachings of Buddhism. At the same time, Rinpoche demonstrated his solemn respect for his lineage guru and the traditional teachers who are so highly valued.
The teachings of Buddhism taught in the film were introduced as parts of everyday life. The film also explored the role, behavior, and importance of a teacher in Vajrayana Buddhism. The importance of devotion and the teacher-student relationship were revealed in their conversations:
“He has to be a mirror to see yourself, but also a murderer, the man or woman you've hired to completely dismantle 'you'... and a student must be like a patient, a teacher like a doctor...” Rinpoche explained.
I wouldn't be surprised if one is overwhelmed by the number of illuminating words in the film uttered with a funny, smiling face. However, this lama is so 'ordinary' to the dismay of his students. I cooked, drank, watched soccer games and was late. As the computer engineer commented in the film, “If he is enlightened, why doesn't he act like an enlightened being?”
“When you don't have obsession, when you don't have complexes, when you don't have inhibitions... what more lighting do you want?”
When watching the film, the interaction between the teacher and the student, the fan conflict at the World Cup match, the episode of the terrorist attack in New York, and as a result, the mind as a teacher of happiness and suffering was clearly represented. The film also offers a glimpse into the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana and the Buddhist country of Bhutan, where traditions and panoramic landscape contrast greatly with the rest of the world's countries.
The film ends when Rinpoche enters a meditation retreat and the students return home. And he concluded by praising the Buddha:
“Finally, how wonderful he is, even he didn't remain an immortal being”
A definitive sign of impermanence.
*This is the translation of an article by DR. WS CHAN entitled “Words of My Perfect Teacher” and published on Buddhistdoor Global on March 1, 2012.
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