The Three Jewels - Part 3

In Buddhism, "The Three Jewels" refer to the trinity of the Buddha, his teachings, the dharma, and the monastic community of spiritual friends, the sangha. The Three Jewels was also the name of a small store on the lower east side of Manhattan where Geshe Roach taught many of his early classes. The location gradually evolved from a tea house to a bookstore and gift shop to a meditation and community center.

The store was originally run by a nun, Ani Pelma, who was part of a Gelugpa monastic order of nuns and monks ordained by Khen Rinpoche (Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin), Geshe Roach's root teacher. At the time, Khen Rinpoche was the abbot of Rashi Gempil Ling Temple, a Mongolian Buddhist temple, in New Jersey.

As I continued to videotape dharma classes at night and on weekends, I became acquainted with many of the American dharma students, nuns and monks. Through the original Dharma Talks series in New Jersey, I met Lisa Hochman who had a background as a PBS television producer. Lisa was of immense help in the early stages of planning and filming this documentary; she possessed a piercing intelligence, was extroverted and immediately likeable, and had knowledge of many other dharma centers and scenes. She had been an eclectic Buddhist, originally a Jew who floated amongst many different Buddhist groups, teachers, and retreats.

Lisa accompanied me on many tapings and conducted the interviews while I did the lighting, worked the DV camera, and adjusted the sound levels. We discussed the general questions beforehand, but the discussions were free form and open ended. It was Lisa's idea to expand the interviews and include not only lay practitioners, but nuns and monks as well. We began to explore the reasons why individuals were choosing the path of Buddhism and monasticism.

Geshe Roach was instrumental in helping me to interview his root teacher, Khen Rinpoche, in New Jersey, perhaps the only documentary footage of this extraordinary Tibetan Buddhist lama, who achieved the highest geshe degree as a young monk.