Best movies like Mandala

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.

About three monks in a remote monastery; an aging master, a small orphan and a young man who left his city life to seek Enlightenment.

Two orphans, Gamie, a young blind girl and her little brother Gil-sun, are taken in by a Buddhist monk. While the shy little girl finds her at ease at the temple, the enthusiastic and dynamic little Gil-sun soon starts to disturb this quiet place. After his sister told him their mother had visited her in a dream, the little boy tries to understand why his mom did not come to see him too. In order to meet her again, he decides to follow the monk for a very long initiatic trip.

The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.

Summoned from an ashram in Tibet, Ace finds himself on a perilous journey into the jungles of Africa to find Shikaka, the missing sacred animal of the friendly Wachati tribe. He must accomplish this before the wedding of the Wachati's Princess to the prince of the warrior Wachootoos. If Ace fails, the result will be a vicious tribal war.

Annie, the mistress of a middle-aged financier, accompanies him on a trip to Hong Kong. When his business interests collapse Annie ends up destitute. She is befriended by a group of socialites and begins her rite of passage in their world.

On a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a child. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday. They live a quiet and secluded life, renting the boat to day fishermen and practicing strange divination rites. Their life changes when a teenage student comes aboard.

A wife, overwhelmed with hatred for her husband, inflicts an unspeakable wound on their son, as the family heads towards horrific destruction.

Inspired by the incredible events surrounding a treacherous attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest of elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival.

Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.

Under the Han River lives Crocodile, a rugged member of the lumpenproletariat who exists from schemes and stealing. His position as a scavenger of society undermines South Korea’s boasts of its newfound economic position as an Asian Tiger. One day, Crocodile finds a girl floating in his river.

Eve is a precocious nine year-old girl with a wild imagination growing up in a traditional Chinese immigrant family in Vancouver where Confucian doctrines, superstitious obsessions and divine visions abound. When Buddhism and Catholicism are thrown into the mix, life for Eve and her 11-year-old prim and authoritative sister, Karena, escalates into a fantasia of catastrophe, sainthood and cultural confusion. The journey of a young girl and her sister striving to grow up in world where childhood is lonely and the world is full of wonder.

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

A degenerate gambler, unable to come up with the cash necessary for a high stakes gin rummy game, bets his nubile daughter. And loses. His daughter immediately becomes the delectable property of a hot-to-trot sex fiend and the film promptly becomes a catalog of perversion, wallowing in domination, humiliation, fetishism, voyeurism, masturbation, lesbianism, spanking, bondage, blowjobs, incest, and more.

When a wife becomes the breadwinner of her family after her husband loses his job, adultery becomes part of her life.

As the denizens of a Tibetan village prepare for their arduous annual trek to exchange salt for grain, the community's allegiances are split between aging chieftain Tinle (Thilen Lhondup) and rebellious young Karma (Gurgon Kyap). Tinle tries to maintain his clout and preserve obedience to ancient customs when Karma challenges the old man's power.

After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.

Meet a couple of hipster swingers addicted to love. He's a novelist and she's a leather fetishist who provides valuable and stimulating research for his lurid erotic adventure tales! Their open marriage allows the couple to travel a delirious, flesh-filled but barren human landscape where endless carnal thrills can take their toll on the soul!

Buddhist monks open up about the joys and challenges of living out the precepts of the Buddha as a full-time vocation. Controversies swirling within modern monastic Buddhism are examined, from celibacy and the role of women to racism and concerns about the environment.

The story of G.I. Gurdjieff an Asian mystic who after a lifetimes study developed a form of meditation incorporating modern dance.

The story of the journey of married couple up the social latter. The husband is professor at Seoul National University who is running for the National Assembly, and his wife is a painter.

Based on the great river story, The Taebaek Mountains chronicles the lasting generational conflict between proprietors and peasants in South Korea.

Mr. Kim is jobless, lost in debt and has been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to end it all by jumping into the Han River - only to find himself washed up on a small, mid-river island. He soon abandons thoughts of suicide or rescue and begins a new life as a castaway. His antics catch the attention of a young woman whose apartment overlooks the river. Her discovery changes both their lives.

In 'A Brave New World', a virus brings the city to ruins and zombies flood the streets of Seoul. In 'The Heavenly Creature', a robot reaches enlightenment while working at a temple, but its creators deem this phenomenon a threat to mankind. In the final segment, 'Happy Birthday', a young girl logs onto a strange website and places an order for a new billiard ball for her father. Soon afterwards a meteor heads toward Earth and people flee to underground bomb shelters.

Bones of the Buddha is a 2013 television documentary produced by Icon Films and commissioned by WNET/THIRTEEN and ARTE France for the National Geographic Channels. It concerns a controversial Buddhist reliquary from the Piprahwa Stupa in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was released in May, 2013, and was broadcast in July 2013 in the US on PBS as part of the Secrets of the Dead series.

This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.

In a triptych of overlapping stories, three different French women – a filmmaker, an adulterer and a divorcee visit a small Korean resort town and encounter a flirtatious director, a lovestruck lifeguard and far too much soju.

Hyuk and Kyung have their share of marital problems, one of them being a stagnating sex life. Kyung again rejects Hyuk's advances and Hyuk goes to bed feeling hurt and angry. The next morning, the couple discuss their problems and decide to take a romantic weekend trip to add fire to their marriage. But when Hyuk fails to perform, they are back to square one. The following Monday, Hyuk confesses his story to his colleague Woo. Woo suggests swapping partners by joining a secret club called Club Butterfly . Hyuk soon receives a mysterious email from an anonymous sender urging him to join this illicit club. Neither Hyuk nor Kyung knows what is in store for them.

A couples' trip to Pattaya turns into hell when each others' secrets come out into the open! Soo-jeong and Tae-hyeon decide to go abroad with Sang-jin and Ji-hyeon to celebrate Ji-hyeon's birthday. However, Ji-hyeon can't make it last minute and the three set off. However the local tour guide tricks them into losing everything they've got. Then they meet Lizzie, who Sang-jin falls for right away. They cross the line and Soo-jeong who secretly had a crush on Sang-jin, films them quietly. She then threatens Sang-jin to tell Ji-hyeon with the video of their affair and demands he takes her in. Tae-hyeon finds out about everything and the dreamy vacation turns into hell...

Story of four young monks left alone in their remote monastery in Myanmar. Shot entirely in newly-opened Myanmar with non-actors, the film bridges spirit, cinema, and traditional Burmese storytelling to open a view onto an unseen world.

Ji-eun was having a hard time because of her different taste in sex with her husband. She talks to So-hyeon next door about this and she suggests and new kind of 'sex therapy'; to switch husbands for a week.

825 nude actors are used to tell the story of pre-industrial Korea, beginning with paradise and progressing into man's destruction.

A thousand-year-old snake that has transformed itself into a human, Madame White Snake (Choe Eun-hui), falls in love with a young pharmacist named Heo-Seon. Although they encounter difficulties, they are wed, and their love for each other does not change. However, Beophaeseonsa (a Zen priest) and Gwaneumbosal (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) order Madame White Snake, who had transformed into human without being granted permission to do so, to return back to the world of the gods before July 7. Grieving, she prepares to say goodbye to her beloved husband. But before she can return to the world of the gods in time, she falls into a trap set by Dae-yun (Choe Sam), who is attracted to her. Because of the trap, she is not able to keep the promised deadline, and ends up risking her life to save her husband.

Painter Ha-rim became blind due to an unfortunate accident. His wife Sun-yeong searches far and low for a cornea donor until she meets terminal cancer patient Dae-geun. These two make a startling and dangerous deal for Ha-rim's cornea.

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.