This month sees the beginning of several screening sessions of a musical documentary film about Nepalese monastic and singer Ani Choying Drolma. The movie, titled Ani Bond: Choying Drolma, looks back on her extraordinary journey, and how she brought global recognition to Tibetan Buddhist chants and songs through her powerful voice and creative mixing with modern instruments.

So iconic among the international Buddhist community are her songs that Ani Choying has been dubbed the “singing nun,” which might sound quirky or relatable to Western listeners. But in an upcoming video interview with BDG, Ani Choying states that the popular reception to her music, which gave rise to her celebrity status, was not always met with approval in more conservative monastic circles. Despite the self-evident part she has played in popularizing Tibetan Buddhist music over the decades, in the eyes of some, her celebrity was the exception that proved the rule. This rule is that women, including monastic women, do not have a place in public life. The implication of this mentality is that the prominence and adulation that a woman could theoretically enjoy is not worth the extraordinary Dharma deed of taking Vajrayana Buddhist liturgical music mainstream. It is a tragic mindset that could worsen a precarious situation in which global demographics are shifting against Buddhism’s favor.

Despite admitting to a fiery disposition and strong motivation that have helped her stand her ground on what she believes in, Ani Choying is now open about her hope that people can understand her pure intention. Her musical journey is all about spreading the Dharma in a world that demands adaptation and innovative methods: skillful means.

Skillful means come in a myriad of forms. Beijing-based explorer-entrepreneur-filmmaker Laurence Brahm happened to be in Hong Kong the same week that Ani Choying arrived. The founder and director of Shambhala Studio hosted a private screening of his upcoming film Lotus-Born Master: Journey to the Other Side of the Black Hole. Held at the Bhutanese practice center Milarepa Centre, the screening showcased an extraordinary movie that blended biting satire with sci-fi themes such as AI, environmental catastrophe, and algorithms and coding, while putting front and center Brahm’s five protagonists: the modern reincarnations of Padmasambhava’s primary five consorts.

In conversations with the public, various organizations, and BDG, Brahm has made clear his intention to take Himalayan Wisdom Traditions global through the vehicles of pop culture, including music genres such as rock and trap. Most important, however, is his Lotus-Born Master project: a series of science fiction-themed films about Guru Padmasambhava. Journey to the Other Side of the Black Hole follows in the footsteps of the Lotus-Born Master series, and will be succeeded by two more upcoming productions.

At the core of Brahm’s films is the notion that Padmasambhava, through coded messages in his teachings and terma (Tib: hidden treasures), had extraordinary insights into the nature of reality, including insights into modern quantum mechanics and ideas such as the many-worlds interpretation. Some of his recurring characters include an explorer of Shambhala, his self-insert, who is constantly captured by satirical agents of “the Agency,” who attempt to stop the explorer’s unveiling of the Shambhala truths. The “revolution” is really an inner transformation that will radiate outward from the hearts of all sentient beings and usher in a new era of insight and peace, rather than greed and war.

What is new in Journey to the Other Side of the Black Hole is the addition of Yeshe Tsogyal, Mandarava, Shakyadevi, Kalasidhi, and Tashi Khyidren, who are reborn into modern lives with professional identities, and who eventually rescue Brahm’s self-insert character from the Agency. There is also a somewhat prophetic parody of Barron Trump as US president and leader of the Agency, played by Brahm’s son, Laurence Carroll Brahm Jr. (who is also a TikTok influencer and fashion model).

Both Ani Choying and Laurence Brahm are prominent figures in their respective fields of contemporary Buddhist music and Buddhist-themed filmmaking. They have both been on the receiving end of the narrow-mindedness and insularity that plague certain circles of spiritual authority. But both share a common interest in breaking through narrow mindsets about how the Dharma should be shared, especially among non-Buddhists, Gen Z and beyond. Without a finger on the spiritual pulse of these two broad demographics, Buddhism will be consigned to a greatly reduced prominence in popular consciousness and possibly irrelevance in public discourse in coming decades.

At the same time, the trends of theory and praxis that were put into motion in the middle of the 20th century seem irreversible at this point:

(1) The propagation of Buddhist values in a secular, broadly irreligious context;

(2) The integration of Buddhist messaging with technology (with the proviso that the intention of harnessing these mighty technologies should always be kept pure);

(3) The related alliance between Buddhist mind science and philosophy and the neuro-scientific research; and

(4) The “flattening” of religious authority as influencers of social media, monastic or lay, become prominent voices in rallying online support and interest in Buddhism.

Buddhist leaders and creators will continue to follow these trends for the foreseeable future. In light of said trends, Ani Choying and Laurence Brahm are contributing to a fifth and welcome trend: the long overdue recognition that the vehicle of pop culture, much like social media and technology, is not necessarily evil or unwholesome if it can be used to attract people to authentic Dharma insights. In fact, Buddhist leaders’ use of pop culture has been like an unused, weak muscle. The less it is exercised, the weaker it grows; and the weaker the muscle becomes, the less it can be used. It is therefore critical that Ani Choying’s work is carried forward into the decades to come.

Also, “franchises” (this should not be a sensitive or “dirty” word) such as Lotus-Born Master need more opportunities to engage with the broader public, to go into as many regions of the world as possible and be shown to new audiences. The Lotus-Born Master series has not been shown at Buddhist themed festivals, including large ones like the International Buddhist Film Festival and the Catalan Buddhist Film Festival. Perhaps it should be. This is not a missionary project, but the reawakening of a hitherto weak, unworked muscle.

There is also plenty of cause to hope. In Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan, Buddhist musicians, many of them monastics and/or professional musicians, are creating relatable and engaging music in which younger audiences can immerse themselves. From more prominent and established names to emerging voices, there is a sense that pop culture’s genres need a greater Buddhist presence. Brahm’s innovative and unique approach to crafting a sci-fi storytelling approach to Vajrayana Buddhism is one such strategy and ongoing initiative.

Add to this the already established tradition of contemporary Himalayan music-making pioneered by trailblazers such as Ani Choying, and the Himalayan Wisdom Traditions are actually in a fairly strong position to spread within diverse genres of pop culture. This should be the objective of forward-thinking servants of the Himalayan Dharma in coming years and decades.

Related features from BDG

Echoes of the White Crane: Laurence Brahm’s Tale of Martial Arts as Kinetic Meditation
Searching for the Lotus-Born Master: Following the Father of Vajrayana Buddhism’s Journey Across the Himalayas
Nepal’s Rock Star Buddhist Nun Touches Hearts and Changes Lives

Related news reports from BDG

Buddhist Monastics in South Korea Turn to Pop Music to Spread Buddhism
Weekly Toyo Keizai: Buddhism Facing a “Life or Death Struggle” in Japan

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