Austin Pham's Academic Essays

[anacademicwesleyan]

PSYC105: Religion and Depression

Recently, we have been working on mental disorders and their treatments in class, and the disorder that interested me the most was depression, for its popularity and familiarity to a college student like me. This topic became most fascinating to me when the relation between depression and spirituality was touched on, since Buddhism had in some way helped me to survive a desperate college application period during my high school senior year. After the class, I did more research on the topic, as we did not have a concrete insight into it. What I found were a horde of old articles about how spirituality reduces the rate of depression, which was also mentioned in class, scientifically explained that “religion may protect against major depression by thickening the brain cortex and counteracting the cortical thinning that would normally occur with major depression.”­­[1] However, unreligious researchers have later conducted some surveys, indicating that the reverse is true. As opposite arguments were brought into view, conflicts emerged with unanswered questions. Having taken a Tibetan Buddhism class last semester, in this essay, I would like to share my thoughts with concrete knowledge from the angle of Buddhist teachings (non-scientifically).

  First off, we should again see the causes of depression that are listed on Wikipedia: “childbirth, menopause, financial difficulties, job problems, a medical diagnosis (cancer, HIV, etc.), bullying, loss of a loved one, natural disasters, social isolation, relationship troubles, jealousy, separation, and catastrophic injury.” We can group depressive causes into 3 main categories by reasons: (1) being under physical pain (catastrophic injury), (2) undergoing a major change in life (childbirth, marriage, natural disasters), and (3) not having or being derived of intimately attached objects (financially difficulty, loss of loved one).

  Corresponding to the causes, Buddhism teachings also present 3 different types of sufferings (dukkha): dukkha of ordinary suffering (dukkha-dukkha), dukka produced by change (viparinama-dukkha) and dukkha of conditioned states (samkhara-dukkha).  The first dukkha is also the most obvious suffering, associated with age, illnesses and death. On the upper level, change is thought to bring about sufferings no matter if the change is good or bad. For example, one might consider a promotion at work as a positive change, without being aware of the accompanied responsibility or heavy workload. Finally, the anxiety of losing belongings contributes to the third type of sufferings when a person is in a conditioned state. It is the most oblique feeling of unease (anxiety), where one already understands impermanence while still holding onto desires. Generally, living-is-suffering is the most basic ground for teachings in Buddhism, which one’s life events can prove.

  Thus, is it right to assess that Buddhism advocates disappointment in living and that the latter argument is true? Not quite. The understanding of sufferings is the basis for the whole idea of Buddhism: voidness (sunyata). It is said that everything is empty; that there is no certain object, only the connection between one and said object created by one’s mind. To be more precise, a 4-wheeled small windowed room is called a car as we name it so, and we need it to go from place to place as it was created out of the desire for convenience. As long as there is longing for the car, there is the suffering of not having it. Hence, depression (suffering) is brought about simply by the nonexistence of that which we have desires for. This is also the reason why the rate of depression is increasing, as the definition of necessity is broadened everyday. On the other hand, having comprehensively understood this, Buddhists have no reasons to be depressed anymore.

  Different religions have different explanations to depression/suffering, resulting in different reactions. Buddhists denounce their lives and belongings; Christians have a strong optimistic mentality since they believe Jesus is always there for them; Jewish show great determination, regarding studying as the door to the ultimate happiness. However, the considerable population of depressed religious individuals obtained by the later survey is understandable, since such people are still deviating on the path of comprehending the teachings of their respective religions. Being on the level of understanding of the inevitability of sufferings yet the ‘voidness idea’ is a concrete example. Thus, there is no actual conflict between the seemingly opposite findings; they just study different demographics. The former’s subjects were religious individuals who have understood their religion’s teachings, while the latter’s subjects are still struggling. In order to help them achieve that level of understanding, certain depressive events are needed, and people soon learn to overcome them with developing spiritual cognizance. The rate of depression is thus likely to drop dramatically afterwards.

[anacademicwesleyan]

Về sự mất tập trung và thói quen ngại đọc dài

Chưa có thời đại nào mà con người mất tập trung như bây giờ, sự tiến bộ về khoa học kỹ thuật, mở rộng của các ngành nghệ thuật và phát triển kinh tế tưởng chừng sẽ làm con người và những phong tục cũng trở nên lành mạnh hơn nhưng có vẻ như là điều ngược lại. Nhận thấy khoa học kỹ thuật phát triển chỉ làm con người ngày càng trở thành nô lệ của máy móc và công cụ, sự tiến bộ của các ngành nghệ thuật thực ra chỉ là sự huyễn hoặc và phát triển kinh tế chỉ làm con người thêm xa rời thiên hướng tự nhiên.

Một điều dễ dàng nhận thấy rằng, càng ngày dân trí của con người càng cao, nhưng vĩ nhân ngày càng hiếm. Trong hầu hết xã hội dân chủ ngày nay, con người trong xã hội đó mong muốn nhất không phải là tự do, mà chính là bình đẳng, chắc chắn họ luôn muốn bình đẳng cả khi không được tự do. Bình đẳng nghĩa là con người phải được đối xử ngang bình với nhau, nghĩa là cho phép mỗi phần tử trên cơ thể của xã hội làm bất cứ cái gì nó thích, có nghĩa là sự đứt mạch lạc, sự lên ngôi của phóng túng và hỗn loạn.

Và điều để phát triển vĩ nhân lại chính là tự do chứ không phải bình đẳng. Một cây mầm tốt không thể phát triển tối đa trong cùng một điều kiện chăm sóc như nhau được, và đặc biệt chúng không để những mầm cây khác hút hết chất dinh dưỡng đáng ra chúng được ưu đãi, chúng phải được chế độ nuôi dưỡng riêng biệt. Tại sao tôi nói về vĩ nhân? Theo tôi vĩ nhân là những người thực sự tập trung và hướng ý chí vào một vấn đề nào đó chứ không phải là cái gì cũng biết một ít, thông tin gì cũng nắm được một chút, mà đa phần chúng ta bây giờ là như vậy.

Phải nói rằng, trong chúng ta ai cũng muốn được tập trung nhưng lại rất khó để tập trung, có quá nhiều thứ làm ảnh hưởng đến sự tập trung đó. Riêng việc tập trung để đọc hoàn thiện một cuốn sách đối với chúng ta cũng là điều vất vả. Ta mua một quyển sách hay về và dự định đọc trong vòng một tuần sẽ xong. Sáng sớm tỉnh dậy là lúc tinh thần minh mẫn nhất, là thời điểm tốt để đọc sách, nhưng đã gần đến giờ đi học rồi, thôi đành mang đến lớp giờ nghỉ giải lao sẽ đọc. Đến giờ nghỉ giải lao trên lớp chuẩn bị lôi sách ra đọc thì đám bạn rủ ra ngoài nói chuyện cho vui, thôi đành cất lại về nhà sẽ đọc.

Tối về đến nhà thì tiếng ti vi của mẹ đang xem phim ồn áo khó tập trung được. Định lên phong đọc sách cho yên tĩnh thì nhớ ra hôm nay hình như mình chưa lên mạng, thử lên kiểm tra face xem có thông tin gì mới không đã! Vèo cái đã 10-11 giờ đêm rồi, chết rồi còn bài tập chưa kịp làm, làm cố cho xong đến 12 giờ đêm. Lúc này mới giở ra được trang sách đầu tiên, nhưng sao mắt của mình nó cứ ríu lại thế nhỉ? Đọc chẳng hiểu gì cả, chữ nghĩa cứ mờ dần mờ dần và chìm vào trong giấc ngủ. Sáng hôm sau tất nhiên lại ngủ dậy muộn, và cứ thế sang các ngày khác.

Cuối cùng chắc chỉ có ngày lễ hay ngày nghỉ mới có thời gian, nhưng cũng vừa mới lật vài trang sách thì tiếng chuông điện thoại bên cạnh reo: “Ê, hôm nay ngày nghỉ trời đẹp quá, anh em lâu chưa gặp nhau, đi đâu gặp nhau tí.” Và cứ thế, mấy tháng sau may ra mới đọc xong cuốn sách, nhưng điều quan trọng là có khi chẳng nhớ mình đã đọc xong cái gì. Những người sống nội tâm đôi khi lại là người có sự tập trung cao hơn người khác rất nhiều, nhưng khi bị tác động họ lại dễ bị ảnh hưởng hơn.

Những phương tiện khoa học kỹ thuật hiện đại như internet, điện thoại, tivi… Là nguyên nhân chính dẫn đến sự mất tập trung này. Đôi khi chúng ta không biết lên internet để làm gì nhưng không đủ can đảm để rời màn hình. Đôi khi không có cuộc gọi hay tin nhắn nào nhưng thói quen vẫn giơ điện thoại ra trước mặt kiểm tra, và đôi khi không có chương trình tivi nào hấp dẫn nhưng chúng ta không đủ can đảm để tắt nó đi, CHÚNG TA SỢ SỰ IM LẶNG, chúng ta muốn tập trung nhưng lại sợ tập trung.

Quá mâu thuẫn. Có quá nhiều thông tin không cần thiết đến với chúng ta hàng ngày, nhiều người vẫn tưởng đó là kiến thức, nhưng thực ra không phải, đừng khoe mình biết (know), hãy làm sao để mình hiểu (understand) và biết phân tích. Có quá không khi tôi nói rằng những người còn nghiện coi tivi, facebook là những người bình thường, thậm chí là tầm thường? Các chương trình tivi, phim ảnh vừa giết chết thời gian của chúng ta, chúng lại con giết chết cả điện ảnh và nghệ thuật. Hầu hết các chương trình này là vô bổ, gây độc hại nhưng lại gây được sự quan tâm nhiều nhất. Nguyên nhân không phải là chúng ta thích xem tivi, phim ảnh đâu, mà chính sự sợ hãi, buồn chán đã kéo chúng lại với chúng ta.

