Documentary - Samsara

Samsara is a 2011 documentary film, directed by Ron Fricke and produced by Mark Magidson, who also collaborated on Baraka (1992), another documentary film that relies on images and music to not so much tell a story as create a feeling.

Samsara was filmed over four years in 25 countries around the world. It was shot in 70 mm format and output to digital format. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in August 2012.

The film is presented in two parts below, or you can watch the film in one part at YouTube.

Samsara

Samsara is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life” and is the point of departure for the filmmakers as they search for the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives.

Filmed over a period of almost five years and in twenty-five countries, Samsara transports us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders.

By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, the documentary subverts our expectations of a traditional documentary, instead encouraging our own inner interpretations inspired by images and music that infuses the ancient with the modern.

Samsara is a documentary film that explores the wonders of our world from the mundane to the miraculous, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man’s spirituality and the human experience. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, the film takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation.

Through powerful images, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.

Samsara was photographed entirely in 70mm film utilizing both standard frame rates and with a motion control time-lapse camera designed specifically for this project.

Samsara part 1 by polynikos12

Samsara part 2 by polynikos12

Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche - Searching for the Self

This brief excerpt from Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche's It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path comes from the Tricycle Wisdom Collection. I like this passage for what it says about the nature of the self (I've grown weary of the "authentic self" and the "unique self," both of which are comforting fictions, as near as I can tell), but also for the brief section on identifying with the body or with feelings, which then become our sense of identity.

Searching for Self

Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche offers advice for facing up to our egos.

Holding to an ordinary notion of self, or ego, is the source of all our pain and confusion. The irony is that when we look for this "self" that we're cherishing and protecting, we can't even find it. The self is shifty and ungraspable. When we say "I'm old," we're referring to our body as self. When we say "my body," the self becomes the owner of the body. When we say "I'm tired," the self is equated with physical or emotional feelings. The self is our perceptions when we say "I see," and our thoughts when we say "I think." When we can't find a self within or outside of these parts, we may then conclude that the self is that which is aware of all of these things—the knower or mind.

But when we look for the mind, we can't find any shape, or color, or form. This mind that we identify as the self, which we could call ego-mind, controls everything we do. Yet it can't actually be found—which is somewhat spooky, as if a ghost were managing our home. The house seems to be empty, but all the housework has been done. The bed has been made, our shoes have been polished, the tea has been poured, and the breakfast has been cooked.

The funny thing is that we never question this. We just assume that someone or something is there. But all this time, our life has been managed by a ghost, and it's time to put a stop to it. On one hand, ego-mind has served us—but it hasn't served us well. It has lured us into the suffering of samsara and enslaved us. When ego-mind says, "Get angry," we get angry; when it says, "Get attached," we act out our attachments. When we look into the "slavish" arrangement we have with our ego-mind, we can see how it pressures us, plays tricks on us, and causes us to do things that bring undesirable consequences.

If you want to stop being the slave of a ghost, you must demand that ego-mind show its face. No true ghost will show up when it hears this! You can practice this simple meditation throughout the day. Whenever you don't know what to do with yourself, challenge your ego-mind to show its face. When you're cooking your dinner or waiting for the bus, challenge your ego-mind to show its face. Do it especially when ego-mind overwhelms you, when you feel threatened, fearful, or enslaved by it. Just straighten your posture and challenge ego-mind. Don't be gullible, wiggly, or spineless. When you challenge ego-mind, be firm but gentle, penetrating but never aggressive. Just say to your ego-mind, "Show me your face!" When no mind shows up saying, "Here I am," ego-mind will begin to lose its hold on you and your struggles will lighten up. See if this isn't true. Of course, maybe your mind does have a face and your experience will be different. But if you don't find a mind with a face, you won't take your struggles so seriously, and all of your pain and suffering will lessen.

When we question ego-mind directly, it is exposed for what it is: the absence of everything we believe it to be. We can actually see through this seemingly solid ego-mind, or self. But what are we left with then? We are left with an open, intelligent awareness, unfettered by a self to cherish or protect. This is the primordial wisdom mind of all beings. Relaxing into this discovery is true meditation—and true meditation brings ultimate realization and freedom from suffering.

From It's Up to You © 2005 by Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., www.shambhala.com.

The Interdependence Project - #OccupySamsara: Solidarity in Adversity

Nice post from margoshka at The Interdependence Project. The author offers a reframe of the #occupyeverywhere concept in terms of how we feel our interconnection with all beings, just as our sitting practice helps us feel connected with all of ourselves and with the physical world of which we are one small part.

#OccupySamsara: Solidarity in Adversity

Submitted by margoshka on Tue, 10/18/2011

Often when we look around at the world duality is what we see.  I can see how I am separate from you, from her, from him, from them.  But on a deeper level what we feel is that there is no separation.  There is only us.  There is only the 100% of us and we have way more in common than it appears.

In practicing sitting meditation we begin to experience first-hand what basic human sensations and emotions are like.  This is what sitting feels like, the bottom half of the body connected to the ground, the top half lifting upward away from the earth.  This is what irritation feels like, the left ankle and right knee registering sensations of pain or numbness.  This is what the breath feels like.  This is what compassion feels like.  When we commit to a regular practice we are opening our hearts to the world as it is, to ourselves as we are, to all those human qualities which join us together.


With the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement some of us have begin to realize our interconnectedness not just internally but externally as well.  It’s all too easy to turn the conversation into Us vs. Them, good vs. bad, reward and punishment.  What is much more challenging is to bring people together, to create space, to include a range of different opinions and world views.

The 99 percent are not against the 1 percent.  Just as the 1 percent are not against the 99 percent as evidenced by the We Stand With the 99 Percent tumblr.

The truth is: we are all in it together.  Our planet, the Earth, the third rock from the Sun, is being taxed at an unsustainable level by coal mining, oil drilling, industrial livestock farming, over-fishing, pollution from our vehicles, wars, and human overpopulation.  This is our only planet, our only home, and we as a human race must stand united and work together so that future generations know what the blue sky looks like, what fresh air smells like.  We must do it now, wake up from our daydream of endless consumption, greed, and waste.  Our time is now.

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#OccupySamsara is a column dedicated to the heartfelt yearning for all sentient beings to be safe, happy, healthy, and free from suffering.  Samsara is a Sanskrit word used by Buddhists to describe the cyclical nature of our own and societal suffering and dissatisfaction. 

You are welcome to connect with me on Twitter and Facebook. -Margarita

Big thanks to Olga Timofeyev for the Occupy Wall Street photographs.