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Hermits, Modern Chinese Practitioners

Posted on January 22, 2021January 22, 2021 by Dharma Documentaries
A record of meetings with contemporary eremetical practitioners living in the mountains in China.

 Hermits, Modern Chinese Practioners

In 1989 Bill Porter, who had become well-known as the American translator of Chinese Zen works, Red Pine, went to China to see if there was a living tradition of practioners of the ancient meditation and eremetical traditions he had been translating.

In the Zhongnan mountains near Xi-an he found that there were still dozens of people practicing in the ancient ways, leading very solitary and simple lives deep in the mountains, and he wrote a book about his experiences, called .

This book was also translated into Chinese and became very popular, and when Bill returned to the same mountains in 2014 he was very well received. This film is a record of his meetings 25 years after his original encounters, mainly with newer disciples on the path.

The film, which consists mainly of conversations between Bill and the hermits, is itself very contemplative and supports well the theme of its main story. Being beautifully, calmly and simply shot and edited, it brings to life the enduring essence of the monastic life as it is currently lived by both Buddhism and Taoist, lay and monastic, and male and female practioners in contemporary China.

 

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to see an album of screenshots click here

 

TAGS:
Dharma, China, Lay Teachers, Monastics, Translators, Yogis

7 thoughts on “Hermits, Modern Chinese Practitioners”

  1. Andree says:
    January 22, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    Superb, and beautifully slow

    Reply
  2. Tom says:
    June 26, 2021 at 9:26 pm

    This is wonderful, thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  3. shulin says:
    December 15, 2022 at 7:17 am

    Magnifique! Merci pour ce partage.

    Reply
  4. Anshu Henri says:
    December 16, 2022 at 6:25 am

    Thank you for this beautiful documentary.
    諳手

    Reply
  5. Laura says:
    December 16, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    Fascinates me being allowed to immerse (travel) into these quiet worlds of solitude with you. Grateful that you and the hermits shared the time with us. Simply incredible to see and hear. Wondering when this crazy world will completely encroach on them and hoping so much that it never will.

    Reply
  6. Jim Quinn says:
    February 14, 2024 at 9:56 pm

    Is this going to available on DVD

    Reply
    1. Dharma Documentaries says:
      February 15, 2024 at 9:23 am

      I don’t know about that, but you could always download it and write it to DVD yourself.

      Reply

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