Một nguyên nhân nữa chính là sự phát triển của kinh tế, con người quá bận rộn cho miếng cơm manh áo của mình mà không còn nghĩ gì về những thứ khác, họ bỏ ra quá nhiều thời gian để kiếm tiền và rồi họ lại dùng tiền kiếm được để giết thời gian. Các quốc gia nghèo có vẻ luôn đặt mục tiêu kinh tế lên hàng đầu. Cụ Phan Châu Trinh đã đi trước chúng ta hàng trăm năm khi đề ra cải cách bằng cách: “Khai dân trí, chấn dân khí, hậu dân sinh.” Tức là kinh tế, các điều kiện sinh sống chỉ đứng hàng thứ ba, đầu tiên là phải khai trí. Vậy mà chúng ta bây giờ ít người hiểu được lời dạy này.

Trong vấn đề này, thiết nghĩ chúng ta nên có một môi trường phù hợp cho yêu cầu muốn tập trung của mình. Tôi nghĩ đôi khi chúng ta nên về các vùng nông thôn yên tĩnh (không phải đi phượt), đôi khi chúng ta nên rời xa bạn bè mình, đôi khi chúng ta nên vứt bỏ internet, điện thoại, tivi và đến một nơi nào đó thực sự yên tĩnh, và cũng đôi khi chúng ta nên cảm nhận vẻ đẹp của thiên nhiên bằng cặp mắt của mình thay vì cái máy ảnh.

Một vấn đề liên quan đến vấn đề tập trung là thói quen ngại đọc dài, hầu như trong mỗi người bình thường chúng ta cứ nhìn vào một quyển sách dày hay một bài viết chi chít chữ là đã ngán ngẩm không muốn cầm lên đọc tiếp rồi. Không biết nó hay hay dở, chỉ cần thấy nó dài là đã chán rồi. Không phải ngẫu nhiên các trang báo mạng hay có cái gọi là “giật tít”, về cơ bản họ hiểu con người chúng ta là những thành phần lười, mà thông tin của họ có quá nhiều nên phải dùng cách đó để lôi kéo lượng độc giả. Cũng có quá nhiều câu nói: “Dài quá, ngại đọc, tóm tắt coi!” Cũng không thể trách họ được, họ có quyền lựa chọn thông tin bổ ích cho mình trong vô số các thông tin, chính chúng ta chứ không ai khác vừa là người gây ra, vừa là nạn nhân của vấn đề này.

Có một điều là chúng ta ưa đọc trích dẫn hơn đọc toàn bài, các câu nói trích dẫn (quotes) thường được mọi người nhớ lâu và ưa thích hơn toàn bộ tác phẩm. Giống như món mì ăn liền, đã được người khác chế biến và dọn dẹp cho sạch sẽ, chỉ việc đổ nước vào và bê lên ăn, đọc trích dẫn cũng vậy, cũng được người khác tổng hợp, tìm kiếm và đưa lên cho, nhưng nó vẫn có ích lợi. Điểm bất lợi của việc chỉ đọc trích dẫn mà không tìm hiểu chi tiết thì cũng có nhiều, giống như chỉ hiểu cái chung mà bỏ qua cái riêng, những cái hay của tác phẩm đôi khi không phải ở cái chung mà chính là cái diễn giải ý chung đó. Chúng ta thích tổng hợp hơn phân tích, bởi tổng hợp đã có người khác làm cho rồi, tri thức của chúng ta là tổng hợp những cái tổng hợp đó.

Ta thường thấy trong các tác phẩm văn học, lịch sử, triết học… Cổ xưa họ viết khá dài, đôi khi có những điều hơi rời xa ý chính của tác phẩm, điều đó chỉ để diễn giải có cái ý chính đó. Các tác phẩm văn học kinh điển thường ít thành công trên điện ảnh bởi điện ảnh chỉ diễn tả được cái bề nổi của tâm lý nhân vật, chỉ có đọc chính tác phẩm văn học ta mới hiểu hết diễn tiến tâm lý đó.

Mọi người hãy cứ chọn những gì mà tự cho là tốt nhất với chính mình.

  Đời Thừa

[anacademicwesleyan]

Về sự cần thiết phải có một tôn giáo chính thống ở Việt Nam

Tôi là người không thuộc phe phái nào, cũng không phải là người truyền giáo, mục đích của tôi không phải làm lợi cho bất cứ thành phần chính trị hay tôn giáo riêng biệt nào, mà là cho tất cả mọi người. Với kiến thức còn hạn hẹp và cách hành văn rông dài có thể gây khó đọc cho nhiều người, nhưng hi vọng sẽ giúp đỡ cho bất kỳ ai khi đọc nó sẽ tìm ra được hướng đi cho chính mình.

Về cơ bản, con người không thể sống thiếu tín ngưỡng mang tính giáo điều, trong những tín ngưỡng mang tính giáo điều, tín ngưỡng đáng khuyến khích hơn cả là niềm tin tôn giáo. Và cũng dễ nhận thấy rằng không có xã hội nào thịnh vượng lên được mà không có cùng chung tín ngưỡng. Lịch sử đã chứng minh, và không như chúng ta vẫn lầm tưởng, ở những thời điểm hưng thịnh của một xã hội nào đó, chính tôn giáo chứ không phải là sự sự phục tùng ngoan ngoãn của người dân đối với một sự cai trị chuyên chế nào đó khiến nó thịnh vượng.

Sự vô tín ngưỡng là điều đột xuất, chỉ có niềm tin tôn giáo mới là trạng thái bất biến của nhân loại. Việt Nam là một trong những đất nước có ít niềm tin vào tôn giáo nhất trên thế giới. Ở đây mọi người hầu hết là vô tín ngưỡng, hoặc có niềm tin theo tôn giáo một cách không chính thức. Chúng ta cứ tưởng rằng khi nhìn hàng ngàn người chen chúc nhau đi chùa đầu năm, đầu tháng thì chứng tỏ đất nước có một niềm tin tôn giáo mãnh liệt lắm, và cũng ngỡ khi hầu hết các làng quê Việt Nam đều có xây đựng ít nhất một cái chùa thì hẳn tôn giáo phát triển thịnh vượng trên mảnh đất này.

Nhưng tôi nhận thấy càng ngày con người Việt Nam càng tách rời xa tôn giáo. Trên gương mặt những con người này, tôi không thấy có sự thỏa mãn hay sự yên bình như những người dân tộc khác. Tôi đã quan sát thấy điều đó, họ bước ra từ cổng chùa hay nhà thờ như thể chỉ muốn ra khỏi nơi đó càng nhanh càng tốt. Nhịp sống hối hả, chạy theo nhu cầu vật chất đang làm chết mòn dân tộc ta, sống mà chưa được bình an, chết cũng chưa được yên nghỉ. Dân tộc ta bước ra ngoài thế giới mà không có sự chuẩn bị nào phù hợp cho chính mình, chúng ta chỉ nắm bắt cái bề nổi của dân tộc khác mà quên đi cái sâu xa bao đời của họ, ta nhập một lô lốc các thứ từ bên ngoài mà rồi vẫn chưa thỏa mãn.

Thiếu vật chất ta có thể bán tài nguyên đi và mua về dễ dàng nhanh chóng, nhưng thiếu tinh thần, dù có tiền chưa chắc ta mua nổi. Chủ nghĩa duy vật có những ý nghĩa và tính đúng đắn của nó, nhưng tôi lại thấy vô vàn những điều làm tôi thấy chúng nguy hại. Nếu hệ thống đó có chút gì là hữu ích cho con người, tôi nghĩ rằng đó có thể là tạo ra ở con người một ý thức khiêm nhường về bản thân mình. Với dân tộc nào cũng vậy, chủ nghĩa duy vật là một căn bệnh nguy hiểm cho tinh thần con người; nhưng cần đặc biệt biết sợ nó khi nó xuất hiện ở quốc gia mà con người còn thiếu thốn vật chật bởi vì khi đó nó kết hợp tuyệt vời với những tật xấu trong tình cảm con người rất phổ biến trong nhân dân quốc gia đó.

Tôi thấy mọi người khắp quanh tôi luôn lo lắng, kêu gào, từ người già cho đến đứa trẻ. Tôi nghe tiếng người già luôn chửi bới thời thế, lầm bầm những chuyện khiến họ phải suy nghĩ, từ chuyện con cái đối xử với họ không ra gì, đến chuyện nhà bên làm được nhà to hơn. Tưởng đùa hóa ra tuổi của họ vẫn còn sự đố kỵ. Tôi nghe tiếng những bà vợ kêu than với nhau về đức ông chồng hay nhậu nhẹt, ông chồng thì viện cớ buồn nên phải nhậu. Tôi cũng nghe những chàng thanh niên mới lớn thất tình buồn bã, kêu gào, than khóc tưởng như có thể chết.

Xa hơn, tôi nghe vô số những bà nội trợ kêu than thực phẩm kém chất lượng, đắt đỏ. Người tiêu dùng kêu toàn dùng phải hàng giả, hàng nhái. Xã hội ai cũng kêu gọi muốn được dân chủ, công bằng… tiếng kêu vọng khắp tứ phía, lúc nào tôi cũng nghe thấy, và ai ai cũng đều biết, đều nghe thấy. Bên cạnh đó, tôi lại cũng nghe được những tiếng cười khắp nơi, họ cười vì một phi vụ thực hiện thành công, họ cười vì được gặp mặt mọi người, họ cười vì họ được gào thét hát hò thỏa thích… nhưng có vẻ nụ cười của họ sẽ tắt ngấm sau những cuộc vui đó.

Trở lại với đời thường, họ lại than khóc, kêu gào, lạc lối. Hai cảm xúc trái ngược đó của họ cứ lên xuống nhịp nhàng, bất ổn, họ không có sự an bình nào thực sự, luôn cảm thấy thiếu một thứ gì đó mà không định nghĩa được. Có một điều chắc chắn, họ thiếu niềm tin, bởi họ chẳng biết tin ai. Ông chính khách nói: “Hãy tin tôi, anh sẽ có sự công bằng,” người bạn nói:”Hãy tin tôi và cho tôi vay tiền,” nhưng rốt cuộc mọi người đều lừa dối họ, họ đâm ra ngày càng nghi ngờ hơn, họ lạc lối, mất phương hướng. Và họ tiếp tục kêu gào, đau khổ, họ cúi đầu xuống đất chứ không ngước lên trời, khuôn mặt họ thêm khắc khổ.

