Vikram Gandhi’s film Kumare: The True Story of a False Prophet humorously (and scarily) puts a point on our fervent desire to find meaning and belonging and order in this chaotic universe—so dearly that we’ll suspend common sense.

(Kind of the way people fall in love, ascribe perfection to a beloved, and imagine that he or she will “save” you.  And then, get angry when time passes and, zowie, that object of your affection is a mere mortal.)

Filmmaker Gandhi takes on the persona of a made-up spiritual leader (see photoos) and amasses devotees, then wrestles with the consequences of having their spiritual lives in his hands.

When Mark Kellner of the Washington Times wanted to write a column about my mid-life stirrings of religious belief, I was reluctant.  (And while it’s a lovely write-up, I hate that the word enlightenment was used.  More like, “stirred.”)

Just as yoga has become commoditized, trendy and a cliche, so, in a way, has Buddhism.

I don’t have a guru, or a spiritual advisor, and I don’t want one. I’m actually reluctant to classify myself, because my beliefs are bigger than a label.

And then there’s the whole intellectual anti-religious belief system, to which I subscribed for years.

It’s not religions that are scary, usually.  It’s when they get into the hands of people who abuse the power of devotion.

By talking to Mark, I realized I am drawn to Buddhism because in its purest form, it doesn’t require belonging.

This is why I love studying and sitting with, and learning from. my friend the Buddhist monk, Rev. Kusala.  He’d run screaming if anyone called him a guru or spiritual advisor.  He just happens to be a man who dedicated his life to Buddhism and expresses it by living and working and serving the community.

Not by amassing followers who pay big bucks to sit on retreats with him, at his feet, soaking up his divine goodness, dearly hoping that by association, they’ll be good, too.  Or by living in a cave.

I kind of found this kind of all-in devotion with the Kingdom of Bhutan, and, well, wrote a whole book about the subject.  People (myself included) get so sucked in to the beauty and magic of the place that they don’t see that it’s just, well, a place.  A special, magical, beautiful place, unlike any other in the world, that is as perfect and imperfect as any other. Just different.

There is no perfect place, just as there is no perfect person.  And any one who professes to hold special mystical powers….is someone you should avoid (especially if there’s an implict or explicit request for money.)

That’s kind of the message of the film Kumare, and my book, Radio Shangri-La.  Even though reaching that conclusion involves a different path.

Since we’ve got time for that: Here’s a new story on the website Popmatters that rounds up books and films about Bhutan–some of the usual suspects, and some that aren’t.  I’m honored to be included.

And of course you can find more in the bibliography of Radio Shangri-La, which I’ve got posted online.  Lots of self-published tomes on the “land of happiness” have appeared since my book came out two years ago.  A couple other books by established publishers, too.  Before recently, there wasn’t a huge body of work about the Kingdom–and much of it was very, very old.

It’s about a focus on well-being, and all that entails: community, health, access to clean water and good food.  A reminder that reckless pursuit of wealth isn’t good for the planet.

Just like every day should be women’s day, or mother’s day, in the sense that we shouldn’t need a special day to honor women or moms, every day should be a day where we are aware of the impact of our actions on each other and the planet, and the power of how we spend our time and money.

Of course, it’s not.  But having a big publicity stunt can’t hurt to plant the notion of these ideals–that you can be a conscious consumer, a better member of your community, that unsustainable growth is short-sighted, that there are other ways to live than in a purely cash-grab culture–in the public consciousness.

All of this stems, of course, from Bhutan and Gross National Happiness.  Last year at the UN there was a big confab lead by Bhutan about these notions.  While Bhutan isn’t perfect, hardly perfect, it is a world leader in rallying governments and the people who lead them to discuss GNH over pure unbridled GDP. 

And giving, of course, is an enormous component of happiness.

This beautiful story about a man (a busy judge!) who has been training homeless people to run in the LA Marathon is an example of true community service–not someone who is doing it because they “should” or “have to” or because they get some sort of tax credit.

First, the news earlier this week that Bhutan has got its first automated LA-style car wash.  After all, there are close to 60-thousand vehicles in the country, so it only stands to reason their owners would want to keep them clean.

Now, word that Google’s cruising the streets to map the once-isolated country with its Street View technology.  (Once complete, you’ll find them here.) This may sound like a big ho-hum, unless you consider that until not very long ago, there weren’t even street addresses in the capital city, much less widely-available maps. (Not to mention that visitors are still a relatively new phenomenon.)

