--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Turq, > > Busy with moving here -- can't do my usual hyperbabble.
I understand. I'm still in the pre-packing phase, but boy! do I understand. > Thanks for the movie suggestion, and I think you're spot on > about "freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose." > > Not exactly enlightenment but a psychological enlightenment > maybe -- I think that Byron Katie mixes this kind of freedom > in with her mystic stuff. I haven't read much of her, but I would agree with you that it's more of a psychological enlightenment in Frank, and in the samurai movie character I referenced. But whatever works, eh? > Well known to Fairfielders, Rob Robb, is a therapist (very > good psychic too) who pounds one with one's own freedom to > choose and to own whatever one attracts in life cuz whether > one admits it or not, karma only comes when called (choosen.) I'm not sure I can agree with that last phrase. Like shit, karma just happens. :-) Whether you call it, and what you call it, doesn't mean a think to "every action has an equal and opposite reaction." I guess you could view the original action as some kind of "calling," and the reaction as it coming when called, but I think it's pretty much a mechanical process, on the level of an Operating System. > As I refine my awareness of my operations, I see ever more > clearly how I set up myself for karma to flow to me. I'd rather > that this is mindful, and 'tain't almost neverly not, but on > "a clear day" I can sometimes see forever, and yuck, I'm > abusing myself and opting for "blame life" as my reaction -- > way too frequently. The work, it's about the work. You might consider turning the work into mindfulness. Changes everything. > Speaking of which, gotta run -- I have 65 boxes filled > already....Moving day, six days and counting. I wish you good fortune and excellent adventures with the move, and with the new locations -- both outer and inner. > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > Edg, > > > > I'm relaxin' at the end of a long workday by re-watching > > one of my favorite spiritual movies. The movie is called > > "Thief," directed by Michael Mann, and it's full of crime > > and violence and bad guys doing bad things, so not every- > > one would "get" my considering it a spiritual film. > > > > One of the reasons I think of it that way is that the > > first time I saw this film I was in a theater in L.A. on > > its opening night, sitting next to Rama, the spiritual > > teacher I studied with at the time. We passed popcorn back > > and forth as he added his psychic phwam! to an already- > > powerful film, shifting the attention field of the 100 or > > so students watching the movie with him. Another is that > > the soundtrack is by Tangerine Dream, the same group whose > > music we meditated to at Rama's weekly center meetings. > > Yet another reason is that Rama used numerous quotes from > > this film over the successive years to illustrate spiritual > > principles or just interesting ways to approach life. > > > > In one of these quotes, Frank (James Caan), the top-flight > > jewel thief of the title, is talking to Okla (Willie Nelson), > > his mentor in prison, the only person in his life he trusts > > fully. Frank is explaining his dilemma -- whether to tell > > the woman he wants to propose to what he really does for a > > living. Okla's response is a classic: "Lie to no one. If > > they're somebody close to you, you're gonna ruin it with a > > lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta > > lie to them?" > > > > But it's another of the themes in the movie that made me > > think of you, and your recent Advaita raps. Frank is an > > interesting character, spiritually, because in prison his > > self died. > > > > When he first hits Joliet, for stealing $40, he gets word > > through the grapevine that when it comes to the systematic > > gang rape of inmates by prison guards, he's next on the hit > > list. And he knows what happens to those who resist; they die. > > > > So he resists anyway. > > > > In the process, he does permanent damage to some of his > > attackers before the rest put him in the hospital ward for > > six months or so. He gets 15 years added to his sentence for > > this, but that's irrelevant because he knows that the moment > > he is released from hospital and put back into the general > > population, he's a dead man. And what happens? I'll let him > > tell it: > > > > "So I hit the yard. So you know what happens? Nothing. I mean, > > nothing happens. 'Cause I don't mean nothing to myself. I don't > > care about me, I don't care about nothing. And I know from that > > day that I'd survive, because I'd achieved that...that mental > > attitude." > > > > It's an interesting moment. Caan is tremendous in conveying > > the power of that realization for Frank, the *freedom* that he > > felt at that moment. It was the most transformative moment of > > his life. Watching the film again tonight, I related it to > > some of your descriptions of the ego dying, of the loss of > > identification with the self, and the sense of *freedom* > > that accompanies that death. It's like watching Toshiro > > Mifune embrace death before his final swordfight in "The > > Samurai Trilogy." The samurai is dead to himself *before* > > the battle starts, so if he survives, it's to a calm, > > satori-like sense of *freedom*. Frank is *free* in exactly > > this sense. > > > > He doesn't stay free for long. In a continuation of the above > > scene, talking to the woman he wants to marry (Tuesday Weld, > > in a performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomin- > > ation), he shows her a collage that he put together in prison, > > with photos of a great house and kids and a beautiful wife, > > and he describes what it means to him: "Later, I worked > > this out. That [the collage] is my life. And nothing and > > nobody can stop me from making it happen." It's his dream, > > the thing that he believes will make him happy. > > > > He achieves it, all of it. And it sucks. It's not that the > > parts of his life that were pictured in the collage suck; > > they're fine, and he loves them all. What sucks is the thing > > he had to give up to realize his dream -- that sense of > > *freedom* he'd achieved in prison. His attachment to the > > dream has resulted in other people running his life. > > > > So what's a guy to do? Well, it wouldn't be much of a movie > > if Frank forgets about that sense of *freedom* and submits > > to its opposite, would it? Frank doesn't submit. Instead, he > > sends his wife and kid away, blows up his house, and then > > takes on the gangsters who weren't prison-savvy enough to > > recognize that sense of *freedom* when they saw it, and mis- > > takenly thought that they could intimidate and control him. > > > > And what's left after all of this? Nothing. The same nothing > > he felt when he walked onto the ward that day so many years > > ago, a dead man, egoless and selfless, and nothing happened > > there, too. A nothing called *freedom*. > > > > Anyway, I just thought you might like the movie if you haven't > > seen it, or enjoy being reminded of it if you have. It's got > > some violence and shooting in it if you're averse to such > > things, but if they get to you, you can close your eyes and > > meditate to the music of Tangerine Dream, the way we used to. > > >
