Random Movie Musings and Letting Go

I am usually a bit critical of movies, aside from the fact its beginning to cost an arm and a leg to actually go see one, the quality of films seem to be declining these days. The other day I went to go see Stranger Than Fiction with the family, and although they found it not to their liking I was pleasantly surprised by it. I believe that there is a lot you can take out of it if you know how to look deep enough, and raises a few questions about fate, for example. I can't help but ask myself whether or not we're writing our own novels, or if we're merely characters in a much larger epic of whom the author is unknown. Of course, I believe we are ultimately masters of our fate, but it was a curiousity seeing the question, albeit it subtlely, portrayed in film.

Today I went to go see Apocalypto. Now, although I do consider many of Mel Gibson's characters to be quite intriguing, I'm not a huge fan of his directing. Nor do I condone his actions sometimes, regardless of the catalyst which caused them into manifestation. However, many people I've heard were turned down by the fact that it was directed by Mel Gibson after I mentioned the fact to them. I feel it would be unfair to turn down the film because of that. In addition, the Mayan civilization has been portrayed very little in film from what I'm aware of, and never on the scope of this film. Needless to say, I was quite satisfied with my money and is one of the better films I've seen in recent months. Although there were heavy criticisms about some of the directing mimicking other movies, my rebuttal is that if we were to condone everytime a film-maker used a similar scene in their movie then we'd have nothing to watch. I was quite pleased by the ending, which often is what causes disappointment with the rest of the film. Some may say it was cliche, and to a certain extend I agree, but nevertheless I believe it was very artistically done. Also, I was graced with a preview for a movie that looks so exhilarating that I can barely contain my excitement for the next three months until its release. If you have a chance, check out the trailer for the movie entitled 300. It puts an intriguing twist on an otherwise already remarkable tale.

Now, to move on. I've come across this story several times, so I wanted to share it with you. I took the text from Buddha's World. The URL is at http://www.katinkahesselink.net/tibet/zen.html. The story:

Obsessed

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed. As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out.
"Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."

A few of my recent blogs have touched lightly on what I've personally gotten from this story about its meaning. We, myself included, tend to have a habit of latching on to the past. We forget to realize that the past is done and overwith, far beyond our grasps to be changed or influenced. Instead of focusing on what we may learn from the past, such as how to better ourselves in the future or coming to a realization that sometimes things aren't always black and white or the need for compassion and consideration at all times, we tend to dwell on it and focus on what we should have done at that moment. We focus so much on that, we fail to realize how close we are to seeing the moral of the situation. We then forget about the incident when a similar one arises in the future.

But, there is another side to this story in my opinion. It returns to the idea of living in the present. When our thoughts wander about what happened yesterday or what we're going to do tomorrow we're attaching a salience to events that we have no control over. We burden ourselves with stress and despair, grief and sorrow, when instead we should be living fully in the moment and experiencing all the joys it has to offer.

I went hiking in the woods today, the ones near my home. Over the years this area has grown to be almost a sacred home for me, and whenever thoughts burden me down I retreat to this area to meditate and relax. Today I explored a relatively new area to me, one I've not seen at least in quite a number of years. And as I sat near the roaring water of the creek before me, it struck me the importance of living in the moment, but also, the impermanence of all things. The area I was in today was surrounded by moderately high rock clippings. Still a majestic view in my opinion when one gazes down. But as I observed the details of the rock, I realized that this was not always the way it was, nor will it remain this way forever. Each moment of its history has its own particular beauty, and I was given the opportunity to observe it in its present moment.

But if something as solid as rock can erode over time, then so can the thoughts and emotions that we hold. The water of time washes away even our most engrained feelings. Instead of trying to salvage every rock that gets washed away, even the large boulders of anger, sadness, jealousy and hate, we should focus on the smaller ones of joy and happiness. We can carry away these small pebbles of happiness with us, having these emotions with us always, but we can not do the same with the boulders of negativity.

When we focus on what we can not change, and when we dwell on the past, we're trying to give permanence to something that is inherently not going to last forever. We attach a desparate desire to preserve something even if its self-destructive in its nature. So, let go of the past, don't attach yourself to it, but observe it as it comes and go, using it as a tool for learning so that you don't let the inherit moment slip by.