Little Buddha Page #3

[ Chuckling ]

- Siddhartha!

- [ Crowd Chanting ] Siddhartha!

[ Chanting Repeatedly ]

Wendikali, wendikali!

[ Siddhartha

Continues Chanting ]

[ Chanting Continues ]

- Wendikali!

- [ Crowd ] Wendikali!

[ Crowd, Players Cheering ]

Siddhartha!

[ Lama Norbu Narrating ] The King

had given Siddhartha three palaces.

One for winter, one for

the rainy season and one for summer.

In this way he hoped

to shield his son...

from all knowledge

of pain and worry.

- [ Music, Faint ]

- But then, one day,

Siddhartha heard a mysterious song

of haunting beauty.

[ Women Talking ]

- [ Continues ]

- At first he couldn't understand

where it was coming from.

The song was in a language

he had never heard before.

What was it saying?

What did it mean?

[ Singing ]

[ Singing Continues ]

[ Singing Continues ]

What is this song?

[ Yasodhara ]

It is from a faraway land, my Lord.

It evokes the beauties

of the country she knew as a child,

the mountains

and the lakes...

that she can never forget.

- How strange.

- [ Singing Continues ]

Do such places exist,

places as beautiful as here?

I've heard that only suffering

lies beyond these walls.

What do you mean,

"suffering"?

Your father

loves you very much.

He has given us

everything we could want.

There's no need to go anywhere else

when you've such beauty around you.

[ Singing Continues ]

It is true;

we have everything,

and everything is perfect.

So...

what is this feeling

I have?

If the world

is so beautiful,

why have I never seen it?

I've not even seen

my own city!

I must see the world,

Yasodhara!

With my own eyes.

[ Singing Continues ]

[ Lisa ]

Well, this must be the Dharma Center.

[ Jesse ]

It looks like a church.

[ Men Chanting ]

Jesse!

[ Chanting Continues ]

Hi, Champa.

Hi, Punzo.

[ Continues Chanting

in Tibetan ]

That's beautiful.

But I'm afraid

I have to go.

Jesse,

come say good-bye.

Hey. So, your dad's going to come by

and pick you up at 4:00.

- Okay.

- Okay, sweetie. Good-bye.

[ Chanting Continues,

Grows Louder ]

Excuse me, Lama.

I was worried.

One day, Champa,

but not yet.

Hey!

That's Lama Thunderbolt.

Yes.

Is this his bowl?

Look.

It's dusty.

What's this?

It is a trumpet

made from a human bone.

Honest?

A human bone?

Now, where did we

get to?

Oh. Siddhartha

wanted to see the world.

Ah, yes. He wanted

to see the world.

- [ Ceremonial Drumming ]

- Secretly, however,

his father prepared

everything in advance...

- so that nothing Siddhartha

might see in the city...

- [ Man Yelling ]

- would upset or disturb him.

- [ Drumming Continues ]

"Everyone should be young

and healthy."

- [ Drumming Grows Louder ]

- [ Crowd Chattering ]

[ Shouts ]

[ Grunting ]

[ Elephant Trumpets ]

[ Shouts ]

[ Crowd Cheering ]

Siddhartha! Siddhartha!

Siddhartha! Siddhartha!

[ Crowd Continues

Chanting, Cheering ]

[ Chanting in Nepali ]

Siddhartha!

Siddhartha!

[ Lama Norbu Narrating ]

Suddenly, however, through the crowd,

the young Prince saw something

he had never seen before.

Channa! Channa!

Who are those men?

- [ Muttering ]

- [ Siddhartha ]

Tell me, who are those men?

They are men like

the rest of us, my Lord,

- who once sucked milk

from their mother's breast.

- Why do they look like that?

- [ Channa ] They are old, my Lord.

- What do you mean, old?

Old age destroys memory,

beauty and strength.

- In the end, it happens

to us all, my Lord.

- To everyone?

To you and to me?

It is better not to concern yourself

with these things, my Lord.

But where

are they taking them?

Channa!

[ Channa ] No, my Lord, don't

go there! Please! You mustn't!

No, my Lord!

My Lord!

- My Lord Siddhartha!

- [ People Talking ]

[ Man Shouting ]

[ Woman Screaming ]

[ Screaming Continues ]

[ Panting, Groaning ]

[ Groaning Continues ]

[ Moaning ]

[ Siddhartha ]

What is the matter with those people?

Why is she crying

like that?

She is in pain,

my Lord.

- She is very sick.

- Sick?

[ Siddhartha ]

What is that?

No one reaches

the moment of death...

without falling sick

at least once.

Even kings?

And death--

what moment is that?

Show me death.

This is death, my Lord.

- [ Bell Tolls ]

- [ Man Chanting ]

[ Chanting Continues ]

[ Chanting Continues ]

Here the ashes are given

to the river, my Lord.

[ Men Weeping ]

Death is the moment

of separation...

which comes to every person

in every family.

When a body grows cold

and stiff like wood,

it has to be burned

like wood.

[ Lama Norbu Narrating ]

It was on this day,

from this fire,

with these people,

that Siddhartha

learned about suffering...

and discovered compassion.

They were him,

and he was them.

- Dad.

- Am I interrupting?

Of course not.

Please come in.

- Look! It's human bone.

- Wow.

Spooky, huh?

Jesse, I need to talk

to Lama Norbu alone for a minute.

Okay, Dad.

Come. I'll show you

around the center.

I was just telling Jesse

the story of Siddhartha.

That's

a beautiful story.

A beautiful... myth.

It is one way of telling the truth,

and children seem to love it.

Lama Norbu, I have a great respect

for your culture...

and your religion,

and I know about

the invasion of Tibet...

and the tragedies

that happened,

but I don't believe in reincarnation,

and neither does my wife.

Why should you?

In Tibet, we think of

the mind and the body...

as the contents

and the container.

Now the cup

is no longer a cup.

But what is the tea?

- Still tea.

- Exactly.

In the cup, on the table,

or on the floor,

it moves from one container

to another,

but it's still tea.

Like the mind after death,

it moves from one body

to another,

but it is still mind.

Even in the towel,

it's still tea.

The same tea.

- None for me, thanks.

- [ Laughing ]

Once we're certain

about the reincarnation,

the child would receive

a special education.

He could become a very powerful figure

in our society,

a spiritual leader.

Even if

he's an American?

I mean, what, you're offering Jesse

life in a Buddhist monastery?

- Is that it?

- Of course.

If he wanted it.

Or he could go on with his life here

and decide when he's older.

But first, to be sure

of the reincarnation,

we will take Jesse

to Bhutan,

consult the Abbot

of the monastery...

and all the experts.

Now you look angry.

I am. To take a child away

from his family,

- in this country, we call kidnapping.

- [ Jesse Yelling ]

Vroom!

- Special delivery for Lama Norbu!

- Oh. Thank you.

- Vroom!

- We hoped you and your wife...

would come with him.

- To Bhutan?

- Yes.

It's a very beautiful

country.

Well, well. It seems

there's another candidate...

for the reincarnation

of Lama Dorje.

A little boy

from Kathmandu.

Are there a lot of us? How many

are there? I want to meet them.

Come on, let's go.

Come on.

This has gone too far.

We're outta here.

- Jesse. Jesse.

- Lama Norbu!

- Lama!

- Say good-bye, Jesse.

- Don't forget your book,

Jesse Long-Ears.

- Good-bye, Lama Norbu.

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