Arrival (2016)
If you are a fan of 'Ancient Alien' series and a keen follower of Erich von Daniken, then you would probably believe that alien visitors periodically manifest on Earth to propel us a step ahead in our civilisation. If not how would we describe the leaps of intelligence that we seem to make in leaps and bounds? In a strongly patriarchal society of medieval France which gives no space to women in the public sphere, emerges a 17-year old girl to lead New Orleans to war and win. Living in a quiet world without artificial light, suddenly the circadian cycle of night and day is changed forever with advances of science and technology. No distance is too far, and everyone can fly! All these came about not by Man's initiative solely but with prodding from visitors. Now, the visitors are in trouble, and they need our help or at least 3000 years in the future! At least that is part of the story in this latest sci-fi movie that has hit the silver screens. The real theme of the story is, however, time travel, not in the traditional sense but from a philosophical sense, foreseeing the future as it unravels in front your very eyes.
It narrates the tale of a linguist, Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who is summoned by the US Army when a series of 12 UFOs appear around the globe. The Army thinks it had made the first contact and Louise is needed to interpret and converse with them.
Even though the story moves on a linear path forward, interspersed in it are scenes of her interaction with her daughter who apparently succumbed to cancer in her teens. At first, I thought these were scenes of her checkered past. But hold behold, they were visions of her future of events yet to happen! That, my friend, is the selling point of the movie.
The purpose of the alien visitation is precisely that; to impart knowledge to homo sapiens in such a way that humans can change their linear progression appreciation of time to predict the future and save the alien species from the danger that will lurk them sometime in future (we are not told what!).
The theoretical physicist who accompanies, Ian, eventually turns up as the father of her child in her visions. These are not psychic visions but the knowledge imparted by the alien to see her future before it unfolds. Analysing the writing pattern of the aliens, a pair of octopus-like creatures, heptapods, whom they christened Abbot and Castello, with seven tentacles each with seven 'starfish type' digits, and their squishy inky squirts in a liquid medium, the team, unravels a complex writing structure in loops. The metaphor is that life has no beginnings or end. It is a series of loops which seem to repeat itself.
In midst of it all, many nations which are doing their own research, discover that one of the alien statement is asking Man to use his weapon. Man, being Man, are too happy to put the finger on the trigger, to nuke the visitors back to their foxholes. Of course it does not happen that way!
The Ouroboros-like that the alien hieroglyphs is written actually has been around in many of our ancient civilisations. The Yin-Yan symbol in ancient may be a variant of the same. It reappears in Egypt, Antiquity, in Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, Norse mythology and more. The elixir of modern life, hydrocarbons all have benzene rings which mimic the Ouroboros! In essence, they all highlight the infinite cyclicality of life or the need to introspect as just like how the serpent or dragon swallows its own tail or egg.
We look at time in a linear fashion as a yardstick to refer to other events. If we could perceive time in a different perspective, we would be able to flip flop between the past and the future with a greater understanding of our existence. Apparently, the connexions to appreciate such an enigma are left hidden in crypts of our unused dendrites in the more than the 90% part of our brain which remains dormant and disused and this is the missing link to attain wisdom. One who defeats time controls destiny.
The danger of knowing the future is whether we would be just an innocent bystander accepting the sequence of events as it unravels, whether favourable or otherwise. If we were to alter the future, then the prediction of the future would be flawed and would not make sense. That is the grandfather paradox. If I were to kill my grandfather, then it would be possible as he would not have sired my father and I would not be born to kill him. That would mean he is alive and could have begotten my father and I would be born too!
In the correct set of hands, this divine asset would be a priceless asset to achieve eternal peace. To stand back, live life knowing that it would lead to happy ending but still doing it because that it is the law of Nature, it takes a certain kind of aloofness and detachment from the web of emotions and worldly attachments. That, is the true meaning of the Universal Mantra that accompanies all prayers Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthihi. Eternal peace accepted by all even when a mother loses a child or the physical body loses its lustre.
