{"id":11269,"date":"2011-11-19T04:11:28","date_gmt":"2011-11-19T04:11:28","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-11-18T20:11:55","modified_gmt":"2011-11-18T20:11:55","slug":"Film-on--Bad-boy-of-Buddhism--influenced-Jobs-and-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=11269","title":{"rendered":"Film on “Bad boy of Buddhism” influenced Jobs and others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tibetan Buddhism is doubling its numbers faster than any other religion in Australia and the U.S.A.<\/strong> How did it happen? CRAZY WISDOM<\/strong> explores this profound cultural shift through the story of Chogyam Trungpa<\/strong>, the brilliant “bad boy of Buddhism.” <\/p>\n

Born in Tibet, trained in their rigorous monastic tradition, Trungpa fled the Communist invasion in 1959.<\/strong> In Britain, seeing the cultural gap blocked his students from any deep understanding of Buddhism, he renounced his vows, eloped with a sixteen year-old, and lived as a westerner. In the U.S., he openly drank alcohol and had intimate relations with students.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Was this the \u201ccrazy wisdom\u201d that his Tibetan colleagues recognized as an authentic way to manifest in the world?<\/strong> And was it \u201ccrazy wisdom\u201d that helped him build the first Buddhist university in the western hemisphere and articulate the Buddhist path in a way that would sweep across the country in one short decade? <\/p>\n

Trungpa landed in the U.S. in 1970 and legend has it that he said to his students:<\/strong> “Take me to your poets.” He drew a following of the country’s prominent spiritual teachers and intellectuals – including R.D. Laing, John Cage, Ram Dass, Robert Thurman, and Pema Chodron.<\/strong> Poet Allen Ginsberg considered Trungpa his guru; Catholic priest Thomas Merton wanted to write a book with him; music icon Joni Mitchell wrote a song about him. Trungpa became renowned for translating ancient Buddhist concepts into language and ideas that Westerners could understand.<\/strong> Humor was always a part of his teaching – “Enlightenment is better than Disneyland,” he quipped, and he warned of the dangers of the “Western spiritual supermarket.” <\/p>\n

Initially judged harshly by the Tibetan establishment, Trungpa’s teachings are now recognized by both western and eastern philosophers and spiritual leaders, including the Dalai Lama, as authentic and profound.<\/strong> Today, twenty years after his death, Trungpa’s books have been translated into thirty-one languages and sell worldwide in the millions. His book, “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” has profoundly influenced Steve Jobs.<\/strong> Trungpa’s organization thrives in thirty countries and five continents. Yet Trungpa’s name still evokes admiration and outrage. What made him tick, and just what is crazy wisdom anyway? <\/p>\n

Veteran director Johanna Demetrakas uses archival footage, visual effects, interviews, and original imagery to build a film that mirrors Trungpa’s challenging energy and invites viewers to go beyond fixed ideas about our teachers and leaders. <\/p>\n

After sell out screenings at the Maui, Santa Barbara and Boulder film festivals, the film will open at the Rubin Museum in New York on Friday, November 25 (for a full week run), and at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica on Friday, December 2. Other cities will follow.<\/strong><\/p>\n