Watch It Wednesdays

You all know my love for movies, especially documentaries, so I decided to make a weekly feature with a movie you may not have otherwise watched or heard of. Most documentaries I watch (you'll notice) are usually of the "save the planet",  "save your soul", or "save our farms" type variety. Some of them I get extremely emotional and tied to. Some make me angry, some make me depressed and some (if not all) make me want to change my life in some small way. I'll also feature regular movies as well..it just seems to be that a good 85% of movies we watch in this household are documentaries..so on to the first in the new series..

The Highest Pass

2011 - 1 hour 29 minutes

(streaming NetFlix)

source

(Taken from The Highest Pass website to describe the film:) 

Soon after Adam Schomer meets a modern yogi and guru, Anand Mehrotra, they plan an expedition through the highest passes of the Himalayas in Northern India. These are some of the most dangerous roads in the world, yet they manage to assemble a team of seven motorcycle riders to share in what will become the journey of a lifetime.

These riders and Adam, who learned to ride two weeks before the trip, are guided by the inspiring teachings of Anand who bears the burden of a Vedic prophecy that predicts he will die in his late twenties in an accident. He is that age now, yet leads with a fearlessness and wisdom that reminds us that “Only the one who dies, truly lives.”

But wisdom in words and wisdom in practice can be very different indeed, especially when riding along the sheer icy edges of Himalayan cliffs. The bikers ride on that edge, navigating dirt, gravel, snow, ice and the onslaught of loaded trucks, known as “road killers”, as they journey for 21 days towards the highest motorable road on earth. It is a pass open only three months a year and at a height 18,000ft, is on par with Everest base camp. Low oxygen, altitude sickness, river flooded roads, and a constrictive fear all live along this one lane road.

Yet they choose this path to seek Ladakh, the land known as the Little Tibet. Why this path? Because it’s a road that leads to incredibly isolated mountain lakes, ancient monasteries, inside the knowing eyes of a mystic oracle, and ultimately deeper into themselves…

It’s amazing that their guide himself is battling a prophecy and yet is determined to ride one of the hardest roads in the world. It is both haunting and inspiring. It brings up our worst fears and our deepest courage. Adam must ask if the possibility of a spiritual breakthrough worth the risk of serious injury or death? Will it help us all understand what it means to live our lives?

This adventure cracks the foundations we think we stand on. And in this case, the foundation is a one lane road winding through the Himalayas. The Highest Pass

It takes you on a journey within yourself to find inner peace and less fear. I am not a religious person but I find myself drawn to Buddhism and their spirituality. If I were ever to chose a religion to practice I know that would be the only correct choice for me to pursue.