Kundun Page #7

Tenzin Gyatso releases the Lama and goes back to his own

table.

TAKTRA RINPOCHE:

"Until I attain enlightenment."

Taktra Rinpoche has a small table with the same hand

instruments in front of him. The teacher lifts the dorge,

in a particular fashion, and rotates it.

Tenzin Gyatso lifts his dorge. Taktra's hands move to the

boy's and show him the correct movement. It is tried again.

Now, the bell is lifted and rung.

TENZIN GYATSO:

I would like you to be my new

Regent.

Taktra stops. He nods to the boy.

As the chanting continues, Taktra Rinpoche begins a weaving

motion with his hands, delicate, beautiful, hypnotic.

Tenzin Gyatso copies the elder.

We are CLOSE on the boy's moving hands. The chanting becomes

the voices of a hundred men, as we FADE OUT.

FADE IN:
on the boy's hands, but they are a little larger -

they are the hands of an eleven or twelve year-old boy - and

the motion they carry out is on the verge of becoming

extraordinarily beautiful.

INT. DARK ROOM, POTALA EVENING (1944)

Tenzin Gyatso sits alone, in a small, dark green, room. He

is older. His robes have changed slightly, his manner is

more refined, more dignified.

He is on a retreat.

There is a soft knock at the door. The door is opened and

food is placed inside the small room by bodiless hands.

Tenzin Gyatso collects his food. He sips his tea and eats

his tsampa, while reading from a long, narrow stack of

scriptures. Thangkas of MILERAPA - the great Tibetan poet

and teacher - hang on the walls.

We notice the curly-toed shoes of the Master of the Kitchen,

just visible beneath the wooden door.

EXT. COURTYARD, THE POTALA NIGHT

The boy walks alone, moving to the rhythm of a memorization.

His breath consolidates in the cold night air. The sky is

brilliant with stars.

TENZIN GYATSO (reciting)

"As long as any living thing draws

breath, wherever he shall be, there,

in compassion, shall the Buddha

appear, incarnate."

INT. DALAI LAMA'S PRIVATE ROOMS, THE POTALA DAY

School is in session.

LING RINPOCHE is teaching. Ling is a young, shy, brilliant

monk, with a very round face. He is now senior tutor.

LING RINPOCHE:

The Four Noble Truths.

Tenzin Gyatso, sitting cross legged on a cushion, responds.

TENZIN GYATSO:

The Four Noble Truths, as

taught by the Lord

Sakyamuni Buddha are:

The Truth of Suffering

The Truth of the Cause of

Suffering, The Truth of the

Cessation of Suffering,

the Truth of the Way which

leads to the cessation of Suffering.

LING RINPOCHE:

I accept it.

What is suffering?

TENZIN GYATSO:

True suffering arises

from contaminated actions

and afflictions. Birth,

illness, grief, old age,

poverty, pain, death - these

are surferings.

LING RINPOCHE:

I accept it.

What are the causes of suffering?

TENZIN GYATSO:

The causes of suffering arise from

true sources. Attachment,

desire, envy, hatred, greed,

unkindness, wrong view and so forth -

these are some causes of suffering.

Now we CUT BACK to Ling Rinpoche, but he is standing,

outside, in a courtyard. He asks another question, but he

raises his right hand as he speaks, and lowers his left,

completing the question with a clap of the hands.

EXT. COURTYARD, THE POTALA DAY

It is a beautiful, blue-sky day. The Dalai Lama is learning

"debate". High Lamas sit on tapestry pillows, under

appliqued canopies, observing. Young monks can be seen,

watching, from a greater distance.

The Lord Chamberlain sits to one side. Taktra Rinpoche, now

Regent, is beside him.

The Dalai Lama sits on the ground at Ling's feet.

LING RINPOCHE:

How does one progress from

the realization of one Noble Truth to

another?

(clap)

A long silence from His Holiness. The Lamas wait on tender

hooks. Finally, the boy says:

TENZIN GYATSO:

We will have to think about that.

There is laughter. Even Ling Rinpoche laughs and the boy

erupts into his beautiful, free, easy laugh.

TENZIN GYATSO:

I need to squeeze this brain.

LING RINPOCHE:

Answer.

(clap)

A pause, and then:

TENZIN GYATSO:

When one understands that

he causes some of his own suffering,

needlessly, then he looks for

the causes in his own life.

And when and he looks for those

causes, when he investigates,

then he is putting confidence

in his own ability to eliminate

the sources and end the suffering.

A wish to find a path to peace

arises. For all beings desire

happiness. All wish to find

their purest selves.

Ling nods in approval.

He looks to the elders.

LING RINPOCHE:

I accept it.

Taktra Rinpoche and the Lord Chamberlain are proud.

EXT. SAME COURTYARD DUSK

Tenzin Gyatso runs up a slant board and leaps off the edge -

a big jump, a flying leap. He falls to the ground, then

gets up, laughing, and runs up the board again.

The same old monks who watched him debate, watch him play.

The Lord Chamberlain and Taktra Rinpoche are among them.

The Lord Chamberlain obviously loves watching his young

charge play. The Regent is not so sure.

TAKTRA RINPOCHE:

Careful! Careful!

Tenzin Gyatso shouts:

TENZIN GYATSO:

I need to jump!

I love to jump!

INT. DALAI LAMA'S PRIVATE ROOMS, THE POTALA NIGHT

The Nechung Oracle is the protective deity of Tibet.

Tonight, he is in full trance. It is an amazing sight.

The monk who is his medium spins and twirls, he wags his

heavy headdress about. A round mirror glitters on his

chest. Sweat pours from his brow, over his wildly grimacing

face.

The Oracle spits at the government officials in the room.

Horns blow, cymbals crash, incense burns. The Oracle nears

the Dalai Lama and retreats from him. Finally, he whispers

in the boy's ear.

ORACLE:

Heed the warning of your predecessor.

Or the war will end here.

And then, the Oracle gently straightens Tenzin Gyatso's

yellow robes, before the trance ends and the Oracle falls

into the arms of his attendants.

INT. DALAI LAMA'S PRIVATE ROOMS NIGHT

Wind whistles through the Potala's hallways and porticos.

The Master of the Kitchen is clearing away the dinner

dishes.

The view of the floor reveals that a "toy" war is being

waged.

With a "Meccano" set, the young Dalai Lama has created what

looks like an airplane, and a tank. These vehicles are

manned by beautifully detailed lead soldiers - British World

War One Field soldiers, French Legionaries and American

Artillery men.

Norbu Thundrup, is flying low with a tsampa~dough airplane.

He drops little tsampa-dough bombs from his hand. He hits a

tank and knocks down a few lead soldiers.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Oh, nicely done, Norbu. I will

get you.

The Lord Chamberlain enters.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN

May I listen to the news with you,

Holiness?

TENZIN GYATSO:

Please.

A large, old-fashioned, short-wave radio broadcasts that

there is still a real war in progress. The BBC report is of

the Pacific front.

TENZIN GYATSO:

How big is Tibet's army?

LORD CPIAMBERLAIN

Roughly five thousand men.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Is that big?

LORD CHAMBERLAIN

No. Not very big.

TENZIN GYATSO:

The Regent is adding men.

And he bought rifles

and ammunition from India.

Mountain guns, too.

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