Có một thứ có thể đánh tan nghi ngờ của họ, có một thứ để họ có thể đặt trọn niềm tin mà không bao giờ sợ bị lừa dối, đó là tôn giáo thuần túy. Tại sao tôi gọi là tôn giáo thuần túy? Thuần túy ở đây nghĩa là tôn giáo mà không phải chịu liên minh với bất kỳ một thế lực nào, bởi khi liên minh với các thế lực khác nhau, tôn giáo chỉ có thể tạo ra những liên kết tốn kém, tôn giáo chẳng cần đến chúng mà vẫn sống, nhưng khi đi phục vụ chúng thì tôn giáo lại có thể chết.

Bởi tôn giáo là niềm tin, chúng ta nên xây dựng một tôn giáo cho chính chúng ta để dựa vào, và rằng, thà tự huyễn hoặc và tin là tôn giáo là đúng đắn thì cũng chẳng mất mát gì nhiều đâu; nhưng đau khổ biết bao khi tự huyễn hoặc mình và tin rằng tôn giáo đó là giả dối. Chính những học giả lại là người có nhiều nghi ngờ về vấn đề tôn giáo, những ai có một ít triết học thường rời xa tôn giáo, còn những ai nhiều triết học lại quay trở về với tôn giáo. Có rất nhiều trường hợp ví dụ về câu nói này nhưng xin để mọi người tự tìm hiểu.

Xin nhắc lại về ý trên, ta thường thấy vào các ngày đầu năm, ngày lễ có vô số người tập trung đi lễ ở các chùa, đền lớn, tôi xin nhấn mạnh chữ lớn này để chỉ ra một vài điểm phi tôn giáo mà rất nhiều người vẫn hiểu nhầm. Điều sai lầm quan trọng nhất mà mọi người mắc phải, đó là đi chùa cầu tài lộc, phải nói hầu hết mọi người đi chùa, lễ Phật chỉ mong cầu tài lộc, nhưng xin nhắc cho là Phật không thể ban tài lộc cho mọi người, Ngài chỉ có thể ban cho con người sự an bình trong tâm họ mà thôi. Tôi thiết nghĩ nếu Phật có thể ban vật chất cho họ, chắc Ngài sẽ không cho bừa bãi bởi vật chất là thứ sẽ nảy sinh lòng tham trong mỗi con người, “vật chất quyết định ý thức” nhưng ý thức sẽ quyết định đời sống.

Điểm phi tôn giáo tiếp theo là quan niệm đi lễ chùa này thiêng hơn chùa kia, chùa có nhiều người đi ắt sẽ linh ứng hơn, đó cũng là một quan niệm sai lầm, bởi Phật đối với chúng sinh là ngang bằng, và chúng sinh cũng không nên coi một ông Phật được đúc bằng vàng sẽ đẹp hơn một ông Phật gỗ bình thường. Mọi người tìm Phật ở đâu xa mà không biết Phật chính trong tâm mình, đã bị quá nhiều thứ cám dỗ và nhục cảm che mờ mất, họ cứ tìm, tìm mãi mà không thấy, cuối cùng họ đau khổ và chết dần chết mòn. Trên là những quan điểm nhầm lẫn tai hại ở đất nước ta, ngoài ra có thể kể đến vô số những điểm khác như trải tiền tràn lan trong nhà chùa, đốt vàng mã vô tội vạ, trừ tà giải hạn … đó chỉ là những tín ngưỡng gây hại, xin khẳng định lại, đó là phi tôn giáo.

Từ những lập luận trên, tôi cho rằng Việt Nam cần có một tôn giáo chính thống. Tất nhiên chúng ta cho tự do tôn giáo và han chế tối đa sự xung đột giữa các tôn giáo, có hai nguyên nhân đe dọa sự tồn tại của tôn giáo: đó là sự chia rẽ và sự dửng dưng. Từ những chiêm nghiệm, suy ngẫm về những phong tục tập quán của người Á Đông, với những tín ngưỡng thờ cũng tổ tiên, bản chất con người Việt Nam, tôi mạnh dạn đề xuất một tôn giáo chính thống cho Việt Nam đó là Phật giáo, có thể nhiều người sẽ sẽ phản đối ý kiến của tôi.

Trước hết, đó là ý kiến của tôi được đúc rút từ sự nghiên cứu sâu sắc về thực trạng xã hội chúng ta hiện nay, và cả những kiến thức tôi tìm hiểu được ở các tôn giáo khác nhau. Tôi thực sự muốn một xã hội được tự do tôn giáo, các tôn giáo khác như Kitô giáo vẫn nên được phát triển, sẽ không có chuyện hạn chế và xung đột, mọi người có thể nghiên cứu và chọn cho mình một tôn giáo phù hợp với mình nhất. Bởi đa số dân nước ta là phi tôn giáo, không có bất cứ một niềm tin nào, nhiều người chết mà chưa hề được sống.

Phật giáo có những điều kiện để hưng thịnh lại ở nước ta, mọi người chỉ cần quan tâm và thực hiện đúng đắn với những lời dạy của Phật. Hiện nay tôi thấy trong các tỉnh phía Nam có các khóa tu trong chùa trong vài ngày hoặc vài tuần, đó là những việc làm rất hay, sau khi về tôi tin chắc tâm họ sẽ bình an hơn chút ít, còn để muốn bình an thực sự họ cần thường xuyên tu hành hơn, cũng như thường xuyên tin ở Chúa đối với đạo Kitô. Một đất nước muốn bình an, thì chính con người trong đất nước đó phải luôn cảm thấy bình an. Một đất nước không cần thiết phải có một nửa dân số tu hành xuất gia, mà chỉ cần một nửa dân số đó tu hành tại gia một cách đúng đắn thì đất nước đó cũng trở nên thịnh vượng, chỉ cần một nửa các nhà lãnh đạo có tâm thực hướng thiện tôi tin nhân dân của đất nước đó sẽ hạnh phúc hơn rất nhiều.

Tôi không muốn xảy ra một cuộc cách mạng đẫm máu, cũng không muốn lật đổ một chế độ nào đó, bởi khi cái suy nghĩ trong con người vẫn con u mê, tăm tối, những cuộc cách mạng xảy ra chỉ đắm chìm trong máu và nước mắt. Cái hại sẽ nối tiếp cái hại, cái xấu vẫn duy trì, con người vẫn đau khổ, luôn cảm thấy không đủ, không thỏa mãn, cái tôi muốn thực sự chỉ là một cuộc cách mạng về tâm linh.

Tôi sẽ vẽ ra những viễn cảnh tươi đẹp khi chúng ta thực sự có niềm tin vào tôn giáo. Tuy là có những vọng tưởng được cho là không thực tế nhưng điều đó vẫn có khả năng xảy ra, và tôi tin chắc chắn nó sẽ thực hiện được nếu chúng ta thực sự muốn thay đổi. Khi đó tôi sẽ nghe thấy tiếng cười đùa vô tư của các cụ già, tiếng yêu thương của các cặp vợ chồng, con người nhường nhịn nhau trong các vụ tranh chấp. Tôi sẽ nhìn thấy trên ánh mắt ngời sáng của mọi người những hi vọng, niềm tin mãnh liệt. Tôi sẽ cảm nhận được vô vàn tình thương yêu đồng loại. Người bán hàng trước khi bán một món hàng đều nghĩ món hàng sẽ lợi ích hay độc hại với đồng bào của mình. Người lãnh đạo sẽ tận tâm cho đất nước, nhân dân chứ không chỉ cho riêng mình. Người cha sẽ yêu thương con của mình và cả những đứa trẻ khác. Trên tất cả, mọi người đều cảm thấy bình an và cùng ngẩng đầu nhìn lên trời cao với khuôn mặt hạnh phúc.

Trong bài viết sử dụng nhiều từ tôi muốn, có lẽ cái bản ngã trong tôi vẫn còn nhiều, nhưng đó là những điều tôi muốn cho tất cả mọi người, không chỉ là cho riêng mình. Tôi chưa phải là một Phật tử đúng nghĩa, nhưng tôi tin có Phật. Tôi chưa phải là một tín đồ Kitô giáo, nhưng tôi nhận thấy sự hiện diện của Chúa. Và những vị đó đang mỉm cười với tôi.

source: triethocduongpho.com

[anacademicwesleyan]

RELI299 Homosexuality in Tibet: A Backdoor to Nirvana?

Among the Buddha’s teachings, the Five Precepts function as the code of ethics for Buddhists and lay people, which indicate five behavioral misconducts. These are: harming living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. Of those precepts, the third one, sexual misconduct, is intimately related to gender issues, especially homosexuality. Although the Buddha did not explicitly mention this sensitive topic, as a progressive religion, Buddhism has been asked to take a stance on same-sex love and sexual intercourse. However, different braches of Buddhism hold different concepts. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader and representative of Tibetan Buddhism, has given his own perspective to the public. Most of the time, he has a firm rejection of homosexuality for his followers. Paradoxically, homosexuality was widespread in Tibetan monasteries, which, before the Chinese invaded, could house up to several thousand men. In this research, I am going to synthesize the Dalai Lama’s viewpoints on the issue in publications and approach it inside Tibet, which reveals a different story.

Firstly, in some of his teachings, the Dalai Lama reiterated the work of Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), Lam Rim Chen Mo (The Great Treatise on the Stages of The Path to Enlightenment), in which he states his definition of “sexual misconduct”: “There are four possible bases of sexual misconduct: a person with whom you should not have intercourse, inappropriate body parts, inappropriate places, and inappropriate times. Those with whom one should not have intercourse in the case of men are women with whom you should not copulate (i.e. your mother, others wives, rejecting women, etc.), all men and eunuchs. The text then goes on referring to textual references and elaborates in exquisite detail on what is considered sexual misconduct.” (Page 220 Volume 1 of the English translation, Snow Lion first edition 2000). Further on the same page, Tsongkhapa adds: “Men, the second in the list of those with whom you should not have intercourse, refers to both oneself and to others” which means that he considers homosexual intercourse and masturbation sexual misconduct (Rethinking Buddhism and Sex, Jose Cabezon).

