This is a film from 2003 looking at the establishment of Buddhism as a living religious force in New Zealand, mainly over the previous 20 years of its development, when many Kiwis have taken it up.
The film, which was made by Cameron Broadhurst and Geoff Moore, has a number of sections, and looks at its subject from various angles: origins, history, monastic life, differences (in cultural understanding), traditions (Theravada, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen and others) and the future.
It mainly allows the Buddhists, lay and monastic, both local born and immigrant, to speak for themselves about how they see the religion. We are introduced along the way to a series of very likeable characters who say what Buddhism has meant to them, its position in NZ society, and the role it may take in the future.
It would be interesting to see a film on the same subject made now, and to see how it has developed over the years, and what the current interest in Buddhism is in the country.
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to see an album of stills click here