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Gemma Schauer
Hope
Honors World Lit. And Writers Workshop
9 November 2015
Movie Reflection: Little Buddha
In the movie, Little Buddha, a young boy named Jesse is exposed to the Buddhism when
Tibetan Monks come knocking on his door. The monks were on the search for the reincarnation
of their dead teacher, Lama Dorje, and they that believed that Jesse was the one. Since Jesse was
surrounded by these Monks so often, he become very curious in learning the religion. So, one of
the Monks, Lama Norbu, taught him all him all he needed to know, and later was able to
convince Jesses skeptical parents to travel to Tibet to determine if he is the true reincarnation of
their beloved teacher. Once Jesse travels to Tibet with his Father, he met the other two
candidates. In the end, they were able to reveal that all three candidates were part of the
reincarnation. Within this storyline and Lama Norbus teaching Jesse another story was told. The
story of Siddhartha and how Buddhism came to be was featured throughout the story.
When the movie started, Jesse and his family knew very little on Buddhism. When the
Monks introduced themselves, Jesse became very curious about who the Monks were and where
they came from. However, as the story went on, Jesse familiarized himself with the religion by
the story of Siddhartha and his own travels to Buddhist countries. The religions was more
influenced by him then he was influenced by the religion because it is now Jesses job to teach
others about Buddhism. Although he is just a young boy, as he grows he can chose if he wants to
learn the religion and then later in his life inform others about how a Buddhist should live.

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Throughout the movie, the viewer learns with Jesse and his parents about the origin of
Buddhism. It portrays how Buddhism came to be what it is today. It also shows that Buddhism is
a composed religion. It involves meditating and ridding of bad things in life, which is shown
through the modern day Monks and the story of Siddhartha. Overall, this movie illustrates
Buddhism and its teaches through the Jesses journey.