Although, there were signs that the Dalai Lama started to agree to the existence of homosexuality, he still regarded intercourse with wrong organs as “sexual misconduct.” In the Feb-Mar 1994 OUT Magazine, he states: "If someone comes to me and asks whether [homosexuality] is okay or not, I will ask... 'What is your companion's opinion?' If you both agree, then I think I would say, if two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay." However, later, he elaborates more of this view in his book Beyond Dogma: Dialogues and Discourses (pps 23, 46-47): "A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse [penis and vagina] and nothing else... Homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate [mouth, hand, anus] for sexual contact."

During an interview, he said, “A gay couple came to see me,” he said during an interview, “seeking my support and blessing. I had to explain our teachings. Another lady introduced another woman as her wife – astonishing. It is the same with a husband and wife using certain sexual practices. Using the other two holes is wrong… A Western friend asked me what harm there could be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it,” the Dalai Lama continued, warming to his theme. “But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don’t create life. I don’t mind – but I can’t condone this way of life” (01 April 2006, London's Daily Telegraph, "Westerners are too self-absorbed", Alice Thomson.) Nevertheless, back in a conference with seven gay and lesbian individuals in San Francisco on June 11th, 1998, the Dalai Lama was asked by Jose Cabezon, a gay Buddhist scholar who was also present at the conference: “If the purpose of the proscriptions is to reduce sexual activity, how does it make sense to allow a man to have sex with his wife up to five times a night, while saying that it is sexual misconduct for a man to have sex with another man even once in his life?” He laughed and said, “You have a point there!” Afterwards, Peskind asked him, “Which of the proscribed behaviors regarding partner, organ, or excessive frequency do you personally consider most important?” He responded with a thoughtful look, not saying anything ("According to Buddhist Tradition": Gays, Lesbians and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct, Steve Peskind).

He gave a clear explanation on the issue in the press conference the day before, “We have to make a distinction between believers and unbelievers. From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct… From society’s viewpoint, mutually agreeable homosexual relations can be of mutual benefit, enjoyable and harmless” ("According to Buddhist Tradition": Gays, Lesbians and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct, Steve Peskind). This was not the only time the Dalai Lama has distinguished between Buddhists and non-Buddhists, in constituting each category’s code of ethics in terms of homosexuality. On May 25th, 1999 he stated in an interview published in The Age: "They want me to condone homosexuality. But I am a Buddhist and, for a Buddhist, a relationship between two men is wrong… If an individual has no faith, that is a different matter... If two men really love each other and are not religious, then that is ok by me."

Later on, the Dalai Lama still kept an ambivalent view on this issue. During his visit to Canada in November 2007, he was asked by CBC News whether Buddhism condones love between two men or two women. He replied that Buddhists reject this. Genuine Buddhist practitioners, like Christians, condemn same-sex behavior as sexual misconduct. "So, [it is] not permissible, not allowed." However, his reference to Christian views on homosexuality is wrong. Conservative Christians generally consider all same-sex behavior to be sexual misconduct. However, most progressive, liberal, and many mainline Christians disagree; they accept all safe, consensual same-sex behavior between lesbians, gays, and bisexuals in a loving, committed relationship to be life-affirming, moral, and acceptable. Thus, there were 77 comments by listeners on the Dalai Lama’s interview, which touched upon his homosexual statement. Among those, in 2009, James Shaheen wrote, "... in the current political climate, hearing the world's most famous Buddhist declare homosexuality to be 'sexual misconduct' can't help but lead people to believing that the Buddha's teachings proscribe same-sex relationships. They don't, any more than they promote them." In his further discussion, he stated, "friends of mine have argued that the Dalai Lama doesn't really look askance same-sex relationships, that he has no choice but to uphold his tradition's dictates; and that maybe the Dalai Lama is just stuck with the old texts' proscriptions in the same way that a Catholic, say, must deal with Thomas Aquinas. Of course, we can't know and must take his public statements at face value. In his case, though, our expectations tend to be different than they might be for the local minister, priest or orthodox rabbi. And so many of us who have benefited greatly from his teachings are apt to feel disappointed." (Huffington Post, Gay Marriage: What Would Buddha Do? - James Shaheen).

There is one point in James Shaheen’s comment that “he [the Dalai Lama] has no choice but to uphold his tradition's dictates; and that maybe the Dalai Lama is just stuck with the old texts' proscriptions.” Back to when the Dalai Lama explained Tsongkhapa’s text, the Dalai Lama went on to speak about “the possibility of understanding these precepts in the context of time, culture, and society… If homosexuality is part of accepted norms [today], it is possible that it may be acceptable… However, no single person or teacher can redefine precepts. I do not have the authority to redefine these precepts since no one can make a unilateral decision or issue a decree… Such a redefinition can only come out of sangha discussions within the various Buddhist traditions. It is not unprecedented in the history of Buddhism to redefine [moral] issues, but it has to be done on the collective level” (Rethinking Buddhism and Sex, Jose Cabezon). In addition, he said in a conference in San Francisco, 1998 that he is not unilaterally empowered to change tradition: “change can only come on the collective level.” In the end of the conference he concluded, “When science points to or proves a truth contrary to Buddhist teaching, then Buddhist teaching must change,” but “changing Buddhist traditions will be much harder than advocating for your human rights” ("According to Buddhist Tradition": Gays, Lesbians and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct, Steve Peskind). Hence, although the Dalai Lama has been opposed to violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, he cannot commit himself to helping correct harmful Buddhist teachings still in the books, including the conduct codes which can fuel homophobic behavior amongst Buddhist teachers and students.

            Above is the Dalai Lama’s public speech in which he attempted to make his concept of homosexuality considered religiously genuine about Tibetan Buddhism. However, several scholars have studied closer inside Tibet, especially the monastic homosexual community. Surprisingly, gay monks were common in traditional Tibet (and every other Buddhist culture) and were an accepted part of society, without any legal form of “gay marriage” or indeed any modern concept of “homosexual orientation.” We can see this for instance in the public popularity of drombos. “Drombo is a Tibetan term for a passive homosexual partner, often someone in a close relationship with a monk. Tibetan socio-religious attitudes considered penetration to be unacceptable violation of monastic celibacy rules, whether or not the persons involved were of the same or opposite gender. So the commonly accepted workaround was for a monk to form a relationship with a drombo, who might be a younger monk or someone from the society at large (the dancers of the Dalai Lama’s personal troupe were considered especially desirable as drombo). Instead of oral or anal sex in the usual Western mode, drombo and their monastic patrons engaged in a modified form of the missionary position–the drombo lay on his back with his thighs crossed, and the monk ejaculated by moving his penis back and forth between them. No penetration, hence no violation of the rules” (Homosexuality, Marriage, and Religion in Tibet: An Endlessly Complicated, Jeff Wilson).

            Far from being an underground practice, this was a socially accepted form of interaction between males, and had no relationship to sexual or personal identity as such. “While the monks in the active roles were frequently gay in the sense that Westerners now understand the term, the drombo himself often had no sexual attraction to men. Rather, the drombo received patronage from the monk, something very important in the hierarchical society of traditional Tibet. A drombo became the ward of his patron and would often receive substantial benefits to his career and status through this association (i.e. a “heterosexual” male drombo serving as a passive homosexual partner received not stigma but overt social benefit). That drombos were steered through Tibetan social circles by their patrons demonstrates the entirely above-the-board nature of these same-sex relationships: everyone knew that the drombo was being supported by monk so-and-so precisely because he was a drombo, and this was seen as perfectly natural. In fact, sometimes a drombo would become so well-known as a lover that various high-placed monks would fight over him, even sending subordinate warrior monks (dobdobs) out to kidnap him in order to force the drombo to switch to a new patron” (Homosexuality, Marriage, and Religion in Tibet: An Endlessly Complicated, Jeff Wilson).

            Homosexuality even appears in another form in Tibetan monastic society. “Each monastery had its own tall, strong disciplinarian monks who carried huge sticks and acted as monk-policemen. They did not have a scholarly attitude or a particularly religious inclination and wore make-up. Parents would often frighten their children by warning them the monk-police would take them away. There was much gossip about their interest in young boys. The expression in Tibetan, trap'i kedmen means 'monk's wife' and refers to the effeminate boys who formed relationships with these monk-police" (Forbidden Fruit in the Forbidden Land, Garry Otton). And just to prove that homosexuality is complicated: “the Sixth Dalai Lama, who is believed to have been reborn as the current Dalai Lama, was widely known to be flamboyantly bisexual” (Homosexuality, Marriage, and Religion in Tibet: An Endlessly Complicated, Jeff Wilson).

In conclusion, as we see the paradoxes between the official spiritual speeches of [Buddhism in] Tibet and the facts that happen inside it, we can understand the truth that trying to comprehend where someone (whether a gay rights activist or the Dalai Lama himself) from another background is coming from can be a truly daunting task, requiring much humility and willingness to continually reflect on how little one actually knows about the details of the another’s circumstances. Although Tibetan monasteries have had circumstances related to gay monks, as the Dalai Lama said, no person can “redefine the precepts.” Nevertheless, there is one who can legalize homosexuality in Buddhism through his teaching:

“Do not believe in what you have heard; do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe anything because it is rumored and spoken of my many; do not believe merely because the written statement of some old sage is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not believe merely in the authority of your teachers and elders. After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

- Buddha -

              Rethinking Buddhism and Sex, Jose Cabezon: http://shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=9070

London's Daily Telegraph, "Westerners are too self-absorbed", Alice Thomson: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1514537/Westerners-are-too-self-absorbed.html

"According to Buddhist Tradition": Gays, Lesbians and the Definition of Sexual Misconduct, Steve Peskind: http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1977

Huffington Post, Gay Marriage: What Would Buddha Do?, James Shaheen: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-shaheen/gay-marriage-what-would-b_b_230855.html

Homosexuality, Marriage, and Religion in Tibet: An Endlessly Complicated, Jeff Wilson: http://gaytibet.blogspot.com

     6.   Forbidden Fruit in the Forbidden Land, Garry Otton: http://www.freewebs.com/gaytibet/forbidden/forbidden01.htm

[anacademicwesleyan]

RELI299 Which is original? Shamanism or Monasticism?

