So we showed our class our rough cut last week and we got some really good comments. The biggest thing, is that people thought it was too short. They said they wanted more information, which shows that what we have done so far is pretty good. Because we needed out project to be longer, we decided to try to interview another person from the Wat. Unfortunately, that person was out of town this week and we are not going to be able to interview him by the time our Final Cut is due. Even though we could not get a new interview, we still added more to the project. We added an interview that we already had of a person explaining why the monks eat what is offered to them and how they do not turn anything down. I think that the project is pretty good and I am excited to see what the class thinks of this new cut.
posted by Calli
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
rough cut
our rough cut is done, and as calli said, it is not quite as poetic as we had first intended. we used some quick interviews at the wat as well as our sit down talk with dr. beck to structure our documentary's audio. the video follows along with the audio, straying every now and then to add to the mood. our tone is still the same and we still want to show how human beings are the same whether american or tibetan or christian or buddhist. but this time, we used buddhist footage that showed the similarities rather than jumping back and forth between buddhist and american.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Editing
So we are now in the editing stages of our project and it has become quite difficult. During filming we were not sure where we were going with this project and we ended up with a bunch of random footage. We thought that we were going to make it more poetic, but we did not great feed back from our class when we tried to do that. So now we are doing something different with more narration. I am interested to see what are class thinks of our rough cut.
posted by Calli
posted by Calli
Monday, April 16, 2007
Though it is of no relevance to the documentary itself, I think it's important to post the "bumps" . . . or "hills" that arise during the production of any film text, documentary or otherwise. Our group has hit one of these, in the unfortunate, and very frustrating event that I am sick. After suffering from numerous things throughout the past month and a half, I have finally been diagnosed with both a viral and a pulmonary diesase :( Because I can do no more than lie in bed, this presents a challange both for my group and myself. However, after talking with them and discussing the responsibilities I can take care of during the course of the next two weeks, I feel that this will not deter our ability to end up with a very strong peice. I am very excited that we are deciding to go with a poetic approach and plan on making every effort to ensure that this is a group effort and that the members of my group feel the weight of my support. It's very aggravating not being able to physically be with them, but we have always had very strong communication within our group and because of this I am confident that our final peice will be just as much mine as it is thiers. I suppose it's things like this that happen throughout the process of making a film, the unexpected things, that determine the capabilities of the "makers", as well as the determination. I cant wait to see this thing through, it has been such an interesting, inspirational, challenging, creative, and educational experience. Just as the buddhist people have faith in thier religion, I have great faith that this documentary will turn out just the way we wanted, and withstand anything thrown it's way.
*Christy
*Christy
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Great Site on Buddhism
I was looking on the web and I found this great site about Buddhism. It is made by the BBC, a major television channel in the UK. The site has some great information, it pretty much has information on anything you can think of about Buddhism. Just click on the title of this post to go to the page.
Here are some facts about Buddhism from the site:
Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life.
Buddhism teaches that all life is interconnected, so compassion is natural and important.
Buddhism is 2,500 years old
There are currently 376 million followers worldwide
Buddhism arose as a result of Siddhartha Gautama's quest for Enlightenment in around the 6th Century BCE
There is no belief in a personal God. It is not centred on the relationship between humanity and God
Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent - change is always possible
The two main Buddhist sects are Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, but there are many more
Buddhism is a very colourful faith with many festivals throughout the year
Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple
The path to Enlightenment is through the practice and development of morality, meditation and wisdom.
posted by Calli
Here are some facts about Buddhism from the site:
Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life.
Buddhism teaches that all life is interconnected, so compassion is natural and important.
Buddhism is 2,500 years old
There are currently 376 million followers worldwide
Buddhism arose as a result of Siddhartha Gautama's quest for Enlightenment in around the 6th Century BCE
There is no belief in a personal God. It is not centred on the relationship between humanity and God
Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent - change is always possible
The two main Buddhist sects are Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, but there are many more
Buddhism is a very colourful faith with many festivals throughout the year
Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple
The path to Enlightenment is through the practice and development of morality, meditation and wisdom.
posted by Calli
Sunday, April 8, 2007
PITCH
In a post-modern world, can western culture find a place for eastern philosophy? Americans are said to be consumed by the fast and easy life driven by money and fleeting pleasure—so much so that perhaps we have no room for the reflective ideas of Buddhism. Through the perspective of our own western eyes and the case study of Wat Carolina located in Bolivia, North Carolina, this documentary seeks to break down the most stereotypical notions of what it is to be an American and a spiritual human being as well as what it is to be Buddhist. The United States being predominately a God-based country, it would seem to follow that Buddhism is too far away in location and religious mentality; however, that may not be the case. In fact, there is a Buddhist monastery alive and functioning in the midst of the South’s Bible Belt. But more importantly, Buddhism doesn’t have to infringe on American religious culture to find commonalities with it. What we call relaxing or clearing our heads, Buddhism calls meditating. We think that monks isolate themselves from society, but the monk at Wat Carolina has a computer in his office through which he sends and receives emails. Also, food offerings of pizza and chocolate chip cookies can be found regularly at ceremonies. If the goal of life is to find meaning and share love, then the recognition of common ground can only help the human race down that path. This documentary is a small step towards that, but it is a step nonetheless.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Mixing both customs and inquisitiveness, the Wat Carolina documentary focuses on the ways in which a Buddhist community thrives in Eastern North Carolina, and essentially possesses just as many similarities with its surrounding society as it does differences. Culturally deemed out of place, this monastery exists among the deserted and church-littered Bolivia, North Carolina. After his siblings donated 21 acres of land, Abbot Phrakru Buddhamonpricha moved from Indonesia to establish the Wat Carolina Monastery. Before settling on Bolivia the Abbot searched for a suitable location, only to find a "spiritual presence" where the monastery sits today. With a touch of history and an in depth look at this mysterious Zen-embracing culture, this documentary will urge you to look outside the box at just how alike people so different can be.
*Posted by ChristY
*Posted by ChristY
Sunday, April 1, 2007
stillz
i guess the first five would be our official stills to send to festivals, but after that i'm putting up some new pics that calli took during our visit to the wat today.
Why was my film not included?
I thought that the DC shorts article about why films are not chosen for festivals was very informative. Many of the things they mention, I had never thought about before. For example, the part about how you should send your film in a clamshell case and not a jewel DVD case, really made me think. I never even thought about that. Also I had never really thought about the length of the credits. It is good to know that the length of your credits matters to the Judges. I also really liked the KISS Principle (Keep IT Simple Stupid). I think that is really funny, but I also totally agree with it. Usually it is the simple things that make nice films. I also agree a lot about how a filmmaker should be careful about the length of their film. Usually films could be cut down in length. I know how hard it can be to cut something out of a film that you worked so hard to get, but if the shot does not help the film then it should be taken out. The biggest thing I agreed with, was story is everything. If you don't have a good story, you can never have a good film. Therefore, you should always make sure you have a good story first. I am really glad that I read this article and I will be sure to keep these things in the back of my mind in the future.
-Posted by Calli
-Posted by Calli
Thursday, March 29, 2007
rejected
the faq about what that festival looks for and turns down was motivating. unforgivingly edit. crisp but simple camera work. polished lighting. coherent story. good acting. leave out the cliche motifs and egocentric filmmaking.
in general, i think the idea is that a film should have meaning. the actual technical making of a film can make a good film better and it can make a good film worse, but i don't think lighting/camera work/direction can turn a bad film into a good one. at a film's core, there must lie a moving, meaningful, and groundbreaking story or theme or moral of some sort. something has to be accomplished and emotion evoked.
as always, looks are important, so looking professional matters. if you're going to take the effort and pay the money to enter a film into a festival, put as much effort into sending you film as you sending into making it.
in general, i think the idea is that a film should have meaning. the actual technical making of a film can make a good film better and it can make a good film worse, but i don't think lighting/camera work/direction can turn a bad film into a good one. at a film's core, there must lie a moving, meaningful, and groundbreaking story or theme or moral of some sort. something has to be accomplished and emotion evoked.
as always, looks are important, so looking professional matters. if you're going to take the effort and pay the money to enter a film into a festival, put as much effort into sending you film as you sending into making it.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Response to DC Shorts Article
I was really pleased to have read the article online about what the judges look for in the DC Shorts film festival. I think helpful information not only for short films but also for festivals in general. It seemed that the basic idea the author wanted to pump into the readers heads was to stick to the story. The story is the most important aspct of the film, more than lighting, camerawork, editing, etc. The story must be clear and concise and believable. Often times people spend too much time with other things and dont keep it simple, which according to this author, is key. KISS (keep it simple stupid) is one thing directors and film makers should remember during the course of making a film. When things begin to get too complicated not only does the film begin to lose focus, but it also loses the audiences attention. Audiences want to "get to the point" and dont want to be held in suspense for too long. I was interested to know that a feature legnth script should introduce the first climax on the twelvth page, and also that long movies which have been (professionally) edited to decrease legnth are usually better. It was also helpful to learn that presensation is key and also one of the things that judges look for. Rather than sending dvds in neon jewel cases, take the time to upgrade a bit in your packaging. Not only will it improve the look of the quality youre trying to achive, but it also shows that you are serious about your work. Now that I've read this I realize not only how tough it is to get accepted but how driven and focused you must be to be taken seriously. Hopefully I will be able to experience this first hand soon!
