First to summit Mt. Everest: Tenzing (film)

TENZING (2026 film)

Now at NoHo7, LA, and soon on Apple TV

Based on true events, Tenzing chronicles the little-known story of Tenzing Norgay (played by Genden Phuntsok), a gifted Himalayan Sherpa climber who, alongside New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston), was the first to summit Mt. Everest.

Encouraged by his wife Dawa (Thinley Lhamo), Tenzing finds an ally in expedition secretary Jill Henderson (Caitríona Balfe). Together, they persuade Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) that Tenzing belongs on the British climbing team, rather than merely serving it.

Whereas Western climbers see Mt. “Everest” as something to be conquered, Tenzing and the other indigenous Sherpas revere Chomolungma (lit. “Head in the Sky” or more loosely “Goddess of the Sky”) as the sacred Mother Goddess. The Tibetan name for Mt. Everest is Qomolangma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ, lit. “Holy Mother”).

Tenzing (2026 film) Hollywood, USA

What follows is an ascent defined as much by the tensions between backgrounds, classes, and competing ambitions as by the perils of the mountain itself.

But high above the world, empire, rank, and aspiration fall away, leaving two outsiders bound by mutual respect and trust — and for Tenzing, the fulfillment of both a life-long dream and a spiritual calling.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jennifer Peedom, Tenzing is a story of greatness that refuses to be diminished — and the human love that makes it possible. Source. NOW SHOWING:

• Laemmle's NoHo 7, North Hollywood
• Tasveer Film Center, Seattle (Laemmle)

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE (Laemmle) 

Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest, 1953 (archive video)

The world may argue who was first, but as friends we would never squabble over it.

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Tenzing Himalayan Mountaineering Inst

(The Guardian) May 29, 2013: VAJRAYANA BUDDHIST NEPAL, Himalayas - There exists an archive newsreel with footage that shows how New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa climber Tenzing Norgay became the first humans in recorded history to climb to the summit of Mount Everest, allegedly the highest (not tallest) peak on the planet.

Edmund Hillary and his best Sherpa friend and guide Tenzing Norgay, circa 1953

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  Tibetan lamas mapping Mt. Sumeru in sand

  There are allegations that K2 in Pakistan is in fact higher. That this can be questioned in modern times is not in spite of technology but because of it. Past attempts to determine their heights has been hampered by snow layers and politics. The Hawaiian giant Mauna Kea is no doubt taller but seated on the ocean floor so as to not be higher; and the mythical Mt. Sumeru of Buddhist cosmology and lore, supported by Vedic, Hindu, and Jain cosmologies, if such a peak is confirmed to exist as a tangible rock and soil mountain would be both far taller and far higher up. See also List of tall mountain peaks by prominence.
• 1953 British Mount Everest expedition

Who are these mysterious animistic-Buddhist Sherpa people of the Himalayas?

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I owe it all to my Sherpa porter

Their achievement came two days after a British expedition, led by John Hunt, came within 100 meters (330 feet) of the summit. On Wednesday, May 29, it will be the 60th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing's conquest of the world's tallest mountain.

The Guardian (UK) publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► bit.ly/3biVfwh. Website ► theguardian.com. Facebook ► theguardian. Twitter ► guardian. Instagram ► guardian. #Everest #Nepal #TenzingNorgay #Climbing #EdmundHillary #MountEverest

Yeah, but could they conquer K2?

The Last First: Winter K2 — Ambition, Tragedy and the Fight for K2

Statue of mountaineer Edmund Hillary looking up toward peak of Mount Cook

• Jennifer Peedom, Tenzing; Laemmle; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Chocolate Charlie or Willy Wonka?

Charlie Bucket was the book's original star

(American Vintage Tales) Nobody realized what the "Chocolate Factory" was hiding, not even sassy, greedy, entitled Veruca Salt. It becomes clear that this whole franchise is not about the kids. Like Gilligan's Island, it's really a morality play about human archetypes and personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins under a sweet and sinister examiner. That's why it resonates so well.