In fact, just a few years back, it was a big deal when Canadian cartographer Andrea Williams volunteered to make a map of the capital city, Thimphu.  And just a few years before that, of course, it was a big deal that Bhutan got a radio station–which enabled the growing number of vehicles to have live, local accompaniment to their rides.

Santa Monica’s produced a slick promotional video for the effort (shot on the Big Blue Bus, buses being indicators of happiness because they avert that antidote to happiness, commuting.) While it incorrectly claims they shall be the first city to chart happiness (Seattle beat them to the distinction, and then there’s what’s been doing in the state of Vermont) it’s still exciting to see the city leaders commit to understanding, and then hopefully improving, quality of life.  By actually factoring quality of life into the equation, rather than treating it as a sideline.

The question they pose in their proposal: “how can cities use limited resources more effectively to create conditions needed for people to thrive?”

And of course all these efforts derive from the Gross National Happiness movement that emanates from the Kingdom of Bhutan….and, if you’re reading this, you likely know my interest in all that.

Now of course, none of this makes anyone happier. (And happiness is a squishy thing to define, right?)  It just makes people aware of the component parts that make a community a good, productive, proactiveplace to live.

“King Jigme Khesar Wangchuck issued a royal decree on March 9, which announced that the National Council (NC) elections would be held on April 23rd.

The current Council, which has both legislative and review functions and is also referred to as the house of review with 25 members including five direct appointees of the king, is expiring on April 28.

The decree said the first National Council completes its term in office on 28th of April 2013.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) announced that some 850 polling stations will be set up across the country and to be facilitated by some 4,651 election officials.

The EC said that about 387,733 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes on the poll day. Of this, 192,076 are females.

The EC has defined an age limit of 18 years as of January 1 this year for citizens to be eligible voters.

The results of the elections will be announced on April 24.

From the last election cycle, in 2007

After 9-11, when even a pizza delivery box was adorned with a giant American flag, I got a bit disgusted by how disrespectfully that symbol was being deployed (all in the name of patriotism.)

Same deal now with the Buddha.

Released today by Sui Books. I’m told the literal translation of the title is “Happy Radio.”

My publisher says the Koreans are as eager to learn about happiness as anyone. Of course, this book is about finding happiness within yourself, with a dollop of adventure. It’s also, mostly, about how media impacts our happiness…

This marks the country in which RSL has been released in addition to the US: Brazil, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, China and Germany.

Thanks for your support!

On Feb. 27th I’ll be at the Dharma Bookstore in Berlin and then…..

On Feb. 24th, I’ll be speaking at Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – Kulturen der Welt in Cologne as part of Himalaya Day.  

The detailed programme is below.  Please spread the word to people who you may know in these places!  

And stay tuned for the publication of Radio Shangri-La in….Korea.

Thanks, Lisa

DETAILS OF HIMALAYA DAY:

10.00 – 18.00 Uhr            Musik aus dem Himalaya aufgelegt von Jan Krauthäuser, Foyer

                                    Initiativen, Informationen und Kunsthandwerk, Foyer

10.30 – 12.00 Uhr             „Bhutan 26° 28° N. Königreich im Himmel“, grenzgang Live-Reportage mit Stefan Erdmann VVK 16 € / erm. 10 € , Forum VHS EG

10.30 – 11.00 Uhr            „Weisheit – einmal hin und zurück“ deutsche Fassung des amerikanischen Kurzfilms “Full Circl Wisdom” von Viktoria Riskin und Jack Petranker vom Tibetan Aid Project, Berkeley, Kalifornien. Dauer: ca. 10 Minuten mit anschl. Diskussion geleitet von
Dieter Dolata, Koordinator des Tibetan Aid Projects in Deutschland, Bibliothek, 2. OG

11.15 – 12.15 Uhr            Buddhistisches Zentrum Köln e.V.: „Kurzeinführung in den Buddhismus“, Vortrag mit anschließender Meditationsmöglichkeit, Bibliothek, 2. OG

12.00 -14.00 Uhr            „Aktion für alle: Erstellen von Gebetsfahnen zum Aufhängen und mitnehmen” – offene Werkstätten, JuniorMuseum, 1. OG

12.15 – 12.30 Uhr            Tänze aus Nepal mit Frau Kamala und Freunden, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

12.15 – 13.15 Uhr            “Klosterbau in Samar – Himalaya-Projekt e.V. stellt seine Aktivitäten in Nepal und Mustang vor” Vortrag von Dr. Eberhard Steinbauer, Bibliothek, 2. OG

12.30 – 13.30 Uhr            „Radio Shangri-La. Was ich in Bhutan, dem glücklichsten Königreich der Welt, lernte“, Reisebericht in engl. Sprache mit Lisa Napoli, Forum VHS EG

13.00 – 13.15 Uhr            Nepalische Volksmusik mit Santosh Gurung, Nepalische Sänger und Musiker in Düsseldorf, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

13.15 – 14.15 Uhr            „Thangkas, Rollbilder des tibetischen Buddhismus – Aufbau, Funktion, Schadensprozesse und adäquate Handhabung/Pflege“ Vortrag mit der Diplom Restauratorin Ute S. Griesser, Bibliothek, 2. OG

13.30 – 14.30 Uhr            “Religionen Asiens“ Führung mit Caroline Stegmann-Rennert

Treffpunkt: Eingang Dauerausstellung

14.00 – 14.30 Uhr            Tänze aus Nepal mit Frau Kamala und Freunden, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

14.15 – 15.15 Uhr            Buddhistisches Zentrum Köln e.V.: „Buddhismus im Westen“
Vortrag mit anschließender Meditationsmöglichkeit, Bibliothek, 2. OG

14.30 – 15.15 Uhr            „Sprachkurs Nepali“ Workshop mit Frau Alka Khanal, Yak & Yeti Reise- u. Sprachendienst, JuniorMuseum, 1. OG

14.30 – 15.00 Uhr            Live-Musik aus der Mongolei mit Obertonsänger und Musiker Yavgaan Gendenpil begleitet von Munkhzaya Yavgaan auf der Pferdekopfgeige, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

15.00 – 17.00 Uhr            „Aktion für alle: Erstellen von Gebetsfahnen zum Aufhängen und mitnehmen ” – offene Werkstätten, JuniorMuseum, 1. OG

15.00 – 17.00 Uhr             „Tibet. Unterwegs im Himalaya“, grenzgang Live-Reportage mit Olaf Schubert VVK 16 € / erm. 10 € , Forum VHS EG

15.15 – 15.45 Uhr            „Weisheit – einmal hin und zurück“ deutsche Fassung des amerikanischen Kurzfilms “Full Circl Wisdom” von Viktoria Riskin und Jack Petranker vom Tibetan Aid Project, Berkeley, Kalifornien. Dauer: ca. 10 Minuten mit anschl. Diskussion geleitet von
Dieter Dolata, Koordinator des Tibetan Aid Projects in Deutschland, Bibliothek, 2. OG

16.00 – 16.45 Uhr            “Faszination Nepal” Lichtbildvortrag von Herrn Norbert Meyer, zweiter Missionschef der deutschen Botschaft in Kathmandu, Bibliothek, 2. OG

16.45 – 17.00 Uhr            Nepalische Volksmusik mit Santosh Gurung, Nepalische Sänger und Musiker in Düsseldorf, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

17.00 – 17.45 Uhr             “Bhutan ” Lichtbildvortrag über Bhutan von Klaus Bronny,

Kenner der Himalaya Szene und Münzenexperte, Bibliothek, 2. OG

17.15 – 17.45 Uhr            Live-Musik aus der Mongolei mit Obertonsänger und Musiker Yavgaan Gendenpil begleitet von Munkhzaya Yavgaan auf der Pferdekopfgeige, Bühnenprogramm, Foyer

18.00 – 20.00 Uhr             „Tibet. Pilgerwege zum Kailash“, grenzgang Live-Reportage mit Bruno Baumann VVK 16 € / erm. 10 € , Forum VHS EG

————————————————————————————

INFOS & TICKETS

Tageskarte Museum: 7,00 € / erm. 4,50 €
(inkl. Teilnahme an Vorträgen, Workshops, Führungen, Lesungen, Filmen, etc./exkl. Live-Reportagen/Abweichungen s. Programm/Karten nur an der Tageskasse)

Einzelkarte Live-Reportage: 16,00 € / erm. 10,00 €
(berechtigt außerdem zum Erwerb einer ermäßigten Museumseintrittskarte am Thementag/Karten im VVK unter www.grenzgang.de / 0221-71991515 erhältlich/begrenztes Kontingent verfügbar, bei Interesse wird ein Erwerb der Karten im VVK empfohlen)

Tageskarte für 2 Live-Reportage: 27,00 €
(inkl. Teilnahme an allen Veranstaltungen des Thementages / Karten im VVK unter www.grenzgang.de / 0221-71991515 erhältlich/ begrenztes Kontingent verfügbar, bei Interesse wird ein Erwerb der Karten im VVK empfohlen)

————————————————————————————