Outside Tibet, Westerners proposed the “play of opposites” about authenticity of Tibetan Buddhism (Prisoners of Shangri-la, Lopez). However, some of them are unaware that inside Tibet, there is also a model of opposite ways of practicing Buddhism: shamanism and monasticism. To answer their former query on Tibetan Buddhism, they should have more insight in these two practices.

            Shamanism is a Tantric practice, the disciples of which can connect and interact with realms other than the mundane world, where they can communicate with Tantric deities. Believed to have such transcendent powers, they are supposed to understand the nature of all worldly events. Thus, they are all prominent Buddhist figures. Padmasambhava, an 8th century CE Indian Buddhist who first introduced Buddhism to Tibet, is one example. As a siddha, through yoga and meditation, which helped him connect to the deities, he must have been knowledgeable, enough to provide commoners with solutions to their illnesses and advice for their future. Or to prove that she is the reincarnation of Monlam Drub, Machig Labdron had predicted what people could see on the bone of her previous incarnation. Understandably, Buddhists who practice Tantra and become enlightened are shamanic practitioners. Nowadays, highly accomplished lamas in Tibet are believed to understand the essence of life.

            In contrast to shamanic practitioners who can explain all questions regarding worldly events by reaching nirvana, monastic lay people, to archive enlightenment, must study in order to understand their surroundings. In spite of the fact that Padmasambhava is a siddha, he established the first monastery in Tibet, which means that the beginning of Buddhism brought about that of monasteries. Since then, monks and nuns have being going to “schools”, making for a rich traditional and cultural Tibetan Buddhism. Its most common practice is debating, which all monks have to master by what they’ve learnt from school. The skill confirms their thorough understanding of the world. Similarly, the 14th Dalai Lama had to complete a debate based final examination, after years of learning 5 major subjects and 5 minor subjects, to get the highest degree of the Tibet monastery.

            Seemingly, this is a model of opposites in practicing Tibetan Buddhism since one focuses on the spiritual concentration, and one requires a process of studying which is time-consuming but also results in vast knowledge of life. In other words, they are rather different ways on the Buddhism Path. However, if we examine their roots, we can see the relation. First, we must recognize the fact that shamanism is only for enlightened ones is an assumption. Everyone can find a path to nirvana for him or herself by shamanic Tantric practice, or as I put it, “personalizing Buddhism’s Tantra.” However, to accomplish a tradition, so-called Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhists had had to collect, categorize and standardize the teachings of prominent Buddhist figures, which is also a means of bring out bodhicitta from lay people, who used to be ignorant of shamanism. In short, shamanism is the goal of monasticism, and in turn, monasticism is the basis of shamanism. That is the reason why monasteries vary by regions in the world. Secondly, from a realistic point of view, all religions require faith. As the highly sacred figures were all pioneers, their contributions to transcendent comprehension will not be dismissed. Nevertheless, since they are following a predefined path that is Buddhism, monks have to grow a belief in the path and keep to it uninterruptedly. For example, although Tenzin Gyatso is inherently a shamanic figure identified as the reincarnation of Dalai Lama, he still had to take the official final examination in order to assure lay people’s faith in him, and even his own in Tibetan Buddhism.

            Lopez’s “play of opposites” in his introduction to Prisoners of Shangri-la is another interesting model of opposites seen by Westerners in Tibetan Buddhism. The “play” comprises two contrasting ideas. One of them maintains that Tibetan Buddhism is “authentic”, and the other “derivative.” Based on the above explanation of shamanism and monasticism, here we have the issue of the old and new Tibetan Buddhism, or in other words, whether Westerners examine it under the “shamanic” or the “monastic” view. It is natural to consider Tibetan Buddhism authentic, as it includes the Tantra from credible Buddhists, who are prominent spiritual practitioners. However, we cannot dismiss the doubts over Tibetan monastic activities. One of those, for example, is how Tenzin Gyatso was selected as the 14th Dalai Lama, chosen when he was 3 years old after exactly pointing out the belongings of his predecessor. This was not much proof that he was genius in Buddhism like Milarepa, who spent his whole life on practicing to archive enlightenment, or Machig Labdron, with her brilliant memorizing ability. However, this type of monastic act might even be more understandable to lay people. Thus, to say whether it is “good” or “bad”, as Westerners also proposed, is no easy task and requires a deep understanding.

            As a researcher, I find it difficult to give a stance to certain binary models of opposite views, especially regarding religions. It has long been my belief, however, that each of us can “personalize” the Buddhism Tantra for ourselves. That is why Buddhism Tantric practice is generally popular in the West and specifically in the U.S. I do not think Western practitioners have any monastic practice like Tibetan Buddhism, which is in my opinion only a tradition.

[anacademicwesleyan]

RELI299 Milarepa: a mind plowing farmer

From a normal person who had no sign of being a genius at tantra and even gained horribly bad karma with his black magic, Milarepa (1052 – 1135 CE) achieved enlightenment in only a single lifetime, which gives Tibetan Buddhists and Buddhists in general a strong example of the power of tantric practicing and the followers’ concentration. One of the most noticeable events of Milarepa’s path was his dream of plowing an arid field; then Marpa, his former teacher, appearing and guiding him through it. Milarepa woke up and sang a song about the meaning of the dream. Deftly, he made many metaphors of farming action in the song to imply the importance of having “hardships” and how to undergo them by having “perseverance.”

  Since the song is about farming, we can easily visualize his dream. There are familiar images related to farming such as “manure,” “oxen,” “seed” or “plow-armed.” However, the condition of the field is harsh, which any farmer has to face at some point. Like an ordinary farmer, Milarepa has to “fix,” “till,” “clear” and cope with all the hardships. Finally, he “reap[s] the harvest” as a fruitful result for his determination. Most likely, this dream is intentionally a common story of plowing a field, which makes everyone, especially Tibetans, most of whom are farmers, able to understand the half implied, half directly exposed meaning of the song under its veneer.

  The poor condition of the field in the song symbolizes the hardships that Milarepa encountered himself on the path of practicing tantra like every other practitioner does. Firstly, if we want to actually get started at practicing, we have to be done with our “doubt.” Likewise, before learning the tantric, Milarepa’s “doubt” was tested by Marpa dozens of times by asking him to do conflicting tasks, which exhausted him. The “doubt” also created “confused and muddled thoughts.” However, in the end, Milarepa still has faith in his teacher and asks him for teachings. Another difficulty is “the hardened soil of five poisonous afflictions.” In his lifetime, he happened to have done some deeds that could be considered “affliction,” or in other words “desire,” such as revenge, having his former feelings for Dzese or getting teachings without permission. The hardship that Milarepa encountered many times is “stones of unwholesome character.” Namely, his aunt, his uncle, the people in his village and especially his mother made him commit the biggest fault – murder, for which he had to compensate by his suffering later in his life. Even Peta, Dzese or the people coming in the cave where he practiced, who all distracted him from practicing and tried to stain him by those worldly “afflictions,” were “unwholesome characters.”

  Every practitioner has his own difficulties, as did Milarepa. He even confirms, “If you practice hardship, you’ll also gain the rare.” To get close to enlightenment, on our path of doing karma and following tantric, we have to endure certain sufferings in our every single life. Thus, it could be possible that because Milarepa had terrible karma, and that he had a huge stone in his path, he achieved enlightenment faster than others.

  Once we’re in suffering, we have to have “perseverance” to embrace our “suffering” and learn how to go through these sufferings, which is what Milarepa wants to guide meditators. Thus, he has his own reason to say:

“The deepest meaning will not surface in words,

Nor realization through mere illustration.”

We have to face up to and prevail over those hardships. In his own case, Milarepa “fix[es] the yoke of method and wisdom’s plow,” which is changing his way of practicing to fit his bad karma. Therefore, Marpa didn’t allow him to learn his teachings with other students but burdened him with tiring work. Next, to be free from “affliction” and prevent “unwholesome characters” from staining him, Milarepa “firmly grasp[s] the plow-arm undistracted.” He stayed in an isolated cave and concentrated on tantra. Besides, he has to continuously “pull up weeds without pretense” in order to completely remove all his “doubts.” However, no matter how we cope with our hardships, “perseverance” is the key to opening the Buddhahood.

              Milarepa’s success in achieving enlightenment is the evidence for the rectitude of his guidance in the song, which helped Tibetan Buddhism at that time achieve a new level of practicing and have faith in the power of perseverance. Truly, Buddhist tantra is like an arid field, and the deeper we plow it with persistence, the more likely we will find rich soil underneath to “sow the seeds” of our mind. Then, a “harvest” of “a superb life of liberation” is definitely attainable.

All quotations are taken from Tsangnyön Heruka’s The Life of Milarepa, pages 130-131.

[anacademicwesleyan]

RELI299 The Voidness of Life

After the death of Buddha, Mahayana appeared as a branch of Buddhism that has revolutionary goals and concepts of practicing Buddhism. After being enlightened, Bodhisattvas (Mahayana followers) believe that it is their responsibility and final attainment to have the compassion for all beings. In this paper, I will be analyzing the idea of voidness and its impact on achieving the universal sympathy that is suggested in the verse. Namely, this impact is shown in the Bodhisattvas’ conception of the calmness in their mind, the interconnectedness of all existences and the suffering scattered all over the Earth, inside every being. That understanding is implied thoroughly in Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life composed by Shantideva in the 8th century.

Where is there enough leather

To cover the surface of the Earth?

