Living Luminaries
A new DVD on the Serious Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness.
Oh, THAT.
Yes, happiness.
That state we all want but so many of us have such a tough time defining.
Or, more challenging yet, that state of being we actually do attain yet fail to recognize as we're experiencing it so we keep searching for it when it has already found us.
Movies have certainly tried to explore this territory before.
Those of us who are refugees from the 1960s (if you remember the 1960s, you didn't live them—remember that?) may recollect the immortal “Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find Real Happiness?” Oh, yes, that really was the title, even though it probably never appeared in its entirety on any one theater marquee. “Mercy” was the product of Anthony Newley's wild imagination and the basic answer to the question of finding real happiness was…who knows?
More recently, Will Smith sought the answer in “The Pursuit of Happiness” where he asked a very pointed and poignant question. He noted that we have been given the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life and liberty are rights, but is happiness something we can only pursue? Is it so elusive that it becomes something like the electric rabbit that dogs chase in greyhound races? Rigged so that it is always tantalizing us, just out of our reach?
Now comes “ Living Luminaries ” (On The Serious Pursuit of Happiness), Gotham Metro Studios' wonderful, fascinating, and illuminating new documentary that details a young man's journey as he seeks the answers to finding true happiness from extraordinary luminaries around the world. Some of the people we meet are very well known. We are treated to Marianne Williamson's brilliant and compassionate insights, don Miguel Ruiz's mystical vision, and Eckhart Tolle's wisdom of the power of now. Others in the film are less known to us but leave an indelible impression on our psyche and in our hearts.
One of the most charismatic of the luminaries that we meet is the extraordinary Dr. Michael Beckwith, who is the force behind the Agape Spiritual Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Beckwith leapt out of “The Secret” into the national consciousness and many of us remember his extraordinary recent appearances with Oprah. In “ Living Luminaries ,” Dr Beckwith shares his unique blend of insights, humanity, humor, and vision.
According to the film, the common denominator of the serious pursuit of happiness is the need for all of us to look deep within ourselves for what truly makes us happy. All spirituality is as individual as is all happiness and therein lies its true power. Liberated from the need or desire to conform to any particular rules or edicts, we are then free to explore and consciously address the relationships and activities that truly bring happiness to our unique selves.
One of the greatest gifts of “Living Luminaries”” is that we feel so empowered at the end of the film that each one of us can truly find, embrace, and retain whatever definition we have for happiness. The film actually illuminates a pathway down which we can travel to discover the essence of our own personal joy. When a film accomplishes that, it transcends the art form itself.
If you enjoyed “The Secret”, I think that you will find that “Living Luminaries” is the next step in the discovery of who we can be when we open to the magic of the beauty of our humanity.
Members of The Spiritual Cinema Circle are receiving LIVING LUMINARIES as part of the July 2007 DVD collection which also includes three outstanding short films. For a limited time, new subscribers to The Circle can receive a free trial membership (for a nominal shipping fee) by visiting: www.spiritualcinemacircle .com or by calling: (800) 556-0129.
Stephen Simon produced such films as “Somewhere in Time” and”“What Dreams May Come.” He also produced and directed “Conversations with God” and “Indigo” and is the author of The Force is with You: Mystical Movie Messages that Inspire our Lives . Simon is also the co-founder of The Spiritual Cinema Circle, www.spiritualcinemacircle.com
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