• BOOK: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• FILM: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
• Why is Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka so weird?
• List of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory characters

'The Odyssey' with Matt Damon and Trump

(Mr. Newberger's AI Funnies) The Trojan Trump: deleted scene from Elon Musk's The Odyssey

Sarah Silverman, you had s*x with him. What's Matt Damon really like? Sing a song about it.*

(Universal Pictures) The Odyssey (official new trailer)

The Odyssey (2026 film)

The Odyssey is a 2026 epic action fantasy film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Produced by Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas, it is an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem Odyssey. Its ensemble cast includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Odysseus (Damon), the Greek king of Ithaca, undergoes a long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War and encounters mythical beings as he attempts to reunite with his wife Penelope (Hathaway). Nolan began writing the script in March 2024 and secured the project by October.

(ABC News) Stars of The Odyssey open up about the new Hollywood epic

*Sarah, what's the real Matt Damon like?

(Freddy Kreuger) Sarah Silverman sings "I'm F*cking Matt Damon" with Matt for Jimmy Kimmel

(CBC News) Nolan's Odyssey may be confusing but worth second viewing

(Remnants) How much of The Odyssey actually happened? All of it?

(PBS Newshour) Why the ancient story of 'The Odyssey' still resonates today

• Classicist Emily Wilson translation: Homer's The Odyssey (Audible Iliad & Odyssey, Book 2, Claire Danes)

(Literature and History Podcast) Nine myths about the Odyssey you might still believe

(The Daily Show) Christopher Nolan on The Odyssey with Jon Stewart

Fans slam Odyssey trailer with tidal wave of criticism (ComicBook.com)

What has cheater Damon done?

(RWV123) Disaster Movie (unrated) ending song: "I'm F'ing Matt Damon"

(Jimmy Kimmel Live) Jim's payback: "I'm F*@#*ng Ben Affleck"

(Unscripted Eye) Why every celebrity zero-filters Matt Damon on live TV

Boycott Hollywood Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

(DemocracyNow.org) Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026 film) faces boycott calls over filming in occupied West Sahara, Africa More

The Matrix: Inception's hidden Buddhism: prison

Hollywood writers on dreaming

(Buddha's Wisdom) Inception's hidden Buddhism: The real prison was never the "dream" (maya).

Inception is an American science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with his wife Emma Thomas.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of targets.

To whom are we still hopelessly attached?

He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

The ensemble cast includes Ellen Page [now living as Elliot Page], Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Dileep Rao, and Michael Caine. More

• Upādāna: "clinging"
• Maya: the dreaming, the illusion
• Nirvana: release, liberation, freedom, emancipation
• Śūnyatā: emptiness, impersonal, without self
• Mara (demon): the Tempter, Mel, the seduction
• Hungry ghost: the realm of hopeless clinging
• Bardo: limbo, the intermediate state between rebirths
• Let Go: stop being so clingy, detach, be free
• Avidyā (Buddhism): ignorance that keeps us trapped

Buddhism in The Matrix

(Buddha's Wisdom) Buddhism in The Matrix | Red Pill isn't bodhi

(Matrix Explained) The Architect told Neo the truth, nobody noticed

That's the guy from Little Buddha

Buddhism in The Matrix goes deeper than most of us think (other than Wachowski Brothers). The Wachowskis built this film on Buddhist philosophy—but Neo (Keanu Reeves, who played the Buddha in Little Buddha) goes on a journey that reveals something most viewers miss: Taking the red pill isn't enlightenment, it's just the beginning. This video explores what The Matrix gets RIGHT about Buddhism, what Neo gets WRONG about awakening, and why the ending is actually the most Buddhist part of the entire trilogy. More (See The Matrix Trilogy)

HOW do we get out of this prison?

We are trapped in a prison of our own making. Realizing it does NOT free us. Letting go does. But how can we let go? We can't. It isn't an act of willpower. It's by seeing things as they are. Okay, okay, that makes sense! How are they? This is not a belief-system to believe. We must go in and see kalapas and cittas, particles and mind-moments, which means we must first cultivate samadhi (stillness, absorption) to purify and intensify the instrument of seeing (the mind). Then when we really know-and-see what is there, letting go happens by itself free of effort. The mind/heart lets go when it sees all things are marked by Three Universal Characteristics.

2026 Buddhist Film Festival (6/16-30)

A 15-day film festival co-presented by Tricycle Magazine and the Pure Land Foundation runs from June 16–30, 2026. All are invited to join for Tricycle’s third annual Buddhist Film Festival, offering five feature-length films and five short films from across the Buddhist world that can be watched all festival long. Tricycle is pleased to co-present this year’s festival with the Pure Land Foundation. Tickets are $40 for general admission and $30 for subscribers. — Get tickets below. Please note that the festival is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. TICKETS

(Asangoham) What are the ancient teachings of Pure Land Buddhism?

