Friday, November 25, 2005

A River Runs Through It

For most westerners, the word tao and the philosophy of taoism seem so foreign. Yet, despite this belief, taoistic thought is all around us. For example, the Star Wars' series was based on taoist teaching (i.e., the force). Another example comes from one of my favorite short stories which was turned into an excellent movie by director Robert Redford -- A River Runs Through It.

The final lines of the movie sound as if they were taken from a taoist text:
Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
I bet if you look around, you can find numerous examples. They are everywhere.

2 comments:

  1. DEEP DISH TV RELEASES FALLUJAH
    www.deepdishtv.org

    Deep Dish TV has just released its latest project, Fallujah on DVD. This film has been nine months in the making and we are very proud of the results. Fallujah is the follow-up to the award-winning Shocking and Awful series, which played in theaters and television screens around the world. The DVDs are available through the Deep Dish TV website. We encourage people to set up screenings in their communities as a way of spreading awareness of the appalling events that took place in this small city. Deep Dish TV hopes that through a grassroots campaign, we can use this film to increase consciousness of what is really happening in Iraq.

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    Fallujah is a unique collaborative production created by Iraqi and American filmmakers. After a major US led offensive launch in November of 2004, two-thirds of the city was destroyed and thousands of its citizens were forced into refugee camps.

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  2. From http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Wars

    "I can't. It's too big."

    "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm? And well you should not. For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here between you, me, the rock, the tree, everywhere. Yes, even between land and ship."

    "You want the impossible." (Yoda salvages the sunken x-wing using the Force) "I don't... I don't believe it! "

    "That is why you fail."

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