*ChRiStY
*ChRiStY
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
poetic bliss
this poetic form assignment sparked our discussion of the overall direction we intend our documentary to follow. buddhism is a religion based on visuals and internal emotion, so it is fitting that we use our media to express its nature. our concept follows this basic form:
premise 1-we want to show american culture in its more stereotypical sense because we think there is this general assumption that american/christian life is so drastically different from buddhist life. we plan to include images such as:
-people relaxing/eating/walking at the beach
-people/children playing at a park
-fast food eating
-a drive-through time lapse (mcdonald's)
-dining hall eating
-big churches downtown
premise 2-we want to then show buddhism in its more stereotypical light for the same reason, as some far away religious group of people who don't talk like we do, don't eat what we eat, don't aspire for the same life goals, etc. images include:
-the wat, long shots and close-ups
-monks meditating, eating, chanting, teaching, walking
-buddist iconography
premise 3- finally, we will begin to melt together both sets of imagery to see that these two culture are in fact, not so different. from far away and on the surface, we think that we are different, but the fact remains that we are all human beings seeking meaning and purpose.
-for example, we as americans love to get away and lay out at the beach. without realizing it, we are partaking in our own style of meditation. we lay on a towel; monks sit on a pillow. what's the difference, really?
-children are children whether they are playing on a playground or running up and down the ramps at the wat
-places of worship may seem different. sure we have big churches with symbolic structure and functions that don't look like the wat; but once again, aren't we all going to these buildings for the same reasons?
everyone laughs, cries, lives, and dies. that's it.
premise 1-we want to show american culture in its more stereotypical sense because we think there is this general assumption that american/christian life is so drastically different from buddhist life. we plan to include images such as:
-people relaxing/eating/walking at the beach
-people/children playing at a park
-fast food eating
-a drive-through time lapse (mcdonald's)
-dining hall eating
-big churches downtown
premise 2-we want to then show buddhism in its more stereotypical light for the same reason, as some far away religious group of people who don't talk like we do, don't eat what we eat, don't aspire for the same life goals, etc. images include:
-the wat, long shots and close-ups
-monks meditating, eating, chanting, teaching, walking
-buddist iconography
premise 3- finally, we will begin to melt together both sets of imagery to see that these two culture are in fact, not so different. from far away and on the surface, we think that we are different, but the fact remains that we are all human beings seeking meaning and purpose.
-for example, we as americans love to get away and lay out at the beach. without realizing it, we are partaking in our own style of meditation. we lay on a towel; monks sit on a pillow. what's the difference, really?
-children are children whether they are playing on a playground or running up and down the ramps at the wat
-places of worship may seem different. sure we have big churches with symbolic structure and functions that don't look like the wat; but once again, aren't we all going to these buildings for the same reasons?
everyone laughs, cries, lives, and dies. that's it.
Shooting Schedule for the Poetic Assignment
Here is our Shooting Schedule for the Poetic Assignment:
March 30th- Beach and downtown shots. On this day we plan on getting people at the beach and then going downtown and shooting big churches, kids playing, people walking downtown and any other shots that we need in that area
April 1st - Wat Carolina shots. This day we are going to go to Wat Carolina and film one of their services and get people meditating, close ups of the Wat building, the monk laughing, the monk eating, shot of the food, nature shots at the Wat, etc.
April 2nd- Students eating. We are going to go to the Seahawk grill and get people eating lunch
April 5th- Fast food time lapse. We are going to go to McDonald's and film a time lapse of people driving through the drive-thru. This day is also for shooting anything else we were not able to get before.
April 6th- Editing day
-Calli
March 30th- Beach and downtown shots. On this day we plan on getting people at the beach and then going downtown and shooting big churches, kids playing, people walking downtown and any other shots that we need in that area
April 1st - Wat Carolina shots. This day we are going to go to Wat Carolina and film one of their services and get people meditating, close ups of the Wat building, the monk laughing, the monk eating, shot of the food, nature shots at the Wat, etc.
April 2nd- Students eating. We are going to go to the Seahawk grill and get people eating lunch
April 5th- Fast food time lapse. We are going to go to McDonald's and film a time lapse of people driving through the drive-thru. This day is also for shooting anything else we were not able to get before.
April 6th- Editing day
-Calli
Sunday, March 18, 2007
bee roll
to me, b-roll is like the experimental filmmaker's treat when making a narrative film or a documentary which is usually fairly story driven.....i love experimental film so i love b-roll. i can appreciate b-roll because i know how powerful visuals can be on tone and mood. i think our 5 minute documentary could be half b-roll and still be very effective. because we are making a film about buddhism, i think aesthetics will be especially important. here are my ideas:
-time lapses: sunrise/sunset at the monastery, drive to and from bolivia, general nature scenes
-the monk's in none-serious moments: walking around in haynes socks, laughing, playing, eating
-ceremonial footage
-big churches in bolivia and wilmington
-buddhist iconography at the monastery and in wilmington
-people eating fast food
-busy city streets, buildings, etc.
i think most of my b-roll ideas are either nature based, which is very related to buddhism, or they are images showing the similarities/differences between buddhist life and american culture. for example, i think it would be a really nice juxtaposition/irony to show the monks eating in their element: a begging bowl full of rice and native thai food; followed by us americans stuffing our faces with fast food; but then again followed by the monks eating delivery pizza (which we saw at the ceremony last month). i would like to show how buddhist monks have a drastically different way of thinking and arriving at their behavior, but that ultimately they can arrive at the very same conclusions as we do. in my opinion, buddhism is not so much about changing behavior as it is about recognizing the behavior that we choose to enlist and creating meaning for it.
peace, genevieve
-time lapses: sunrise/sunset at the monastery, drive to and from bolivia, general nature scenes
-the monk's in none-serious moments: walking around in haynes socks, laughing, playing, eating
-ceremonial footage
-big churches in bolivia and wilmington
-buddhist iconography at the monastery and in wilmington
-people eating fast food
-busy city streets, buildings, etc.
i think most of my b-roll ideas are either nature based, which is very related to buddhism, or they are images showing the similarities/differences between buddhist life and american culture. for example, i think it would be a really nice juxtaposition/irony to show the monks eating in their element: a begging bowl full of rice and native thai food; followed by us americans stuffing our faces with fast food; but then again followed by the monks eating delivery pizza (which we saw at the ceremony last month). i would like to show how buddhist monks have a drastically different way of thinking and arriving at their behavior, but that ultimately they can arrive at the very same conclusions as we do. in my opinion, buddhism is not so much about changing behavior as it is about recognizing the behavior that we choose to enlist and creating meaning for it.
peace, genevieve
B-roll
I just read the article in the student filmmakers magazine about shooting effective B-roll and I thought it had some really good points. I know the importance of b-roll. As a person who likes to edit, trust me the more footage you have the better. As the article pointed out, b-roll allows you to cut away from an interview to avoid jump cuts and to avoid a boring talking head interview. One thing that I had never thought about before was that the article suggested to shoot a person's hands after you interview them. I really had never thought of cutting to a person's hands during an interview and I think it is a great idea. I will be sure to get hand footage for interviews from now on.
Here is a list of b-roll that I have come up with for our film:
Churches
time lapse of the drive to Wat Carolina
The monks chanting
People mediating
Picture of Jesus
Picture of Buddha
People offering the monks food/monks eating
the monks smiling and laughing
Nature shots around Wat Carolina (like a shot of the pond that is by the Wat)
shots of the Wat
the monk teaching others
Also, we interviewed Dr. Beck, a UNCW Religion Professor, this past Thursday and I think it went very well. He did a very good job of explaining Buddhism and on expanding his thoughts.
well that is all for now
- Calli
Here is a list of b-roll that I have come up with for our film:
Churches
time lapse of the drive to Wat Carolina
The monks chanting
People mediating
Picture of Jesus
Picture of Buddha
People offering the monks food/monks eating
the monks smiling and laughing
Nature shots around Wat Carolina (like a shot of the pond that is by the Wat)
shots of the Wat
the monk teaching others
Also, we interviewed Dr. Beck, a UNCW Religion Professor, this past Thursday and I think it went very well. He did a very good job of explaining Buddhism and on expanding his thoughts.
well that is all for now
- Calli
Monday, March 12, 2007
Ah, yes it's after midnight Sunday night and I've decided to add a few words to our blog . . . After suffering from tonsilitis and the flu over what was supposed to be my spring break, I'll be heading back to Wilmington first thing in the a.m. and ready to plan this week's interview. As Gen has said, we did a bit of "vox popping" last Saturday downtown and it was pretty interesting to say the least. The thing I love the most is the irony in the fact that the place we stopped to interview our first few people, was right in front of a store downtown called City Buddha- and this was totally unplanned. All of a sudden we looked behind us and were like, "Woah, City Buddha, how convenient". Not sure if the store's name got into any of the shots or not, but the sheer fact was pretty funny . . and kind of weird at the same time. I had fun interviewing and getting people's responses. A couple people actually turned us down, including the man who works the info desk down at the river, claiming he was not to have a voice about anything- and when we mentioned the topic, flat out said "No". Two women visiting from up north were probably the most fun about it. They had really good spirits and seemed genuine in trying to support students. I think only one of the people we interviewed actually knew about the monestary and where it was at, so in that sense it was cool to watch people's reactions after finding out how close one was. Overall, I think it was a good day . . and I'm excited to see how our vox pop will work into our completed project. . . Till next time- ChristY
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Expert Interview
For our expert interview, we have decided to talk with Dr. Guy Beck, a visiting professor to UNCW from Tulane University. He specializes in South Asian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, History of Religions, and Religion and Music. He teaches Asian Religions and Tibetan Buddhism at UNCW. He has a B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Denver, an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of South Florida as well as a M.A. in Fine Arts/Musicology from Syracuse University. He also has a M.Phil and a Ph.D in Religion from Syracuse University.
We decided to choose him for this particular assignment for several reasons. Logistically and visually, we felt that he would be the best to interview in a more formal setting because of his role in our documentary. We think that his interview will most likely serve as more of an unbiased opinion on our topic as well as an unrelated figure to the monastery. We definitely plan to interview people involved with the temple, but we also think it’s a good idea to get an outside source. Possibilities as far as editing use for this interview include an overall description of Buddhism and/or voice-over to go along with our stills as well as our 16mm and digital footage. We think that interviewing the monk and those we have met at the monastery would be more effective in a more causal/spontaneous setting, and we have already begun such questionings.
