When I recently went back to view the original footage of the Zhongnan hermits I gathered in those mountains back in 2003, the teachings that I captured at that time took on a surprisingly new life to me. As a Mandarin speaker, a filmmaker and a practitioner, I had changed, and the words of the hermits rang true with a new richness that, in my youthfulness, I’d missed. This made me really want to make a new film, from this new vantage point where I stand right now, and apply myself anew to the task of sharing these profound encounters with Buddhist hermits in China.
THE MOUNTAIN PATH is a cinema diary - reflections of one young man on his journey into China’s Zhongnan Mountain range in search of contemplative guidance from Buddhist hermit practitioners living this ancient wisdom tradition. It is a film about the grit and the courage of these dedicated practitioners. The grit and courage it takes to step away from the seductive companionship of the mind’s myriad distractions in order to explore our inner world. The hermits will guide you in the exploration of your own inner-landscapes. Just as I’ve experienced with every visit to my shifu’s hermitage over the many years he has guided me; you will not walk out of these mountains as the same person who walked into them.
With societies all around the world redefining their sense of truth, these communities who keep alive for us some of humanity’s most evolved and advanced spiritual technologies are more important than ever before. Contemplative communities fan the glowing coals of wisdom and kindness that illuminate our world. Without them that life-giving fire goes dark and cold. We may feel upset by the actions of those in the world who seek only to benefit themselves, at the cost of others’ safety, dignity, and health. And contemplative traditions challenge us to see those actions as the blossoming fruit of deeply ingrained fear, attachment and ignorance. Impulses that arise and pass, arise and pass, arise and pass in an endless chain that binds us to our own, small point of view and blinds us to the broad and dynamic truths at work in the world. Turning one’s gaze inward is a radical act. Being at home with yourself, a contented heart, is the great protest against the world’s ills.