how's my Avatar?

Xrayman

what ya think?

xrayman.

Magwang

I really liked The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's amazing how both theists and athiests have claimed this movie as their own.

Magwang

wait a sec - I meant The Truman Show. But ESOSM is also really good one from Jim Carrey. Both films have a Buddhist feel to me.

Xrayman

mmm I like ESOSM as well! yes I think both of those movies can be interpreted that way-from both standpoints.

I find that Carrey makes some questionable quality films, however when he does good it's really good.

Xrayman

Mag-noticed you have Dave as your avatar-I have 2001 on Video-hope that's who it is...

buddhafoot

It's a guy belching at the top of the stairs.

What's the big deal?

-bf

Xrayman

I thought it was more of a fart...

Xrayman

I think it's actually about exhaling-Nirvana, almost.

buddhafoot

I don't know which hole you "fart" out of - but this guy definitely has something going on with the "front" side of him.

Maybe people down under fart through their mouths...

Curious.

-bf

Xrayman

you're probably right, although our pets don't wear fruity helmets either-that's something "foreign" to us downunder...

Brigid

I love your avatar, Xray. I think it's really cool and perfect for a Buddhist board.

When we were talking about it earlier I didn't even realize it was Jim Carey in The Truman Show but know that I know what it is it's even better! Great idea! It could be Truman coming out of the constructed, illusiory world he was living in and entering the higher reality of nothingness.

Or something...

buddhafoot

Xrayman wrote:

you're probably right, although our pets don't wear fruity helmets either-that's something "foreign" to us downunder...

Excellent point. But I find having my pets wear fruit marinates them nicely for later consumption.

Kind of like pineapple on a ham.

-bf

Brigid

Oh, nooooo!!! Not the sweet little kitty!!!!

Sabine

Oh gosh! Don't eat Fluffy!

What year did The Truman Show come out? I think I must have been little or something when I saw it - I vaguely remember liking it, but not really understanding what it was about.

Xrayman

BF, I love to eat ...fluffy.. "wink wink"

Sab, The movie was released in 1996 and Brigid, I think your description of it is well put. You must all see the movie, to "get it" I really can't be sure if the intention was "buddhist" or not when Peter Weir directed it.

Xray

Brigid

I haven't seen the film but I can just imagine...

Magwang

Truman lives in a world contrsucted for him by a megalomaniac TV director. When he discoves the truth, he wants to get "out" even though his current life seems ideal, if unreal.

the film exhibits many similarities to Plato's allegory of the cave, in which prisoners forced to view shadows on a wall in an underground grotto come to believe that this is reality; an escaped prisoner would at first be unable to perceive the real world, with the shadows as his only frame of reference.

Xray's avatar is from the final scene in the movie, where he speaks to his maker, then says "good day, good evening and good night" (Truman's 'slogan' that he used before he "woke up"), before exiting the door he finds in the massive studio.

Is Truman a buddha?

Sabine

Now I remember! *slaps hand to forehead* I thought it was the awesomest movie ever! I need to go rent it again Thanks Magwang ^^

Brigid

Ohhhh!! The Truman Show! Of course!! Wow, I'm dense.

Magwang,

I totally forgot about The Cave when I saw that movie. In fact, I haven't thought about The Cave since I was in university. Now that I think about it, was Plato a Buddha?

Hmmm! Interesting....

Magwang

Xrayman wrote:

You must all see the movie, to "get it" Xray

I recommend it and will be watching it again, it is really good.

Xrayman wrote:

I really can't be sure if the intention was "buddhist" or not when Peter Weir directed it.

I think Peter Weir's ideas went beyond buddhism, perhaps to Gnosticism.

It's also interesting that Christians also like this movie. See the review by David and Cristian Bruce (G'Day Bruce! Mind if we call you Bruce just to keep it clear?) at Hollywood Jesus



::

Simonthepilgrim

For those who would like to read the whole allegory, from Book VII of Plato's Republic:

B]Socrates[/B And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.
B]Glaucon[/B I see.
B]Socrates[/B And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.
B]Glaucon[/B You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
B]Socrates[/B Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?
B]Glaucon[/B True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?
B]Socrates[/B And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?
B]Glaucon[/B Yes, he said.
B]Socrates[/B And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
B]Glaucon[/B Very true.
B]Socrates[/B And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
B]Glaucon[/B No question, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.
B]Glaucon[/B That is certain.
B]Socrates[/B And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, -will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
B]Glaucon[/B Far truer.
B]Socrates[/B And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
B]Glaucon[/B True, he now.
B]Socrates[/B And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he 's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
B]Glaucon[/B Not all in a moment, he said.
B]Socrates[/B He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
B]Glaucon[/B Certainly.
B]Socrates[/B Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
B]Glaucon[/B Certainly.
B]Socrates[/B He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?
B]Glaucon[/B Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
B]Socrates[/B And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
B]Glaucon[/B Certainly, he would.
B]Socrates[/B And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,

Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,

and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner?
B]Glaucon[/B Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
B]Socrates[/B Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?
B]Glaucon[/B To be sure, he said.
B]Socrates[/B And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
B]Glaucon[/B No question, he said.
B]Socrates[/B This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public or private life must have his eye fixed.
B]Glaucon[/B I agree, he said, as far as I am able to understand you.
B]Socrates[/B Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be trusted.
B]Glaucon[/B Yes, very natural.
B]Socrates[/B And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine contemplations to the evil state of man, misbehaving himself in a ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has become accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled to fight in courts of law, or in other places, about the images or the shadows of images of justice, and is endeavoring to meet the conceptions of those who have never yet seen absolute justice?
B]Glaucon[/B Anything but surprising, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the cave.
B]Glaucon[/B That, he said, is a very just distinction.
B]Socrates[/B But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes.
B]Glaucon[/B They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good.
B]Glaucon[/B Very true.
B]Socrates[/B And must there not be some art which will effect conversion in the easiest and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for that exists already, but has been turned in the wrong direction, and is looking away from the truth?
B]Glaucon[/B Yes, he said, such an art may be presumed.
B]Socrates[/B And whereas the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be akin to bodily qualities, for even when they are not originally innate they can be implanted later by habit and exercise, the of wisdom more than anything else contains a divine element which always remains, and by this conversion is rendered useful and profitable; or, on the other hand, hurtful and useless. Did you never observe the narrow intelligence flashing from the keen eye of a clever rogue --how eager he is, how clearly his paltry soul sees the way to his end; he is the reverse of blind, but his keen eyesight is forced into the service of evil, and he is mischievous in proportion to his cleverness.
B]Glaucon[/B Very true, he said.
B]Socrates[/B But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasures, such as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights, were attached to them at their birth, and which drag them down and turn the vision of their souls upon the things that are below --if, I say, they had been released from these impediments and turned in the opposite direction, the very same faculty in them would have seen the truth as keenly as they see what their eyes are turned to now.
B]Glaucon[/B Very likely.
B]Socrates[/B Yes, I said; and there is another thing which is likely. or rather a necessary inference from what has preceded, that neither the uneducated and uninformed of the truth, nor yet those who never make an end of their education, will be able ministers of State; not the former, because they have no single aim of duty which is the rule of all their actions, private as well as public; nor the latter, because they will not act at all except upon compulsion, fancying that they are already dwelling apart in the islands of the blest.
B]Glaucon[/B Very true, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B Then, I said, the business of us who are the founders of the State will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which we have already shown to be the greatest of all-they must continue to ascend until they arrive at the good; but when they have ascended and seen enough we must not allow them to do as they do now.
B]Glaucon[/B What do you mean?
B]Socrates[/B I mean that they remain in the upper world: but this must not be allowed; they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the cave, and partake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not.
B]Glaucon[/B But is not this unjust? he said; ought we to give them a worse life, when they might have a better?
B]Socrates[/B You have again forgotten, my friend, I said, the intention of the legislator, who did not aim at making any one class in the State happy above the rest; the happiness was to be in the whole State, and he held the citizens together by persuasion and necessity, making them benefactors of the State, and therefore benefactors of one another; to this end he created them, not to please themselves, but to be his instruments in binding up the State.
B]Glaucon[/B True, he said, I had forgotten.
B]Socrates[/B Observe, Glaucon, that there will be no injustice in compelling our philosophers to have a care and providence of others; we shall explain to them that in other States, men of their class are not obliged to share in the toils of politics: and this is reasonable, for they grow up at their own sweet will, and the government would rather not have them. Being self-taught, they cannot be expected to show any gratitude for a culture which they have never received. But we have brought you into the world to be rulers of the hive, kings of yourselves and of the other citizens, and have educated you far better and more perfectly than they have been educated, and you are better able to share in the double duty. Wherefore each of you, when his turn comes, must go down to the general underground abode, and get the habit of seeing in the dark. When you have acquired the habit, you will see ten thousand times better than the inhabitants of the cave, and you will know what the several images are, and what they represent, because you have seen the beautiful and just and good in their truth. And thus our State which is also yours will be a reality, and not a dream only, and will be administered in a spirit unlike that of other States, in which men fight with one another about shadows only and are distracted in the struggle for power, which in their eyes is a great good. Whereas the truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst.
B]Glaucon[/B Quite true, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B And will our pupils, when they hear this, refuse to take their turn at the toils of State, when they are allowed to spend the greater part of their time with one another in the heavenly light?
B]Glaucon[/B Impossible, he answered; for they are just men, and the commands which we impose upon them are just; there can be no doubt that every one of them will take office as a stern necessity, and not after the fashion of our present rulers of State.
B]Socrates[/B Yes, my friend, I said; and there lies the point. You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, but in virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life. Whereas if they go to the administration of public affairs, poor and hungering after the' own private advantage, thinking that hence they are to snatch the chief good, order there can never be; for they will be fighting about office, and the civil and domestic broils which thus arise will be the ruin of the rulers themselves and of the whole State.
[Glaucon] Most true, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B And the only life which looks down upon the life of political ambition is that of true philosophy. Do you know of any other?
B]Glaucon[/B Indeed, I do not, he said.
B]Socrates[/B And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight.
B]Glaucon[/B No question.
B]Socrates[/B Who then are those whom we shall compel to be guardians? Surely they will be the men who are wisest about affairs of State, and by whom the State is best administered, and who at the same time have other honors and another and a better life than that of politics?
B]Glaucon[/B They are the men, and I will choose them, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B And now shall we consider in what way such guardians will be produced, and how they are to be brought from darkness to light, -- as some are said to have ascended from the world below to the gods?
B]Glaucon[/B By all means, he replied.
B]Socrates[/B The process, I said, is not the turning over of an oyster-shell, but the turning round of a soul passing from a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that is, the ascent from below, which we affirm to be true philosophy?
B]Glaucon[/B Quite so.