   The first two lines of the verse are a question about the possibility of a desire to have “enough leather” “to cover the surface of the Earth,” that can obviously not be satisfied. The one that proposes an answer to the question is seemingly foolish.  However, this person is actually the reflection of our daily image. We worry about everything that we possess and that exists around us. What happens on the way to my class is my concern and my low grade makes me upset. These problems apply to everyone, which is why we are worrying, and the more we worry the more desires are generated. Like the man in the verse wants to cover the Earth by leather, we want our problems to all be solvable. Thus, we have a strong desire to perfect any beings and events we are aware of. Our distress results from external beings. From the unreasonable question, the first two lines becomes the ubiquitous one: How can we have enough “leather” to cover our own “Earth?”

  But just having leather on the soles of one’s feet

Is the same as covering the whole Earth? 

The second two lines are seemingly also a question, but exactly the answer to the previous one. The man realizes that there’s no need to have the whole Earth covered by leather. Anywhere he goes with leather under his soles, will be perfection, which is the same as spreading it over the Earth. Not unlike “the Earth” formed by attached grounds, countries and continents, life is a web linking all beings, and our mind is the center, the “soles covered by leather”. We are aware of interconnectedness but it is an incorrect conception, that we have to be dependent on the events that come to us, and our job is to deal with them. Yet truly, the right conception is only and totally vice versa. The interdependence’s direction is from our mind to all beings and events, not the opposite. Thus, once we have calmness in our mind, along with the correct conception of interconnectedness, we will see nothing making us bothered or upset anymore. All problems exist outside of the center of the connectivity web. Thus, existence or non-existence is our own choice of mind.

  As the life is conditioned and connected by the “mind-web”, Boddhisattvas yearn for the sympathy sense of the web’s links, which is called compassion. We are compassionate when we find out the roots of and commiserate with desires, suffering and happiness of all beings. With the understanding of interdependence, we can easily see why the people, who aren’t mindful of voidness, have desires, followed by distress. In other words, the recognition of voidness helps us perceive others’ suffering of change, and the comprehension of interconnectedness their compositional suffering. Sometimes, we even feel painful for people who are not aware of their own suffering, but that is compassion. We also get the others’ happiness when we know that no one exists individually but only through connections from our minds. Thus, if there is any good “sign” of a connection, it’s our happiness.

The verse refers to the tangible Earth, but since we attain the voidness of material objects, we will be able to see it in the abstract matter, such as the voidness of feeling, perception, and especially time. We always think about a lasting happiness and long for it, so we start to overthink about the past and to worry about the future. However, we forget the happiness of the present, which is true lasting happiness. Because at any time of present we maintain that kind of happiness, we feel happy, calm and pleasure: “Is the same as perfecting the whole life span?” 

Through the verse of four lines, Shantideva has implied successfully the interdependence in Mahayana’s context. It seemed to be an unconventional Buddhism idea of samsara at that time, but actually is an advanced path to understanding the Buddha’s original teachings. Although compassion, generated from the awareness of the voidness, needs the Bodhisattvas to stay after being enlightened, it is also a strong power to help them to get to nirvana.

[anacademicwesleyan]

RELI299 Enlightening Cultivation

To perceive the wheel of karma and to compose the tantra, the Buddha, with his transcendent discernment, had plenty of support for the realization of suffering in life. Having seen oldness, illness, and death, the prince Siddhartha became cognizant of the ordinary Dukkha that was physical suffering (and might be mental one as well) – the first type of suffering in the Four Noble Truths, and decided to renounce his throne and family. Asvaghosa, an Indian philosopher-poet during the first century C.E, describes this moment in Part V of his Sanskrit poem, the Buddhacarita. Desire of the sleeping and intoxicated women who had tried to attract helped the prince Siddhartha come to understand the second and the third kinds of suffering – the suffering of change and compositional suffering, and their roots.

   The Part V starts with a chain of images of sleeping women in many positions, described with flowery adjectives and luxurious objects. The lute “decorated with gold leaf”, the bracelets ‘blazing with gold’, the beautiful necklace ‘hanging down’ made the scene more deluxe. The poet’s meticulous emphases on the bodies and the ornaments on them imply the attention for their look and the intention to attract the prince. ‘Resting the cheek’, ‘leaning on the side of the window’ with willow-bent like a bow, ‘embracing the drum as lover’, the women were seemingly pleased with their dreams, which drew a beautiful picture of the palace on the surface. It looked like Siddhartha was living the best life, with affluence and sexual satisfaction.

   However, through the Buddha’s eyes, they all were conquered and controlled by the desire to look beautiful, being unconsciously idiotic and dependent. Once they slept, all those wealth and appearance were nonsense. The sleep strip the thin shining cover of the revelers and transform them into ridiculous form in minutes. With the ‘loose and disheveled’ hair, the skirts and ornaments ‘fallen from the loins’ and ‘saliva dropping’ wide open mouth, they were ‘trembling’, ‘leaving as in anger’, ‘falling down’ helplessly ‘like the boughs of the Karõikàra broken by an elephant’. Even ‘the self-possessed and endued ones’ breathed violently and yawned with their arms ‘tossed about’. Looking at those laughable figures, the prince realized how transitory the pleasure was. What they thought as happiness was nonexistent when they were not aware of it anymore because of the sleep. The sleep of intoxication distorted their limbs and gestures, but the sleep of wrong desire contorted their behaviors in life. The more they wanted a better appearance and self-performance, the more frequently they changed their lives, the more they worried about the negative outcomes and the more they had to suffer. Then, the Buddha learnt the suffering of change, one of three Dukkhas he said in the Four Noble Truths.

   On top of that, the depiction of the revelers expressed the assumption that women’s contemptuous essence was desire of appearance, which drove men besotted. If women’s desire is to look great, then men’s is a woman with beautiful an appearance, which is another wrong desire. In other words, the longing of women results from the men’s one of women’s body. Understanding the truth of evanescent and counterfeit beauty of women, Siddhartha apprehended how foolish the people were and how dreadful the world he had lived in was. Wrong view of happiness brings on wrong intention, and then wrong action. Thus, Men’s action and thought motivated by the afflictive emotions are all misled. The king’s prevention of the prince from renouncing his life by providing attractive revelers affirmed this truth. Having desire generates the dependent feelings and thoughts that make us suffer. Those compositional wrong desires created compositional suffering in life, which was the third suffering. As the Buddha could find the women’s nature a source of sufferings, he ‘felt move with scorn’ to those revelers. Having made the third suffering out, the prince knew if he wanted to be free from sufferings, he couldn’t live in a world full of wrong view of desire and decided to escape, and then gods listened to his desire.

  The moment the Buddha renounced his throne was the moment he perceived the third truth in the Four Noble Truths, the possibility of cessation of suffering. With the chaotic scene of the palace controlled by craving of wrong things, Asvaghosa successfully revealed the Buddha’s intuitive thoughts that provided for the Four Noble Truths. 

  From: Asvaghosa, and E. H. Johnston. 1998. Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha by Asvaghosa (Reprint of Complete English Translation Based on Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese Sources, 1936). Bilingual edition. Motilal Banarsidass Pub.

[anacademicwesleyan]

FILM307 Visual Effects in Transformers (2007)

Transformers (2007) is not the first movie to use visual effects since it has been a part of cinema for several decades already. However, Michael Bay marked the film with his specific style of using and manipulating the effects, meticulously paying much attention in the making of the Autobots. Compare this with 81 days of shooting, 3 months of post-production and editing; this is not a short time, which confirms how he dedicated his efforts to the visuals effects. Presenting a world of robots, he gives the audience “absorption” and “astonishment” in intentional orders, integrating verisimilitude demonstrated by imagery and sound.

With the documentary method, the first sequence of the scene brings absorption to the audience, right before astonishment. The scene starts with black screen and a voice-over, “Before the world began, it was a cube”, which prepares the audience with knowledge of the topic for the following shot. However, the cube doesn’t appear in large scales right away. At first, viewers start seeing a rough metallic surface of a planet with random impressions, which reflects light into a dark sky. The camera slowly goes around and away from the surface, revealing the cube outline of the planet. To give the viewers a thorough understanding, the camera’s movements correspond to the voice-over, which is, as revealed later on, Optimus Prime’s voice. He recounts his planet’s evolution background to set a background knowledge for the whole film. At the right scale, the audience can recognize the galaxy behind the cube. Astonishment is evoked since the charismatic vocal story telling starts, but not comprehensively enough until before the sight of the galaxy. Thus, as viewers understand that this cube is floating in the universe, they enjoy this spectacular scene. However, immediately, the cube’s collision with the rocks shocks the audience, and it is further escalated by the rocks flying directly towards the camera. The sound effect for the collision is also one of Bay’s successes in this scene, followed by the fascinating music. Nevertheless, the collision is only preparation for the next astonishment, when the cube has shrunk down in the middle of the screen; it reveals a huge rotating Earth behind it. The first impression here is the bright colors of the Earth after a long, dark shot. The cube ends up getting burned and falling into Earth. This ending of the introduction brings the final absorption as well as astonishment to the scene. Viewers develop concern for their world, but at the same time are satisfied with understanding the reason for the Transformers’ appearance on Earth and yearn to find out what will happen later.

This beginning of the Transformers bears close resemblance to the baby montage in The Matrix (1999). Both scenes introduce viewers to new worlds, which is a commonly employed strategy of invoking astonishment from them. With the documentary style and voice-over, they start with the details and gradually assemble the big picture. However, each world has a different connection to the audience’s absorption. The montage is completely digitalized because of the concept of the movie; that the world as we know it is illusory and under the control of a “real” realm. In Transformers, having introduced an entirely new world, the director brings it to our world by having the “unknown” cube and “known” Earth in the same frame. We can consider this as the first encounter of the two worlds that are both real but know little about one another.

