Traditional forms of Buddhism were developed before modern media. Each of us who are born in the west have been raised with modern movies and music. Rama felt that it is important to utilize all of the tools that are available and familiar to us. He felt that these tools should be used as part of a modern Buddhist pathway.

The movies in these lists were chosen by him for us to watch. They were chosen for a variety of reasons. Some are funny, others inspiring, or they can show us other states of mind such as the warriors spirit.Some of the movies that he recommended will suprise you. They are not normal fare for practioners of self discovery. Perhaps part of the reason why some of these movies were chosen was to break us out of our ideas of what self discovery is.

Ultimately, the lesson from these movies is that all of life is a story. A projection in our mind. We see the world through this projection. It can be a wonderful story or a horror story. We cannot always control what happens to us. But we can control our response within our mind. And so we can learn to view these stories with a detached mind while still participating in the protagonists journey.

Not all of these stories translate well into the current day. There message was for a particular group of people at a particular time. But you can use the list to help challenge your ideas of why you watch movies. Is it merely as an escape or do you seek to learn something? Are you watching what society tells you is spiritual or are you watching things that will help you to grow? We all face these challenges. The things that help us to grow are often not the easy path.