Religious Studies

VHS, 40 min., 1984

This is a videotaping of Buddhist monk Gesha Sopa from Tibet as he instructs a group on the difference between material happiness and spiritual happiness. Building on Buddhistic philosophy and carefully structured arguments, Gesha Sopa points us to the road of self-containment lying within ourselves.

Japan-Northwest

VHS, 29 min., ND

Japanese culture is contrasted with the American sensibility in this film. The effects of Japanese style on northwest coast architecture, arts and crafts are examined. Beautiful pacing and visuals include Zen monasteries and temples. Funded by the Washington Humanities Council.

The Long Search

VHS, 50 min. each, 1977 Study guide available

A series of thirteen programs on world religions produced by BBC/Time-Life. Premiered in 1978 on PBS stations, the series is narrated by Ronald Eyre, who takes the viewer on a personal odyssey in search of religion all over the world. Eyre travels to Taiwan, India, Romania, Israel, America, and other places to learn first-hand how and why other cultures have practiced their religions for thousands of years, some changing in ritual and dogma and others hardly changing at all. We witness Hindus bathing in the sacred Ganges River, festive funeral processions in Indonesia, High Mass in St. Peter's in Rome, and countless other enlightening scenes. Titles include:

1. Protestant Spirit U.S.A.

2. Hinduism: 330 Million Gods

3. Footprint of the Buddha (Theravada Buddhism)

4. Catholicism: Rome, Leeds, and the Desert

5. Islam: There is No God but God

6. Orthodox Christianity: The Romanian Solution

7. Judaism: The Chosen People

8. Indochina: The Way of the Ancestors (primitive religion)

9. Land of the Disappearing Buddha (Japanese religions)

10. Zulu Zion (African Christianity)

11. Taoism: A Question of Balance

12. California: West Meets East (new religions)

13. Loose Ends: Reflections on the Long Search

Man and His Gods

Slides/tape (2 parts), 33 min., 1972 Teacher's guide available

Part one centers around humankind's attempts to communicate with the divine. Stressing the universality of faith, the program explores Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions, beginning with their earliest practices. Part two studies our need for religion. It sets contemporary needs for embracing or rejecting religion in the context of the past role of religion. A broadened view of religion allows us to better understand how we perceive ourselves and others.

Paradise

VHS, 16 min., 1985

A little blackbird learns that fine feathers alone cannot bring happiness, even in a brilliantly colored fantasy kingdom. Dazzling, detailed animation and haunting music combine to tell this gently humorous moral tale that will enchant audiences of all ages.

The Persistence of Community

VHS, 30 min.

A documentary film of the Mennonite community near Harrisburg, VA, records a "tribal" community's responses to social change and pressures. Old commitments are being challenged and rewritten as individuals find new ways of accommodating moral imperatives and worldly desires. Even the most progressive Mennonites appear to find in their "order" an antidote to the alienation of modern society. These people, the film implies, may yet have something the rest of us could look into.

Precious Memories: Our Vanishing Rural Churches

VHS, 30 min., 1999

This program profiles country churches that have closed or are struggling to survive. These churches, hidden along Arkansas' back roads and highways, detail a way of life that may soon be forgotten with the trend toward larger congregations.

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