Dalai Lama Documentary

The plight of Tibet has been the subject of many documentaries in recent years, and the life of the subjugated nation’s exiled spiritual and temporal leader, the Dalai Lama, has been turned into several feature films. One of the latest movies on this remarkable man, Dalai Lama Renaissance, is a documentary about Western thinkers, from fields as varied as nuclear physics and the self-help movement, who journey to northern India to meet the person who has become one of the world’s most famous symbols of the struggle for freedom and dignity.

The soundtrack CD, released on the White Swan label, features a droning, meditative soundscape produced by percussionist Michel Tyabji. Also heard are the words of the Dalai Lama himself, who cautions against the false paths and mental confusion prevalent in today’s world. Harrison Ford, the film’s narrator, is also heard, intoning a pithy and vital maxim: “Everybody thinks of changing humanity but nobody thinks of changing himself.”