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THE THOUSAND HANDS OF KWAN YIN
Broadcast date: Sunday 3-11-2002 14.00 uur ned. 1
Repeat: Saterday 9-11-2002 13.15 uur ned. 1
Watch in Realplayer (broadband - not available outside of the Netherlands)Watch in Realplayer (slow connection)Watch in MediaplayerYoung children dance with refined motions upstairs in the Chinese temple on the Zeedijk in Amsterdam. The gestures they perform come from illustration in Buddhist texts. A dance teacher explains some of them, emphasizing the concept of altruism. The honourable Shi Fu conducts a ceremony downstairs in the temple. Chinese and Dutch people listen to her explanation of the central statue in the temple, that of Kwan Yin. She focuses on the meaning of the statue’s thousand hands. Upstairs, the dancing children’s hands give life to her commentary.
Theologian Kees Kuiken reports from the Chinese garden in the Hortus in Haren (Groningen). He wrote a dissertation on the last patriarch – Hui Neng – also known as the forerunner of Zen Buddhism. Kuiken clarifies why it is not easy for an outsider to grasp Chinese Buddhism. His affinity with Buddhism was transformed by his “seeking refuge within”, after he understood the true meaning of compassion.
Director: George Schouten
Commissioning editor: Babeth VanLoo
With: the honourable Shi Fu and Kees Kuiken
Thanks to: He Hwa Tempel Amsterdam, Gerard Kwak, Hortus Haren
Camera: Marlou van den Berge, Willem Heshusius
Sound: Jane Snijders, Arnold Vogel
Editor: Geert Braam
Production: BOS
Length: 30 min
First broadcast: 03.11.2002
