Review of Buddha's Lost Children

Usually I do not expect documentary movies to affect me emotionally, but this film was a good surprise. The director made a great job showing us the insights of Buddhist culture by an example of life and work of a monk called Khru Bah. Boxer in the past, Khru Bah now dedicated his life in religion and helping orphan children by taking them in the monastery and teaching Buddhist religious traditions. I especially liked the way the director focused on children's past, revealing their stories. Most of Khru Bah's followers experienced difficulties in their lives - almost everyone either lost their parents or could no longer be raised and supported by them, but the monk's work gave these children a chance for a better future. Living in the Golden Horse monastery, these children are provided with basic self-care supplies and taught to follow Buddhist customs. Sure, it was not easy for them to adjust to a new place and get along with new people, but Khru Bah and nun's patience and wiliness to help soon gained children's trust. The director provides us with a good opportunity to know what a real life in the monastery looks like. Khru Bah is an example for his pupils to follow, and his actions, his way of solving different kinds of conflicts taking place affect children's view on life, showing them the importance of compassion and support. Thus, we could say that the monastery is like a new home for all these children, and Khru Bah is playing a role of the father, even giving them new names and being strict when the situation asks for it. The setting takes place in the Golden Triangle, which is a border territory in the Northern Thailand known for drug dealing. And again here is something I did not expect to see in the movie - it is a way Khru Bah emphasises the danger of drugs and importance of avoiding them. "How can your village be strong when your bodies are weak and addicted to drugs?", he asks from the citizens of one of the villages they visit. It can be seen that people respect him as they listen to his speech and advice. And when the monk with his pupils start their day visiting villages, the citizens make contributions in the form of food and other necessary stuff, as they believe that by doing this they would improve their karma. Also as Khru Bah and his pupils often move in dangerous regions it is important for children to be able to stand for themselves, so the monk teaches them how to do boxing using his own past experience. I think that this is an important scene to point out because it contradicts the general stereotype about Buddhism being a non-violent religion. Khru Bah shows that it is possible to follow Buddhist religious traditions and develop your physical strength at the same time. And the Buddha himself demonstrated after his experiencing of asceticism that a weak body is no good for the enlightenment. So Khru Bah emphasises the importance of both body purity and strength and clear mind. So the movie was both informative and interesting, and I personally enjoyed watching it. The work of Khru Bah and nun Khun Ead is very important, in my opinion, because they not only teach young children to follow Buddhist religious traditions but most importantly provide a good example of sympathy and compassion and give these children an opportunity for a good life.