Searching for the Lotus-Born Master (I)

Editor's note: Laurence Brahm first came to China as a university exchange student from the US in 1981 and has spent much of the past three and a half decades living and working in China. He is a lawyer, an economist and founding chairman of the Himalayan Consensus. He is also an award-winning documentary film director specializing in extreme Himalayan expeditions. His latest film Searching for the Lotus-Born Master (2018) has received a dozen international film festival awards and accolades.

Starting Nov 14, China Daily is publishing behind-the-scenes stories about the documentary every Wednesday, with nine episodes total. Please stay tuned and join this incredible journey.

Searching for the Lotus-Born Master is a documentary that explores the life of Padmasambhava, the father of Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism. It beckons to ask: was he also the father of quantum physics?

《尋找蓮花生大士》是一部探尋金剛乘即藏傳佛教祖師蓮花生大士生平的紀錄片。我們常常在想：難道蓮花生大士也是量子物理學的鼻祖?

Searching for the Lotus-Born Master was filmed over an intensive six-month period by Shambhala Studio. The expedition teams crossed the Himalayan region - five countries and extreme climates covering over 20,000 kilometers. The expedition team followed handprints and footprints he left across the Himalayas, scaled the snow mountains he crossed, discovered the sacred lakes where he performed magic and explored the caves where he practiced tantric meditation. The team sought the wisdom of great lamas, dedicated scholars and scientific innovators, seeking to prove the legend true.

經過六個月的緊湊拍攝，香巴拉工作室終于拍完了《尋找蓮花生大士》紀錄片。在極端的天氣條件下，我們的探險隊走遍了喜馬拉雅地區的五個國家，總行程達兩萬公里。我們追隨蓮花生大士的足跡，爬越白雪皚皚的山巔，找到他施幻法的圣湖，也曾去他禪修閉關的山洞探秘……我們在拍攝途中集思廣益，采訪了許多佛教大德、資深學者及科研科創家，并試圖證明這個傳說是真實的。