Chenrezig, Mandala of Compassion (Tibet in Glastonbury)

This is a short documentary by Tim Knock and Gareth Redpath about a visit made by Tibetan monks of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in southern India to Glastonbury, the new-age capital of England.

It is indeed a bit of a meeting of cultures, but they seem to gel together well enough, fitting in against a background of magick shops and new-age book stores, which apparently litter the streets in the town these days.

The most interesting part is the good description the narrator gives of the mandala and its meaning, and there is also some very fine photography and editing, but the short interviews seemed less satisfactory to me.

The monks made the visit as part of a fund raising tour of Europe for the monastery, which they undertake each year it seems, and although we don’t hear much from them themselves, they seem quite at home in cold England.