            Contrary to the first scene that is based on absorption to create astonishment, the scene where Sam, Mikaela, and Simmons were in the car goes with astonishment before absorption. When the audience is focusing on the conversation, the sudden alarm of the metal detector gives a jolt, which is the first emotional establishment for the audience. However, the beeping sound is not long enough for viewers to have a preparation for the next shock – an unexpected crash that follows. The astonishment is created by the harsh collision of objects that viewers can hardly identify, and escalated by some other crashing sounds. The audience eventually sees Optimus Prime’s legs and hands lifting the car but not his entire body, the sight of which is blocked by the lens flaring outside. The element of shock is pushed further since the camera is positioned inside the car. Thus, we can see the characters panicking, followed by the scream and the splintering sounds. With this technique, Michael Bay has wholly transmitted the tension from the characters to the audience. The car crashes down, losing its upper half, revealing Optimus Prime in plain sight. Afterwards, the other Autobots also appear, which clarifies that Optimus Prime has come to help Sam and Mikaela escape. This absorption transforms the tension into curiosity and excitement.

            This scenario is similar to the scene where Roy encounters the alien’s spaceship for the first time in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). We have the lens flare outside the car, blocking the sight of the spaceship, the sound of mailboxes followed by other phenomena and that confused and frightened the character, a common denominator for both of the scenes. However, a difference between the two is that in Transformers, with the astonishment, the audience slowly come to an understanding and eventually develop an excitement when they realize that the Autobots are rescuing the two main characters, while in Close Encounter, Spielberg’s intention was to create a confusion, not fully unfolding the spaceship’s image.

             While in the previous sequences, Bay uses one to lead the other, in the sequence where Bumblebee is tied up, he merges absorption and astonishment into a feeling of tension. In other words, absorption is astonishment. The audience can understand what happens in every shot from the beginning of the sequence and are right away shocked by that understanding. It starts with Bumblebee being besieged by helicopters. As they toss the hooks to tie the robot, he gradually collapses. Unlike the aforementioned sequence, there is no intentional confusion in the scene.  Instead, clarity is exactly what brings about the tension. However, if Bay converts the tension into excitement in the former, he escalates it to fear in the latter. As we can easily see how the Autobot is surrounded, tied and knocked down, we develop concern and sympathize with him. The key factors for success of the sequence are the Bumblebee’s fierce resistance smoothly manipulated by CGI compositing and various sounds overlapping one another. Those sounds come from the screams and shrieks of the characters, the engines of helicopters and sirens of police cars, which, with the addition of background music, present the sequence as real chaos.

The choice of character, Bumblebee, in the scene is also a smart intention of the director. Since Bumblebee is initially Sam’s car, other human characters as well as the audience is familiar with and most likely to feel for him. As a result, the viewers’ understanding of this character has made the scene all the more astonishing. That is also the reason why Bay chose to alternate shots that show the dismay of Bumblebee and of the other two characters, Sam and Mikaela. The audience connects and perceives based on their knowledge of the whole film. Using this parallel shots, he speak to the audience’s emotions slowly but continuously by seamless escalation. The scene starts with only several helicopters hovering, but more cars appear later, which slowly conquer the robot and capture the two main characters. This combination of sound, music, light and characters’ interaction, especially Bumblebee’s, marks the sequence as the first emotional “climax” in Transformers.

Like other successful movies about fictional worlds, through visual effects, Bay has created a verisimilar world about Autobots, brings it to Earth, and connects it to our human world. To make the imagery of that world plausible, he not only develops that verisimilitude in each sequence but also runs it consistently through the whole film. Right from the beginning of the film, we are introduced about the cube by the voice-over of Optimus Prime, who speaks in the language of a robot with the understanding of his own world and “unknown” Earth. This makes the world more credible, because we all have a presumption that a real world must have its own origin and evolution. Thus, exploiting our lack of a comprehensive knowledge about the universe, Bay has built a totally different world which could conceivable be real. Moreover, the metallic appearance of the cube plays a crucial role in the consistency of the world. Understandably, human is from Earth, robot from metal cube.

The cube is the beginning of the audience’s comprehension of the Autobots’ world, but we only perceive it thoroughly through each robot. They can speak human languages, using the World Wide Web. Each of them has a different appearance, weapons and unique characteristics. Despite the huge shape of their bodies, their motions are smooth and fast. Probably, Bay wants to describe the robots like humans. Thus, he has close-ups to capture Optimus’ anger and Bumble’s anguish in the second and third sequence, which shows their extreme emotions. With that imagery, the sound works effectively. In second sequence, the sound of the engines and weapons from the Autobots following their motions makes the image of their apparatus, which are created by CGI composition, more plausible. Or Bumblebee’s shriek when he is tied confirms that they can feel pain. If we examine this scene only, it is a little strange to see that weakness in a robot. In Terminator 2 (1991), the robots mostly have no emotions; especially they don’t feel anything when they get shot even while they have human appearances. However, if we get back to the whole idea that they are from their own world, which means they are not machine but a race, we can understand the director wants to makes them more reasonable. Autobots have their evolution, not created by humans as those in Terminator.

Not mysterious like the aliens in Close Encounter or protective like the robots in Terminator, Autobots appear as members of Cybertron, who come to Earth and interact with humans. Our connection is their transformation to familiar machines, mostly transportation. The director develops the idea of that encounter by manipulating between “absorption” and “astonishment.” With Transformers, Michael Bay doesn’t try to set up spectacular scenes but brings about a big world just through verisimilitude in the characters’ (the robot’s) imagery delivered through visual effects and sound. 

[anacademicwesleyan]

FILM307 Widescreen in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Only two years after the beginning of widescreen techniques by CinemaScope in The Robe (1953), Nicholas Ray successfully caught up and mastered the techniques, accompanied by colors, in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Ray’s smart adaptation and variation fit the film with his intention results in many scenes becoming remarkable. Among those are the police station scene at the beginning of the movie, and the kissing scene in the old mansion. The director gave the former many long shots by moving the camera, which makes it an effective introduction. However, as the scene leads to the climax, the latter comprises of close-ups showing the characters’ faces and their emotions. With widescreen, Ray was able to spare enough space for his characters and still focus on their expressions. In other words, he has put the audience inside the film’s world and their feelings in the characters’ emotional world by the scopes.

  In the first scene, without the unique size of widescreen, Ray juxtaposes cumulative actions of the three main characters, Jim, Judy and John, to introduce them to the audience. There is a long shot after the conversation between Judy and the police officer. It starts with Jim mimicking the police siren, which introduces the viewers to a rebellious main character. The camera then retreats to make room for John and the maid in front of him. Behind them Judy appears, waiting and crying. Although she’s in the left edge of the frame and is not involved in the conversation among the other three, the audience can still see her. Thus, viewers then get to know a reserved John and a sentimental Judy. This framing is also a good preparation for the next scene where the camera goes back to the officer’s room. Here we still see the other three blurry images through the window. This motif of keeping all the characters in the same frame is repeated when Judy leaves the station, and when Jim comes into the officer’s room. All these compositions help to reveal the main characters and their problems, which are all related to their fathers. This is also a signal of their connections in the rest of the film. A similar way of introducing characters was used in A Shot in the Dark (1964). However, as a comedy, the film speeds up the movement of camera and unites with hilarious actions to bring laughter to the audience. In about four minutes, Ray’s use of camera movement to highlight one character while still keeping others in the background gives us an informative and engaging overview of Jim, Judy and John.

  Moreover, the use of characters layering, or clothesline staging, is not only used in the beginning to introduce characters, but also becomes the motif of the film. For instance, a lot of times Ray intentionally puts John in the outermost layer: the scene at the planetarium’s exit, at Middletown’s cliff when Buzz is dead or in front of Judy’s house when they’ve just got back from the cliff. This smart manipulation implies that he is always ignored, shy or secretly worried about Jim, which describes his personality. The shot at the planetarium’s exit, in which Buzz is in the foreground, Jim the middle, and John the background slightly resembles the “controlling knowledge” technique in A Shot in the Dark (1964). The audience can see what happens around Jacques in his office when Maria comes to him but he cannot. The same thing happens to Jim when he doesn’t know John follows him secretly.

  However, if Ray merely adopted the clothesline staging many times, he is similar to Richard Fleischer, who ranges the characters in his scenes in 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Moreover, there is variation in his layers, which is shown in the shot where Jim is on the balcony of the planetarium while Buzz and Judy down besides his car. The camera was positioned at Buzz and Judy’s level, and lower than Jim. Ray places the couple in two “wings” of the frame and Jim in the middle, which creates a V-shape depth for the scene. This technique makes the audience see Jim as from the bullies’ view and sympathize with him, who is offended by them.

  Ray also makes Judy stand out as a main character by giving her medium close-up in the office room, which is the first one in the film. In the scene, she speaks, breathes, cries and chokes. All these expressions are shown in the frame from her shoulders up to her head. The camera moves closer and closer to Judy until the audience is able to see the tears on her cheeks and her shaking lips and chin. Thus, the closer we look at Judy, the closer we come to her emotions, and the more we sympathize for this girl. This reminds me of the close-ups in Bonjour Tristesse (1958). When Anne finds out about Raymond’s lying to her and being with Elsa, we see the same close-up and the same emotions in Anne as in Judy. Moreover, a conjunction of close-up and camera movement can be seen in the back and white scene at the beginning of the film where Concile is dancing. However, while in Rebel Without a Cause, the camera zooms in to capture Judy’s emotions, in Bonjour Tristesse, the camera’s back and forth movements express Concile’s confusion deep within herself.

  Another remarkable close-up of Jim and Judy is the scene where they are laying down by the fireplace and kissing each other after a dramatic conversation.  The frame focuses on their faces, but, thanks to widescreen, it is still able to convey their lying postures, with Judy prone and Jim supine. They talk, Judy taps? her cheek on John’s, and they kiss. Here, we can slowly follow every single change in their faces as well as bodies. In other words, not only do we see the characters’ facial expressions, but also their bodily ones. These expressions lead up to the most romantic scene in the film and make the audicene feel that their earlier anger, pain and anguish are somehow softened. Similarly, in The Seven Year Itch (1957), since the director wanted to deliver both Marilyn Monroe’s expressions and her unique body language, he also included several shots capturing her body such as when she is in the bath or laying down on the armchair, putting her feet on the table. Her flirtatious manner is brought to life as a result of this characteristic of widescreen.

