This past Monday night I attended a test screening of a rough cut version of “Evolve Love,” Velcrow Ripper’s documentary film in progress. Ripper’s newest documentary is the culmination of a twelve year journey that began with the release of “Scared Sacred” in 1999.
In his first film Velcrow Riper headed into some of the most frightening places on earth. He went to the minefields of Cambodia, war-torn Afghanistan, the toxic wasteland of Bhopal, post-9/11 New York, Bosnia, Hiroshima, Israel, and Palestine looking for the sacred stories he believed were hidden in scared places. It was he says, “a transformative journey based on the Buddhist practice of tonglen in which the practitioner chooses to breathe in suffering and breathe out compassion.”
Ripper traveled in search of signs of the sacred where we might least expect to find them and was never disappointed. “Scared Sacred” is a song of praise to the indomitable power of the human spirit.
In 2009 Velcrow produced “Fierce Light” in which he explored the intersection between spiritual practice and social action. This second film led naturally to “Evolve Love,” which Ripper says, “Offers the motivation of love in a time of climate crisis as the driving force that has the power to create the changes the world needs.”
“Evolve Love” paints an unflinching picture of the climate crisis we face in the world. Ripper does not hesitate to present the gloomy realities of the state of the environment we inhabit. But he is not content to stop with the bad news. Ripper is determined to move on from the apocalyptic analysis of the state of the world and find light.
“Evolve Love” is a film version of the tonglen practice. While it breathes in the deep suffering of the world, it breathes out compassion and love for all sentient beings. Ripper is trying to create media that he says will help the viewer to “keep their heart open and spacious in the face of everything.”
Ripper is primarily an artist of hope. He affirms that “We can always keep our heart open, staying spacious in the face of everything. The one thing no one can take from us is our ability to choose how we respond to whatever is going on.”
Monday night was the second time I have seen Ripper interact with an audience around one of his films. In both discussion sessions with Ripper, I have been struck by a disturbing characteristic of the audience. Most of us in the audience on both occasions were of the Baby Boomer generation. It appears that a lot of Baby Boomers are angry and deeply cynical.
We seem to have an uneasy feeling that the world is a bit of a mess and we want desperately to know who to blame. We want to identify the enemy, presumably making clear that we are not in the ranks of the bad guys. In a delightful response to one harangue from a member of the audience, Ripper replied, “Maybe I could just list all the bad guys in the credits at the end of the film.”
It seems to make Baby Boomers uneasy that Velcrow, while acknowledging the reality of the terrible state of the world, refuses to point fingers and identify the culprits.
He is simply unwilling to play this game. Ripper wants to acknowledge honestly the realities we face but then to raise up stories of encouragement and hope. He seems to genuinely believe in the power of goodness and love at work in the world. He has visited some of the most painful places on earth and has seen that, wherever people are willing to focus on the light, powerful movements for change begin to evolve.
I am sad that my generation is so cynical and bitter that we feel uncomfortable with the possibility of hope. It is distressing that we are so reluctant to trust that there may be goodness at the core of all human beings and that this goodness might be a positive force for change in the world.
The bitter cynicism of my generation offers little hope for the world. It will never lead to creative new opportunities and healthy change. It may be that my generation is going to have to step aside and allow a younger generation, who have yet to become cynical and hardened by the pain of the world, to emerge as the new leaders for positive global change.
****************
You can learn more about Velcrow Ripper’s work at http://www.evolvelovelive.com/
In A Spacious Place 
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 25, 2011 at 9:14 pm
jaqueline
Maybe Boomers need someone to blame ’cause they cannot face they have contributed greatly to the problem.
May 25, 2011 at 9:24 pm
jaqueline
“I am sad that my generation is so cynical and bitter that we feel uncomfortable with the possibility of hope.”
I find this incredibly sad…
When my cohort were kids, your cohort were the ones teaching us in school and on the Tellie and being flower children and singing folk songs and life was full of hope…we thought you were so beautiful and you taught us ‘where it was at’ YOU were the generation of hope..YOU were going to change the world.
Has your cohort lost hope because they failed and someone else might ‘steal their thunder” or because they think that no-one but they can bring hope to the world??
May 27, 2011 at 12:34 am
jaqueline
” It may be that my generation is going to have to step aside and allow a younger generation, who have yet to become cynical and hardened by the pain of the world, to emerge as the new leaders for positive global change. ”
YET to become cynical and hardened?
If you give up hope on yourselves in this way why would the younger generation think it should turn out differently for them? Why would they think that anything they would do now would bear fruit in the future if all they see is their parents become cynical or hardened or worse..self satisfied and relaxed. Step aside?..no fear! ..it is time to Step up!!
It is your job as the new elders of the world to give the young hope not just the other way around!
David Suzuki who was born prior to the War was all ready to retire 7 years ago and leave it to ‘the young’ and he is still in there because he realised he didn’t have that luxury..an inspiration.
Maybe you lost sight of your ideals since the early 70’s….I dunno…. Your cohort has more resources and opportunity and numbers than any people in history and you want to leave it all to the young to fix? What hope do you give them? Turn back and hold out your hands to the rest of us..we have to do this together. Open your hearts to compassion if not to hope.
It’s all hands on deck until we get this ship sorted..now is not the time to give up hope on your place in the world..now is the time to find it…
May 27, 2011 at 6:08 am
inaspaciousplace
I like this. But you know I think some of what I see as cynicism may just be the fact that a few Baby Boomers are a little tired and a tiny bit confused about the way forward.
May 27, 2011 at 10:20 am
jaqueline
Maybe it is not the job of the Boomers to see the way forward, maybe that is our job and your children’s job.
But we are just not as resource rich as you are , we just aren’t…
Maybe it is now your job to lend us – your younger brothers and sisters and your kids – support and say ..what can we give to you that will help you help the world?
…”You tell us what to do and we are there …man!!!” 🙂
May 27, 2011 at 10:35 am
jaqueline
I went to bed thinking about this and woke up thinking of Obama’s ” Audacity of Hope”. I thought- huh…how interesting – he is a post boomer and the title of his book is about hope…
He’s of my age group- those of us born in the early 60’s and often thrown in with the boomers ( numbers apparently …not attitude…) we are more properly understood as early X’ers – Douglas Coupland who wrote about ‘his generation’ with Gen X is born in 61 after all. In many ways it is our age group that has felt the least ‘hopeful’.
You see ( just quietly ) the things that were achieved during the 60’s were achieved by people born before and during the War…but you guys had all the benefits of those achievements and I imagine are wondering why all this now?. I imagine that would be really confusing.
You were taught high ideals and you taught us those ideals and passed on to your children those ideals…yet those ideals seemed to have failed and hence the dislliusionment. But I want to tell you and your kids thatI think those ideals are the way forward…so there is no need to be cynical or disillusioned by them..
Maybe most of you stopped living those ideals in the late 70’s /80’s when you achieved personal prosperity…..your ideals ‘failed’ not because they were useless but because they were put on the shelf…but we need to dust them off now and with your resources maybe we can achieve something again. We just need to get rid of the other legacy of your cohort..the ‘anything goes, whatever you feel like, it’s all about me’. Thankfully your kids appear to be a ‘we’ generation instead of a ‘me’ generation.
The ‘Great’ generation won the War and sent us to the moon, your big brothers and sisters fought for civil and womens’ rights and the end of a war. With your help we can do this…. we can turn the dilemma of a struggling environment and starving people around. Put you numbers and resources to it and let’s see something you can be proud to bequeath the world!