Here are some ideas for questions to ask Dr. Beck. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
GENERAL
-In one word, what is Buddhism? (this may be a good vox pop question as well?)
-What is the academic definition of Buddhism?
-What are the fundamentals of Buddhism? Beliefs, customs, rituals, behavior?
-Is Buddhism more of a religion or a philosophy/way of life?
-Are there necessary beliefs?
-What is the current state of Buddhism in Tibet? China? India?
-Where is Buddhism most prevalent?
EAST VS. WEST
-How would you describe Buddhism (differently) from/to an eastern vs. a western perspective/audience?
-How is Buddhism like Christianity? How is it different?
-How does Buddha compare to Jesus?
-Could one theoretically be a Christian and a Buddhist?
-How did Buddhsim get to the west? A place like Bolivia, NC?
-What are some percentages of Buddhists in America?
-What role does Buddhism play as a religion in the United States? The south?
-What role, if any, does Wat Carolina play in North Carolina?
-What is appealing about Buddhism to westerners? What is not? Is Buddhism trendy?
-What might Americans partake in unknowingly that is characteristic of Buddhism? (meditation, pilates, yoga, simplified life, internal thought, karma)
that's what i've come up with so far, but i'm sure my group members will have many more ideas. I'm not sure how much Dr. Beck knows about wat carolina itself, but we will definitely ask more direct questions about the monastery if he is familiar with it.
peace, genevieve
edited by Calli
We decided to choose him for this particular assignment for several reasons. Logistically and visually, we felt that he would be the best to interview in a more formal setting because of his role in our documentary. We think that his interview will most likely serve as more of an unbiased opinion on our topic as well as an unrelated figure to the monastery. We definitely plan to interview people involved with the temple, but we also think it’s a good idea to get an outside source. Possibilities as far as editing use for this interview include an overall description of Buddhism and/or voice-over to go along with our stills as well as our 16mm and digital footage. We think that interviewing the monk and those we have met at the monastery would be more effective in a more causal/spontaneous setting, and we have already begun such questionings.
Here are some ideas for questions to ask Dr. Beck. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.
GENERAL
-In one word, what is Buddhism? (this may be a good vox pop question as well?)
-What is the academic definition of Buddhism?
-What are the fundamentals of Buddhism? Beliefs, customs, rituals, behavior?
-Is Buddhism more of a religion or a philosophy/way of life?
-Are there necessary beliefs?
-What is the current state of Buddhism in Tibet? China? India?
-Where is Buddhism most prevalent?
EAST VS. WEST
-How would you describe Buddhism (differently) from/to an eastern vs. a western perspective/audience?
-How is Buddhism like Christianity? How is it different?
-How does Buddha compare to Jesus?
-Could one theoretically be a Christian and a Buddhist?
-How did Buddhsim get to the west? A place like Bolivia, NC?
-What are some percentages of Buddhists in America?
-What role does Buddhism play as a religion in the United States? The south?
-What role, if any, does Wat Carolina play in North Carolina?
-What is appealing about Buddhism to westerners? What is not? Is Buddhism trendy?
-What might Americans partake in unknowingly that is characteristic of Buddhism? (meditation, pilates, yoga, simplified life, internal thought, karma)
that's what i've come up with so far, but i'm sure my group members will have many more ideas. I'm not sure how much Dr. Beck knows about wat carolina itself, but we will definitely ask more direct questions about the monastery if he is familiar with it.
peace, genevieve
edited by Calli
vox pop
on saturday march 3, calli, christy, and i went to downtown wilmington to do our quick little interviews with the public. here are the questions we asked:
-What do you think Buddhism is?
-What kinds of things do you think of when you hear the word "Buddhism?"/ What do you associate with the word/religion "Buddhsim?"
-Do you know (of) any Buddhists?
-Do you think that Buddhism is prevalent in Wilmington?
-Are you aware that there is a Buddhist monastery less than 30 minutes from Wilmington?
-Do you consider yourself religious?
-Are you affiliated with any particular religion?
some people were very interested in what we were doing. i think 2 of our interviews were from men coming up to us actually, but we got turned down a few times as well. overall i think it went pretty well as we got a fairly broad range of answers. most people didn't have a great explanation for what buddhism is or else they just had a hard time verbalizing it. most people also thought that buddhism is not prevalent in wilmington even though about half knew of the monastery. i think only one person was not christian and again only one person knew someone who is buddhist.
things associated with buddhism: monks, a lot of praying, india, temples, shrines, a bald guy on the top of a mountain
peace, genevieve
-What do you think Buddhism is?
-What kinds of things do you think of when you hear the word "Buddhism?"/ What do you associate with the word/religion "Buddhsim?"
-Do you know (of) any Buddhists?
-Do you think that Buddhism is prevalent in Wilmington?
-Are you aware that there is a Buddhist monastery less than 30 minutes from Wilmington?
-Do you consider yourself religious?
-Are you affiliated with any particular religion?
some people were very interested in what we were doing. i think 2 of our interviews were from men coming up to us actually, but we got turned down a few times as well. overall i think it went pretty well as we got a fairly broad range of answers. most people didn't have a great explanation for what buddhism is or else they just had a hard time verbalizing it. most people also thought that buddhism is not prevalent in wilmington even though about half knew of the monastery. i think only one person was not christian and again only one person knew someone who is buddhist.
things associated with buddhism: monks, a lot of praying, india, temples, shrines, a bald guy on the top of a mountain
peace, genevieve
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
machines
CAMERA - PANASONIC 100 1
LIGHTING METER - ANALOGUE 1
MIC - INDOOR SHOTGUN 1
MIC SHOCKMOUNT - BOOMPOLE 1
RECORDER - MARANTZ SS 1
yeah, that's the equipment we're getting for sunday. and we've enlisted my good buddy joe mason to rock some sound for us as we will be busy filming, etc. he's bringing a digital light meter too and possibly some extra film. i got the marantz just in case we didn't want the boom man tied to the dvx, but he probably will be. good luck to us.
peace, genevieve
LIGHTING METER - ANALOGUE 1
MIC - INDOOR SHOTGUN 1
MIC SHOCKMOUNT - BOOMPOLE 1
RECORDER - MARANTZ SS 1
yeah, that's the equipment we're getting for sunday. and we've enlisted my good buddy joe mason to rock some sound for us as we will be busy filming, etc. he's bringing a digital light meter too and possibly some extra film. i got the marantz just in case we didn't want the boom man tied to the dvx, but he probably will be. good luck to us.
peace, genevieve
Sunday, February 18, 2007
An interesting Article
Here is an Article that I found very interesting, not only does it talk about Wat Carolina, but it also talks about Buddhists and their beliefs. Another thing that I found interesting was how this article talks about how Buddhism has effected America. I think that is something that we can explore in our documentary. I would like to show how Buddhism has made a positive impact on Americans.
The path of simplicity; Buddhists seek a life unburdened by desires and rooted in present-moment awareness. Their philosophy has a home in a thriving temple in rural Brunswick County
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
April 30, 2000
Author: BEN STEELMAN, Staff Writer
A few miles south of Bolivia in Brunswick County, down a two-lane road lined by Baptist churches and houses with angel statues in the yard, the Lord Buddha is smiling.
On a swampy, sloping tract of land sits Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram, a Thai Buddhist monastery in the heart of the Bible Belt.
A little more than 10 years ago, three monks from Thailand, clad in their distinctive saffron-colored robes, moved into a former farmhouse at 1610 Midway Road.
The monks are still there. (The "Wat" in Wat Carolina means "monastery" in the Thai language.) Behind the house, however, stands a virtual replica of Old Siam, a complex of buildings with red tile roofs of Oriental design, rising on pilings from the soggy ground below.
After a decade and $4 million in contributions, the complex is still unfinished. "We do everything as we can afford to do it," said Deborah Welch, a member of the board of the Buddhist Association of North Carolina, which supports the monastery.
A small study center and library is complete. Behind it, the roof has just been installed on a large structure that will provide Spartan quarters for visiting monks, office space and other facilities. Windows and siding have yet to be installed, and the names of donors can still be seen painted on the sides of naked steel beams.
Further on, once this structure is complete, will rise a full-sized permanent temple.
The Wat serves as a center of worship for between 400 and 500 loyal Buddhists. Most are natives of Thailand who travel from as far away as Sumter, S.C., or even New York State to pray, to study and to help feed and support the three or four monks who typically live here.
However, Wat Carolina also serves as a spiritual base for a small but growing number of Westerners as well.
"The Buddhist path has no boundaries, really," said Eric Bruton, a Wilmington folk singer who often volunteers to help at the monastery and sometimes drives the abbot, Tan Phrakru Buddamonpricha, to conferences and blessings. "People stumble upon it in their own way."
Buddhists remain a tiny minority in the American religious scene. Estimates of the number of Buddhists in America range from about 400,000 to perhaps 2 million or more, according to Tom Tweed, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By comparison, most surveys list more than 61 million Roman Catholilcs in the United States and more than 2 million Baptists of all denominations in North Carolina alone.
Nevertheless, Buddhism's impact on American culture has been considerable. Henry David Thoreau alluded to Buddhist teachings in Walden (1854). Poets and novelists of the Beat generation, such as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac, grooved to the parables of Zen Buddhism, transplanted from Japan in the 1950s, largely through the efforts of writer D.T. Suzuki.
College students of the Age of Aquarius made a best-seller of Siddhartha, the German novelist Herman Hesse's dramatization of the founding of the faith.
Buddhist communities began to grow in Fayetteville and Jacksonville after World War II as Asian brides married U.S. servicemen and brought their faith to America with them. Particularly popular in North Carolina is the Nichiren soshu, a populist Buddhist sect which grew up in Japan.
