The film is a study of the life and works of Wanda Dynowska, a Polish theosophist, writer and social worker. After supporting her own nation's freedom struggle until it attained independence in 1918, she travelled to India in 1935. Here, ...See moreThe film is a study of the life and works of Wanda Dynowska, a Polish theosophist, writer and social worker. After supporting her own nation's freedom struggle until it attained independence in 1918, she travelled to India in 1935. Here, she would go on to support three more nationalist causes: the Indian Freedom Movement, the Polish Resistance against Nazi occupation, and the Tibetan Government in exile after Chinese occupation. She was also a prolific writer and translator, including among her many works a six-volume "Indian Anthology". A close associate of several spiritual leaders, such as Bishop Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II), the Dalai Lama and Mahatma Gandhi. The Tibetans would call her Tenzin Chodon (the Keeper of the Faith), and Gandhi would name her Umadevi (the Bearer of Light). She made India her home until her death in 1971, only travelling home to Poland twice in the interim. Her last rites were delivered by a Polish Catholic priest, and her funeral was held in the Tibetan custom. Yet, today, she is virtually unknown in the country she chose to make her home. Her grave in the Tibetan enclave in Mysore bears her three names, the only marker of a great soul who gave all and more in service to humanity. Umadevi's was a life worthy of recognition and celebration. Her lifelong struggle in the service of her fellow man, her devotion to the ideal of spiritual unity and the essential freedom of all people are lessons that we all can aspire to.
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