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Thread: Into Great Silence

  1. #1

    Into Great Silence

    Hello, Everyone,

    I recently rented this movie named "Into Great Silence". It's about some Carthusian Monks in Switzerland (if I remember correctly) who take a life-long vow of silence. Not a documentary as such, it follows the monks through a period of about a year. It's quite long, over 2 hours but I found it to be such an experience of just being here now. It's also not heavy-handed "religious". I must admit to be a bit wary of that but it was recommended in a Buddhist review so I figured, "What the heck".

    Has anyone else viewed it and if so, what do you think?

    Many blessings,
    Lora

  2. #2

    Re: Into Great Silence

    I've been reading the press kit on it...sounds VERY interesting. Will have to track a copy down. Thanks!

    http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/films/int ... esskit.pdf

  3. #3

    Re: Into Great Silence

    I've seen it and have the DVD. The monastery is in France.

    Your descriptions are right Lora. It is kind of like doing a retreat for 3 hours. But then I thought that my daily life should have the same stillness or mindfulness as these monks and I should not have to watch a movie to experience that calmness. But it hard to achieve because our lives are more spontaneous, full of talking and we have to literally make hundreds of decisions on the go whereas these monks live a more repetive lifestyle and importantly leave talking to a minimum (most of the time none at all).

    Just a caution to anyone who wants to view the film, it's not "interesting" in a movie sense because there is no plot and only about 2 mins of talking. It's a film that tries to take you to the daily rigours of a monks life (by literally just showing the monks go about their daily lives), so you can have some experience of what that lifestyle is like. Anyone that has ever been on a retreat will relate easily to the experience of the monks lives.

    Mettha.

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