Monday, February 6, 2012

You Have The Right To Be Happy



Randy Taran's Project Happiness is a must see documentary film starring Richard Gere, Dr. Richard Davidson and the XIVth Dalai Lama and directed by John Sorensen.



Every young person who views this very special film will be moved by the honest intensity...This is an important film for everyone to see. --Rosemary Fillmore Rhea, Association of Unity Churches International.

This extraordinary uplifting documentary probes to the heart of what it takes to be happy. --New Consciousness Review.

Project Happiness explores what it means to be happy through a students' lens and challenges us all to question what makes us happy. --Cindy Johanson, Executive Director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Project Happiness focuses on four teens from Santa Cruz, California. Each faces personal obstacles to happiness: loss, alienation and the everyday challenges of being a teenager passing into adulthood. Project Happiness introduces them to their peers in Nigeria and India and quickly leaves lectures and books behind. In addition to connecting with each other, the teens engage in conversations with cultural icons George Lucas, Richard Gere and groundbreaking neuroscientist Richard Davidson. At the end of the year together, the three groups converge in Dharamsala, India, for a rare private interview with the Dalai Lama--an event that rocks their expectations, brings more questions than answers and marks a new chapter in their lives. Shot in high definition, Project Happiness combines verite-style camera work with epic vistas. Mixing formats and shooting styles, the film conveys the ephemeral feeling of happiness found in both the profound and the mundane, juxtaposing the soaring Himalayan Mountains with unguarded moments of young people at school and home. The camera is not a passive observer, but actively engages with the kids and invites the viewer to join the class and bear witness to lives at a crossroads.


The Project Happiness Handbook by Randy Taran and Maria Lineger, with the foreword by the XIVth Dalai Lama His Holiness is also highly recommended for every literate child and adult, because it is a helpful companion in these interesting times in our turbulent world.

Happiness, joy, hope...whatever you want to call it you CAN have more. This book is not an insta-recipe for happiness, going to kill you, pointless, a competition. It's not anything but an invitation. You are not a product. We are not going to give you a one size fits all formula. The 7 chapters of the Handbook are designed to take you on an experiential journey to get to know who you really are, to learn to master emotions, to connect compassionately with yourself and the complex world around us and finally to positively share your individual gifts and passions. This happiness will be your own.








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