But then, as my friend says, war and all the turmoils of the world are the necessary evils to weed off the weak and auto-correct the gene pool. What does not kill us, only makes us stronger!
If you are a fan of 'Ancient Alien' series and a keen follower of Erich von Daniken, then you would probably believe that alien visitors periodically manifest on Earth to propel us a step ahead in our civilisation. If not how would we describe the leaps of intelligence that we seem to make in leaps and bounds? In a strongly patriarchal society of medieval France which gives no space to women in the public sphere, emerges a 17-year old girl to lead New Orleans to war and win. Living in a quiet world without artificial light, suddenly the circadian cycle of night and day is changed forever with advances of science and technology. No distance is too far, and everyone can fly! All these came about not by Man's initiative solely but with prodding from visitors. Now, the visitors are in trouble, and they need our help or at least 3000 years in the future! At least that is part of the story in this latest sci-fi movie that has hit the silver screens. The real theme of the story is, however, time travel, not in the traditional sense but from a philosophical sense, foreseeing the future as it unravels in front your very eyes.
It narrates the tale of a linguist, Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who is summoned by the US Army when a series of 12 UFOs appear around the globe. The Army thinks it had made the first contact and Louise is needed to interpret and converse with them.
Even though the story moves on a linear path forward, interspersed in it are scenes of her interaction with her daughter who apparently succumbed to cancer in her teens. At first, I thought these were scenes of her checkered past. But hold behold, they were visions of her future of events yet to happen! That, my friend, is the selling point of the movie.
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| A sample of alien writing. It is said to refer to the Ouroboros. |
The theoretical physicist who accompanies, Ian, eventually turns up as the father of her child in her visions. These are not psychic visions but the knowledge imparted by the alien to see her future before it unfolds. Analysing the writing pattern of the aliens, a pair of octopus-like creatures, heptapods, whom they christened Abbot and Castello, with seven tentacles each with seven 'starfish type' digits, and their squishy inky squirts in a liquid medium, the team, unravels a complex writing structure in loops. The metaphor is that life has no beginnings or end. It is a series of loops which seem to repeat itself.
In midst of it all, many nations which are doing their own research, discover that one of the alien statement is asking Man to use his weapon. Man, being Man, are too happy to put the finger on the trigger, to nuke the visitors back to their foxholes. Of course it does not happen that way!
The Ouroboros-like that the alien hieroglyphs is written actually has been around in many of our ancient civilisations. The Yin-Yan symbol in ancient may be a variant of the same. It reappears in Egypt, Antiquity, in Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, Norse mythology and more. The elixir of modern life, hydrocarbons all have benzene rings which mimic the Ouroboros! In essence, they all highlight the infinite cyclicality of life or the need to introspect as just like how the serpent or dragon swallows its own tail or egg.
We look at time in a linear fashion as a yardstick to refer to other events. If we could perceive time in a different perspective, we would be able to flip flop between the past and the future with a greater understanding of our existence. Apparently, the connexions to appreciate such an enigma are left hidden in crypts of our unused dendrites in the more than the 90% part of our brain which remains dormant and disused and this is the missing link to attain wisdom. One who defeats time controls destiny.
The danger of knowing the future is whether we would be just an innocent bystander accepting the sequence of events as it unravels, whether favourable or otherwise. If we were to alter the future, then the prediction of the future would be flawed and would not make sense. That is the grandfather paradox. If I were to kill my grandfather, then it would be possible as he would not have sired my father and I would not be born to kill him. That would mean he is alive and could have begotten my father and I would be born too!
In the correct set of hands, this divine asset would be a priceless asset to achieve eternal peace. To stand back, live life knowing that it would lead to happy ending but still doing it because that it is the law of Nature, it takes a certain kind of aloofness and detachment from the web of emotions and worldly attachments. That, is the true meaning of the Universal Mantra that accompanies all prayers Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthihi. Eternal peace accepted by all even when a mother loses a child or the physical body loses its lustre.
But then, as my friend says, war and all the turmoils of the world are the necessary evils to weed off the weak and auto-correct the gene pool. What does not kill us, only makes us stronger!
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