Goa, Dec 14: Dalai Lama is one of the most recognized leaders in the world today. Everyone knows him as a man of peace, a great Buddhist teacher, and an advocate for humanity. But he has another interesting dimension to his persona that is largely unknown.
For the past thirty-five years, he has been engaged in an ongoing series of dialogues with groups of Scientists. The dialogues covered a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from quantum physics and cosmology to compassion and destructive emotions.
“The Dalai Lama: Scientist” is a film that brings to light this largely unknown aspect of the leader. Organised in part by the Mind & Life Institute, the movie immerses the viewer into these profound dialogues; explores the correlations between science and Buddhism, and shares personal life experiences from the Dalai Lama that have had a deep impact on his development as a truly one-of-a-kind world leader. As The Dalai Lama says, “while scientific findings offer a deeper understanding of such fields of knowledge as cosmology, it seems that Buddhist explanations can sometimes give scientists a new way to look into their own field of study.”
The movie was the inaugural film of the International Science Film Festival of India, which began at Goa on Saturday as part of the seventh Indian International Science Festival organised by science and technology-related Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and VijnanaBharati (Vibha), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting science and technology.
“The Dalai Lama: Scientist” was followed by several interesting science films that were screened at multiple venues. In the competitive categories, six films were shown that included Sela Tunnel by India Science. Another five films in the non-competitive category were also shown. Directors of some of the films were present for interactions with the audience during which they narrated their film journey and shared interesting anecdotes.
There was also a Master Class on India Science OTT Channel, which has been initiated by the Department of Science and Technology and is managed by VigyanPrasar, an autonomous institution of the Department with a mandate to promote science communication in India. It was conducted by Mr Kapil Tripathi, Scientist F and channel in charge.
Mr Tripathi explained how the programming was done for the channel and invited filmmakers and science communicators to associate with it. The channel presently offers programmes in English and Hindi and is working to add other regional languages. It streams videos related to science, technology, and innovation from various Indian laboratories on diverse topics which can be viewed free of cost.