American-born converts, including such celebrities as Richard Gere and Tina Turner, might account for one-fourth of the nation's Buddhists. Far more significant, according to Dr. Tweed, are tens of thousands of Asian-Americans who are shifting their worship from home altars to new, visible facilities such as Wat Carolina.
The story of the Buddhist faith begins more than 500 years before the birth of Jesus, when (according to scripture) a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama was born in the foothills of modern-day Nepal.
Not long before his 30th birthday, Siddhartha had visions of an old man, a sick man and a corpse, which he understood as a metaphor for the suffering of life.
A fourth vision showed him a wandering holy man. This vision convinced him to leave his kingdom, his wife and his son and live as a homeless monk in the forest.
Six years later, after experimenting with various forms of religious discipline, Siddhartha sat down under a bo tree near the town of Gaya and began to meditate. Here, Buddhists believe, he achieved a state of enlightenment, gaining release from all suffering and achieving Nirvana, a state of pure happiness and peace.
The name "Buddha" - by which he has been known ever since - means "the Enlightened One." Buddhists continue to venerate him and study his teachings but he is not idolized.
Basically, Buddhists see existence as a recurring wheel, which represents different states of being. There is an animal world, which focuses purely on survival and instinct, without higher thought; a human world; a heaven and a hell, plus a "Realm of the Hungry Ghosts," which Ms. Welch likens to an array of addictive behaviors or negative, grasping personality traits.
The difference between the Christian and Buddhist conceptions of heaven, hell and earth is that Buddhists see none of these traits as permanent, Ms. Welch said. Souls are reborn and pass through different stages of the wheel repeatedly. The different parts of the wheel can also be manifest as psychological states through which people can pass, Ms. Welch said.
At the hub of the wheel, in Buddhist depictions, are the rooster, the snake and the pig, signifying Pride, Anger and Ignorance (or Delusion), the three forces that keep souls bound to the recurring cycle.
"Again, again, again, again," Abbot Phrakru said "always suffering." Our desires attach us to worldly things, the Buddha taught. Eliminate those desires, and souls can escape the wheel of life and pass to a higher level.
Beyond this point, Buddhists care little about the nature of God, or gods, or what the Next World is like.
The Buddha once gathered up a handful of crushed leaves and compared it to the forest behind him. The leaves in the hand are what humans can comprehend of the universe; the great expanse of trees is the totality of the universe itself.
"When you get caught up in metaphysics or explaining the universe, you can lose the present moment," Ms. Welch said. And existing in the present - without the distractions of the dead past or the unborn future - is much of what Buddhism is about.
To reach Nirvana and gain detachment, Buddhists try to follow the four Perfections - compassion, loving kindness ("and you have to learn to love yourself before you can love others," Ms. Welch said), sympathetic joy and equanimity, or balance.
"That last one's a toughie, especially for me," Ms. Welch said, grinning.
To reach those ends, Buddhists try to practice the Middle Way, sometimes known as the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Vocation, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. These eight points resolve into wisdom, morality and meditation, a prayerlike state in which worldly distractions are left behind.
Much of this teaching - which Buddhists find in the Tripitika or "Three Baskets," a compilation of the Buddha's sayings and sermons and other traditions - sounds a lot like the essence of other religions. In fact, many of the Westerners at Wat Carolina do not see Buddhism as exclusive.
"I'm also many other religions as well," said Mr. Bruton, who's studied with Abbot Phrakru almost from the beginning. "There are universal truths here - truths that you can find in Christianity, Judaism and other faiths."
"It's like a tree," Ms. Welch said. "Different religions are the branches, but they have the same trunk."
Meanwhile, Buddhism itself has split into different branches. The monks at Wat Carolina practice one of the oldest versions, Theraveda or "the Teachings of the Elders." Practiced today mainly in Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Theraveda focuses heavily on meditation and concentration as means to Nirvana. This leads to an emphasis on monastic life.
Abbot Phrakru and his fellow monks belong to the Dhammayut Nikaya, a religious order which can trace its history back nearly 2,500 years - almost to the time when the first Buddhist missionaries reached Thailand.
The order is a reform movement based on the ideas of the Thai kings Rama IV and Rama V, and it remains close to Thailand's royalty, much as the Church of England and other Anglican churches are connected to the British throne.
Rama IV, Rama V and the present king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, were all monks before they ascended the throne. In Buddhism, becoming a monk is not necessarily a lifetime commitment; in Thailand, many young boys enter a monastery for a few months or years as part of their education.
Abbot Phrakru and his fellow monks still live in a manner very close to that of Buddha and his early followers.
They take what amounts to a vow of poverty. The only personal property they are allowed to own consists of four robes, one bowl, one razor to shave their heads, one needle to repair their clothes and one filter for their water.
They generally fast each day after noon and perform their own chores. Abbot Phrakru, whose spiritual rank might be compared to a Christian bishop's or archbishop's, sweeps and vacuums the monastery's living quarters.
Loyal believers supply the monks' meals. "They eat well," Ms. Welch said. "We make sure they eat well." Some believers travel hundreds of miles each week to provide food. By doing so, Theraveda Buddhists believe, the believers earn merit that can help improve their position in the next life and move closer to Nirvana.
Stray cats wander the monastery grounds, drawn by trays of food and water left out for them - an obligation for the monks. Buddhists are solicitous of all forms of life, in part because of their belief in reincarnation. One key purpose of the monks' filters is to prevent them from swallowing bugs or other tiny animals; and, while they are not strict vegetarians, the monks are forbidden to eat the flesh of animals slaughtered especially for them. (Meat from the local grocery, on the other hand, is fair game.)
The majority of the world's estimated 353 million Buddhists are not Theravedan. A later schism brought about the Mahayana or "Great Vehicle," schools of Buddhism which predominate in Japan, Tibet, Nepal and much of East Asia. Mahayanists believe that lay believers, as well as monks, can achieve Nirvana and that some spiritual masters, called bodhisattvas, can delay their enlightenment to stay on Earth and aid others to attain Bodhi, the highest truth.
Relations between the different Buddhist sects are generally cordial, though. Abbot Phrakru recently traveled to Charleston, S.C., to meet with Tibetan monks representing the Dalai Lama.
What matters in Buddhism is not so much dogma as intention, Ms. Welch said. And personal experience is most valuable of all.
"Buddha taught that unless you know something for yourself, it's not going to work for you," she said.
posted by Calli
The path of simplicity; Buddhists seek a life unburdened by desires and rooted in present-moment awareness. Their philosophy has a home in a thriving temple in rural Brunswick County
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
April 30, 2000
Author: BEN STEELMAN, Staff Writer
A few miles south of Bolivia in Brunswick County, down a two-lane road lined by Baptist churches and houses with angel statues in the yard, the Lord Buddha is smiling.
On a swampy, sloping tract of land sits Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram, a Thai Buddhist monastery in the heart of the Bible Belt.
A little more than 10 years ago, three monks from Thailand, clad in their distinctive saffron-colored robes, moved into a former farmhouse at 1610 Midway Road.
The monks are still there. (The "Wat" in Wat Carolina means "monastery" in the Thai language.) Behind the house, however, stands a virtual replica of Old Siam, a complex of buildings with red tile roofs of Oriental design, rising on pilings from the soggy ground below.
After a decade and $4 million in contributions, the complex is still unfinished. "We do everything as we can afford to do it," said Deborah Welch, a member of the board of the Buddhist Association of North Carolina, which supports the monastery.
A small study center and library is complete. Behind it, the roof has just been installed on a large structure that will provide Spartan quarters for visiting monks, office space and other facilities. Windows and siding have yet to be installed, and the names of donors can still be seen painted on the sides of naked steel beams.
Further on, once this structure is complete, will rise a full-sized permanent temple.
The Wat serves as a center of worship for between 400 and 500 loyal Buddhists. Most are natives of Thailand who travel from as far away as Sumter, S.C., or even New York State to pray, to study and to help feed and support the three or four monks who typically live here.
However, Wat Carolina also serves as a spiritual base for a small but growing number of Westerners as well.
"The Buddhist path has no boundaries, really," said Eric Bruton, a Wilmington folk singer who often volunteers to help at the monastery and sometimes drives the abbot, Tan Phrakru Buddamonpricha, to conferences and blessings. "People stumble upon it in their own way."
Buddhists remain a tiny minority in the American religious scene. Estimates of the number of Buddhists in America range from about 400,000 to perhaps 2 million or more, according to Tom Tweed, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By comparison, most surveys list more than 61 million Roman Catholilcs in the United States and more than 2 million Baptists of all denominations in North Carolina alone.
Nevertheless, Buddhism's impact on American culture has been considerable. Henry David Thoreau alluded to Buddhist teachings in Walden (1854). Poets and novelists of the Beat generation, such as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac, grooved to the parables of Zen Buddhism, transplanted from Japan in the 1950s, largely through the efforts of writer D.T. Suzuki.
College students of the Age of Aquarius made a best-seller of Siddhartha, the German novelist Herman Hesse's dramatization of the founding of the faith.
Buddhist communities began to grow in Fayetteville and Jacksonville after World War II as Asian brides married U.S. servicemen and brought their faith to America with them. Particularly popular in North Carolina is the Nichiren soshu, a populist Buddhist sect which grew up in Japan.
American-born converts, including such celebrities as Richard Gere and Tina Turner, might account for one-fourth of the nation's Buddhists. Far more significant, according to Dr. Tweed, are tens of thousands of Asian-Americans who are shifting their worship from home altars to new, visible facilities such as Wat Carolina.
The story of the Buddhist faith begins more than 500 years before the birth of Jesus, when (according to scripture) a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama was born in the foothills of modern-day Nepal.
Not long before his 30th birthday, Siddhartha had visions of an old man, a sick man and a corpse, which he understood as a metaphor for the suffering of life.
