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.