Rs 101DL

Media Analysis: The Little Buddha

Throughout my analysis, I looked in to the world of Buddhism. I focused my attention on the Tibetan monks and their realization about life and death. I am going to emphasize their beliefs about reincarnation and rebirth through my analysis of the movie, “ The Little Buddha”1.

Reincarnation and the question of life after death have occupied an essential place in nearly all religions. To the Tibetan monks reincarnation and rebirth are very real. It is a way of life. The film exhibits the rebirth of a Tibetan leader into an American boy in a big city. Tibetan monks believe those who master the law of karma and achieve realization can choose to return in life after to help people2. The film shows how the friends of the leader were able to find him again. When a realized leader dies he or she may leave precise indications of where he will be reborn, one of his closest disciples or spiritual friends may then have a vision or dream foretelling his pending rebirth. When a child is found it will be the leader that authenticates him.

The true purpose of this tradition is that it ensures that the wisdom memory of the realized leader is not lost. In the film the monks expose the boy to different traditions to see if the boy has any recollection of his past life. There are fascinating cases of children who can spontaneously remember details of a previous. Many of these cases have been collected by ‘Dr. Ian Stevenson, of the university of Virgina”3. Sometime they remember their past lives or demonstrate remarkable abilities. As the Dalai Lama says,” It is common for small children who are reincarnated to remember objects and people from their previous lives. Some can also recite scriptures, although they have not been taught them”4. In the movie, the boy was told the story of Buddha and was overwhelmed by how real it felt.

Throughout history there have been great people Gandhi, Einstein, Mother Theresa etc. Through Buddhism, I wonder if these people were reincarnated and reborn. Did their close friends and family ever have visions and dreams of were they might be? The film portrayed a better understanding of reincarnation.