For years, filmmaker Laurence Brahm has devoted his life to sharing Padmasambhava’s wisdom through the science fiction genre, music, and other media. His objective is to take the Himalayan Wisdom Traditions global by capturing the imagination of young people and inspiring them to explore the Lotus-Born Master’s timeless wisdom in relatable media and pop culture. In this exclusive interview, Brahm shares his recent work with a Shambhala-themed exhibit and how he became involved with filmmaking at the quantum Shambhala level.
All images courtesy of Shambhala Studio
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Buddhistdoor Global (BDG): What initially prompted you to embark on the journey of searching for Shambhala? As an artist from a modern city, are you attracted by its mystery, or are there more specific cultural clues that sparked your interest?
Laurence Brahm (LB): The journey began in 2002 as an expedition to find the mythical kingdom of Shangri-la. Many cities in China, Zhongdian, Dali, Lijiang, and so on, were all vying for the title Shangri-la. Mostly to attract tourists. So we decided to find out where Shangri-la really was. During the expedition we realized that Shangri-la was a misspelling of Shambhala, a core concept of Tibetan Buddhism and Himalayan tradition. You see, I was so certain Shambhala must be out there somewhere, I just wanted to find it.
We began a series of expeditions searching for Shambhala, only to find out that Shambhala may be a parallel universe, a mind map to your own inner self, or actually an astral map to the multiverse. When we start to understand the kinetic interconnectivity of all things, we realize how small this tiny planet earth is in the vastness of the multiverse. The urgent need to work together as humanity to save this planet gives each and every one of us a mission of new purpose.
I believe that Shambhala represents a multiverse, one which is integrated into every life form and place beyond our own conceptual concepts of time and space. Therefore, this journey of “Searching for Shambhala” became more than a series of Himalayan expeditions. It became a quest seeking to decode encryptions to the multiverse.
BDG: Have there been any experiences, landscapes, or feelings in the journey of “searching for Shambhala” that you have enjoyed or that are particularly important to you over the course of more than 20 years of repeated exploration? And why do you like the feeling of being on the road? Do you feel that you are a person with a strong spirit of adventure and exploration?
LB: In Buddhism, people often talk about the concept of a high lama pointing to your true nature of mind by only saying one or at the most two words. While Buddhists often talk about it, few have actually had this experience. Fortunately, I have. This occurred at Datong Monastery in Bhutan. This monastery is located above a small remote village just under one of the Lotus-born Master’s caves. It has some of the most immaculate wall murals of the Lotus-born Master’s life and detailed statues of his Eight Manifestations. We were filming there when the caretaker of the monastery brought us to an alter and took out the actual shoe of the Lotus-born Master, a dried leather Tibetan boot that was truly ancient.
We knelt down and he blessed us with the boot. Afterwards we were at the monastery door. The prayer flags were waving briskly in the wind and the clouds moving fast before a setting sun. I pulled on my leather jacket and leather cowboy boots. The caretaker stared at me in silence. Then placing his hands together as if about to say a prayer he uttered only two words: “Guns and Roses.”
BDG: This exhibition involves various forms such as painting, photography, video, sculpture, and handicrafts. Which of these works were created spontaneously during the journey? What are the things that have been precipitated and recreated after returning? What are the differences in their expressions? How did you choose and integrate these media to convey the image of ‘Shambhala’?
LB: If you think about it, we have been searching for Shambhala for nearly a quarter century. The Shambhala expeditions began in 2002 as Shambhala Studio Films sought to first find the source of Shangri-la, then realizing it is a misspelling of Shambhala, to seek the portal to the Shambhala parallel universe. As a film expedition, multimedia became our source of both documenting and telling the story of our search. As you enter the exhibition there are fabric rolls hanging from the ceiling with photos of scenes from our films. You can walk between these hanging scrolls as if you are walking through a forest. The intention is to bring you on the expedition with us.
So you are now part of our journey which is always intended to be a shared journey. There is another wall leading up the staircase with many behind the scenes photos over the course of this whole journey. It was very moving to me to see this after our curator Song Zi put them up this wall along a staircase leading to the loft sitting area upstairs. I looked at these photos and suddenly saw twenty years of my life go by as if it were nothing. Maybe it was just that. Nothing.
There is a sculpture that I did after these expeditions of a lama with red robes meditating. However, when you look under the robes at his face, you will see nothing. There is no face. There is only a black inverted surface. He is surrounded by bent spoons and wind horse papers that Tibetans through to the wind for blessing at high mountain passes.
What is it with the bent spoons, one might ask? Can Himalayan monks really bend spoons with their mind, fly on clouds, or pass through walls? Well, the trick to bending a spoon with your mind lies in one single principle. Understanding that the spoon itself does not actually exist. Actually, nothing exists.
In the exhibition there is a wall of black and white photos. This wall represents the past. They are photos taken over twenty years ago. On another wall are color photos. These are taken after twenty years. The two walls are divided by a cement column upon which a series of photos depict the Dakini who was dancing with moon knife at sunset in our film The Dakini Code.
Therefore, if you want to find Shambhala, you have just got to follow the Dakini who will take you there. The Dakini Code ends with this message: “Connect to everything, but attach to nothing. And when In doubt where to go next, well, just follow the wind.”
Another wall of the exhibition depicts hand drawn cartoons of mine drawn in notebooks during our early expeditions nearly twenty years ago. There were moments when I preferred to just sketch an idea rather than write it. This idea of sketching an idea, would lead to the science fiction films we would later produce, as these represent moments of thought, or complete mind images that depict an idea as a scene rather than words that may be a description.
