Bernardo Bertulucci's Little Buddha

Little Buddha, inspired by a TRUE STORY, is moving drama from Academy Award-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci. It tells the story of a Tibetan monk known as Lama Norbu (Ying Ruocheng), living in exile in Bhutan, and is searching for the reincarnation of his teacher, Lama Dorje. His quest takes him to Seattle, where signs indicate that a boy named Jesse may be the lama. Cultures collide when we meet the boy's American parents (Bridget Fonda and actor/singer Chris Isaak), who are understandably skeptical about Lama Norbu's excitement. Ultimately, Jesse and his father are curious enough to travel to Nepal and Bhutan (as did Bertolucci's crew), where other candidates have been identified. Throughout the film, Bertolucci cuts to episodes in the life of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves), whose voyage of discovery 2,500 years ago led to his enlightenment as the Buddha. Bertolucci shoots Siddhartha's journey in rich reds and golds, while the scenes in Seattle--where the Americans seem morose and lost--are muted in cool blue. LITTLE BUDDHA is an intimate story in which an ancient system of belief holds its own in the modern world.

This beautifully filmed, little movie filmed mostly in Thailand, is sooooo moving - and such a cinematic experience for me especially seeing the SIDDHARTHA story line come to life in the big screen... Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is one of my all time FAVE books...

So this movie is really a story within a story of a movie... subtlely and beautifully told -- on all counts. And as an added BONUS, Siddhartha is played by a very young Keanu Reeves.

Could He really Be???

As reported by the Associated Press: People from all over the world are flocking to Nepal to worship a teenage boy who many believe is the reincarnation of Buddha. Followers say Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, re-emerged from the Ratanpur jungle, about 160km south of Kathmandu, after meditating without food and water for more than three years.

It is said that he was last spotted in the jungles of southern Nepal in 2005, and is believed to have spent months without moving, sitting with his eyes closed beneath a tree For those who worship such a feat, Ram's appearance was a chance to witness the miracle in the flesh.
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So, is it something to BELIEVE IN??? I would like to, as am sure a lot of people would... I even wish I could trek to Nepal now and see him in person, myself.... It would be GREAT to personally witness him surrounded by a line of Buddhist monks, blessing followers with what the devotees call, the "divine touch", from a podium. I would even try to get blessed -- no matter what religion you follow, one should never refuse blessings.

Ram Bahadur Bamjan, has never claimed to be Buddha, he is expected to address his followers today, Nov. 18, then retreat again into the jungle for meditation.