Review of Buddha's Lost Children

"Living is an art to be learned" is an opening phrase in a documentary movie called "Buddha's lost children" which accurately describes what the main character, the monk Phra Khru Bah Neua Chai Kositto or shortly Khru Bah, wants to educate his young apprentices. The film by Dutch director Mark Verkerk thoroughly captures a one-year moment of a local residents of a Buddhist monastery placed in the so-called Golden Triangle, an area in the northern part of Thailand which unfortunately well known for being a largest drug-producing region in Asia. The film focuses on children who have been taken under a wing of the local monk Khru Bah to become his novices due to such harsh conditions as a poverty, starvation and drug abuse. By showing a daily routine of the Golden Horse monastery this feature film tries to say that for the children, who ended up in poor and disappointing circumstances of this former high criminal region, the only and best option to have a better life and a brighter future is to bind their life with a Khru Bah and his Buddhist community. Khru Brah teaches children essential basic life skills and Buddhist traditions but most importantly how to apply those traditions in practice. Khru Bah' s involment, work and influence are a great example to challenge a stereotype of Buddhist monks who are perceived to be passive and compliant with contemplative perspective of the world. The film starts off by revealing a backstory of Khru Bah, his Thai box past and how certain crucial moment of his life encouraged him to change his way of being. The pivotal turn was a vivid dream that made Khru Bah to become a Buddhist monk, he devoted 15 years of his life spreading a word of Buddha and saving children by taking care of them when they needed it most. Although the path he chose in not the easiest one he obtained true followers and friends like nun Khun Ead, for example. For the las five years Knuh Ead is responsible of the daily life of the monastery by sorting the alms and donation and keeping children' hygiene in good condition. The Golden Horse monastery where Khru Bah and his novices inhabit is heavily depends on hill tribe people and their donations. He collects alms every day, usually it is food but for the villagers it is a chance to earn a merit according to Buddhist tradition. But then the focus of the picture is moved to one of his novices named Suk. Suk is one of the many poor children who ended up in monastery because he lost both parents thus became an orphan. He was a quiet and shy child who rarely spoke but with Khru Bah and surroundings' help and compassion he opened his heart and now considers Khru Bah and nun Khun Ead as his father and mother. By acquiring a true family, Suk can help other children to overcome life's obstacles and as his "father" he also wants to become a monk someday. Another child named Yee is yet to become an apprentice, his mother wants Yee to follow Khru Bah's people because she cannot provide him with enough food. The fact that Yee once fell from a tree and needed a close attention from his mother makes her decision even more painful, but she understands that this is only way she can secure her child. In course of time Khru Bah is granting Yee a new name - Pan Sean, thus, saying that "Yee is now dead" and from now on he is one of the novices. Later is seen that Suk and Pan Sean became much closer friends and Suk helped Pan Sean on his first steps of his learning and in such way proved that his intention to become a monk will come someday. Afterwards, in one the many tribes around a border, Khru Brah notices a four-year-old boy named Boontam, who has a certain illness that disturbs his walking capability. Khru Bah notices something special about this child, he said that this boy has a good karma but most importantly he mentions that he has been praying for Buddha to be born here, in the Golden Triangle, to help him spreading a word along the border, Khru Bah believes that Boontam is possibly a reincarnation of Buddha. As a Thai monk, Khru Bah is adherent of Theravada branch of Buddhism, whose followers believe that people and also the Buddha can reincarnate, that is why he assumes that Boontam is possibly the reincarnated Buddha. Under Khru Bah'S care Boontam's health was significantly improved and spends his life back and forth between the monastery and village. Aside from taking those children under his care, Khru Bah teaches them useful and important life skills and lessons. The good example would be schooling them basics of animal husbandry with the horse, as Khru Bah said "The novices learn the close link between humans and animals. Taking care of a horse is like looking in a mirror" meaning that children can apply acquired skills and knowledge to take care for themselves. Khru Bah sometimes use light physical abuse like punching and hitting and justifies it by saying "If horse is stubborn - child hits the horse. If child is stubborn - I must hit them". This can be seen as something that a monk will not do, and it is true, but from different perspective in it can be perceived not as a monk and novice relationship but more as a father and son thus showing more deep and compassionate connection between them and still he tries to hold his temper while being responsible for several dozen children with different approach and mental state as well as harsh circumstances they turned up in. Overall, this documentary film carefully gives an a quick but nonetheless significant and important glimpse on the issues of people who live on borders in the Golden Triangle, especially focusing on children whose destiny could turn to be bonded with drug abuse, hunger, impoverishment if it was not for Khru Bah's unselfish and fully involved help, love and compassion. Also, this film provides a good example of how some of the Buddhist traditions can be taught to be used in practice thus confronting the typical stereotype about Buddhist monks and how they are recognized. This film could be recommended for people who wants to know how a religion can help people and try to solve some issues even at the smaller scale like the Golden Horse monastery and the villages that are under patronage of the monastery in the era when religion is highly criticized.