…After a day of newspaper work, I come home full of so much bureaucracy, theory, policy-making, applied tactical warfare…
More NATO troops heading for Afghanistan so that they can all come home. Imposed « democratic » elections in Iraq, where there is ever-more sectarian violence. Science proving this or that, studying the effects of meditation on the brain. Why? Isn’t it clear how it effects being?
Curious about a film about soldiers in Iraq made by a woman and on which Hollywood bestows its coveted laurels (a little like science confirming the effects of meditation on the brain; art needs no such approbation except as a profit motive). Curious about the title, « The Hurt Locker. » I will go see for myself.
Experience is the only way to not-know it.
To not-know it
About the Author: zenscribe
Enseignante Zen et poète, Sensei Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell est née et a grandi à Minneapolis, aux Etats-Unis. Arrivée en France en 1981 pour étudier la littérature et l’histoire, elle y est restée, s’installant à Paris, où elle élève ses deux enfants et gagne sa vie en tant que journaliste.
The Zen teacher and poet Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell Sensei was born and raised in Minneapolis, but came to France in 1981 to study literature and history and has lived in Paris ever since, raising her two children and making a living as a journalist.
Life is action.
Is it?
what is action?
who acts?
Experience is "being" ? action? without "doing?"
Experience is the fruit of action.
Yes and why do we want to live anyway?
I run back to this great Vimilakirti quote:
A piece of art or a piece of garbage;
Life and death;
The nature of all things is liberation.
Yeh , why do we want to see movies ?
(why do we want to read fiction?
why do we want to look to pieces of art?
why do we like music?)
…
And so, maybe our practice is about being more aware of the actual experience, and of living less in the story of our memories and anticipated memories.
And being aware of the actual experience maybe includes the dismantling it from our words, concepts and preferences.
The “experiencing self” is neither “experiencing” nor “self”, neither “happy” nor “suffering”; if it is dismantled of all that.
Closing our eyes for what is real and present would be foolish, I think.
But a filmmaker wants to manipulate me into feeling horror, disgust, or into being moved in any other fashion, and I don’t need to subdue myself to that.
Is that what watching a movie is? Manipulating myself into the feelings and emotions of my choice?
In the experience of happines is hapiness, but no selfconfirmation, no reflection on it??? The moment the experience stops and ego kind of grasps it – we get this feeling???
this is a nice feeling – feeling happy – although it’s over yet… feelings are covered thoughts, judgements…
one of our fears looking around the corner in the slightest way… and oeps gone…
Yes i can explain it very well… not "allways" there though… (and here i am very euphemistic) … but that’s fine too.
My mind is no trash can.
i know this feeling very well…
i do never look to horror or thriller or agressionfilms – even what most people call a good action film is already agression to me…
but really:
What can there be adressed? but things we are not prepared to work with?
What else is "the way" than we are ourselves? what is moirrored?
Not that i promote horror… don’t misunderstand me… if i have a choise i do not search it…
But what about the search of those nice romantic or slow and deep psychological films… " What a bout them? What are we "searching" there?
"Picasso: i don’t search – i find…" ???
As if real life is not good enough? What about this need to look to films in general???
this kind of happiness is an afterwards judgement allready??? Of something that fits in our selfimage: called selfconfirmation…???
Daniel Kahneman in his TED-talk: “The riddle of Experience vs. Memory”, makes your point exactly.
I just listened to it.
He talks about two selves; the experiencing self and the remembering self; who have completely different notions of happiness.
Our story of happiness and suffering is different from our actual experience of them, and this can be measured.
I love that.
experience can not be undone…
but we don’t have to identify with it
so we can be fresh and new , over and over again…
Not-knowing through experience has a dark side.
Experience can not be undone.
My mind is no trash can.
This particular movie is probably not the worst; but a lot of movies are real garbage.
If I have a choice, do I want to have some really disgusting images in my system for the rest of my life?