Brigid

Thanks, Simon! I haven't read that in 20 years. I'd forgotten how delightful it was to read Plato. I'm probably reading too much into it if I say that most of the allegory could also be a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment, at least until Socrates gets to the part where he describes the best guardians of the state as being those who are the least eager to do the job.

I'm going to reread this in a few days after I have some time to mull a few things over. If you ever feel like it I'd love to talk about some of the philosophers, like Rousseau in particular. Maybe I'll start a thread if you're interested. I'd love to hear your ideas.

Xrayman

Hi I found this!

* Mind: The Truman Show is a disguised depiction of the mind of a man lost in a false personality of illusory happiness. His mind is kept in this state by an internalized, controlling, image of a father who wants to stop him from achieving maturity. When Truman stumbles on the backstage area in the movie, that is a depiction of the mind perceiving a part of the unconscious where this defensive false self is generated. When the security guards then drag Truman away, (as shown at the top of the page), that is the forces of psychological defense barring the mind from perceiving the forbidden territory of the unconscious.

The fear of water that is instilled in Truman, keeping him trapped on the island and away from the world outside, is the neurosis of agoraphobia that keeps this person locked in a false self. When he tries to grow into a fuller person with a real life, he comes up against the barrier of more defenses in the form of fire, the supposed radiation-leak and the people (shown below) who block him, catch him and take him back to his fake world. But he suffers through his fears and breaks through.

In the end, Truman is beckoned forward not merely by the prospect of a more genuine life but also by the memory of a woman who, in his youth, revealed to him that he is trapped in a TV show, before they took her away. Thus, the internalized image of the controlling, threatening, father keeps him from linking up with a women in what would presumably be a genuine marriage. The other woman who plays the role of his mother, and who tries to keep Truman there, as well, is the internalized image of a mother, who similarly is trying to keep him from growing out of childhood.

regards,
Xrayman

Simonthepilgrim

Brigid,

Rousseau, eh! One of my least favourites. Give me Voltaire any day.

As for Plato, I think that you are right to read 'enlightenment' into the myth. That Socrates moves on to politics is integral: no good poltics without good philosophy and no good philosophy without an understanding that we are all deceived by phenomena.

Sabine

Simonthepilgrim wrote:

Brigid,
Rousseau, eh! One of my least favourites. Give me Voltaire any day.

I just finished reading Candide! I loved it! :bigclap:

Brigid

As for Plato, I think that you are right to read 'enlightenment' into the myth. That Socrates moves on to politics is integral: no good poltics without good philosophy and no good philosophy without an understanding that we are all deceived by phenomena.

Yes, quite right. No good anything without that understanding, really, eh?

So, you're not a fan of Rousseau? I'll have to go back and reread him, it's been years and I was a different person when I became a fan. I don't even remember what it was that drew me to him but I can't wait to go back and find out. I haven't read philosophy in too long. Except for Voltaire, of course. I read him regularly because his way seems to have a wonderful cooling effect on me.

Xrayman

Jesus, I thought this thread was all about ME!

tsk tsk

Simonthepilgrim

Xrayman wrote:

Jesus, I thought this thread was all about ME!

tsk tsk

Once upon a time, a great emperor had extended the boundaries of his lands and increased the prosperity of most of his people. He had slaughtered thousands and tens of thousands. As he got old, he began to worry about his death and what might happen after it. Would he be received in the Paradise of the Just? Would he be treated with the respect due to the Emperor of the Whole World?

In order to make sure that he would get his rightful reward in the afterlife, he summoned wise scholars and priests from all his realms. None was able to satisfy his worry.

One day, as was his wont, he disguised himself to walk among his subjects. He was wandering through farmlands when he was aware of a flock of geese coming towards him. He tried to push through the noisy throng when the geese began to peck at him and flap their wings.

"Stop them," he cried to the little boy who was herding the geese.
"Don't worry," the boy shouted back. "When you have gone, they will settle down again. It is what they do. It isn't about you!"

At that moment the Emperor awoke and saw the truth.