CRAZY WISDOM
89 Mins.
Filmmaker Johanna Demtrakas will be present to answer questions and share her experiences in making the film.
Allen Ginsberg considered him his guru; Thomas Merton wanted to write a book with him; Pema Chodron was his student and Joni Mitchell wrote a song about him. This film will surely challenge anyone’s assumptions about what constitutes a proper dharma teacher.
Crazy Wisdom is the long-awaited feature documentary on the life, teachings, and "crazy wisdom" of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a pivotal figure in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West and the founder of Shambhala. His unapologetic life and rock star persona got him labeled the “bad boy of Buddhism.”
He certainly defied categorization. Raised and trained in the rigorous Tibetan monastic tradition, Trungpa came to the West and shattered our preconceived notions about how an enlightened teacher should behave. He openly smoked, drank and yes, had intimate relations with students. He was considered a genius, rascal, and social visionary and hailed by many as one of the greatest spiritual teachers of the 20th century. His teachings are recognized as authentic, vast, and influential. For 17 years in North America, Trungpa taught Buddhism as though it were a matter of life and death.
Filmed in the UK, Tibet, Canada, & the US, twenty years after Trungpa’s death, with unprecedented access and exclusive archival material, Crazy Wisdom looks at the man and the myths surrounding him. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be quite the ride on the way to enlightenment!
“He always created a feeling of stark reality, compassion and biting humor at the same time. Being in his presence was like being suddenly aware of an oncoming truck: it put every cell in your brain SMACK! into the present moment. And in that moment you could be outraged, moved to tears or intellectually inspired... all at once.” Johanna Demetrakas, director