Samsara at Berlin: Life as a Passing Guest
The 2023 film "Samsara," directed by Lois Patiño and carrying the title "Journey of Dreams and Illusions," received the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival that year. Its setting is Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of northern Laos, where a young man named Amid makes regular rowing trips to the home of Mon, an elderly woman who is ill. There he personally reads aloud passages from the Bardo Thodol, also referred to as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, so as to guide Mon on a peaceful and successful journey toward the next life.
Stills from Film and TV Shows. A devout Buddhist, Mon is anxious not to lose her way to that world. Meanwhile, another related story involves a man's encounter with the monk Bee An. Bee An, who needed to visit a local temple, asked Amide to transport him by boat. During the ride, Bee An asked about the secrets of the "Bardo Thodol" and shared with Amide his genuine thoughts on how Buddhist philosophical ideas have shaped his daily life and imparted useful wisdom.
In a scene from film and television, Ahmeng's life concluded one day, and she conveyed to Ahmed a desire to be reborn as an animal. Immediately afterward, the movie presented a 15-minute surreal sequence resembling a light tunnel, with neon colors flashing on and off, hypnotic yet jarring sounds, and a sense of consciousness drifting across different eras and places. At that point, we, the audience, are meant to close our eyes and lose ourselves in the film.
Because of the book 'Guidance in the Intermediate State', A Meng now knows how to guide herself, and her soul will pass through this stage, it was said. We will go with her on this journey, and for that journey our eyes must be closed. Although we can detect light through our eyes, we will keep them shut, and only when silence arrives will we open them. After fifteen minutes, I opened my eyes, and the scene had shifted once more. We were not just onlookers; we were Ahmeng, the deceased old woman, accompanying her through this unclear transitional period until the start of her new life.
A newborn goat had just joined a girl's family in a small fishing village in Zanzibar. That goat was none other than A Meng, born in the distant East. The girl, who had been napping on the edge of a dream, woke up and joyfully discovered the new arrival. As for me, I had found myself in a completely different, new world: women were gathered along the bright blue shore, planting seaweed and making handmade soap.
Employing innovative, avant-garde, and experimental techniques, Spanish experimental filmmaker Lois Patiño captures every subtle detail in documentary style on 16mm film in 'Stills from Film and TV Shows', crafting a vivid and mysterious new experience. Meanwhile, 'Samsara'—a philosophical film—offers viewers a beautiful, dreamlike immersion, marking the first time the Tibetan Buddhist idea of reincarnation has been explored in cinematic form.
Having been awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival, this is a film to experience with your eyes shut. "I dreamt of a vast ocean It was a sea I had never seen before There I turned into a red sea star..." Through poetic and metaphorical imagery, dreams, and subconscious fragments, it weaves an enchanting, magical voyage that illuminates Buddhist perspectives on life and death.
Director Lois Patiño, in an interview, talks about his initial motive for making "Samsara." The renowned British film magazine "Sight and Sound" has named "Samsara" one of the 50 top films of 2023, lauding it as "a beautiful journey exploring the boundaries between spirituality and cinema, offering profound and moving reflections on what happens to a person after death. It is an extraordinary experience... that leaves one in awe of the magical power of cinema in conveying extraordinary things." Also included are stills from films and TV shows.
According to Patiño, he was raised in a small seaside village in Galicia, Spain, where locals frequently discussed shipwrecks, death omens, and ghost tales. This atmosphere fostered his early imagination and reflections on mortality from childhood. Indeed, even before making "Samsara," he had already begun rough, preliminary attempts to explore and express these concerns.
Patiño has stated that, in his creative efforts, he has always been researching and genuinely hopes to make a movie capable of guiding and inspiring viewers toward profound thought. Through cinema—an art form that fabricates illusions with light and shadow—he seeks to delve into the meditative and introspective dimensions of Buddhism. His goal is to use film to convey ideas that are imperceptible from a physical perspective. It was only with "Samsara" that his thinking on these matters began to come to maturity.
