Living Luminaries on The Serious Business of Happiness, directed by Larry Kurnarsky, featuring numerous bestselling authors, speakers and Cultural Creative leaders, 94 minutes, www.spiritualcinemanetwork.com
Living Luminaries, promoted as the film to follow on the unexpect-ed blockbuster The Secret, is a quiet experience. Its energy is enfused with spirituality, and the journey of watching this film may leave the viewer with a sense of having walked a long distance and returning home with a happy heart.
This film is a conversation with many people, some who are known as spiritual leaders – Don Miguel Ruiz, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein, Rev. Robert Schuller – and others who are less known but share infinite wisdom in their capacities as harmonica player, voodoo priestess, surfing rabbi, guru mechanic and ex-con. The only person missing from the conversation was the late Joseph Campbell.
We follow Sean Mulvihill, portraying a seeker of happiness. We journey with him as he searches for answers to the same question that we all have asked ourselves, "How can I be more happy?" We listen as Sean asks the simple, and most relevant questions, of people who individually seem to have life figured out. Some give us the expected answers, and others surprise us with discoveries that have been revealed to them in their personal quest for happiness.
This film’s strength is the collective wisdom, gathered one conversation at a time, on happiness and the elusive search for it.
Throughout, we learn that the lack of happiness is the result of self-centeredness, that happiness "is a moment-by-moment choice," that "happiness is an inside job," and that "happiness is being."
Michael Bernard Beckwith reminds us that "it begins with your awareness that you have the capacity to choose to become more and more aware of the fundamental harmony of your being."
Living Luminaries ends with a quotation from Krishnamurti: "The moment you are asking, ‘Am I happy?’ you are not."
Even though some scenes take place from the pulpit, Living Luminaries does not exude an aura of preachiness. It speaks to each viewer’s heart, and it reminds them of their soul.
"Living Luminaries" will be shown in churches and alternative venues through September 30 via the www.spiritualcinemanetwork.com. Members of The Spiritual Cinema Circle will receive "Living Luminaries" as part of the July 2007 DVD collection. 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 toll-free 1 (800) 556-0129.
