Blessings...The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet
Thursday, March 6, 2014 at 07:05PM
Narrated by Richard Gere, Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet, began in the summer of 2005 when renowned Buddhist teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche led a small group of western women Buddhist practitioners to Nangchen, a remote nomadic region of eastern Tibet. Their journey brought them face to face with the Tsoknyi Nangchen nuns—women living in hermitages and monasteries, and still practicing the ancient yogic traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Their lineage was initiated in the late 1800s by the first Tsoknyi Rinpoche who envisioned a time when these women would become some of the most accomplished spiritual practitioners in the world. Film Running Time: 90 minutes
Watch the trailer here:
Blessings2 Trailer from sarasotafringefilms on Vimeo.
Despite near extinction during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, “these remarkable Buddhist Nuns have emerged to rebuild their monasteries by hand, stone by stone,” says the film’s director, Colorado filmmaker, Victress Hitchcock. Blessings, Hitchcock says, records the encounter the nuns had with the western women “who came to help but who left humbled—enriched—by the power, compassion and enormous good humor of these nuns.” Even though all 40 nunneries were destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, a handful of survivors kept their practices alive. “The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns’ traditions are once again vital and growing,” Hitchcock says, noting that their numbers have now reached 3000.
Western meditation teacher and writer Sharon Salzberg, author of Loving Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, says of the film, “Blessings takes us to a world of women dedicated to wisdom and compass-sion, a place most of us will never journey to, through the hearts of the people who do. I found it an inspiring, and very human account; it will blow open your view of what is important in life.”
Blessings available for distribution world-wide and Domestic USA Television and Academic Distribution.
Blessings DVD Purchase Options:
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A Note About Our Academic and Institutional Pricing
Educational DVD with PPR: $295
Anytime you want to screen a film on campus, Public Performance Rights (PPR) need to be obtained. Copyright law (USC 17§101) defines a public performance as occurring in a public space or if it is in any place if "a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its acquaintances" is gathered there. This would include classrooms, meeting rooms, auditoriums, dorm lounges, etc. However, copyright law (USC 17§110) also provides an exception for face-to-face teaching activities in a nonprofit educational institution.
Digital Site License with PPR: $395
A DSL grants educational institutions and/or non-profit organizations a limited license to host and stream a film online to students, faculty and staff on their password-protected server. This license is granted for three years. The key advantage of purchasing a DSL is that once uploaded, an unlimited number of viewers can access the film from multiple locations simultaneously.
DVD + DSL bundle PPR: $450
K-12, Non-profit, Public Library with PPR: $125
PLEASE NOTE: If you are not familiar with the origins of Tibetan Buddhism, here is a brief introduction narrated by Richard Gere: