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DHARMA RIVER
Journey of a Thousand Buddhas

Amit Goti
LA YOGA
Ayurveda and Health layogamagazine.com


Creator, director, cinematographer John Bush undertakes the production of a travel documentary as if it were fine art.  This is as good as this genre gets, and I’ve been to many of the places Bush describes and shows us in this magnificently produced DVD. Had I viewed this DVD before I left for Thailand or Burma I would have known enough ahead of time to have planned to make other stops than the ones I stumbled upon.  Looking at it now makes me want to go back.

Dharma River, one part of what Bush calls his Yatra Series, takes us through the cities, towns and countryside of some of the most spiritual geography on earth including visits to the Buddha landmarks and holy ground of Laos, Burma and Thailand.  In between stops we feel immersed in the culture, the sounds and the very civilizations of these lands.   Bush has spent much time there, his heart is here and it shows.

Director Bush, narrates Dharma River in a comforting and almost poetic fashion.  Viewers get insightful facts and anecdotes without feeling like you’re being clobbered with information.  Maybe it is the ever-moving camera or the classical sacred music, but one does have the sense of a journey here into another time and place.

There is something meditative about his DVD, indeed, it even offers a version on the disc that allows you to view and “feel” the sights and sounds without the voice-over narration.  Played like this the DVD journey can hang on the wall, a kind of moving image tapestry of a Buddha journey of discovery.

Other discs in the Yatra series include Prajna Earth, a trip through Cambodia, Bali and Java (narrated by Sharon Stone) and Vajra Sky, a journey through central Tibet.  If you are even vaguely considering a trip to any of these places you will want to view John Bush’s DVDs before you firm up your plans.  If you’ve already been to any of these places, you will want to re-visit them on these discs - see some of what you saw from an artist’s point of view, and a whole lot that you missed entirely.


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