A fourth vision showed him a wandering holy man. This vision convinced him to leave his kingdom, his wife and his son and live as a homeless monk in the forest.
Six years later, after experimenting with various forms of religious discipline, Siddhartha sat down under a bo tree near the town of Gaya and began to meditate. Here, Buddhists believe, he achieved a state of enlightenment, gaining release from all suffering and achieving Nirvana, a state of pure happiness and peace.
The name "Buddha" - by which he has been known ever since - means "the Enlightened One." Buddhists continue to venerate him and study his teachings but he is not idolized.
Basically, Buddhists see existence as a recurring wheel, which represents different states of being. There is an animal world, which focuses purely on survival and instinct, without higher thought; a human world; a heaven and a hell, plus a "Realm of the Hungry Ghosts," which Ms. Welch likens to an array of addictive behaviors or negative, grasping personality traits.
The difference between the Christian and Buddhist conceptions of heaven, hell and earth is that Buddhists see none of these traits as permanent, Ms. Welch said. Souls are reborn and pass through different stages of the wheel repeatedly. The different parts of the wheel can also be manifest as psychological states through which people can pass, Ms. Welch said.
At the hub of the wheel, in Buddhist depictions, are the rooster, the snake and the pig, signifying Pride, Anger and Ignorance (or Delusion), the three forces that keep souls bound to the recurring cycle.
"Again, again, again, again," Abbot Phrakru said "always suffering." Our desires attach us to worldly things, the Buddha taught. Eliminate those desires, and souls can escape the wheel of life and pass to a higher level.
Beyond this point, Buddhists care little about the nature of God, or gods, or what the Next World is like.
The Buddha once gathered up a handful of crushed leaves and compared it to the forest behind him. The leaves in the hand are what humans can comprehend of the universe; the great expanse of trees is the totality of the universe itself.
"When you get caught up in metaphysics or explaining the universe, you can lose the present moment," Ms. Welch said. And existing in the present - without the distractions of the dead past or the unborn future - is much of what Buddhism is about.
To reach Nirvana and gain detachment, Buddhists try to follow the four Perfections - compassion, loving kindness ("and you have to learn to love yourself before you can love others," Ms. Welch said), sympathetic joy and equanimity, or balance.
"That last one's a toughie, especially for me," Ms. Welch said, grinning.
To reach those ends, Buddhists try to practice the Middle Way, sometimes known as the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Vocation, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. These eight points resolve into wisdom, morality and meditation, a prayerlike state in which worldly distractions are left behind.
Much of this teaching - which Buddhists find in the Tripitika or "Three Baskets," a compilation of the Buddha's sayings and sermons and other traditions - sounds a lot like the essence of other religions. In fact, many of the Westerners at Wat Carolina do not see Buddhism as exclusive.
"I'm also many other religions as well," said Mr. Bruton, who's studied with Abbot Phrakru almost from the beginning. "There are universal truths here - truths that you can find in Christianity, Judaism and other faiths."
"It's like a tree," Ms. Welch said. "Different religions are the branches, but they have the same trunk."
Meanwhile, Buddhism itself has split into different branches. The monks at Wat Carolina practice one of the oldest versions, Theraveda or "the Teachings of the Elders." Practiced today mainly in Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), Theraveda focuses heavily on meditation and concentration as means to Nirvana. This leads to an emphasis on monastic life.
Abbot Phrakru and his fellow monks belong to the Dhammayut Nikaya, a religious order which can trace its history back nearly 2,500 years - almost to the time when the first Buddhist missionaries reached Thailand.
The order is a reform movement based on the ideas of the Thai kings Rama IV and Rama V, and it remains close to Thailand's royalty, much as the Church of England and other Anglican churches are connected to the British throne.
Rama IV, Rama V and the present king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, were all monks before they ascended the throne. In Buddhism, becoming a monk is not necessarily a lifetime commitment; in Thailand, many young boys enter a monastery for a few months or years as part of their education.
Abbot Phrakru and his fellow monks still live in a manner very close to that of Buddha and his early followers.
They take what amounts to a vow of poverty. The only personal property they are allowed to own consists of four robes, one bowl, one razor to shave their heads, one needle to repair their clothes and one filter for their water.
They generally fast each day after noon and perform their own chores. Abbot Phrakru, whose spiritual rank might be compared to a Christian bishop's or archbishop's, sweeps and vacuums the monastery's living quarters.
Loyal believers supply the monks' meals. "They eat well," Ms. Welch said. "We make sure they eat well." Some believers travel hundreds of miles each week to provide food. By doing so, Theraveda Buddhists believe, the believers earn merit that can help improve their position in the next life and move closer to Nirvana.
Stray cats wander the monastery grounds, drawn by trays of food and water left out for them - an obligation for the monks. Buddhists are solicitous of all forms of life, in part because of their belief in reincarnation. One key purpose of the monks' filters is to prevent them from swallowing bugs or other tiny animals; and, while they are not strict vegetarians, the monks are forbidden to eat the flesh of animals slaughtered especially for them. (Meat from the local grocery, on the other hand, is fair game.)
The majority of the world's estimated 353 million Buddhists are not Theravedan. A later schism brought about the Mahayana or "Great Vehicle," schools of Buddhism which predominate in Japan, Tibet, Nepal and much of East Asia. Mahayanists believe that lay believers, as well as monks, can achieve Nirvana and that some spiritual masters, called bodhisattvas, can delay their enlightenment to stay on Earth and aid others to attain Bodhi, the highest truth.
Relations between the different Buddhist sects are generally cordial, though. Abbot Phrakru recently traveled to Charleston, S.C., to meet with Tibetan monks representing the Dalai Lama.
What matters in Buddhism is not so much dogma as intention, Ms. Welch said. And personal experience is most valuable of all.
"Buddha taught that unless you know something for yourself, it's not going to work for you," she said.
posted by Calli
Keep the resources coming/Possible documentary angle?
Title: Analysis: North Carolina Christian group protests `new age' classes
Authors: MELISSA BLOCK
Source: All Things Considered (NPR); 10/25/2005
Accession Number: 6XN200510252009
Persistent link to this record: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.uncclc.coast.uncwil.edu:80/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=6XN200510252009&site=ehost-live
Database Newspaper Source
Here is a little segment from the article about Ms. Gunter, a teacher utilizing meditation techniques in her classroom. Jones is the reporter for NPR and Mr. Noble is the Chairman of Called2Action, a conservative Christian organization in Wake County, NC:
Mr. NOBLE: I think the number one thing for her was that it disturbed her children, and they were confused. And they're growing up in a Christian home, so they know, as a Christian, as a young Christian, where their source is for dealing with life and trouble. And this was all counter to that.
JONES: Christian parents, Noble says, would rather teach their children how to deal with stress by praying and reading the Bible at home. His group doesn't want public schools to promote any faith, Christian or otherwise. But while Gunter has written books about spirituality, she says she's not advocating any specific religion.
Ms. GUNTER: My whole thing is to get people to their own truth, so they can get to their own peace.
JONES: This isn't the first time parents have protested presentations like Gunter's. Two years ago a group of Christian parents in Aspen, Colorado, succeeded in eliminating all religious references from a yoga program in public schools. In the 1970s, courts in New Jersey banned transcendental meditation from classrooms. Attorney David Gibbs is representing Called2Action in this case. He has asked the Raleigh school district to come up with a policy to prevent programs like this from happening again.
I find this article interesting because I feel like sometimes the mass population (i'm very broadly generalizing here) of Christians or even just Americans find it easy to respect other beliefs and ways of life....until it becomes threatening. I would say that most Christian Americans consider Ghandi to be a amazing person whose actions greatly benefited the world; however, we don't even begin to follow in his non-violent footsteps in our country. Most people appreciate the Dali Lama and think he too his a respectable human being inspiring positive causes and effects in the world, but he meditates. And we want to ban things such as meditating in schools? Just sitting still for a little while to clear our minds? We think our children should be protected from such activities? What are we really so afraid of? Finding some better truth?
PS....When we went to the monastery, several people, several times, told me to take from my experience whatever I wished and throw the rest away. I didn't need to believe, accept, or follow anything that anyone said and to probe and question anything that I found to be faulty or untrue. Call it reverse psychology, but this is how I personally live my life. I question everything I find to be worth questioning, everything I think is too easy or too blindly accepted. In this sense, Buddhism is unlike Christianity and most other religions. It is a working religion, not a following religion. There is no take it or leave it attitude. I have read many books on Buddhism and yes I am personally interested in it as a religion to a certain extent, but what appeals to me the most is its philosophy of pushing me to personally search through my thoughts, emotions, and actions. This in order to discover and minimize the negative affects I have on myself and others.
This response has led me to a possible structure for our documentary. I think that it's pretty obvious that we are targeting Americans with our documentary, and Americans are predominately Christian. I know that I personally, before I knew anything about Buddhism, just categorized it into another one of those far away ancient cultures with a bunch of gods and weird rituals to follow that has little to nothing to do with me. So I think it would be interesting to set up the documentary with this sort of attitude because when it comes down to it, Buddhism does have the ability to come off as some far away religion with astounding history that is not our history. I knew a pretty good amount about Buddhism before we went to the monastery, and I was still intimidated by it. But then we took off our shoes, walked through this tiny little kitchen and into this small living room type of space in an old beat-up house to find just a man who we call a monk sitting on the floor next to a telephone, talking to several Americans about the most casual things: where we were from, how he remembered talking to Christy on the phone, how the reporter used to come take pictures of them, etc. He laughed a lot and smiled constantly. It just becomes obvious that the gigantic brick wall that we create around a religion like this is just that, what WE have created. Yes, that monk, Tan Ajahn (I'm not sure how to pronounce it but it is a name just like all of ours), does a lot of things that I don't understand, but I understand how he laughs and smiles and thinks and talks to people, etc because I do the same things. I think that demonstrating this in a documentary would be a step in finding common ground. We as human beings physically walk on common ground (the earth). Why can't we mentally do the same?
peace, genevieve
Authors: MELISSA BLOCK
Source: All Things Considered (NPR); 10/25/2005
Accession Number: 6XN200510252009
Persistent link to this record: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.uncclc.coast.uncwil.edu:80/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=6XN200510252009&site=ehost-live
Database Newspaper Source
Here is a little segment from the article about Ms. Gunter, a teacher utilizing meditation techniques in her classroom. Jones is the reporter for NPR and Mr. Noble is the Chairman of Called2Action, a conservative Christian organization in Wake County, NC:
Mr. NOBLE: I think the number one thing for her was that it disturbed her children, and they were confused. And they're growing up in a Christian home, so they know, as a Christian, as a young Christian, where their source is for dealing with life and trouble. And this was all counter to that.
