Carving the Divine, winner of 13 international awards and screened at 33 world-wide film festivals, will be shown at the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin Annex on Saturday, May 3 as a benefit for the Dharma Center. An optional bento lunch will be available before the 1PM show.

The documentary, written, directed, and produced by Yujiro Seki, offers a rare look into a 1400-year-old Buddhist woodcarving tradition and the practitioners struggling to preserve its legacy in a rapidly changing Japan. However, the film delves beyond the crafting of the artform. It presents insight into universal themes while exploring the 1400-year family lineage of Busshi, the art of woodcarving of statues that is at the heart of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism.

Bishop Marvin Harada states, “Carving the Divine is more than a movie about amazing wood sculptors of Japan. To me, the movie is about the Master-Apprentice, or the Master- Disciple relationship.”

The film will relate to all cultural disciplines, such as ikebana, tea, and martial arts (judo, kendo, etc.), as the relationship between master and student are illuminated. The director states that anyone from any culture will enjoy this documentary as the themes are universal, yet personal. Grandmaster Saito’s goal is to leave nothing but great works behind. Follow the journey as he is supported by apprentices and by the entire guild to create breathtaking works of art.

A Q&A session (via Zoom) with Yujiro Seki will follow the documentary film. He spent many years single handedly planning, shooting and editing this feature length film and had the rare opportunity to follow a guild of Buddhist sculptors and was granted rare access into the life and rites of Buddhist priests.