Analyze the movie `Little Buddha`

Explain , discuss and analyze the themes of the movie Little Buddha by Bernardo Bertolucci . The spiritual and religious traditions , and how the story affected you

There are several major themes in the movie Little Buddha . The film tells the story of how a group of Buddhist monks from Tibet seek out a reincarnation of a great Buddhist teacher , and end up finding a candidate in the unlikely setting of a Seattle suburb . The journey of the monks to America , and of the boy 's family back with them to Tibet is as

much a spiritual journey as a physical one . The film suggests that there is far more to life than the physical circumstances in which one lives , and also that it is only through breaking away from familiar habits that the truth can be found

The theme of embracing the unfamiliar is a spiritual tradition with Buddhism , and it is one that is shown in the changing reactions of Jesse Conrad 's family to the rather unexpected news that the monks suspect that he may be a reincarnation of a Tibetan master teacher . The initial reaction is , quite naturally perhaps , and this soon turns into outright hostility when the monks say they want to take Jesse back with them to Bhutan in to test ' whether he really is a reincarnation or not Dean , the boy 's father , is very hostile towards the monks until his best friend dies in an accident . He then realizes that there is more to life than the conventional structure he has embraced up until that time

He is , in one sense enlightened . This enlightenment enables him to decide to take the family to Bhutan in for Jesse to be tested . The move towards a broader and more enlightened view of the world is mirrored by the story-within-a-story that is told by one of the monks Lama Dorje , as he relates the famous tale of the origins of Buddhism with the travels and eventual enlightenment of a rich prince called Siddharta , who later becomes the Buddha . It is was the fact that this ordinary American family , and the quite ordinary monks who found them were in some way analogous to the story of the Buddha which made the movie overall so appealing . It placed the religious , spiritual experience represented by the Buddha 's experience within the reach of ordinary people today

There are profound , mystical moments that express a universally spiritual experience for all human beings , of whatever religion . One example is when Siddhartha (who will become the Buddha ) says to the demon that is tempting and assaulting him , you are pure illusion , you do not exist . the earth is my witness (Bertolucci , 1993 . It is the fact that life is not permanent , that everything we see may be an illusion , that makes the Siddhartha see that his previous life was a sham , as (Peter Hata 2007 ) suggests , it is the unforgiving truth of impermanence . every living thing must change and ultimately perish...