JONES: Christian parents, Noble says, would rather teach their children how to deal with stress by praying and reading the Bible at home. His group doesn't want public schools to promote any faith, Christian or otherwise. But while Gunter has written books about spirituality, she says she's not advocating any specific religion.
Ms. GUNTER: My whole thing is to get people to their own truth, so they can get to their own peace.
JONES: This isn't the first time parents have protested presentations like Gunter's. Two years ago a group of Christian parents in Aspen, Colorado, succeeded in eliminating all religious references from a yoga program in public schools. In the 1970s, courts in New Jersey banned transcendental meditation from classrooms. Attorney David Gibbs is representing Called2Action in this case. He has asked the Raleigh school district to come up with a policy to prevent programs like this from happening again.
I find this article interesting because I feel like sometimes the mass population (i'm very broadly generalizing here) of Christians or even just Americans find it easy to respect other beliefs and ways of life....until it becomes threatening. I would say that most Christian Americans consider Ghandi to be a amazing person whose actions greatly benefited the world; however, we don't even begin to follow in his non-violent footsteps in our country. Most people appreciate the Dali Lama and think he too his a respectable human being inspiring positive causes and effects in the world, but he meditates. And we want to ban things such as meditating in schools? Just sitting still for a little while to clear our minds? We think our children should be protected from such activities? What are we really so afraid of? Finding some better truth?
PS....When we went to the monastery, several people, several times, told me to take from my experience whatever I wished and throw the rest away. I didn't need to believe, accept, or follow anything that anyone said and to probe and question anything that I found to be faulty or untrue. Call it reverse psychology, but this is how I personally live my life. I question everything I find to be worth questioning, everything I think is too easy or too blindly accepted. In this sense, Buddhism is unlike Christianity and most other religions. It is a working religion, not a following religion. There is no take it or leave it attitude. I have read many books on Buddhism and yes I am personally interested in it as a religion to a certain extent, but what appeals to me the most is its philosophy of pushing me to personally search through my thoughts, emotions, and actions. This in order to discover and minimize the negative affects I have on myself and others.
This response has led me to a possible structure for our documentary. I think that it's pretty obvious that we are targeting Americans with our documentary, and Americans are predominately Christian. I know that I personally, before I knew anything about Buddhism, just categorized it into another one of those far away ancient cultures with a bunch of gods and weird rituals to follow that has little to nothing to do with me. So I think it would be interesting to set up the documentary with this sort of attitude because when it comes down to it, Buddhism does have the ability to come off as some far away religion with astounding history that is not our history. I knew a pretty good amount about Buddhism before we went to the monastery, and I was still intimidated by it. But then we took off our shoes, walked through this tiny little kitchen and into this small living room type of space in an old beat-up house to find just a man who we call a monk sitting on the floor next to a telephone, talking to several Americans about the most casual things: where we were from, how he remembered talking to Christy on the phone, how the reporter used to come take pictures of them, etc. He laughed a lot and smiled constantly. It just becomes obvious that the gigantic brick wall that we create around a religion like this is just that, what WE have created. Yes, that monk, Tan Ajahn (I'm not sure how to pronounce it but it is a name just like all of ours), does a lot of things that I don't understand, but I understand how he laughs and smiles and thinks and talks to people, etc because I do the same things. I think that demonstrating this in a documentary would be a step in finding common ground. We as human beings physically walk on common ground (the earth). Why can't we mentally do the same?
peace, genevieve
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Random BLOG
So I just thought I would write a "diary" of our first day at the monestary for anyone interested. When the three of us first arrived, we had little idea of where to go or what to do. When we were finally lead into a small house in front of the temple (and after taking off our shoes, because apparantly it's etiquette to be barefoot while in service) we were guided into a very small room where the abbot was seated indian style on a small platform (as seen in our pictures) After I made an ass of myself by extending my hand to greet the monk, we were told to sit down and quickly learned that not only are women to have no physical contact with the monk at all, but no one should ever stand above him, or be above him. For this reason we all sat around him, slightly lower than he was. I thought the service was exceptionally interesting. As people came in there was a large table cloth type thing in the middle of the floor where each person was placing a dish of food. After the "prayer" or chanting, one by one each person crawled on thier knees, over to the food and offered each dish to the monk. Being authentic Thai dishes there was everything from cinnamon hard boiled eggs, to fruit, to rice (alot of rice) to chicken and to be honest, some things that i had no idea what to make of. After each person handed a dish to the monk (women had to place thier dishes on a cloth infront of him, since he is not allowed to directly give or take anything from a woman's hands) he took a spoon and put a small amount of each dish into a huge bowl similar to the one pictured above. Eventually, he had a little bit of everything in the dish. Im not sure how good all of those things and flavors could taste togeather, but I suppose that doesnt make a difference to him. (We also decided that next time we're going to bring an "offering" to participate) When the monk had accepted all of the offerings, we were told to go outside while he ate. No one is to be with him while he eats, as he only eats once a day before noon. We gathered with the rest of the people and shared what was left of the dishes. It was kind of like a Thai potluck. I tried a little bit of everything and learned that anything red is SPICY!! After lunch we gathered back into the house and meditated. It was really unique and calming. When that was over, we took viles of water outside and poured them on the ground clockwise in 7 circles to spread our "merit" (good luck, karma). After taking a few more pictures and talking to some of the Buddhists we were on our way. It was a really cool experience and though hard to explain, is something I think everyone should try at least once. Regardless of your religion or beliefs, everyone was so kind and welcoming, especially the abbot, who made each of us neaklaces with buddha on them before we left. I'm really looking forward to our next visit. I think we'll bring fruit.
Posted by "CRITTY" (As pronounced by the Abbot, which I thought was kina cool . .)
*Christy
Monday, February 12, 2007
pics
here are just a few pics from our first visit to the monastery. more to come as i edit them:
christy taking a 35mm shot of the monk:
buddhist etiquette:
buddha on the top of the monastery building:
sanskrit sign:
a buddha at the top of a shrine:
christy taking a 35mm shot of the monk:
buddhist etiquette:
buddha on the top of the monastery building:
sanskrit sign:
a buddha at the top of a shrine:
Observational Footage
We had little idea of what to expect besides our preconceived assumptions of the monestary before our visit. I myself had expected a lavish pleace of serenity, lit by candles and filled with monks. I had thought that we might have to be quiet most of the time and wouldn’t be able to take pictures of things considered “sacred” or “holy”. Not only were my assumptions completely wrong, but for the best. When we arrived, we noticed a small gravel parking lot where a few cars were pulling in. We made our way to the temple before us only to find it empty. A woman guided us to the very small house which was situated beside the parking lot. Before entering we took off our shoes. When we finally made it inside, we were pleased to find he abbot, as well as a handful of others who had arrived for the service. Most of them, surprisingly, were Caucasion. For our next project, the observational footage on 16 mm, we are hoping to attend an annual festival and capture as much as we can. We were told by those who attended service that this festival in particular would be one of the best days to come out and not only get footage, but learn more about the religion and its customs. We’ve heard that there could be anywhere from 100-300 people attending this event, so we’re pretty excited to see what and who we’ll be able to capture. The festival is called Magha Pucha. Magha Pucha Day is one of the special buddhist holy days. On this day 1250 Arahant monks came together without prior arrangement to pay homage to the lord Buddha at Veruvana monestary. More importantly, it was the first and only occasion that the Lord Buddha addressed to his disciples the Ovadha-Patimokkha, also known as the Fundamentals of Buddhism. The Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram has planned to have the ceremony on Sunday, February 25, 2007. Following lunch we will meditate with the monks and end with a candle procession. We are hoping to really capture a piece of history as well as tradition on Sunday. Though this is considered a holy day, we will have to be sure of what we can and cannot film as we do not want to be disrespectful. I feel that this is going to be a great way for people to be a part of the ceremony who wouldn’t normally know anything about it. Simply because of the sheer genuineness and welcoming aura of the Buddhists, I am sure that this footage will be an inspiring and calming experience for all.
*Christy
*Christy
3 New Resources
Calli found several resources on the NewsBank database:
A day in the life of the Buddhist monks at Wat Carolina
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
September 20, 2006
Author: Crystal S. Tatum
This article is about the Buddhist Monks at Wat Carolina and what a typical day looks like for them.
ONLY IN . . . Buddhist temple emits good vibes
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
December 31, 2005
Author: Jana Clancey, Assistant City Editor
This article has general information about Wat Carolina, like how it got started and how it is the only Buddhist temple in Southeastern North Carolina.
Cape Fear Region -
Religious Organizations
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
December 18, 2005
This article talks about the different religious groups, (including Wat Carolina) in the Wilmington area.
peace, genevieve
A day in the life of the Buddhist monks at Wat Carolina
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
September 20, 2006
Author: Crystal S. Tatum
This article is about the Buddhist Monks at Wat Carolina and what a typical day looks like for them.
