Elda Hartley
Production
Biography
Elda Voelkel Hartley (March 6, 1911 – March 6, 2001) was an American stage and motion picture actress. Following a brief career as a Hollywood actress, which lasted from 1930 to 1932 and during which she accumulated four screen credits, Voelkel married filmmaker Irving Hartley, with whom she produced numerous documentary films on a wide range of subjects. In 1976, she created the Hartley Film Foundation, which was dedicated to promoting greater understanding of religion and spirituality.
Known For
This VHS video includes two short documentaries by Elda Hartley. In the first, THE ART OF MEDITATION, Alan Watts gives us techniques and advice for meditating. Elda Hartley herself narrates the second film, MEDITATION: THE JOURNEY INWARD, which exposes viewers to different cultural approaches to meditation. Hartley then discusses how meditation enriches one's life, and what it can reveal to us.
The Art of Meditation
A memorial anthology of Alan Watt's work. Watts (1915-1973), who held both a master's degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best known as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in particular, and Indian and Chinese philosophy in general.
Zen: The Best of Alan Watts
Gently experimental film introducing Zen concepts, narrated by Alan Watts.
Zen and Now
Visualizes the mood of Buddhism as the oneness of man and nature. Includes commentary by Alan Watts.
Buddhism, Man and Nature
Alan Watts illustrates in this elegant meditation on Buddhism the nature of reality using the paradigm of flowing water. It is one of his best. "The waters before and the waters after, now and forever flowing, follow each other." Watts conveys the essence of Buddhism by focusing on how to develop greater flexibility and sensitivity to the beauty that surrounds us. His inspired narration, enhanced by beautiful photography and a musical score by Iasos, ensures that his message will last.
The Flow of Zen
Focuses on the religious practices of people living in Java and Bali. Describes the function of a horse-trance ritual that combines the basic tenets of Mohammadism with an ancient belief in animism.