I just came back from a free screening with a friend, the Korean drama from 2006 No Regrets (http://www.noregret-themovie.com/). A few boner moments, but over all a very cute film. Talk about drama though. Thick headed Su-min doesn't want to admit love. (I personally started thinking about how strong Jae-min's attachment is. It's great he's aiming to get what he wants but it's also ruining his family, the boy's personal strength (which may or may not be a bad thing.... ok it turns out to be a good thing in the end.)) Several times I was shocked, and so was the whole audience, with the crashes, the kidnapping. It didn't pull me in though. As much as I felt for the boy, knew what he was feeling, my own feelings weren't pulled into the movie, to affect me to cry when the tragedy was too much. When Ga-ram died, I knew it hurt Su because of hidden feelings to the nooB of the scene. No wonder he cried so deeply. AT first I though it was Jae who crashed, but I was deeply mistaken.
The ending scene was really sweet, reflecting back on when Su was taking care of Jae. The crotch grab I won't forget.

Furthermore, I was also reflecting how much I was learning through my Music Appreciation: Opera class. I can undertand the operas on a deeper level because I have learned some of the confusing structure. I also am learning to put away my personal preferences and attention to detail, as they continually got in the way of my enjoying the music on a bigger scale. Today I was almost brought to tears because of the musical qualities of Rodalinda. The textural music, the visuals they conjured up when my eyes were closed, the emotional power of the singers.
To really appreciate something, one must learn the different levels of being something has. For opera, I had to be aware of where it was coming from, what aim it had, how music tied into it. I had a pretty good grasp of instrumental music before I attached it to emotion and theatrical drama, but with a visual reference and a human voice behind it, my comprehension was brought to a whole different level.
With this, I am interested now in a film appreciation course.  This way, I can learn the history of it, the subtleties of it's very own language, the unique portrayals and presentations. I can then look back on underground films that have won awards and see what the critics were so enthusiastic about. That I may have to save for next term.

Tags: appreciation, asians, film, opera
Current Mood: contemplative

Yes, tonight was another very successful night for DHARMA Youth. Lots of new faces, lots of returning faces, always lots of cute faces (+/-). At the end of the night, driving back home, I realized I was frustrated that I couldn't really have fun with any of them. Oh well, plenty of other fish in the sea, right?
Tonight was also a special night because the abbess of the Oklahoma temple was here, as most of American abbots/abbesses were invited to some sort of annual meeting at Mt. Shasta Abbey. Anyways, the class started with actually all of us learning and relearning to put on the black robe. I was most familiar with it, so I helped everyone, including the cute ones (secretly smiling, secretly embarrassed). Then we got started talking about the abbess, asking her questions, her experiences so far a a new immigrant, a new abbess, and a Buddhist nun in the heart of the Bible belt. It's good, so far.
Then the real talk began when Chris mentioned he wanted the serenity and calmness of the monks. Shifu asked for some personal tips, and as no one else raised their hands, I volunteered my experience with classical music and reading as ways to calm me down. We talked about how classical music has more levels of listening involved, and how listening to classical music during pregnancy improves intelligence. TV is a proven tool for stupidity, and how reading is a lot more intelliging, as it requires more parts of the brain to interact to pull off successfully. Basically, anything that really involves mental interaction is better than just letting things be shown to you.
Somehow that got the talking to how awareness is the key to serenity. Just observe your feelings, your emotions, your annoyance, your hunger. Anger, pain, these are bad feelings, but awareness itself does not have any bad feeling in itself, so there's no need to fear it. Like when you're playing a game, of you're at a party, and you think the adrenaline has gotten the best of you, just sit back, take a moment to realize where you are, and realize what you are feeling, and wisdom will naturally spring forth.
Vegetarianism may be a bit extreme, as we discussed, because human beings are biologically omnivorous, leaning more to the herbivorous side. Carnivores pant to release heat from the body, herbivores sweat. Carnivores have a relatively short digestive track, herbivores have a relatively long track. Carnivores naturally have a mechanism to remove cholesterol from the body, herbivores have practically none, as vegetables do not have harmful cholesterol.
Shifu was also somewhat disappointed, but probably not surprised, that no one mentioned meditation as the best way to have a calmer demeanor. Just 15-20 minutes a day is all it takes. From personal experience, I don't even need that. Just 10 minutes will do, as I have found ways to bring my meditation skills to a daily, active level. I just need to motivation to do it every day. Just as we were finishing our meditation practice in our black robes, I couldn't help but think that longer would have been so so so much better.
On the ride home, I also really thought about how I get myself to be more active in my quest for spiritual enlightenment. I'd like to be like back then when I split my time between the center and home, and thought about how I could achieve a balance and agreement between work and religion. I also thought about how I could get myself more active and interactive with the abbot, whom i could learn a lot about how to talk to people. Through the years, so much information and knowledge about Buddhism and it's techniques have found their way into my head, only to have little or no venue out. I want to find a way to bring these pieces of information all into play in my daily life, and achieve my destiny as a great Buddhist lay person. America, I think, will be a great center of Buddhism, if it can keep itself from being destroyed while trying to the failure of dominating the world economically.

Tags: asians, awareness, boys, classical music, dharma youth, observing, reading, sex, smart, stupid, tv, vegetarianism
Current Location: ZCS