Shooting a film that could be watched with eyes closed was the original concept. That idea slowly ripened in the mind until, one day, an unexpected encounter with "The Teaching of Liberation in the Bardo" produced a sudden flash of enlightenment. During production, the director spoke with local monks. Perhaps this experience resembles the psychological truths found in Jungian theory. Imaga: filmaffinity
This particular encounter prompted Patino to investigate how he envisions and reads the cycle of rebirth in exotic societies, as well as the connection between reincarnation and death. In the end, he cleverly fuses a sequence meant to be viewed with the eyes closed with a futuristic plot, resulting in the film "Samsara." Walter Evans-Wentz, an American anthropologist and author, translated "The Intermediate State: Teachings on Liberation" and "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo" in 1927.
To better understand the film "Departures", one must consider the book "Bardo Thodrol", a significant classic in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition that is believed to have been authored by Padmasambhava in the 8th century and unearthed by Karma Gling-pa in the 14th century. Meanwhile, this text, which first appeared in print in the West, examines the Bardo—the tradition's teachings on the intermediate state between death and rebirth.
In the film, the young man Amida reads this book to Ame as she nears death, hoping that by listening she may attain enlightenment. Viewed from a spiritual angle, the book focuses on the interval between the close of an old life and the start of a new one, extending deep care and guidance to those on the verge of departing this world. A still from Film and TV Shows shows Amid reciting "The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State" to Ah Meng shortly before he died.
This classic text, imbued with deep philosophy and wisdom, carries great importance for a profound comprehension of the Tibetan Buddhist view on life and death. As the text describes, this special transitional stage is replete with various mystical signs and experiences, accompanied by sounds, lights, and illusions. The living conditions of individuals after the commencement of a new life are correspondingly affected by their mental state, behavior, and thoughts during this journey.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead has also exerted a profound influence on numerous modern psychologists and spiritual guides in their exploration and practice of death and end-of-life care, following its translation into several Western languages starting in the 1920s. Carl Gustav Jung, a noted Swiss psychoanalyst and psychologist, was one of those affected. This book, he believed, contains the 'essence of a critical Buddhist psychology.' Carl Gustav Jung （C.G.
To portray an abstract process vividly and realistically in a specific film, sound and lighting serve as excellent expressive tools, since they are a necessary part of storytelling. As for an unknown experience, it can be understood and approached solely through imagination or subconscious activities like dreams. Image: Jungian Center Experimental Art and Cycle of Reincarnation (Jung 1875—1961).
Turrell's artistic practice has consistently centered on investigating how viewers perceive light, transforming light into an artistic medium by modifying the spectator's experience. Among the influences on James Turrell are the artworks of Paterno. His research fields encompass psychology, mathematics, geology, and astrology. As the quote goes, "Fortunately, we can still dream When we enter the dream There are still some stories to listen to...
The Dream Machine—an art invention completed in the 1960s by avant-garde artist Brion Gysin and electronic technology expert Ian Sommerville—serves as another source of inspiration, along with the works of James Turrell. When people view these creations, they engage directly with light and space, prompting them to consider both the constraints and the marvels of human perception. At times, the encounter feels like a meditative journey.
Photographed by Harold Chapman, the image 'Dream Machine Image' at The Beat Museum shows Gysin and the Dream Machine. This device, a rotating cylinder with geometric patterns and flashing lights, is meant to stimulate brain activity and alter one's state of consciousness. When viewers watch its spinning form, the light through the slits creates a hypnotic visual effect, producing a feeling of both dizziness and joy.
Regarded as an interactive artwork, it immerses audiences in a dreamlike environment, disclosing new dimensions of reality. This unique sensory experience has been utilized by numerous artists and writers to push the boundaries of perception and creativity. Brion Gysin & William S.
Xabier Erkizia, serving as the sound designer for the film, is a sound artist whose distinctive musical aesthetics, thoughts, sensibilities, and creative approach shaped an immersive experience for viewers in portraying the rebirth journey in "Listening to the Dead." Erkizia has consistently been engaged in examining the artistic expression of abstract notions through sound. Image: udel.edu, "Burroughs Staring at the Dreammachine," London, 1972.
