Re: Children Responding to Bernardo Bertolucci’s Little Buddha

Josh Ikeda-Nash, age 5
Oakland, California
“What I want to know is, why were there two buddhas at the end? And I liked the part where Mara threw fireballs at Buddha. I think Buddha is the best person. Buddha and Martin Luther King Jr.”

Courtney Flynn, age 8
Boston, Massachusetts
“I would be honored for being picked to be a great teacher.”

Kate M. Linthicum, age 8
Albuquerque, New Mexico
“I liked the part where the monks sat down on the floor in the little boy’s living room, because that doesn’t usually happen—you usually sit on the chair. The monks think one of the three kids is the lama. At the end of the movie, though, the head monk bows to each of the three kids and calls them ‘teacher.'”

Ten Ley Palsang, age 14
Boston, Massachusetts
“I liked when he pulled his own reflection out of the water. That was really cool. Last summer I went to Tibet and had the privilege to go to the Tsurpu monastery and witness the installment of His Holiness Karmapa’s reincarnation, who was about seven years old. The movie did a very good job representing it. I never thought that three children could all be the reincarnations, but my mother told me after the movie that they each represented the lama’s mind, body, and spirit.”

Shane Jaynes, age 5
Los Angeles, California
“I didn’t like the burning body. And I just don’t understand the movie. I need to get a book on Siddhartha.”

Nicholas Gaylord-Scott, age 6
Durham, North Carolina
“It was great! I liked the part when Siddhartha was having all those thoughts sitting by the tree. They tried to scare him, but he wasn’t scared because it was just his imagination.”

Stuart Gaylord-Scott, age 8
Durham, North Carolina
“Awesome! My favorite part was when the children were visualizing Siddhartha getting enlightened. I especially liked when the army was trying to scare him.”
Sonam Liberman, age 11
Somerville, Massachusetts
“The background and places were really pretty—I saw some places I remember from Nepal. I liked when they were doing the Buddha story and I liked the actor who played Buddha, Keanu Reeves.”

Liza Walsh, age 6
Butte, Montana
“I never knew Buddha wore makeup!”

Rebecca Levin, age 11
Los Angeles, California
“The part I liked was when these people told the three kids the story of Prince Siddhartha and the most amazing part was when he got to go out and see how people lived their own life. If I were in that movie and I got picked to be one of the three kids that got chosen to be the head Buddhist, then I would meditate and meditate and meditate like Prince Siddhartha and then tell the story about him to my children and my grandchildren and it would be passed on in the family.”

Tseten Zalichin, age 8
Takoma Park, Maryland
“There were a few scary parts. It explained to me that luxury isn’t the best in life. In the beginning the Buddha had lots of fear. In the end he is fearless.”

Francis Simon Gayek, age 8
Yellow Springs, Ohio
“I liked how the boy was reading the book and imagining the story, and also I really liked when they were doing the sand painting. If I were chosen as a tulku I would kind of feel sad about being taken away from my family, but I would kind of feel happy about being special.”