Shinto Myth and Belief in "The Weeping Demon"

     The clip that I watched from Kurosawa's film "Dreams" was "The Weeping Demon".  This one really confused me at the beginning because all the man was doing was wandering through a desert.  I thought maybe it had some underlying meaning as most dreams have like that he was feeling lost because he didn't have religion, or something like that and it was being manifested as walking through a desert.  Anyway he was just walking around in a wasteland for a really long time (so long that my roommate who decided to watch it with me got bored and left the room,) until he meets a "demon" who is a human that has incurred side effects from radiation poisoning from the atomic bomb being dropped in Japan during World War 2.  He is hunched-backed with a horn protruding from the top of his head.

     He says that the wasteland was once a beautiful field of flowers before the bomb and no giant dandelions are the only things that grow.  There are other demons with different numbers of horns, creating a hierarchy system: Those with one horn are on the bottom of the heap while those with more horns rank closer to the top.  The demons scream in pain at night, ashamed of who they are and what they have become and cannot die.  The original demon says their immortality is a punishment for their sins, and no matter how much pain they are in, they will forever suffer because they cannot die.

     At the end of these dream, the demon chases the man away through the wasteland so he doesn't become like them, which to me sort of parallels the story of Izanami's death where she sends a hoard of demons to chase her husband Izanagi from the underworld because she is ashamed of him seeing her rotting.  This clip also seems to describe the important Shinto theme of purity versus pollution and that all humans, nature and the Gods (Kami) are connected to one another, and that there is a powerful and beautiful spirit in everything and that it must all be cherished and taken care of.  The planet needs to be protected so that the spirits may survive and thrive.

Taoism Blog on the Tao of Pooh

     I read and analyzed the Tao of Pooh last semester for my oral final exam in Professor Rasnic’s World Scripture class.  I grew up reading the Winnie the Pooh books and watching the cartoon shows and movies, so I of course enjoyed this book as well.  Plus, I thought that it was very clever that Benjamin Hoff was able to parallel its characters and story morals to those of the Taoist religion.  Like how the main character Winnie-the-Pooh is described as being "the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block" (11).  The Uncarved Block, or P’u, is explained as being "things in their original simplicity containing their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed" (10).  Pooh is very childlike and relies on instinct and simple thought to get him through life day to day, whereas in culture today there is an emphasis on growing up and learning new skills to get a good, well-paying job so that we can be successful in life, which may not be the path we want to take, let alone what our lives should be like or what fate has had in store for us.  The book made it easier and more entertaining to learn about another religion and it explained it pretty thoroughly I thought.  

     I really found the part about the "Bisy Backson" to be enlightening and a bit of a wakeup call where Hoff says that "Our Bisy Backson religions, sciences, and business ethics have tried their hardest to convince us that there is a Great Reward waiting for us somewhere, and that what we have to do is spend our lives working like lunatics to catch up with it" (97).  I can relate to and understand the concept of the "Bisy Backson" where we all force ourselves to into doing work at a pretty fast pace because of the American culture and how we are all in competition with each other for a reward we may not feel fulfills us after all the hard work.  I feel that way in college sometimes; like that I'm doing all this work for a piece of paper that's not going to guarantee me a job in the future anyway, and that no matter how many classes I take or credits I earn I still feel like I've accomplished nothing and that sometimes I'm just wasting my time.

     I believe that Taoism could be a "solution" to the "problem" of American culture.  We all need to slow down and smell the roses every now and then and not run ourselves into an early grave by working ourselves to the bone and stretching our minds farther than they can probably go.  We're always on the hunt to keep ourselves busy because it is looked down upon to be 'lazy' or take time to ourselves to just relax and read for fun or just sit outside under a tree feeling the breeze and smelling the aroma of nature.  Well that last part may get you called a hippie, but it's all the same.  I just recently found out that I need a break because I feel like I've been driving myself crazy with all the school, work, and various hobbies I get caught up in that I forget about the little things sometimes.  Like while I'm walking I'll stop to watch a squirrel scuttle up a tree or the birds digging in the ground because it makes me feel more peaceful and relaxed.  And honestly with the constant go go go and hostility and anger from this fast paced life, American culture needs some relaxation time to just chill out and be one with the Tao.

