RIFLE RANGE BOY

Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2014) Written and Directed by Vivek Agnihotri What would Buddha, being a pacifist, would do when he is caught in a bad traffic jam? Instead of cussing and cursing explicitly or under His breath, He would probably, wait patiently, not to upset the already tense atmosphere, but instead deal the situation calmly. Mere mortals around him would probably jump at the chance to pounce on his non-aggressive way of handling his machine to squeeze to ahead by at least a few cars. For mere mortals that would mean a big deal, they would retaliate, but not Buddha.  The storyteller is trying to equate the Adivasis (aborigines) to Buddha whilst the capitalists and the communists as mortals try to bribe their way to usurp the Adivasis' rightly owned lands for personal interests. For a movie that Agnihotri had so much difficulty trying to secure financial backings from the movie stalwarts in the initial stage and abandonment by financiers later, it sure did fan a lot of exci...

Genius of the Ancient World (BBC Four) #1. Buddha Centuries before modern man came up with the concept of cognitive psychology and self-discoveries, there walk a man in flesh and blood who questioned the ritualistic practices of the people in the name of the Protector. At a time when Brahmin sages performed sacrificial rites to appease the Maker so that man can be taken care in the next life, he stood to question the relevance of these. Leaving his comfortable life in the courtyards of the leader of the Sankya clansmen in Southern Nepal, he wandered to the buzzing city in Maghada state. People of the cosmopolitan town of Patna were alive with many questions and ideas about life and its purpose. Siddharta Gautama queried the concept of samsara and the cycle of life. If rituals could change the fate of the high caste in the next life, what happens to the traders and workers rank. Are they destined to be trapped in miseries forever? He sought for his answers with a s...

Some say that the mere fact that we are born on Earth is torture. It is a punishment of sorts. All the aches, the physical pains, the emotional pains, the disappointments, the cheats, the fall and loss of function may be just an ellipse of what a man faces in his lifetime. Saying all these, even the wisest of men, would like to hold on to his last breath not matter what in exchange for all the wealth in the world. Many religions that promote themselves as a way of life suggest that the relationships that we develop along the way in our life are the cause of most of our problems. We should either not to take to heart all the miseries that develop in our daily interactions with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones or cut ourselves from these relationships. In the other words, renunciation is the word.  Renunciation can be done, it seems, in two ways. In the first instance, one can choose a life of self-sacrifice and self-avoidance from the time of adolescence or at com...

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (봄   여름 가을 겨울 그리고   봄, Korean, 2003) This is a very quiet movie with hardly any dialogue set in a serene lake surrounded by mountain. The message it carries, however, is ‘earth shattering’. In very few words, it narrates with symbolisms by using animals (rooster, cat, snake, tortoise) which refer to particular virtues in Buddhist and Eastern traditions. It is divided into seasons, not all in a year, signifying the life cycle that seems to repeat itself. A very young boy (maybe six) grows up in a floating Buddhist monastery in a lake deep in the wood with his sifu, an elderly monk. Their daily routine is laid out - daily walks, plucking herbs and chanting. The boy, mischievous as he is, ill-treats little animals in the forest, fish, frog and snake. The master was watching his every move, teaches him that every cruel deed would be carried by the heart forever. In the next segment, the boy grows into a young man. A mother brings her...

Tariq Ramadan, a liberal Islamist, once asked the Dalai Lama, "Why do you recite your chants at 4 o'clock in the morning?". The wise one replied, "It is for my self discipline!" That, I think, my dear friend, lies the secret of mankind. The secret of all secrets is now out in the open. The rationale for people to do what they do as somewhat ritualistic, obsessive and compulsive like is actually to instill self discipline in one self. The purpose of prayer is not to request the Creator for wealth, health, happiness and protection for a pain free life and after life but rather to instill this human value so that he can think out rationally his next course of action so as to ensure he leads the path of least resistance. The quiet ambience in which one partakes his meditation and prayers must be the cornerstone for his to rationally think out his actions and act accordingly without rash. The ritual of allocating one day in a week for spiritual work, faithfully ...