At one point in The Buddha, an interviewee recites a quote about reincarnation: “like going through junior high over and over again.” So that’s how Buddhism gets around the “no Hell” thing. Make everyone re-live their awkward phases for lifetime after lifetime. Makes me shudder.
I was looking forward to this two hour film by David Grubin because I don’t really know much at all about Buddha except for what Deepak Chopra would tweet. (Confession: I hated to do it but I de-followed him on Twitter because he over-tweeted. Five tweets in a row? No, Deepak, I only tolerate five tweets a day from each Twit.)
The Buddha tells the story of Prince Siddhartha and his enlightenment into the Buddha with some history and commentary and cartoons and Richard Gere voice-overs along the way. His mom the Queen had a dream that he would either be a bigtime ruler or the Buddha. The King was partial to the former so he sheltered the heck out of Siddhartha. Food, entertainment, chicks, you name it. Long story short: Siddhartha ventures out of the kingdom four times and sees first a sick man, then an old man, then a dead man, and then on the fourth trip he sees a spiritual seeker. He learns that he can get sick, he will grow old and he will die. So he wants to know how to escape that pain. Longer story shorter: he seeks, he fasts, he sits under the bodhi tree, he’s tested by some crazy-armed lord of temptation god and then he becomes the Buddha. I’m sure I left some stuff out.
I find all of this fascinating but I’ll admit that I watched it late at night and I briefly fell asleep. And weirdly, I woke up to Buddha saying, “Remember me as the one who woke up.” Huh. And there was more nuggets of wisdom prior to my catnap so…
What did I learn from The Buddha?
Favorite quote about Balance: “The string is too tight, it snaps and the music dies. The string is too slack, it makes no sound and the music dies. There is a middle way.” (Buddhism according to Goldilocks!)
Siddhartha called his newborn son, Fetter. He called his son “ball and chain”! And then he took off to seek. This was before he learned the whole ‘balance’ thing, I guess.
“No knowledge won without sacrifice.” And “in order to gain anything, you must first lose everything.” To me that means, “give up that ignorance, folks.”
Four Noble Truths: 1. There is suffering (dissatisfaction) in the world. 2. Our minds cause suffering. 3. You can be free of suffering by understanding the cause. 4. Follow the Eightfold Path. (They didn’t go into the Eightfold Path but I have them in my notes somewhere from a Deepak PBS Pledge Drive special. Not from his tweets.)
Buddhism is about being ordinary and doing human things. Everyone can be a Buddha.
Pay attention. Balance. Compassion. Be smart about desires. Change must come from within. Everything is connected. Everyday life is already miraculous. The Buddha is available on BluRay and DVD.
And check out the Buddha Mahjong game! Here!
