A JOYFUL MIND
A film by Open Mind Media
A film about finding true happiness and well-being
through the practice of meditation
Watch the trailer below and stream the full movie
on either Amazon or Vimeo for just $2.99!
Today, the accelerating pace of life poses real challenges to our wellbeing. At the same time, new understandings about meditation are shedding light on how its transformative powers can improve our daily lives. A Joyful Mind pulls back the curtain on what it means to meditate, on what modern science reveals about its benefits, and on how meditation and mindfulness can be used in workplaces and schools. This groundbreaking film serves to clear up the confusion around meditation perpetuated by the media. It features the experiences of both novice and master meditators, highlighting Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, whose teachings have touched people around the world with their clarity, wit and personal insight into how meditation can have a positive impact on our daily lives.
A Joyful Mind is a cutting edge film by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and filmmaker Paul MacGowan. Mingyur Rinpoche is Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Master devoted to making the ancient practice of meditation accessible to the modern world. Rinpoche's uncommon approach, also featured in his bestselling books, teaches us how to use the ups and downs of daily life as gateways to greater awakening. His continued involvement as a research subject in studies of the neural and physiological effects of meditation features prominently in the film.
SUPPORT THESE FILMS
Since A Joyful Mind was released in 2016, it's been seen in gatherings by more than 35,000 people in over 10 countries, and has been translated in five languages.
Your donation will make it possible for us to continue distributing and marketing this film and to have it translated into additional languages so it can reach more people worldwide.
Giving & Tax Benefits
A Joyful Mind, LLC is wholly-owned "limited liability company" of Tergar International, a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Therefore, your contribution to A Joyful Mind is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
MEDITATION RESOURCES
Tergar Meditation Community and Tergar Asia support individuals, practice groups and meditation communities around the world in learning to live with awareness, compassion, and wisdom. Grounded in the Tibetan Buddhist lineage of guiding teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Tergar programs are accessible to people of all cultures and faiths, and support a lifelong path toward the application of these principles in everyday life.
Visit Tergar.org for more information about their worldwide meditation community and online learning resources.
PRODUCTION TEAM
PAUL MACGOWAN
Director & Producer
President of Vanguard Productions for more than 30 years, and now president of Open Mind Media, Paul MacGowan has brought his well-honed skills to a wide range of film and video projects. His credits include award-winning films, such as an editor on Jeff Stimmel's The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale (2008), winner of the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Programming in Arts and Culture, and recipient of a New England Emmy in 2001 as producer/director for Lives in Transition, a documentary that aired on Public Television. Paul's other producer/director work includes Herb Savel Carves the Holocaust in Wood, Speak Out for Understanding I & II and It's the Numbers Game. Paul is a longtime meditator and Buddhist; he attended Naropa University in 1981 and first traveled to Nepal and met Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche in 1983.
JUSTIN KELLEY
Assistant Director
Since 2006, Justin Kelley has lived throughout southern and south-east Asia practicing and studying Buddhism. He is the director of A Sacred Path travel company, which specializes in pilgrimage tours in southern Asia. His organization has teamed with dharma organizations such as Tricycle Foundation, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Tergar International. He formally became a student of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in 2008 and has been practicing under his guidance since that time. He is currently part of Mingyur Rinpoche's translation committee and is being trained as a facilitator for Tergar International. He graduated with a degree in Economics from Tufts University in 2004. He speaks proficient Tibetan and is continuing his personal studies and practice in North America and southern Asia.
KEY ADVISORS
CORTLAND DAHL
Chairman and Senior Instructor, Tergar
Cortland Dahl's interest in Buddhism and meditation began more than twenty years ago. After receiving a Master's Degree in Buddhist Studies from Naropa University, he lived for eight years in India and Nepal, where he spent long periods in solitary retreat in the Himalayan foothills. He also taught courses on Buddhism, meditation, and Tibetan language at Kathmandu University's Center for Buddhist Studies and at the Tergar Institute, which he co-founded with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche in 2007. He currently serves as Chairman of Tergar International and as one of four senior instructors for the Tergar community. As an author and translator, Cortland has published numerous books and articles, including Entrance to the Great Perfection, Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom, and Great Perfection, Vols. I & II. Cortland currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and son, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Wisconsin under the guidance of the renowned neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson.
EDWIN KELLEY
Board Member and Senior Instructor, Tergar
Edwin Kelley attended his first meditation retreat in 1975 and has practiced in both the Theravada and the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. He was Executive Director of the Insight Meditation Society from 1996-2003 and has a postgraduate diploma in Buddhist Studies. Edwin is a long-time student of Mingyur Rinpoche. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Tergar International and as a Senior Instructor for Tergar Meditation Community.
MYOSHIN KELLEY
Senior Instructor, Tergar
Myoshin Kelley attended her first meditation retreat in 1975 at the age of 20. Through the ensuing years she has received dharma instructions from several renowned Buddhist meditation teachers in the Theravada, Zen and Vajrayana traditions. She spent 15 years as a meditation teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA USA. Myoshin is a long-time student of Mingyur Rinpoche and a Senior Instructor for Tergar Meditation Community.
TIM OLMSTED
Senior Instructor, Tergar
Tim Olmsted has been a student of meditation for the past 40 years. For twelve of those years, Tim lived in Nepal and worked as a psychotherapist. There he studied with many of the greatest Buddhist teachers of our time, including Mingyur Rinpoche's father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. After returning from Nepal, Tim founded the Yongey Foundation to support Mingyur Rinpoche's activities in Asia. Tim served as director of Gampo Abbey, a monastery in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is the founder and president of the Pema Chödrön Foundation.
JAMES HOPKINS
Resource Development Director
James Hopkins is the Director of Development for Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal and has spent the past 5 years engaged in fundraising and organizational work for various Tibetan Buddhist organizations around the world. He is also the Director of Quilts for Kids, Nepal − a microfinance project that provides jobs for economically−challenged women and finances education for underprivileged children in Kathmandu. Before moving to Nepal in 2004, James worked for more than 20 years as Vice President of Investments for UBS Financial Services, in the USA.
TEACHER RESOURCES
A Joyful Mind features mindfulness-based social and emotional learning for elementary school students taught by the Peace of Mind Program. The program includes curricula, storybooks, and resources for educators and families.
The Center for Healthy Minds, also featured in the film, has developed the Kindness Curriculum for pre-schoolers that is available free of charge for teachers. The curriculum is available in both English and Spanish.