Baraka: A World Without Words: A Guided Meditation
Journal of Religion & Film April 1, 2023 DOI: 10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.27.01.57 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that Baraka functions as a guided meditation structured to induce a transcendent experience in the viewer, moving from phenomena that testify to the transcendent, through the everyday world where it is painfully absent, to a final arrival at stasis. |
Abstract
Baraka: A World Beyond Words (1992) is a guided meditation that aims to induce the transcendent experience in the viewer. Through the eyes of a Zen Buddhist monk, the viewer is invited to meditate on the various phenomena that testify to the existence of the transcendent (the first eight chapters), to experience the everyday world where the transcendent is painfully absent (the next eleven chapters), and to finally arrive at stasis (the last two chapters). This paper is a description of and commentary on each of the 21 chapters of the film.