Anders Ostergaard, the director of the 2008 Danish documentary film Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country has been spotted in Bodhgaya these days. Burma VJ won a lot of awards and was even nominated for an Oscar. [from Wikipedia: It follows the September 2007 protests against the military regime in Burma. The “VJ” in the title stands for “video journalists.” Some of it was filmed on hand-held cameras. The footage was smuggled out of the country, physically or over the Internet. The DVD includes a message from Buddhist actor Richard Gere comparing the situation in Burma to that in Tibet.] While watching Burma VJ, I was also struck by the similarities between the oppression of Burma and the situation in Tibet today. I think it’s important that stories like this are told. Since this film was made, things have gotten a little bit better in Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi has been permitted  to travel and media restrictions have relaxed a little bit, but in truth, an extremely dark cloud of oppression still looms.

The film may be viewed in its entirety on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=24zPJe3Fgwc

The Karmapa made a surprise visit to the Bhutanese Temple on November 28 to inspect the progress of the torma artists.

The following tormas are in various stages of completion:

One always meets the most interesting and stimulating people around His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa and this year is no exception. Guy Reid, Christof Freitas, and Steve Kennedy are the very talented filmmakers of Planetary Collective who were in Bodhgaya to interview the Karmapa for their new documentary film Continuum, due to be released in September 2013. Continuum will address the root cause of the environmental and social crises facing the planet today. A few days ago I got to view their 18-minute short called Overview, set to premiere at Harvard University in December, 2012. It was really fantastic, a stunning and thought-provoking piece of visual poetry. For more information check out their website: (www.planetarycollective.com).

I’m in Bodhgaya now and yesterday I went to check on the progress of the torma artists. The first person I saw was Lama Sangye and he is hard at work on two tormas, a Mahakala torma called Jugon and an Ekajati torma. He is a master sculptor who trained extensively in meditation (he completed a three-year-retreat at Pullahari in Nepal). In Bhutan, as a youth, Lama Sangye learned statue making from the two pre-eminent Bhutanese sculptors at that time. He is also highly skilled in mask-making. It is thrilling to watch Lama Sangye’s hands work their magic; plus the room where he works is quiet and radiates peace. I hope to follow his progress closely in the coming days and weeks.

They started working on the Kagyu Monlam tormas around Nov. 16th. They’ve already made the shalzes and mixed the colorful wax butter.

Months have passed and the time has rolled around again for the torma artists to gather in Bodhgaya and create their magic. Last year’s tormas are still inside Tergar Monastery. It’s interesting to see how well these fragile artworks have survived the elements here in India, including a very hot season followed by pounding monsoon rains with the attendant humidity that creeps into every crack and crevice. Still these beautiful images made of butter and wax have for the most part remained intact.

In order to minimize harm caused by possible earthquakes on the West Coast of the USA; two stupas are being built in California and Washington state, under the advice of Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Namsel Drolma (Khadro-la).

Read More: Stupas to Minimize Harm from the Elements.

Laurence Guy-Lentin made this lovely film about the Losar torma preparation at Mirik Monastery in 2008. Mirik Monastery is in the Darjeeling District of India and was founded by Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche.