一心
ONE MIND
a film by Edward A. Burger, 2016
filmed in Jiangxi Provence, China / 81 min / 16:9 / Mandarin w/ English subtitles
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
OUTREACH MATERIALS
SCREENINGS
PURCHASE ONE MIND
Synopsis
ONE MIND is a rare cinematic portrait of life inside one of China’s most austere and revered Zen communities. The monks at Zhenru Chan Monastery continue to uphold a strict monastic code established over 1200 years ago by the founding patriarchs of Zen in China. In harmony with the land that sustains them, the monks operate an organic farm, grow tea, and harvest bamboo to fuel their kitchen fires. At the heart of this community, a group of cloistered meditators sit in silence for 8 hours every day. Suggesting a Zen version of the critically acclaimed film Into Great Silence, ONE MIND offers an intimate glimpse into a thriving Buddhist monastery in modern China.
Director Edward A. Burger (Amongst White Clouds) has lived and studied with Buddhist communities in China for over 15 years, and is the first Western filmmaker to be granted such unprecedented access to the daily rituals and traditions practiced in this remote mountain monastery.
But more than a portrait of life within this monastic community, ONE MIND is an experiment in Buddhist filmmaking. A markedly quiet and contemplative film, Burger has set forth to craft a documentary that is not ‘about’ Buddhism, but rather a ‘Buddhist film’. Taking inspiration from traditional Zen stories and lessons told to him by elder monks and teachers at Zhenru monastery, each chapter of the film explores the trials and challenges we all must face when we set forth to become wiser, kinder human beings. In ONE MIND we learn that this journey begins when we turn our gaze inward. That no matter how far we have traveled and how many mountains and valleys we have crossed, the true adventure awaits us within the landscapes of our own mind.
“Incredible footage. To be any closer you’d have to shave your head.”
“The Zhenru Monastery monks filmed in One Mind are the epitome of this other way of being in the world. It is a microsociety based on core values of wisdom and kindness.
Les moines du monastère de Zhenru filmés dans One Mind sont l’exemple même de cette autre façon d’être dans le monde. Il s’agit d’une microsociété fondée sur des valeurs fondamentales de sagesse et de gentillesse.”
“A great opportunity to recharge your batteries and take the time to reflect. Even to meditate.
Une belle occasion de se ressourcer et de prendre le temps de la réflexion. Voire de la méditation.”
“The author creates curiosity rather than drying it up. The rituals will thus keep their mystery, while the tea picking will take on a certain delicacy...
L’auteur crée la curiosité plutôt qu’il ne la tarie. Les rituels garderont ainsi de leur mystère, alors que la cueillette du thé revêtira une certaine délicatesse...”
“This is an authentic Chan [Buddhist] film.”
“Edward Burger’s film gives us a rare and unique insight into how Chan Buddhism is practiced today. It is an important educational tool and a must purchase for serious academics and teachers.”
“... a visual representation of the contemplative state of mind. ”
“One Mind is itself a contemplative exercise, as it shapes our attention and perception and draws us into the immediacy of the present.”
“The filmmaker, Edward Burger, was clearly resident in the monastery and a participant in its communal life. As a result he can show us not just the detail of Chan monastic life but how it all coheres in the experience of “one mind.””
“This hour spent in the company of the monks of Zhenru gives air to our life.
Cette heure passée en compagnie des moines de Zhenru donne de l’air à notre vie.
”
Watch Director Edward Burger share about his motivations for studying at Zhenru Monastery and making ONE MIND
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