The cartoons are child-like and I think that represents an aspect of my own mind. I love to look at the world through a child’s eyes. Everything is springtime in nature, fresh, unadulterated, beautiful and loving. That is if you choose to look at it that way. If you do, then every moment of life is full of joy and awakening. I once had somebody write to us criticizing how somebody my age could be doing the things that I do the way I do it. I simply wrote back, “Let me remind you that Peter Pan never grows old. Personally, I think grown-ups are really boring. And by the way, Dorje Drollo loves rock and roll.”
At the end of the exhibition in a clear plastic case is the cowboy had, jean jacket, torn jean pants, and dirt encrusted books together with the red scarf always seen in our movies. These are hung up with two orange hand prints of mine on the transparent case. So, one might ask, what this means as a piece of installation art. Am I finally hanging up my gear and ending the search. Well, let me leave you with the words of a Daft Punk song to think about: “Like the story of the Phoenix, the end is just the beginning.”
BDG: From your personal perspective, is this an archaeology of your own memories and beliefs? For example, do the shapes of those mountains, the sound of the wind, and the faces of passersby form part of your own “spiritual map?” Or, in other words, if you have been in such a searching state for a long time, what difference has your life status become?
LB: I like this question. “Archeology of memories” is a good way of describing this exhibition. Memories form a kaleidoscope of the subliminal dream that we are living. Often, we think that we are living reality when in fact dreams are reality and reality are dreams. This exhibition is intended to share with you those dreamlike moments that are frozen in memory like snapshots, yes like those photos on the wall. Our life is like that. The quest for Shambhala is to understand our own interconnected relationship with the world around us and those worlds, parallel universes or multiverses that actually may have more to do with what is happening around us then we actually realize.
This journey searching for Shambhala has been a pilgrimage, a vast extended meditation, an astral travel experience through the rainbow prism of our own mind, and beyond our perceptual abilities. Yes, it has been life transformational. That is what yoga and tantra actually mean, a transformation of our own self. With that transformation there is more determination to do more, to go beyond, to test the extremities of mind power and what can actually be unlocked in the unbounded dimensions of no time no space. That is why this exhibition is entitled “Searching for Shambhala: Decoding Encryptions to the Multiverse.”
BDG: Nowadays, people place more emphasis on healing, self discovery, and other internal explorations. What do you think of this phenomenon? Can experiencing and searching for ‘Shambhala’ be seen as an effort to rebuild the relationship between humans and nature, and between humans and themselves?
LB: Interestingly, nearly a century ago following the “Roaring Twenties” a time when extravagance and wealth, the Spanish Flu pandemic led to the Great Depression, that then led to World War II. People lost all hope in capital markets, faith in government and world leaders to lead them. People turned toward spirituality. This is when the idea of Shangri-la captured everyone’s imagination. Lost Horizon (1933) was a best-selling book and one of Hollywood’s first blockbuster movies. America, Germany and Russia began a great race sending Himalayan expeditions hoping to find the Kingdom of Shambhala.
Now let’s fast forward to our time. The 1990s was a time of Globalization and prosperity. It was also a period of greed and ruthless extrapolation of resources leading to many of the climate disasters we have today. Following the COVID pandemic we are now in the “Great Recession” that may become a global depression. Youth are very frustrated with the lack of jobs, the failure of our previous generations to build a better planet. They are turning toward spirituality across the world.
Youth in China are in a better position because they have access here to the traditional wisdom systems in Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and Daoism, each which possesses both spiritual philosophy and science. If they can evolve their own spirituality together with the technologies that are available today, then maybe they have the chance to build a better planet and really open the gates of Shambhala so our world can be a place of peace, equality, respect, environmental protection and more natural, healthy living. Key to all this is mind awakening so that we are using the technology to achieve positive planetary transformation. Not being used by technology to enrich oligarchs who continue to ruin this planet.
Only through this way can we re-set the algorithm of karma and bring about a true era of Shambhala for us all.
BDG: What kind of sensory experience do you hope the audience will have when entering this exhibition? What kind of questions or emotions do you want them to leave with?
LB: The exhibition has been curated as an expedition spanning over two decades. My hope is that visitors to this exhibition experience a sense of pilgrimage while being on the journey with me. This is a shared journey. In that sense, when visitors leave the exhibition, they will begin their own journey to find themselves amidst the chaos of this world. I hope this exhibition inspires people to realize their own potential and be all that they can be. I noticed at the opening of our exhibition many visitors are young. I wish to impart to them the message: don’t just dream your dreams, live your dreams.
BDG: How do you feel about the collaboration with a small bar – hosting your first Southwest exhibition in Chengdu for the first time?
LB: This is the best experience I have ever had with any exhibition or screening. Now one might be surprised to hear me say that when then know that we have held exhibitions at in Beijing at 798, Three Shadows Museum, Tsinghua University Fine Arts Museum, and in Shanghai at Himalaya Museum which are presumed to be epitomes of exhibition space in China. However, my experience here at Small Bar is a feeling of coming home rather than going somewhere to do an exhibition.
I think the reason is that the founder of Small Bar is Tang Lei, or Sister Tang as I like to call her. She is the mother of the underground punk rock and hard rock scene here in Chengdu. The curator Song Zi is a young rocker. So we all speak the same language. Actually, rock music is like the Dada movement in art. Both have a deep connection with the Lotus-born Master’s own teachings and the mission of the Army of Shambhala. All are about deconstruction of socially imposed fabricated realities. Actually, reality does not exist. Guess what? Neither do we.
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