Act Normal: The making of…
Robert T. Edison was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When he was fourteen years old he began to practice Buddhism. At eighteen he became a monk and went to Thailand where, for a decade, he spent his time in monasteries as Bhikkhu Dhammanando. He became the first Buddhist monk in Iceland when he moved there in 1994 and founded a Buddhist sect. Here director Olaf de Fleur talks about the 10-year making of his documentary, Act Normal, as he followed the progress of Robert/Dhammanando from monasticis

Act Normal: The cultural confusions of an English monk in Thailand
Robert T. Edison was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When he was fourteen years old he began to practice Buddhism. At eighteen he became a monk and went to Thailand where, for a decade, he spent his time in monasteries as Bhikkhu Dhammanando. He became the first Buddhist monk in Iceland when he moved there in 1994 and founded a Buddhist sect. In the title sequence from the documentary, Act Normal, directed by Olaf de Fleur, Dhammanando shares an amusing story about mistaking the Thai national ant

Act Normal: The origin of suffering
Robert T. Edison was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When he was fourteen years old he began to practice Buddhism. At eighteen he became a monk and went to Thailand where, for a decade, he spent his time in monasteries. He became the first Buddhist monk in Iceland when he moved there in 1994 and founded a Buddhist sect. In this clip, from the documentary, Act Normal, directed by Olaf de Fleur, Edison, at that time a monk in Thailand, contrasts the Buddhist explanation of the cause of suffering wi

Meditation ‘eases heart disease’
BBC: Heart disease patients who practise Transcendental Meditation have reduced death rates, US researchers have said. At a meeting of the American Heart Association they said they had randomly assigned 201 African Americans to meditate or to make lifestyle changes. After nine years, the meditation group had a 47% reduction in deaths, heart attacks and strokes. The research was carried out by the Medical College in Wisconsin with the Maharishi University in Iowa. It was funded by a £2.3m grant from the National Institute of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. ‘Signif

Act Normal: Is Buddhist monasticism escapist?
Robert T. Edison was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When he was fourteen years old he began to practice Buddhism. At eighteen he became a monk and went to Thailand where, for a decade, he spent his time in monasteries. He became the first Buddhist monk in Iceland when he moved there in 1994 and founded a Buddhist sect. In this clip, from the documentary, Act Normal, directed by Olaf de Fleur, Edison, at that time a monk in Thailand, is asked whether his life is escapist. Act Norma