Search - Jesus in India on DVD

If Much Is Taken On Faith....

a gentle sound | USA | 08/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is something rather hopeful about the idea of Jesus traveling and knowing the eastern world. In some way then I think the two halves might one day find reconciliation, understanding, love and peace. I just watched this film for the 2nd time on Sundance. It would be worth getting, very interesting, because it is the story of a man questing after a question that has come to be meaningful to him. Paul David's asks (coming out of Texas fundamentalism, into his non-fitting in there to a life living in the wider world), what is the reason the life of Jesus has nothing stated about him from age 12 to 30? Where was he, what did he do, why is it veiled from knowing? I've certainly asked that too, you? Almost a child's question. It raises more questions and in his worlds it raises tempers. From this he travels into the very nature of this Jesus founded religion, into those that have seen documents of his youthful travels to India. (He asks can this have happened?) And so within the context of the documentary we travel. We are exposed to Hinduism, in that quest, into Buddhism, into looking and thinking about what religions share finally, so beautifully stated by the Dalai Lama at the documentary's end. For it isn't answered this question, so much as set there before you, as acceptable to seek and try to understand. To ask, to find perhaps in your looking into these questions, something of the nature of what life might be about.

The background of the film, the temples, places, the historians, religious people, our film making director as quester- all of this- is really evocative, and certainly it held me. So I passed on the possibility to go out to another movie to wind my way up to the Himalayas thinking of Siddhartha a moment. It was quite a nice introduction to what places look like, what they might be like. Amazing to go from Elaine Pagels to boats on a river, to wander by the most colorful vistas up 14,000 feet to hit dead ends and not be able to access things that might having passing threads of information. All in an attempt to figure out a question about a boy becoming a man, and then a leader, finally a figure for the ages, and how he might have come to this message of love, a Kingdom inside ones self, and a time at hand. In all of that, I, myself, come to the realization that it would be infinitely calming to me if this man has found something more than a possibility.If a child grew by knowing the world and finding the illusions that can fall away for us to be united in caring one for another. I would be comforted by that. So I thought about questions that I might ask. I think my own are not about what is the life of the teen, but in how a message of love can carry so much distortion-even within my on heart. I would set out I think to learn ultimately how those of all our world find peace with the vast disparities, unfairness, the violence and greed. I would wander to be a lion. I'm grateful for the film allowing me to quietly reflect on how wondrous the world is in all it's phenomenal forms, but also how these slide away for me as I feel this happy music playing. ( a bit of banjo is echoing celebrating Pete Seeeger's 90 birthday)
Much like I hold in my being the intuitive understanding that we do have the internal recognition of those things that matter, and are of worth. A really interesting film. You must check it out."