Samsara

Tashi (Shawn Ku) is a brilliant young Buddhist monk who is just completing three years of solitary meditation in a remote hermitage. With long hair and beard and fingernails like talons, he is sitting in the lotus position in a deep trance. Roused by a group of monks, he is taken back to the monastery to recover his strength. As he resumes a monastic... More »

Tashi (Shawn Ku) is a brilliant young Buddhist monk who is just completing three years of solitary meditation in a remote hermitage. With long hair and beard and fingernails like talons, he is sitting in the lotus position in a deep trance. Roused by a group of monks, he is taken back to the monastery to recover his strength. As he resumes a monastic life of constant prayer, he is honoured for reaching a state of advanced enlightenment. But surprisingly, even though his life from the age of five has been devoted to spiritual matters, he finds himself experiencing a profound sexual awakening. While performing a routine harvest blessing, he becomes irresistibly attracted to the farmer's beautiful daughter, Pema (Christy Chung). Arguing that Prince Siddartha renounced worldly existence only after experiencing it, Tashi leaves the monastery to discover the bliss of sexual union. He marries Pema who, it turns out, has spiritual wisdom that surprises and challenges him. Less «