Yesterday we went to see the documentary Buddha’s Lost Children. It was a powerful film about Khru Bah, Thai boxer turned Buddhist monk who cares for orphaned and abandoned boys in northern Thailand.

Khru Bah is an inspirational person; he loves the children and he loves his work. The monastery where the children and Khru live is also home to 120 horses that the children learn to care for. Khru Bah teaches the boys life skills through hard work and discipline. Everyone contributes to the operations of the monastery. Khru Bah gives the boys hope by showing them that they are each special and capable of great things.

I especially liked the movie because Khru Bah was taking definite action to make changes in the world. One of my frustrations with Buddhism is that it sometimes seems to advocate withdrawing from the world rather than rolling up one’s sleeves and working on it. Khru Bah shows a good balance of action and non-action. He leads the boys on 100km trek to rebuild an old temple, but also teaches meditation. The boys are also trained as Thai boxers and many are covered in tattoos. Khru Bah is not the Buddhist monk I had pictured in my mind.

I think that Khru Bah’s story shows that when you are really driven to do something, you can accomplish it with whatever methods you have available. Khru Bah was a boxer, so he uses boxing to teach the boys life lessons. His methods may be unconventional, but they certainly seem to have good results. Khru Bah’s life shows that there are many paths to fulfillment and transformations are possible.

Here is the trailer for the film. It’s very cheesy, the film was not. It doesn’t appear to be on Netflix, but keep an eye out.