Living Arts
Living Luminaries and The Serious Business of Being Happy DVD/ $29
Happiness is a buzzword these days. There are many new studies on happiness through the field of Positive Psychology and many people seek this elusive state of being. But what is happiness for you? Does it differ from what I think it is? We all have different lives and goals so I am sure what we seek is different. But the common element is that most of us want to feel good each day and have a life that is rewarding.
Living Luminaries and the Serious Business of Being Happy is a documentary in the current genre with a series of teachers revealing words of wisdom and how they apply to today’s world. This film follows a young man as he encounters situations that prompt him to explore the meaning of life through his search for happiness. It’s written by Larry J. Kurnarsky and Sean A. Mulvihill. Mulvihill also plays the main character in the film. I enjoyed this documentary because of its youthful elements and entertaining soundtrack. It had a nice flow to it and some great words of wisdom from a wide variety of people ranging from street prophets to well-known teachers.
Film is the new medium for teaching in this age of digital downloads. So for those who would like to enjoy a film instead of reading a book about happiness, this is a good one. I loved Marianne Williamson’s words when she said that you choose happiness. To be happy is a decision we make everyday. I had a similar thought, or what I like to call a “hit,” long ago. At each moment, we choose life or we choose death because our actions are either life-affirming or life-depleting. It’s like that line in the film Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
One of the great gifts of this film is the message that happiness is open to all of us at any time as long as we are willing to change our perspective. And as in all things we each must find our own way. We can look objectively at those things and people that make us happy and find a way to integrate them into our lives
One of my favorite Luminaries was Nachum Shifren, The Surfing Rabbi, who is the author of the acclaimed book by the same name. His words resonate with me as he offers the analogy of surfing to life and how the ability to focus on what is at hand can bring forth happiness.
Other great teachers include Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now; Gary Renard, who has written the Disappearance of the Universe and one of my personal favorites, Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. Spiritual or religious luminaries include Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith of the Agape Spiritual Center, Rev. Dr. Mary Manin Morrissey, Dr. Harry Morgan Moses, and the Venerable Tibetan Lama Chodak Gyatso Nupka. A memorable and well-known advocate of civil rights is Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, who was a former Black Panther. In addition, there were other highly inspirational and contemporary thinkers and teachers such as Obadiah S. Harris, Ph.D. (of the University of Philosophical Research), Robert Frager, Ph.D., Rabbi Yitchok Adlerstein (of Loyola University) and Rev. Dr. William S. Epps.
This is a film I will watch again and again because it helped me to see that my perceived limitations are self-imposed and that happiness is available to each one of us.
For more information or to purchase this DVD visit www.livingluminariesmovie.com