Product Details

• Actors: Richard Kohn
• Format: Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Festival Media
• DVD Release Date: September 19, 2006
• Run Time: 57 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HOMSRW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,076 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Boston Globe

"Jewel of a documentary."

Product Description

First time on DVD–As Seen on PBS

The Secret World of a Tibetan Lama
Unprecedented access and intimate knowledge inform this richly detailed and beautifully filmed portrait of a secret Tibetan Buddhist ritual, the Mani Rimdu festival, and the remarkable spiritual teacher, Trulshik Rinpoche, who leads and preserves this centuries-old tradition. Richard Gere narrates with the clarity and resonant depth of an insider. This is a very special chance to witness a private sacred realm as if you were there.

Filmed on location in Nepal
Narrated by Richard Gere
Written and Directed by Richard Kohn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent documentary on the mysticism of Tibet, July 23, 2008

By 

Marc Olmsted (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Destroyer of Illusion (DVD)

Anyone familiar with Buddhism only along the lines of breath awareness meditation and the Pali cannon may find the shamanistic trappings of Tibet confounding, to say the least. However, a deeper investigation shows that the profound philosophy using these forms fully endorses Buddha's views. Visualization, mantra and ritual dance are practiced in the same way as breath awareness - a support to establish calm abiding and eventual insight into the nature of mind itself.

Richard Kohn has captured some of these practices quite eloquently, led by the highly respected master Trulshik Rinpoche. Here spirits, demons and gods are given no ultimate solid reality - nor, for that matter, are humans. Instead, a vast environment or atmosphere is created using music, dance and image to potentially cut through ordinary perception and witness the awareness Buddha spoke of. Kohn successfully shows how art and celebration can join with meditation to bring this about.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tibetan culture is stronger then ever, April 29, 2007

By 

Jose Joacir dos santos "Joacir" (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Destroyer of Illusion (DVD)

I wait a lot to get this DVD. The contents about the rituals in very interesting but the DVD itself needs to be re-edited to work well. I strong recommend it. I gave five stars because the contents, even though it is short.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destroyer of Illusion, June 24, 2010

By 

Suzanne A. Delaney "Painter" (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Destroyer of Illusion (DVD)

This is such a beautiful film. I have been to Thupten Choling and to Mani Rimdu at Chiwong Gompa, and have had the privilege of audiences with Trulshig Rinpoche as well as attending his teachings here in New York. He is a great Being and I regard this film as one of my treasures. I first saw it when it came out in 1991, and watch it now when I am homesick for Solu Khumbu--it remains as fresh as the first time I saw it. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Tibetan Buddhism or Sherpa culture. Anyone planning a trek in Solu Khumbu would benefit greatly from seeing it.