  However, back to Rebel Without a Cause, the audience’s feelings suffer a sudden shift from happiness to fear only a couple of seconds after. Ray cuts to the big kiss, connecting it to the next scene of John also laying on the floor but besieged by the three thugs. The director demonstrates a deft connection between the lying positions of the characters in both scenes, using it to push the contrast further and to drive the audience’s emotions to the extreme reverse. Whereas Judy and Jim are happy together, John is all alone. The chase starts from this moment to almost the end of the film. The film also changes its focus on the three character’s problems to John’s only. Therefore, with the understanding of John’s personality from the beginning of the film, the audience’s sympathy for him grows stronger when they remind themselves of the previous scene. The gentle flow of the kissing scene provides a mental respite for the audience, but also prepares them for the rest of the movie.

  Since Ray takes advantage of widescreen effectively, if he had shot the film in the old “squarish” aspect ratio and in black-and-white, it would have lost its effect on the audience. For example, in the scene where Jim gets close to John to give him his jacket at the police station, Ray moves the camera to introduce the characters respectively. He ranges the four characters horizontally and lets them interact, even though Judy is in the left wing and she isn’t involved in the conversation. If the frame were square, we’d see the spaces above the characters and down from John’s chest, which are unnecessary but make the audience focus less on the characters. The film would also lose it efficiency of the use of the frame wings. When the officer inquires John, Ray puts them in two different wings of the frame. The scope creates the distance between Ray and the officer, which conveys his reserve. However, this distance would be unclear if Ray used the square aspect. Another example is close-up. If the director used the old aspect the kissing scene, he would make the ratio of the characters’ faces to the size of the frame decrease, which would hinder emotional effect. To capture both faces’ expressions and body interactions with this aspect, Ray should have a close-up of the faces then move the camera away to show the positions of Jim and Judy.

  Colors are also a crucial factor in the film, especially red. At the police station, Judy wears red and has similar lip color, which makes her stand out from the other characters. Accompanied by the close-up, this use of color delivers an impressive image of Judy right from the beginning of the film. However, for the rest of the film, Ray tones down Judy and makes red representative of Jim, which creates the connection between the two characters. In the mansion, Jim wears a red jacket. The contrast between the jacket’s color and the blue moonlight helps the audience remember the jacket. In the last scene, it becomes an important object for John and symbolizes his shield. Thus, if the film had been shot in black-and-white, it wouldn’t have had conveyed the connection of appearances between Jim and Judy or emphasized the visual effect.

  Nicolas Ray not only proficiently links the characters with each other in each frame but also each frame with the whole movie and the movie with the audience. While the scene at the police station is an illustrative scene that indicates the film’s motifs and scopes, the kissing scene is the highlight of the plot and especially the widescreen techniques. With those, the director successfully utilizes the scopes’ effects and leaves his own remark of variation to serve aesthetic function in Rebel Without a Cause in particular and Hollywood technique development in general. 

[anacademicwesleyan]

FILM307 Colors and Sound in Blood and Sand (1941)

Blood and Sand (1941) is a Technicolor’s successful remake of the 1922 black-and-white silent movie directed by Rouben Mamoulian, the director of Becky Sharp (1935), the first three-strip color movie. Compared to the first version in 1922, the film not only provides more nuances in terms of colors but also in terms of emotions which were generated by the association between color and the other elements such as sound, music and lighting. Like the palette used in The Adventure of Robin Hood (1938), the assertive color design’s function is supported by the fitful appearance of restrained mode, which adds to the promotion of musical and melodrama components of the film. In particular, the color method and sound use of the last scene, from Juan’s last fight until his death, is an emotionally striking and cruelty-condemning move.

  Although Blood and Sand was produced in 1941 when the assertive mode of using color had just been applied for a few years, it displayed a range of hues beautifully through the use of costumes and other objects. Taking advantage of the two main characters, Juan and Dona, Mamoulian mostly uses the flamboyant bullfighter costumes and luxurious lady ornaments both to show off and balance the colors. The Adventure of Robin Hood has well combined hues of yellow, blue and red. Similarly, Juan clings to blue pants, glittering gold plastron and red flannel cape, whereas Dona a red union of hair, lipstick and nails. This combination is repeated many times in every scene. When Juan is in his room preparing for the first bullfight, we can see red, white, blue, yellow and a range of colors arranged in the closet behind him. We can even see an obvious contrast between Juan’s colorful side and the other men’s dark side. There is a large red and orange cape juxtaposed to a bluish chair, bluish cloth and a bluish Juan. The arrangement in a plain background makes him look truly “like a king”, as Carmen says. Then, Dona appears in a bluish purple dress with a white pearl necklace, which is set off by her red mark. The director’s intention seems to be giving Dona a color palette that symbolizes of wealth, desire and lust later. In close-up, her color signature goes along with Juan’s bullfighting cloth, her bluish purple with his blue clothing, and her blurry yellow bouquet with his glitter and gold costume, which creates a beautiful harmony.

  With the virtuoso use of colors, music and action, Blood and Sand appears full of Spanish trademarks. Like The Adventure of Robin Hood, which starts nicely with the assertive mode, the film begins with a young Juan sneaking out at night and following the music to a bar, where a woman is dancing and the men are cheering for her. Within only a minute or two, Mamoulian has successfully introduced the lively and enthusiastic atmosphere in a small Spanish village. A familiar colors duo appears in the dancer’s blue dress and Juan’s red shirt, which builds the first sense of colors for the audience. The light, which is also a striking component of the film, creates the dancer’s shadow on the wall, dancing alongside her with the beats of her every footstep. Despite the absence of dancing or a crowd, the scene after the dinner at Dona’s house where she plays guitar and sings for Juan exhibits an image of a indulgent Spanish lifestyle and brings about a drama for the film. One interesting detail worth noting down here is that the chessboard on the table is not typically black-and-white, but red-and-white. The reason lies in Dona’s red signature and her white costume, which again reminds us of the lust and love. Those colors go perfectly with the blue moonlight, associating with the music and luxurious setting to romanticize the scene.

  Although the assertive method stretches throughout almost the whole duration of the Blood and Sand, there are still some slightly restrained aspects. We can see them in the scene of the conversation between Juan and Carmen in the blue light of the moon when they are young. In the scene, Juan wears a stained white shirt and brown pants; Carmen a dress as white as the color of the flowers on the balcony. Similar to The Adventure of Robin Hood, when Maid Marian meets Robin Hood, her costume’s tone has been lowered to harmonize with Robin’s, implying that they are a match for each other. In Blood and Sand, this light, neutral tone gives the audience a glimpse of innocent love that is much like the lines in the scene and brings Juan and Carmen closer. This motif repeats in their next scene together, when Juan comes back after 10 years away. Color transition, a characteristic of restrained mode, is displayed in Carmen’s costumes. When Juan comes back, he gives her a white wedding dress with a veil that makes her happy. She wears a similar dress in Dona’s house, but a black version of it while Dona is in white clothing, which tells which stage Carmen is at in her life and her feelings during that time. Carmen’s costume color transition and the contrast between her color and Dona’s reflect the transition in her soul and help trigger the shift in the audience’s emotion towards Carmen. This motif provides great support to make this scene emotional and dramatic. Every restrained use of color seems to bring on an intentional melodramatic effect for the film.

  The scene in the hospital is another one that impresses the audience by the power of limiting colors. In my opinion, this is a scene that has used restrained mode effectively to convey the director’s intention. The red of the bullfighting cape covering Nacional’s body and the glittering gold on Juan’s jacket warm up the hospital room, which makes it different from the conventional one with only dead, pale pastel. This color choice resonates with the similarity of Nacional’s position to Jesus’ above to draw attention to the difference between himself and Juan – the image of a bullfighter that he used to be. Thus, the audience can easily sympathize with him, figure out how transient a bullfighter is, and finally worry for Juan. With the restrained technique, this scene is great preparation for the last scene my essay will discuss below.

  The last scene from Juan’s last fight to his death is a spectacular ending for the assertive mode flow during the film, which makes a sorrowful ending for Juan’s story. Far from his colorful ones he used to wear before, Juan wears a white bullfighter costume, which makes him look pure. Not until he comes out into the arena and faces the fierce black bull does he looks much weaker. With this contrast, Juan’s hit by the bull appears all the more heart-wrenching. Thus, it’s not unreasonable that the people who carry him inside wear red uniform, or that Carmen wears a blue dress, which contrasts with Juan’s white clothes and makes him appear more dead.

Not only in contrast with the blackness of the bull, Juan also stands out from the colorful viewers surrounding him. He used to be colorful like them and used to follow their applauses to become the best bullfighter in Spain. However, the colors help the audience know that they are now different. In other words, the crowd keeps being colorful and applauds, but a dead Juan is no longer of interest to them. When Juan is carried inside, the sound of the crowd cheering for the other bullfighter still goes on. The association of the colors and sounds confirms that the crowd is “the real beast”, the cruel beast just killed Juan. Somehow, this motif conveys the director's ironic aspect in the film.

  We catch the sight of an injured bullfighter covered by the red cape again in the scene where Juan gives Carmen his very last words. He tells her about his simple dreams of learning how to read and write, of having breakfast on Sunday morning, and of loving his true love. The pure whiteness he’s wearing makes those simple dreams appear happier but at the same time further away. The blue dress and red cloth make his costume in lower tone tinting the scene sadness. The incessant sounds of the crowd and the music parallel with and even interrupt their conversation. The sound is wildest when Juan’s dead. However, the irony doesn’t end there. The camera follows the cheer to outside of arena where Manolo is extolled. Besides the blue and yellow flower bouquets that are thrown to the ground, there is a left out red pool of blood, reminding us of Juan’s winning image and implying the crowd’s indifference. Those orders of colors have the same intention of asking the audience for sympathy for Juan and successfully paint a “colorful death” for him.

              It’s not unreasonable for Blood and Sand to achieve the 1941 Academy Award for best Color Cinematography. Mamoulian succeeded in taking advantage of using colors, followed sound and music, to convey the aesthetic grip and surge emotions, and still kept showing a broad well-organized range of colors. The film is a perfectly intricate picture of Spain, which can make the audience hear, smell, touch, taste and feel deeply from the colors.