Buddhist Stereotypes continued

2.         Since I’m a big fan on The Simpsons, I decided to take a subject from that for this part of my blog; that subject being Lisa as a Buddhist.  Although The Simpsons creators tend to make a lot of parodies or take serious subjects and turn them into comical ones, they still tend to teach important lessons or viewpoints that have a deeper meaning.  It was hard for me to find a clip online about Lisa being a Buddhist and I wanted to find one from the episode where she converted from Christianity.  But I guess do to copyright infringement or something I couldn’t find one that was in English, let alone with English subtitles.  So I decided to use one of the clips I could find where Bart not only mistakes Buddhism for Hinduism, but that he comments on a common misconception that all Buddhists are supposed to love everyone and everything and be happy.  Lisa responds by being pissed off and even kicking a side table, showing some violence which could go against the precept of Ahimsa (nonviolence) or not, since it was a table she kicked instead of Bart.  However, Lisa does not personify the commonly viewed Buddhist who is always peaceful, does not lash out at others and is constantly meditating.  She does, however, show that she is compassionate and protective of others and animals, even stuffed ones, getting hurt and that she can have other emotions such as anger and rage and is not happy or calm all the time.  For these reasons, I think that this clip shows both a positive and a negative stereotype of a Buddhist practitioner

3.         I think the stereotypes Lisa shows in the clip can relate to some of what Brad Warner writes about in his book, like that not everything goes great in the life of Buddhists, which is what his entire book is pretty much about, and that everyone has different ways of dealing with their negative issues.  “A Zen master, at least in the popular conception, is a mystical being, an Enlightened One who can rise above all human affliction and discontent” (p. IX).  Not everything in a Buddhist’s world is sunshine and roses, sometimes there’s darkness and negativity, and the clip with Lisa shows this by how she gets frustrated with Bart and his negativity toward her religious beliefs.

            Warner also talks about how Buddhism tends to emphasize the Middle Way, or an ideal of living between two extremes (p.18).  I suppose that in the end of the clip, Lisa was taking the Middle Way by not going so far as to hurt Bart physically or not doing anything to let her frustration out.  Instead she kicked the table, showing a reaction instead of none, but not to an extreme.  This could be stretching it however as that may not have been the creators intention.

Buddhist Stereotypes

1. Buddhism in The Simpsons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZ8fCA_hOM

http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/picture-529.png

http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/picture-530.png

Worldly Success and Liberation Aims

     Of the final two aims of Hinduism, Worldly Success and Liberation; I actually found it difficult to find songs to fit both categories.  As far as worldly success goes, I guess that that would probably be most prevalent, but I had trouble finding songs that I thought fit into that category because I kept thinking that the ones I was finding went more in the pleasure category, so I was worried about getting the two confused.  So I think since worldly success could go hand in hand with pleasure, is why they were easier to find.  As for liberation songs, I had an easy time finding four, but I struggled for a while trying to find a fifth.  I was trying hard to stay away from gospel songs, but I had to look up lyrics and listen closely to them to make sure they fit the category.  When I think about liberation songs, I would think they were about breaking free of something, not just life, or achieving something or having an epiphany.  But I wasn't sure if those would entirely count as liberation or not, so I'm not entirely sure if all my songs really fall into that category.  Especially since not everyone's view of liberation is the same or that liberation doesn't necessarily have to be once one dies.  Worldly success in the Hinduism understanding may be different from how the west views it because we tend to emphasize different things we want out of life and what we feel is more important.  Being popular and famous or having respect from people may be what everyone would want at some point in their life, but it seems to be emphasized more in America because of the idea of the 'American Dream' and making something of one's self.  Liberation may be different as well because the view of liberation and the after life is different in each religion and sometimes even from person to person.

Worldly Success

1. Ne-Yo, "Miss Independent", R&B/Soul, 2008

2. David Banner (ft.Chris Brown and Young Joc), "Get Like Me", Rap, 2008

3. MC Hammer, "Too Legit to Quit", Rap, 1991

4. Demi Lovato, "Me, Myself and Time" Pop, 2010

5. R. Kelly, "The World's Greatest", R&B, 2001

Liberation (Moksha)

1. Linkin Park, "Breaking the Habit" (Disturbing images), Rock, 2003

2. R. Kelly, "The Storm is Over Now", R&B, 2000

3. Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest", Rock, 2008

4. The All American Rejects, "It Ends Tonight" Alternative, 2006

5. Paramore, "Miracle", Alternative, 2007

Hinduism Aims: Pleasure and Community Service

Pleasure was the most prominent aim, and the easiest to find.  I think this is because in today's society everyone is more focused on short term goals of happiness that will satisfy them only for a short while.  Not to mention that sex, drugs and alcohol have been emphasized and seen pretty much anywhere now.  What surprised me about this experiment was actually that I found it easier than I thought it would be to find songs that had to do with community service.  When I think about that I keep thinking about songs about picking up trash on the side of the road, which would be a possibility; but I broadened my view of what community service could be and found that it could mean helping others, so I picked songs that reminded me of Gandhi or things that he would have emphasized like world peace or working together.  I think a difference from the American pop music and the Hindu understanding of the four aims could be that as far as community service go, the songs I found focused on world peace and helping people who were not in America; it would not focus on one community or a class of people like Hindu community service might.  Also, in America where Christianity is the most common religion; indulging oneself on pleasures such as drugs, sex and alcohol would be seen as going against the rules of the religion, where in Hinduism it is encouraged.