Becoming the Buddha In L.A.
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Becoming the Buddha in L.A. explores growing religious diversity in the United States through a focus on some of the myriad interpretations of Buddhism flourishing in metropolitan Los Angeles.

Commentary by the poet Gary Snyder and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh provides a theoretical framework for four stories: a Cambodian teenager from a gang neighborhood becomes a Buddhist monk, a Canadian man who has become a fully-ordained Tibetan Lama develops his own blend of Buddhism and group psychotherapy, a Japanese-American who grew up in the inner city neighborhood of Watts ministers to a Buddhist community spanning four generations and a young Vietnamese widow confronts the experience of deep personal loss in a new country.

Woven throughout these compelling personal stories is an overview of the origins Buddhist traditions, revealing the historical and cultural context from which it has risen. The film emphasizes the diversity and change within Buddhism as it discovers the rituals, values and visions that have remained at the heart of the tradition for centuries.

It was created as the pilot program for a Public Television series on religious identity and pluralism in the United States.

Michael Camerini, Producer/Director


The film features the distinguished Dr. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and leader of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. Since 1991, the Pluralism Project has sought to explore the new religious diversity of the United States and its meaning for the American pluralist experiment, documenting the growing presence of the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the U.S.

Learn more about the Pluralism Project: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/

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