With its main theme as Buddhism, the festival in its fourth season promises to be a spiritual mix of art, movies, and discourses
In today’s times, questions which could have, a decade ago, been laughed off as being too philosophical, are perpetually weighing our mind. We are looking for the elusive peace of mind. Addressing the who, why, how, when, and what of your inner journey is, ‘The Inner Path Festival’, a five-day event starts in the Capital on Friday.
With its main theme as Buddhism, the festival in its fourth season promises to be a spiritual mix of art, movies, and discourses. Filmmaker and author Aruna Vasudev, also the founder of the festival in conversation with DNA explains how she interprets Buddhist philosophy in current times. Excerpts of the interview:
Buddhism has all of a sudden gained popularity. What is your view on it?
People are adopting Buddhism because of its philosophy, which is based on wisdom, compassion, and courage. Buddhism is based on a very simple fact that your environment is a reflection of your thoughts and actions. So we are asked to do good, and forgive those who wrong us.
So you don’t see it as a fad?
No, I do not see it as a fleeting whim. We must not forget that Buddhism started in India. While it did move out of here due to some historical events, but now we are endorsing it as our own. One of the prime reasons is that it is not a religion but a philosophy. It does not ask you to observe fast, go to some place of worship, etc. It simply asks you to do right and look after your inner soul, feed it with compassion and love all the being around you.
What led you to curate Inner Path?
One of my friends, who is also a co-founder and Buddhist himself, Suresh Jindal motivated me to practice Buddhism. During our many conversations, I realised that we did not have any event or festival In India which talked about this way of life. Inner Path is peeping into Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics through films and art because merely showing movies wouldn’t have been enough. So we have orators, monks, etc, giving discourses after every film, drawing on Buddhist philosophy.
What does season four of Inner Path entail?
We will be screening films from across the world. A lot of international directors have come on board; some have been a part of the festival earlier while the rest are new. There is also an art exhibition on works inspired by Buddhism.
THE SCHEDULE
The festival will be held from April 7 to April 15 at Alliance Française de, Delhi and 13 movies will be screened over the five days
April 7: One Mind by Edward A Burger
April 8: Dalai Lama the 14th: The World Champion of Peace by Fujiro Mitsuishi
April 8: Tashi and the Monk by Andrew Hinton & Johnny Burke
April 8: Painting Peace: The Art and Life of Kazuaki Tanahashi by Babeth VanLoo
April 9: Rangzen by Gaurav Sharma
April 9: Mindfulness and Murder by Tom Waller
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