ONLY IN . . . Buddhist temple emits good vibes
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
December 31, 2005
Author: Jana Clancey, Assistant City Editor
This article has general information about Wat Carolina, like how it got started and how it is the only Buddhist temple in Southeastern North Carolina.
Cape Fear Region -
Religious Organizations
Star-News (Wilmington, NC)
December 18, 2005
This article talks about the different religious groups, (including Wat Carolina) in the Wilmington area.
peace, genevieve
Expert Interview Possibilities
For our expert interview, we have several possibilities.
The obvious choice would be the monk himself:
Abbott Phrakru Buddhamonpricha
Phone 910-253-4526
Fax 910-453-6618
email info@wat-carolina.com
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram
1610 Midway Road
Bolivia, N.C. 28422, U.S.A
There is also a young man living there with the monk so we could interview him as well although he seemed rather quiet.
There are two men and one woman who gave us their cards and spoke with us at length and seem like very knowledgeable and interesting characters:
Randall Hill is a man who worked for The Sun News and did an in-depth multimedia story on the monastery. The link can be found on our site here or from the monastery's website. He said that he came to the monastery for two years without ever participating. He finished his piece in 2002 and now attends the monastery for personal rather than professional reasons so he would be an excellent person to interview.
Jim Copp is a Vietnam veteran who has been attending the monastery since it began and helped build all of the new structures. He told us of his imprisonment and search for POWs that he continues to this day as well as how buddhism has affected his life.
Ella Hill is an expressive arts therapist and buddhist who as her card says combines "image, dance, story, music, drumming, dreamwork, writing and visual art to meet your needs." She seems like someone who would have a lot to tell us.
peace, genevieve
The obvious choice would be the monk himself:
Abbott Phrakru Buddhamonpricha
Phone 910-253-4526
Fax 910-453-6618
email info@wat-carolina.com
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram
1610 Midway Road
Bolivia, N.C. 28422, U.S.A
There is also a young man living there with the monk so we could interview him as well although he seemed rather quiet.
There are two men and one woman who gave us their cards and spoke with us at length and seem like very knowledgeable and interesting characters:
Randall Hill is a man who worked for The Sun News and did an in-depth multimedia story on the monastery. The link can be found on our site here or from the monastery's website. He said that he came to the monastery for two years without ever participating. He finished his piece in 2002 and now attends the monastery for personal rather than professional reasons so he would be an excellent person to interview.
Jim Copp is a Vietnam veteran who has been attending the monastery since it began and helped build all of the new structures. He told us of his imprisonment and search for POWs that he continues to this day as well as how buddhism has affected his life.
Ella Hill is an expressive arts therapist and buddhist who as her card says combines "image, dance, story, music, drumming, dreamwork, writing and visual art to meet your needs." She seems like someone who would have a lot to tell us.
peace, genevieve
Who is our Audience?
We are trying to target an audience of all ages, ethnicities and religions. This film will mostly attract people in the Wilmington, NC area, because most people probably do not know about the monastery and will be interested to learn about it. While this film should intrigue most people in the Wilmington area; we also want to target the rest of the country, because the film is not only about the monastery, but also about a world region in the Bible belt south. We hope to achieve this but getting the film into some film festivals in different places throughout the country. We also hope that that film will not only attract the Buddhist community but also other religious communities. Other religious comminutes may be interested to learn about how non-Christian religions are treated in the south. The film is targeted for all ages. However, the most interested age groups are probably going to be college age to middle age adults. Therefore, we would definitely publicize our film in universities as well as community arts centers. We believe that this film could be of interest to all different types of people and we will try to make it available to as many people as possible.
Posted by Calli
Posted by Calli
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Bolex Assigment description and Shooting Schedule
We have planned to shoot our 16mm footage on Sunday, February 25 because it is the day during which the temple is observing a holy day called Magha Pucha Day. Below is the ceremony’s description and schedule as we will plan our shoot around their activities:
Magha Pucha Day is one of the special Buddhist’s holy days which falls on the full moon day of the third lunar month (February). On this day 1250 Arahant monks came together without prior arrangement to pay homage to the lord Buddha at Veruvana monastery. More importantly, it was the first and only occasion that the Lord Buddha addressed to his disciples the Ovadha-Patimokkha, also known as the Fundamentals of Buddhism. And therefore, this extraordinary event is called the Fourfold Assembly and was marked by four factors:
1. The assembly of 1250 Arahants (Enlightened)
2. The Arahants were ordained by the Lord Buddha himself.
3. The Arahants came on their own accord without prior arrangement.
4. It was the full moon day of the third lunar month.
9:45 am Guests arrive at the temple.
10:15 am Presiding chairman lights the ceremonial candles and incense and Initiates chanting the Commandments. Invocational chanting by the assembled monks.
10:45 am Guests present food offering to the assembled monks. Assembled guests then dine together separately from the monks.
12:30 pm Present “Phapa or Money Tree” as part of the fund raising. The Presiding monk presents the sermon “Makha Puja Khatha” with Translation.
All guests participate in meditation with the monks after presentation of the sermon as the offering to the Lord Buddha. Follows with the candle procession in the building floor with elaborathe candle lantern made for the occasion. The procession moves clockwise three times around the temple. Conclusion of formal ceremonies.
This seems like a very rich ceremony as far as for photographic and filming opportunities. Our shooting schedule will be roughly as follows, although we will alter it willingly if an important piece of observation presents itself:
9:45 am – 10:15 am film no more than about 30 seconds of people arriving at the temple
10:15 am – 12:30 pm film approximately 1 minute of chanting and candle lighting. (we might film the offering of the food, but that would probably be better shot with a digital camera for color purposes.)
12:30 pm – end film everyone meditating, especially the monks
film the candle procession, perhaps from the center as it moves around in circles or following over the shoulder of a monk. At least 1 minute of film, hopefully more.
peace, genevieve
Magha Pucha Day is one of the special Buddhist’s holy days which falls on the full moon day of the third lunar month (February). On this day 1250 Arahant monks came together without prior arrangement to pay homage to the lord Buddha at Veruvana monastery. More importantly, it was the first and only occasion that the Lord Buddha addressed to his disciples the Ovadha-Patimokkha, also known as the Fundamentals of Buddhism. And therefore, this extraordinary event is called the Fourfold Assembly and was marked by four factors:
1. The assembly of 1250 Arahants (Enlightened)
2. The Arahants were ordained by the Lord Buddha himself.
3. The Arahants came on their own accord without prior arrangement.
4. It was the full moon day of the third lunar month.
9:45 am Guests arrive at the temple.
10:15 am Presiding chairman lights the ceremonial candles and incense and Initiates chanting the Commandments. Invocational chanting by the assembled monks.
10:45 am Guests present food offering to the assembled monks. Assembled guests then dine together separately from the monks.
12:30 pm Present “Phapa or Money Tree” as part of the fund raising. The Presiding monk presents the sermon “Makha Puja Khatha” with Translation.
All guests participate in meditation with the monks after presentation of the sermon as the offering to the Lord Buddha. Follows with the candle procession in the building floor with elaborathe candle lantern made for the occasion. The procession moves clockwise three times around the temple. Conclusion of formal ceremonies.
This seems like a very rich ceremony as far as for photographic and filming opportunities. Our shooting schedule will be roughly as follows, although we will alter it willingly if an important piece of observation presents itself:
9:45 am – 10:15 am film no more than about 30 seconds of people arriving at the temple
10:15 am – 12:30 pm film approximately 1 minute of chanting and candle lighting. (we might film the offering of the food, but that would probably be better shot with a digital camera for color purposes.)
12:30 pm – end film everyone meditating, especially the monks
film the candle procession, perhaps from the center as it moves around in circles or following over the shoulder of a monk. At least 1 minute of film, hopefully more.
peace, genevieve
Monday, February 5, 2007
35mm Still Descriptions
so i posted our 35mm still photos from our trip to the monastery on sunday, feb 4. with the exception of one shot (we had some exposure problems), we have 3 different forms of each framing, each using a different f-stop. we've posted all the forms and will then decide which we find to be best exposed. i think that some are obvious and some are not so we will have to make the first of our creative decisions. below are brief explanations of the shots:
Still #1:
this is a sign posted on a tree made out of a slice of tree. there is writing in sanskrit i am guessing, but we don't know what it says...something for us to find out on our next visit. the sign is located right before the long walkway up to the newest building.
Still #2:
we hoped to illustrate the unique architecture of the monastery in this photo. i imagine that there are philosophical reasons for it being constructed like it is, but nonetheless it is beautiful.
Still #3:
this photo is a more direct shot of the largest building. the monks and members of the monastery have been working on building this for something like 18 years. they buy concrete pilings and beams as money is donated. and for example, if someone purchases a building material for the monastery, his or her name is stenciled directly onto it, making a truly communal structure.
Still #4:
this photo was unplanned. we were towards the end of our stay at the monastery and this group of people had stayed behind to speak with the monk. one of the girls had been very vocal with her questions and objections to what the monk had been speaking about earlier. he had answered her patiently and happily and then took them outside to pour their water into the earth. we all took part in this ritual as it was meant to pass on our 'merit' to other living entities. at first i tried to frame out the vehicle because i thought it took away from the beauty of the moment, but now i think it almost portrays this ancient religion's adaptation to modern culture. (though the vehicle was certainly not the monk's)
Still #5:
this is just one of many shrines within the monastery. it is situated next to where the monk held service that day. there are countless buddha statues and figurines stacked to the ceiling.
Still #6:
this photo was taken by suggestion of one of the long time buddhist members. they seemed proud to show us that the monks living at the monastery were internet savvy. he also pointed out that they did not, however, play games, etc. but used their computer for communication purposes only. i think mostly this shot exemplifies a religion open to change.
