A Spiritual Collaboration between East & West
A WORK IN PROGRESS

From the Producers of BLESSINGS: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet

“When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.”

~ 8th century - Guru Padmasambhava

In 1959, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama escapes the Chinese invasion of Tibet and with his departure and the exodus of many of the major teachers of all the sects of Tibetan Buddhism— Buddhadharma, as it was practiced in virtual seclusion for centuries in the Land of Snow, was suddenly thrust out into the world.

"The coming of Buddhism to the West may well prove to be the most important event of the Twentieth Century."

~ Arnold Toynbee, Historian

Fifty years later, there are Tibetan Buddhist meditation centers in every major city in the western world, two three-year retreat centers in France alone, and the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, has 92,000 followers on Twitter.

When the Iron Bird Flies traces the astounding path of one of the world’s great spiritual traditions from the caves of Tibet to the mainstream of western culture and asks: how can this 2,600 year old eastern religion help us in the West cope with our 21st century lives… and reach Enlightenment?

"Only if outward and inner freedom are constantly and consciously pursued is there a possibility of spiritual development and perfection and thus of improving man’s outward and inner life."

~ Albert Einstein, Out of My Later Years

Chariot Productions and Pundarika Foundation, the producers of BLESSINGS: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet, have teamed up again to tackle this timely and important subject.

The focus of our exploration will be the evolution of the relationship between Tibetan Buddhist teachers and western Buddhist practitioners and the ongoing spiritual collaboration between East and West that is shaping the establishment of a genuine western Tibetan Dharma.

"Buddhism has transformed every culture it has entered, and Buddhism has been transformed by its entry into that culture."

~ Arnold Toynbee

The production crew of director Victress Hitchcock (BLESSINGS), cameraman Pablo Bryant (TULKU: Divine Birth, Ordinary Life) and associate producer and soundperson Amber Bemak (BLESSINGS) began filming When the Iron Bird Flies in the spring of 2009 at retreats in England and Crestone, Colorado, at the Mind & Life Conference in Dharamsala, and at the Guna Institute in Bir, India. In the spring of 2010, filming resumed in the United States and Nepal. Ongoing interviews are being conducted with Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, translators and teachers including, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Matthieu Ricard, Dr. Richard Davison, Alan Wallace, Sharon Salzberg, Richard Gere, Anam Thubten, Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, Chökyi Nyima, Phakchok Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Reggie Ray, Tsultrim Allione, Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, Jetsunma Khandro Rinpoche, Gerardo Abboud, Marcia Binder-Schmidt, and Eric Swanson.

We are currently scheduling the remaining interviews and scenes to be filmed between now and November, 2010 in California, New York, and again in Dharamsala. Jeffery Paine, author of “Re-enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West,” has joined our team as script consultant.

A 15 minute selected scenes edit can be viewed on Vimeo at www.vimeo.com/12240094.

Keep up with our progress on our WHEN THE IRON BIRD FLIES Facebook page.

For more information on the project, contact Victress Hitchcock at victress@chariotvideos.com or at 719 256-5602.

Click here to view a trailer of When the Iron Bird Flies.

Click here to see a 15 minute selected scenes edit at vimeo.com.

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