Bodhi + Lost:

1.

In Shingon Buddhism, the state of Bodhi is also seen as naturally inherent in the mind - the mind’s natural and pure state (as in Dzogchen) - and is viewed as the perceptual sphere of non-duality, where all false distinctions between a perceiving subject and perceived objects are lifted and the true state of things (non-duality) is revealed.

2.

Bodhi (Sanskrit: बोधि) is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated as “enlightenment”, but frequently (and more accurately) translated as “awakening” or “to Know”. The word “buddha” means “one who has awakened.” Although its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism, bodhi is also a technical term, with various usages, in other Indian philosophies and traditions.

3.

“Good sons, it is like smelting gold ore. The gold does not come into being because of smelting … Even though it passes through endless time, the nature of the gold is never corrupted. It is wrong to say that it is not originally perfect. The Perfect Enlightenment of the Tathagata [Buddha] is also like this.”

via.

Also — most of you probably know this already, but Joseph Campbell quotes an old story where — and I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten the name of the deity/god — opens his eye, and when he does, the universe is created, and when he closes his eye, the universe is destroyed.

Of course, as an audience, some people aren’t much better than YouTube comments. I had a post on it here, but I wanted to quote David Chase’s comment regarding the end of The Sopranos once again and here —

They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie, and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted “justice.” They wanted to see his brains splattered on the wall. I thought that was disgusting, frankly. But these people have always wanted blood.

Lost ended tonight, and with it the hopes and dreams of millions of people who thought it might finally get good again. SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t. What did we learn? Nothing. We learned nothing from two-and-a-half hours of slow-motion bullshittery backed with a syrupy soundtrack.

So I’ll quote myself:

The point of the last season is that it is an argument for “the best of all possible worlds.” It is an argument about consistent, active morality, and what that means when good is a constant. And what will be interesting will be the way in which the two timelines start to move against each other — or how you can build an arc when you have — so far — two parallel lines that only hint at a crossover — i.e., “It worked,” the appendix, and so on.

And to that I’ll add that it’s about the dissolution of hate, greed, delusion, selfishness, and all the rest — something like the test scene in Wild Strawberries crossed with this idea of ‘American entertainment’ — i.e., Cary Grant running along on top of Mount Rushmore.

I think the biggest argument is going to be whether or not they’re all dead — Jack poses the question directly, and his father answers with — ‘Some died before you, some died long after you.’ And instead of arguing with the reactions I’m already seeing, I’ll suggest it’s little bit more about bodhi than heaven and end with another personal note:

Based on the Campbell anecdote I once heard — imagine opening your eye every single day. Imagine opening your eye every single day of your life. It is an act of creation. It is an act of affirmation. The Greeks? They have a phrase reserved for sundown — “Well, we ate the day.” And somewhere — I don’t know where I put it — I have a line in some story or notebook that reads, “where blinking an eye is an act of joy.”

My friend interviewed Dominic Monaghan a few days ago. You can read it here.

i09 has a rant on Lost —

In fact, were we supposed to care the Dogen has a magical baseball that reminds him not to fight?

In fact, sure. I’d argue that the baseball is a moral checkpoint, and that somewhere in their minds when they were composing the season, someone thought, “Which is a better reflection of American morality — baseball or fourth-rate Steven Segal ‘ultra-violence’ and what we saw in certain prisons between the years of 2003 and 2008?”

Because the spectrum of strategy put into the show is much wider than lines like this —

Sure he’s a kick-ass ninja, but were we sad when he and his nerdy sidekick were brutally cut down by Sayid?

In a way, this is the kind of argument that was the precursor to the end of The Sopranos — i.e., “He’s kicking ass!” “Isn’t it wrong that he’s killed people?” “He’s still kicking ass!” “What about the lives he’s ruined?” “He’s kicking ass!”

Or — as David Chase is quoted as saying —

The way I see it is that Tony Soprano had been people’s alter ego. They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie, and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted “justice.” They wanted to see his brains splattered on the wall. I thought that was disgusting, frankly. But these people have always wanted blood. Maybe they would have been happy if Tony had killed twelve other people. Or twenty-five people. Or, who knows, if he had blown up Penn Station. The pathetic thing — to me — was how much they wanted his blood, after cheering him on for eight years”.

In other words — the time for “glee” and a willful lack of foundation is over.

My guess on where Lost is going is that we will be presented with an alternative theory of why God isn’t in day-to-day life — he has to keep the devil on the island.

Also — I only know the plot, but what if the process by which the “candidate” becoming “the New Jacob” happens to mirror something from Piers Anthony’s On A Pale Horse?

The point of the last season is that it is an argument for “the best of all possible worlds.” It is an argument about consistent, active morality, and what that means when good is a constant. And what will be interesting will be the way in which the two timelines start to move against each other — or how you can build an arc when you have — so far — two parallel lines that only hint at a crossover — i.e., “It worked,” the appendix, and so on.