Still #7:
this could possibly have been our best shot if it had not been for some exposure problems. i think the better of the two pictures still captures a great moment. the monk is not actually meditating here, but he is in meditating position. in fact, he is posing for this picture. when we first arrived at the monastery, we were nervous about taking pictures because we weren't sure if it was polite or even allowed in some circumstances. after talking with several veterans to the monastery, we quickly learned that everyone including the monks welcome photographs being taken and really anything. i didn't take it at all to be a form of vanity, but rather i felt like the monk and everyone wanted us and anyone else to take from this experience whatever we wished. we will certainly take more photos of this sort on future visits.
i also took a bunch of digital stills....i will post them as soon as they are edited and ready to go...
peace. genevieve
Still #1:
this is a sign posted on a tree made out of a slice of tree. there is writing in sanskrit i am guessing, but we don't know what it says...something for us to find out on our next visit. the sign is located right before the long walkway up to the newest building.
Still #2:
we hoped to illustrate the unique architecture of the monastery in this photo. i imagine that there are philosophical reasons for it being constructed like it is, but nonetheless it is beautiful.
Still #3:
this photo is a more direct shot of the largest building. the monks and members of the monastery have been working on building this for something like 18 years. they buy concrete pilings and beams as money is donated. and for example, if someone purchases a building material for the monastery, his or her name is stenciled directly onto it, making a truly communal structure.
Still #4:
this photo was unplanned. we were towards the end of our stay at the monastery and this group of people had stayed behind to speak with the monk. one of the girls had been very vocal with her questions and objections to what the monk had been speaking about earlier. he had answered her patiently and happily and then took them outside to pour their water into the earth. we all took part in this ritual as it was meant to pass on our 'merit' to other living entities. at first i tried to frame out the vehicle because i thought it took away from the beauty of the moment, but now i think it almost portrays this ancient religion's adaptation to modern culture. (though the vehicle was certainly not the monk's)
Still #5:
this is just one of many shrines within the monastery. it is situated next to where the monk held service that day. there are countless buddha statues and figurines stacked to the ceiling.
Still #6:
this photo was taken by suggestion of one of the long time buddhist members. they seemed proud to show us that the monks living at the monastery were internet savvy. he also pointed out that they did not, however, play games, etc. but used their computer for communication purposes only. i think mostly this shot exemplifies a religion open to change.
Still #7:
this could possibly have been our best shot if it had not been for some exposure problems. i think the better of the two pictures still captures a great moment. the monk is not actually meditating here, but he is in meditating position. in fact, he is posing for this picture. when we first arrived at the monastery, we were nervous about taking pictures because we weren't sure if it was polite or even allowed in some circumstances. after talking with several veterans to the monastery, we quickly learned that everyone including the monks welcome photographs being taken and really anything. i didn't take it at all to be a form of vanity, but rather i felt like the monk and everyone wanted us and anyone else to take from this experience whatever we wished. we will certainly take more photos of this sort on future visits.
i also took a bunch of digital stills....i will post them as soon as they are edited and ready to go...
peace. genevieve
Saturday, February 3, 2007
photographic opportunities
i was google-ing wat carolina images, and i stumbled upon some group that took a spring break trip to the monastery. here are their pictures:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://eddie.mcs.muohio.edu/gallery2/d/41880-2/11.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eddie.mcs.muohio.edu/gallery2/v/chuck/2001/March01/&h=150&w=200&sz=7&hl=en&start=32&tbnid=-JTXT_Wq0LQJ5M:&tbnh=78&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwat%2Bcarolina%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN
calli, christi, and i have planned our photography trip to the monastery for tomorrow after christi called them....the monastery holds a service at 10:30 am on sundays. i think we're going a little early to meet the monks and look around so i'm really excited. i know that there will be plenty of visual opportunities to photograph and just take in. this will be my first time experiencing a buddhist service so i plan on soaking it up. i will definitely have my digital camera, and i might even take my video camera. the monastery seems like a very inviting place. we'll let you know how it goes....
peace. genevieve
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://eddie.mcs.muohio.edu/gallery2/d/41880-2/11.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eddie.mcs.muohio.edu/gallery2/v/chuck/2001/March01/&h=150&w=200&sz=7&hl=en&start=32&tbnid=-JTXT_Wq0LQJ5M:&tbnh=78&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwat%2Bcarolina%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN
calli, christi, and i have planned our photography trip to the monastery for tomorrow after christi called them....the monastery holds a service at 10:30 am on sundays. i think we're going a little early to meet the monks and look around so i'm really excited. i know that there will be plenty of visual opportunities to photograph and just take in. this will be my first time experiencing a buddhist service so i plan on soaking it up. i will definitely have my digital camera, and i might even take my video camera. the monastery seems like a very inviting place. we'll let you know how it goes....
peace. genevieve
google it
i've been doing some surfing on the internets....
this is creative wilmington's little feature on wat carolina, with some cool pictures:
http://www.creativewilmington.com/member_detail.php?id=449
and here are some youtube videos:
buddhist images/iconography set to the tunes of madonna?.....
quotes by albert einstein:
buddhism in the news:
peace. genevieve
this is creative wilmington's little feature on wat carolina, with some cool pictures:
http://www.creativewilmington.com/member_detail.php?id=449
and here are some youtube videos:
buddhist images/iconography set to the tunes of madonna?.....
quotes by albert einstein:
buddhism in the news:
peace. genevieve
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Mission Statement
"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity"
-Albert Einstein (http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm)
Welcome to our blog! We are planning to produce a short documentary on the Wat Carolina Buddhist Monastery in Bolivia, North Carolina. Opening as the first of its kind in North Carolina in 1988, Wat Carolina has grown to be one of the most important Buddhist communities in the Southeast. The following is a brief history of its founder:
“Abbot Phrakru Buddhamonpricha came to Oak Island in l986 to visit his two sisters, Suntaree Hemvong and Suban Potijinda, and a brother, Sounthone Hemvong, who owned the Ocean Crest Pier and Motel in what was then Long Beach, N.C. In l987, the four of them founded the Buddhist Association of North Carolina, and after his siblings donated 21 acres of land, Phrakru returned to America from Indonesia to establish the Wat Carolina Monastery, which opened later that year.” (http://www.wat-carolina.com/history.php)
Buddhist religion consists mainly of practicing ways of life in order to achieve enlightenment. Through many rules and guidelines, one could essentially become free from the stresses of everyday life simply by taking it for what it is. Percieving everything at face value sets you free from the suffering or sorrows of life.
Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide and is considered a major world religion. According to one source, "World estimates for Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with most around 350 million." However, estimates are uncertain for several countries. According to one analysis, Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism)
Most of the congregation is Thai but the Wat welcomes visitors from all walks and ways of life. Services are held every Sunday consisting of Thai chanting and meditation sessions, and they also celebrate several Buddhist holidays.
Wat Carolina is located in Bolivia, a small rural town 20 minutes outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. Lacking ethic diversity and predominately Baptist (with a Baptist church right next door), Bolivia makes for an ironic location for Wat Carolina. However, Wat Carolina has seemed to successfully found a home in Bolivia.
Our goal with this documentary is to illustrate how this particular Buddhist community functions within itself, interacts with outside communities, as well as what it means to be a minority religion in the Bible Belt (the monastery is adjacent to a large Baptist church).
We plan on using 35mm still photographs, 16mm film, as well as digital resources to create our documentary. Included will be personal interviews detailing the lifestyle and traditions of the Wat Carolina. Hopefully our experience will culturally open our eyes as well as others. Being in a “Bible Belt” state can provide for a lack of diversity in ethnicity as well as religion. We are looking forward to sharing our experience with you.
-Posted by Genevieve, Christy, Calli
-Albert Einstein (http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm)
Welcome to our blog! We are planning to produce a short documentary on the Wat Carolina Buddhist Monastery in Bolivia, North Carolina. Opening as the first of its kind in North Carolina in 1988, Wat Carolina has grown to be one of the most important Buddhist communities in the Southeast. The following is a brief history of its founder:
“Abbot Phrakru Buddhamonpricha came to Oak Island in l986 to visit his two sisters, Suntaree Hemvong and Suban Potijinda, and a brother, Sounthone Hemvong, who owned the Ocean Crest Pier and Motel in what was then Long Beach, N.C. In l987, the four of them founded the Buddhist Association of North Carolina, and after his siblings donated 21 acres of land, Phrakru returned to America from Indonesia to establish the Wat Carolina Monastery, which opened later that year.” (http://www.wat-carolina.com/history.php)
Buddhist religion consists mainly of practicing ways of life in order to achieve enlightenment. Through many rules and guidelines, one could essentially become free from the stresses of everyday life simply by taking it for what it is. Percieving everything at face value sets you free from the suffering or sorrows of life.
Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide and is considered a major world religion. According to one source, "World estimates for Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with most around 350 million." However, estimates are uncertain for several countries. According to one analysis, Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism)
Most of the congregation is Thai but the Wat welcomes visitors from all walks and ways of life. Services are held every Sunday consisting of Thai chanting and meditation sessions, and they also celebrate several Buddhist holidays.
Wat Carolina is located in Bolivia, a small rural town 20 minutes outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. Lacking ethic diversity and predominately Baptist (with a Baptist church right next door), Bolivia makes for an ironic location for Wat Carolina. However, Wat Carolina has seemed to successfully found a home in Bolivia.
Our goal with this documentary is to illustrate how this particular Buddhist community functions within itself, interacts with outside communities, as well as what it means to be a minority religion in the Bible Belt (the monastery is adjacent to a large Baptist church).
We plan on using 35mm still photographs, 16mm film, as well as digital resources to create our documentary. Included will be personal interviews detailing the lifestyle and traditions of the Wat Carolina. Hopefully our experience will culturally open our eyes as well as others. Being in a “Bible Belt” state can provide for a lack of diversity in ethnicity as well as religion. We are looking forward to sharing our experience with you.
-Posted by Genevieve, Christy, Calli
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