Recently in Buddhism Category

My recent lack of posts can be attributed to the fact that i'm spending most of my time working on my senior thesis project, about RELEVANT magazine. It's going okay...I don't think i'm going to make my "complete draft by Monday" deadline but hopefully that will be alright. I'm very proud of sections of this project, especially the part about brand identification as expression of faith. Basic theme of the project: the evangelical church is embracing the language of mass cultural fake rebellion just as the mainstream culture which invented fake rebellion is embracing the evangelical church. It's not so much a question of co-optation or appropriation as much as a simple confluence of interest.

In my absence, some fellow UrHo bloggers have been covering the religion beat and offering some really fascinating posts.

I grew up in the United Methodist Church, and I've been feeling really bummed out by recent decisions made by the Judicial Council (sort of like the church's supreme court). Starr Ahrens, writing at her blog Updates cheered me up immensely with her sweet and funny post about teenage experiences with her hometown Methodist Church and the practice of keeping church doors unlocked at all times.

Isn't that the premise of Christianity; trusting your fellow man, providing him with sanctuary for faith, not just at the hours that are convenient for some. Isn't it the way of Christianity to reach out to all walks of life, no matter how downtrodden, and invite them all in to share their faith with each other or just with god? Christian churches, to my understanding, are not supposed to be members only social clubs, but instead community buildings, where people are welcome to come and worship together or separately. Regardless of the nature of my belief system today, I found that in my hometown, churches were accepting places where the community came together. The expectation was not one of conversion, but one of acceptance (read the rest)

Meanwhile Lucie at Overarching is spending time at a Buddhist monastery in Nepal (? at least I think it's Nepal). She finds that contrary to our American romanticized vision of Eastern religion, Buddhism is prone to the same problems that plague other religions–-institutional authoritarianism, scriptural literalism, suppression of criticism, etc--to the point that it feels like brainwashing.

Some of the people who have gone to speak to the nun in charge of the course have been told, upon saying they're not sure this is for them, that they're arrogant, superficial and negative minded, and that they'll never find happiness outside the gates of the monastery.

I guess it will work out well for some people, but I have to be honest with you: if it wasn't a Buddhist program, people would be calling it a cult. Seriously. The way things are presented, the way you're told it's all true, the way they cut you off from the outside world and deal with doubters... it's just kind of troubling. (read the rest)

Yikes. Stay safe over there, Lucie!

Director David O. Russell describes I ♥ Huckabees as an attempt to introduce audiences to the principles of Eastern Religion, particularly Buddhism, without framing these principles in explicitly religious terms. The film seems to target a young progressive audience that is aware that something is very wrong with the state of the world but is feeling alienated and somewhat hopeless. You know, people like me, and like you and like most of our friends have been feeling since November 2. That audience is personified in Albert (Jason Schwartzman), a frustrated environmental activist, who recruits a pair of existential detectives (Dustin Hoffman & Lily Tomlin) to unravel his personal mysteries.

Huckabees teaches so artfully and efficiently that we barely notice that we're learning. Complex Buddhist concepts seem like common sense; Hoffman's character (based on Buddhist teacher Robert Thurman) demonstrates, with the help of a blanket, in 30 seconds, the concept of interbeing-everything is everything else. We learn of interconnectedness: between people, between events, between the psychological and the interpersonal, and the political. We learn of impermanence as we watch Albert and his sleazy corporate arch-nemesis Brad (Jude Law) experience devastating losses. But along with Albert, we learn how to be compassionate toward Brad; we learn to see that even our "enemies" are suffering. It is this insight that allows Albert (and us) to let go of our attachment to anger and move on.

The movie is not a thinly disguised religious tract promoting Buddhism as an easy ticket to Happytown. It is honest about the temptation and dangers posed by nihilism dressed up in a zen disguise. This is important because the whole "fuck as many people and do as many drugs as I can and ignore the consequences because I am beyond good and evil" mentality has haunted American Buddhism since Kerouac and Ginsberg.

The portrayal of a family of a typical American evangelical Christians needs a little work. Russell depicts the family as warm-hearted but narrow-minded and oblivious to their complicity in world problems. Sadly, that sounds about right. But he gets the theology behind their arrogance wrong when he has the clueless daughter state that “Jesus is never mad at us if we live with him in our hearts.” Actually, very few evangelical christians would say that. Russell seems to be hypothesizing that their confidence in their salvation-by-grace is responsible for their self-righteousness and lack of attention to social justice, but in fact personal piety and the struggle against sin remains a focus even for those who consider themselves "saved". A more nuanced diagnosis would find that the real issue is the shift in emphasis from social holiness to private personal holiness since the 19th century, or what Jim Wallis calls the "great heresy of 20th century American Evangelicalism."

Not enough films have something important and substantive to say beyond an interesting story or a character study. Huckabees doesn't provide empty escapism or deny how screwed up the world is, but still leaves you feeling hopeful and empowered to keep fighitng the good fight. And it's all delivered with sincerity and humor, like a little smiling buddha in movie form. I ♥ this movie.

Please read this cool interview with David O. Russell, written by Jeffery Overstreet for Christianity Today. It features a guest appearance by devout catholic/sexy underwear model Mark Walhberg, who says of the film, rather confusingly, but sincerely: "It's all about Jesus"