• Tricycle's Buddhist Film Festival
• Tricycle.org; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Jen Bradshaw (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

High in Scotland: 'Trainspotting' turns 30

Trainspotting (1996) official trailer - old Scottish drug movie with Ewan McGregor in HD

What do you for fun around here? Drugs?

Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy drama film directed by Danny Boyle, starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. It is written in English and Scots [3]. Based on the 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on Feb. 23, 1996 [6].

The film follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh, Scotland, and their passage through life. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film include an exploration of urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh [7]. Trainspotting was released to critical acclaim and is today regarded by many critics as one of the best films of the 1990s.... More

• When Scottish people speak English 😂

(JoBlo Originals) Reliving the raw brilliance of a 1990s masterpiece from the UK

Trainspotting scene: "Born slippy"

T2: The Sequel? Lightning in a bottle?

(Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Mel's Jesus gives man an NDE message

(The Parallax Files)

(Near-Death Experiences) I died and Jesus showed me seven cities to flee in 2026 | NDE story

The Goddess Sophia and Anointed Jesus

(Morgue Official) The Lost Gospel: Was Jesus secretly worshipping a Goddess [of Wisdom]?

'Wheel of Time' (Werner Herzog)

Wheel of Time (film)

Wheel of Time is a documentary film about Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism by German Director Werner Herzog. The title refers to the Kalachakra sand mandala that provides a recurring image for the film [1].

CONTENT

The film documents the two Kalachakra initiations of 2002, presided over by the 14th Dalai Lama. The first, in Bodhgaya ("Enlightenment Grove"), India, was disrupted by the Dalai Lama's illness. Later that same year, the event was held again, this time without disruption, in Graz, Austria.

The film's first location is the Bodhgaya, the site of the Mahabodhi ("Great Enlightenment") Temple and the Bodhi ("Enlightenment") tree.

Director Herzog then turns to the pilgrimage at [synthetic] Mount Kailash, after which the film focuses on the second gathering in Graz.

Herzog includes a personal interview with the Dalai Lama [2], as well as Tibetan former political prisoner Takna Jigme Zangpo, who served 37 years in a Chinese prison for his support of the International Tibet Independence Movement. More

Thanks, Rob Reiner: 'This Is Spinal Tap' (film)

This is Spinal Tap (1984) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

Wisdom of Happiness: Dalai Lama (film)

OFFICIAL TRAILER | WISDOM OF HAPPINESS

CIA, it's time for world peace

(Abramorama) The WISDOM OF HAPPINESS shows us a timeless truth: happiness is still possible, even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. This powerful message of hope is delivered as a personal audience with one of the greatest living thinkers, Nobel Peace Prize winner Tenzin Gyatso, known to billions around the world as the 14th Dalai Lama.

From Executive Producers Richard Gere and Oren Moverman, the film premieres its North American theater tour in 2025. Learn more and sign up to receive updates: wisdomofhappinessfilm.com.

Dalai Lama shares advice for finding happiness in the 21st century in new documentary

(NPR) NPR's Leila Fadel speaks (7-minute listen) with American Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist actor and activist Richard Gere about the new documentary Wisdom of Happiness in which the current Dalai Lama offers solutions to the 21st century's hurdles to happiness.

• wisdomofhappinessfilm.com
• Abramorama; Richard Gere, Leila Fadel, Morning Edition, Mike Morgan (photo), Movie Interviews (NPR.org), Nov. 26, 2025; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

R. Gere 'Wisdom of Happiness' (Lion's Roar)

Richard Gere on “The Wisdom of Happiness” and the Dalai Lama’s message for our time

Magazine Nov. 2025 (lionsroar.com)

(Lion’s Roar) In the new film The Wisdom of Happiness, HH the Dalai Lama shares his timeless message of compassion and interconnection on the big screen.

In conversation with Lion’s Roar magazine Editor Andrea Miller, Richard Gere -- American Zen and Vajrayana Buddhist, actor, humanitarian, and one of the executive producers of the film -- reflects on the nature of true happiness, the roots of suffering, and how meeting the Dalai Lama transformed his life.

