佛教世界的七大奇观 (2011)

In this fascinating documentary, historian Bettany Hughes travels to the seven wonders of the Buddhist world and offers a unique insight into one of the most ancient belief systems still practised today.Buddhism began 2,500 years ago when one man had an amazing internal revelation underneath a peepul tree in India. Today it is practised by over 350 million people worldwide, with numbers continuing to grow year on year.In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the different beliefs and practices that form the core of the Buddhist philosophy and investigate how Buddhism started and where it travelled to, Hughes visits some of the most spectacular monuments built by Buddhists across the globe.Her journey begins at the Mahabodhi Temple in India, where Buddhism was born; here Hughes examines the foundations of the belief system - the three jewels.At Nepal's Boudhanath Stupa, she looks deeper into the concept of dharma - the teaching of Buddha, and at the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka, Bettany explores karma, the idea that our intentional acts will be mirrored in the future.At Wat Pho Temple in Thailand, Hughes explores samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death that Buddhists seek to end by achieving enlightenment, before travelling to Angkor Wat in Cambodia to learn more about the practice of meditation.In Hong Kong, Hughes visits the Giant Buddha and looks more closely at Zen, before arriving at the final wonder, the Hsi Lai temple in Los Angeles, to discover more about the ultimate goal for all Buddhists - nirvana. 七大奇观不够客观，但对佛教的认识有改观，作为科普片 其传达出了佛教的善意。因果有报，但从开悟到涅槃，佛陀已脱离了轮回。"佛像圆圆的脸是天上满月的倒影。^^"关于佛教的纪录片好像并不是很多，这部的讲解相比较而言也略显肤浅，更像是七大奇观的一次风光巡游，想用十分钟来讲解一个地域的佛教也显得敷衍。在印度起了一个很好的开端，斯里兰卡的部分实在是毫无头绪，香港的部分也很莫名其妙。最后的西来寺是个很好的总结点。这个短短的七十分钟的记录片包括了当然七个佛教世界里的建筑，七个佛教发展史的片段以及七个主要个佛教概念，而这一切都很系统地组合在了一起。当然也是学习很多佛教术语英文说法的好材料。虽然叫作七大奇迹，但是这七个地点的选择并没有什么标准。没有了中国大陆，距离中国观众自然就远了。而且，西方人眼中的佛教与我们的理解也大不相同。只能说很浅显了，洛杉矶的欧美世界的最大佛教寺庙也是有点小，但是模式是非常中国的，唯一差别就是多了一些老外以及瑜伽课。关于信教问题，遇到了很多50-60年代的人先佛后天主，我一直无法