Paterno employs a series of experimental art methods, using sound and light as raw materials, to achieve a lifelike and detailed simulation of the shadow body's experience within the story. The film’s score arises from his distinctive and creative rearrangement of audio materials gathered worldwide, generating an eerie atmosphere in which reality and fantasy become indistinguishable. That sound ultimately forms a dreamlike passage linking the past, present, and future.
With its gentle Southeast Asian language style, many of the film's dialogue passages resemble poetry, producing a dreamy and mysterious ambiance. The short sentences carry ancient, profound wisdom and philosophy that provoke deep thought. Ultimately, this exquisite, dreamlike narrative resonates across various dimensions of emotion and insight, causing contemplative ripples. Foster a compassionate heart and offer words that help friends.
Ameng’s words, as shown in stills from film and TV shows, reflect the Buddhist philosophy that all things possess spirits and that causality continues. For instance, prior to her death, Ah Meng tells Amid she hopes to be reborn as an animal in her next life, explaining, "Many people think this is just a punishment, but it is only because, people have treated animals too cruelly during their lifetime.
In the view of most people, however, this is not an abstract and remote religious concept. Instead, it is a concrete, understandable life philosophy woven into the fabric of daily routines. It offers guidance for one's actions and sheds light on one's path. As an illustration, Bien shows Amide how to observe a tree, saying, "Look at it, imagine experiencing its life.
In Bein's worldview, trees and people are fundamentally the same—all beings belong to natural existence. One must set aside the discriminating mind and regard everything as one. Amide says, "I feel like the tree is looking at me," and Bien answers, "It has been looking at you all along, you just haven't realized it." Stills from Film and TV Shows. The directive is to observe the tree, try to comprehend it, imagine yourself in its situation, and reflect on its concerns.
The girl's mother describes impermanence to her by saying, "Life is change. Every dawn brings new changes to life." Recognizing that impermanence is the only constant, the girl can naturally accept whatever happens and remain ready for every shifting moment. Yet nothing in the universe exists by itself; all things arise in mutual dependence, and within this web of interconnection people must deeply experience the law of cause and effect. Stills from Film and TV Shows Life is temporary guest.
Within Tibetan Buddhism, "reincarnation" serves as a fundamental teaching that illuminates the essence of existence: beings revolve through birth and death in an endless cycle, akin to a wheel, and liberation is achievable solely through spiritual cultivation. Across Tibet, numerous folk songs and sayings reflect this belief, serving as vehicles through which people voice and invest their inner faith.
In people’s minds, a single lifetime amounts to no more than a brief sojourn, a passing phase, a fleeting episode, while the soul’s long journey presses onward without end. This view is echoed in sayings such as "life is like flowing water, spanning past lives and future generations without ceasing," "all sentient beings have Buddha nature, and reincarnation is due to ignorance," "life and death are like a wheel, with karma continuing endlessly," and "the barley that grows in the fields returns to the soil after being blown and hit by the wind and rain. In this way, life after death will be reborn.
Every journey quietly awaits its own causes and conditions. What one sows in this life—through good deeds and the accumulation of merit—determines the fruits borne in the next. Stills from Film and TV Shows I once came across a tale of an elderly widower plagued by a cough, who kept a flock of sheep.
Under a towering tree, a lost sheep starved to death and became nourishment for that tree. Following a village ceremony, the tree was chopped down and burned into charcoal; this charcoal was then taken to the villagers' houses to supply warmth. These four transformations silently fulfilled the cycle of existence. Seen in this light, life and death are not mutually exclusive; dying is merely one phase in an unending process. To truly comprehend living, one must honestly look at death.
This article, translated from Dalu's blog, references Paterno's work, which encourages reflection on the dying process and offers useful perspectives on life. It also notes that the poster for the film "Samsara" includes the line "Seek only virtuous actions, unafraid of life and death.