The Wisdom of Happiness premieres in theaters Oct. 2025 and, while best viewed on the big screen, it is also available for streaming. To find a screening at a nearby theater, visit: wisdomofhappinessfilm.com.

• The Roots of Good and Evil: Buddhist Texts translated from the Pali (Buddhist Publication Society)

ABOUT: Lion’s Roar is an independent non-profit foundation whose mission is to communicate Buddhist wisdom and practices in order to benefit people’s lives and our society and to support the development of Buddhism in the modern world. Through its print and digital publications, it aims to bring Dharma to people right where they are, knowing what a difference it can make in their lives.

Sign up for Lion's Roar's free "How to Live a Good Human Life Summit," from Oct. 23-27: lionsroar.com/how-to-live...

Subscribe to channel: @lionsroaronline. Get weekly top stories delivered to inbox: lionsroar.com/newsletter. WEBSITE: lionsroar.com. Facebook (lionsroarbuddhism). Instagram (lionsroarbuddhism).

• The Simpsons; Actor Richard Gere, editor Andrea Miller (lionsroar.com), Oct. 15, 2025; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Eaton Fire film: 'All the Walls Came Down'

• Laemmle.com; AP.org; LARCRO.org; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Palestinian comedy against Israel

Punk Rock in SLC (film) and Kalama Sutta

Punk rock made sense to rebels

SLC Punk! is an American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film centers around Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate and punk living in Salt Lake City during the mid-1980s. SLC Punk!, which was released in 1998, was chosen as the opening-night feature at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival [2]. Merendino created the film based on his experience growing up in Mormon-heavy Salt Lake City. Although the film is not autobiographical, Merendino has said that many characters were based on people he knew [3]. More

What's so punk about Buddhism? Well, it is anti-authoritarian, into direct experience rather than intermediary priests. It is about questioning and going "against the stream." Just ask punk Buddhist Noah Levine, his Buddhist dad Stephen Levine, or his long-time teacher Jack Kornfield.

[Mormon] Jesus saves? Buddhism is all lies? - Are you envious of lay people, and do you regret?

Western monk explains his choice of Theravada. - How can we know and be sure? Bodhi

Not until I was sure did I claim to know and see.

It is so sad to hear this last man's words. The same accusations were hurled at the Buddha in his day by Brahmins and doubters. While it may sound reasonable to us as we assume, it is completely wrong. The Buddha DID NOT follow his own thinking or take a "best guess" and the meaning of life. It was about awakening to the Truth he could never have imagined. It has so little to do with "thinking" and so much to do with directly experiencing. But he did not stop there. He verified again and again and taught a path of verification and purification. Buddhism is not a belief system, as much as people try to treat it that way or make a "religion" out of it. It is a path-of-practice, a set of instructions. One must practice (walk) the path to verify it for oneself. There is nothing to believe or accept on blind faith. There is everything to investigate and see for oneself. What is the most "punk" sutra? That would have to be the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha's invitation to self-inquiry. "Don't believe anything I say just because I say it -- or even that of your teachers or books or traditions. But you yourselves must know and see" is the gist of what the Buddha is saying to the Kalamas, a group of people who rightly doubted him as "just another teacher about to exalt himself and condemn others." The Buddha shocked them when he didn't do that but still managed to teach them the Dharma.

How can anyone know anything?

The Buddha gives a standard: Start from what you
already know to be true from your own experience.

In the Kalama Sutta the Buddha lists the criteria by which any sensible person can decide what to accept as true or not: Do not blindly believe religious teachings, he tells the Kalamas, just because they are claimed to be true, or even through the application of various methods or techniques.

Direct knowledge grounded in one's own experience can be called upon [as the deciding factor]. The Buddha advises that the words of the wise should be heeded and taken into account, but he does not propose passive acceptance.

Rather, the Buddha promotes constant questioning and personal testing to identify truths that verifiably reduce one's own disappointment, suffering, and misery (dukkha) and that of others.

The Kalama Sutta (also called the Kesamutti Sutta) states [3]:

• Do not go on what has been acquired by repeated hearing (anussava), nor upon tradition (paramparā), nor upon rumor (itikirā), nor upon what is written in scriptures (piṭaka-sampadāna), nor upon surmising (takka-hetu), nor upon axioms (naya-hetu)... More