The Lake of Healing

This video looks at the liberal, western approach to religion. 

Richard and I have been watching a lot of the BBC series 'Around the world in 80 Faiths'. It's a very interesting series about different religions all over the world. It's presented by a charismatic vicar called Peter Owen-Jones. I feel quite captivated by him because he seems to epitomise a kind of liberal acceptance and curiosity of other world views while staying secure in his own. He also has an eccentric, unselfconscious presenting style, reminding me of an uncle that you would make fun of behind his back but also love very dearly and later feel bad about making fun of. 

He was expelled from Public School aged 16 and went to Australia where he washed up dishes for a living and drank beer on the beach. He came back to the UK and took on various jobs- he was farm labourer and also ran a mobile disco for a while. In his early 20's got a job as a runner in an advertising agency and worked his way up to become Creative Director. However, when he had married and had 3 children, he decided to enrol in the Anglican ministry.  He gained notoriety when he conducted a service for the Newbury Bypass protestors.

My favourite moments are when he chews the stimulant drug, Quat, in the middle east and when he tries Caapi, a hallucinogenic drug in Brazil. When asked to describe his experience of the drug, he gives the same blase response in both situations "It's just a very mellow thing, really".

There's also a nice part in Nepal when he sees a new born baby being massaged with oil and his mother squirting breast milk into a flame. He unabashedly praises the miracle of birth and the lovely scene of the baby being caressed. He then gazes, fascinated, on the mother's breasts as she lactates into the flame and he says that it's the first time he's seen a sacrifice of human milk in this way.

In the scenes I used below, he is invited to stand on a man who is laying on a bed of nails, in order to show his strong faith in God.

In this video I wanted to half make fun of and half rejoice in Peter Owen-Jones.

Peter Owen-Jones makes an introduction to "The Lake of Healing"- a mock- meditation workshop that supposed to make you relaxed but really just makes you laugh.