Alms is a cinematic tour through a remote mountain Chan/Zen Buddhist monastery in Southern China. Audiences are guided by the community’s Head Chef (典座 tenzo/dianzuo) as he explains the traditional cultivation, distribution and ritual offering of food in this traditional Buddhist community. We follow the gathering of local fuels and farmed vegetables, and witness how living members of this community work in harmony with elements of their surrounding natural environment to provide the supportive infrastructure surrounding the Meditation Hall (禪堂 zendo/chantang), where a group of cloistered monks devote themselves to meditation practice.
Filmed in Jiangxi Province, China / 26 minutes / Mandarin w/ English Subtitles / 2013
Alms is a cinematic tour through a remote mountain Chan/Zen Buddhist monastery in Southern China. Audiences are guided by the community’s Head Chef (典座 tenzo/dianzuo) as he explains the traditional cultivation, distribution and ritual offering of food in this traditional Buddhist community. We follow the gathering of local fuels and farmed vegetables, and witness how living members of this community work in harmony with elements of their surrounding natural environment to provide the supportive infrastructure surrounding the Meditation Hall (禪堂 zendo/chantang), where a group of cloistered monks devote themselves to meditation practice.
Filmed in Jiangxi Province, China / 26 minutes / Mandarin w/ English Subtitles / 2013
