Mara, which I prefer to think of as female, rode my ass all morning long today. The harder I tried to get away from her the worse my attitude got. Once the initial three hour rush of people screaming at me about not getting their newspaper passed I was able to settle my mind and show Mara the door.

I don’t know which I hate more:
- Not being able to calm my mind when I want to.
or
- Listening people whine like the world is coming to an end if they don’t have the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle.

I finally saw the movie Beowulf this evening and must admit it was a good movie. I really enjoyed the story, even if there was some deviation from the original, and the CGI work was wonderful. If you haven’t seen the movie then go rent a copy and enjoy it. This post will be here when you get back. If you have seen the movie then join me after the jump for what I saw as The Dharma of Beowulf.

Keep in mind this is a movie of monsters and battles so the whole “Do not kill” of the eight fold path is ignored. Without the violence there would be no story or movie made from the story. I’ve discovered in life that if I look close enough at anything I can find some Dharma in it. Without over analyzing the movie I want to touch on three things that stood out to me.

When looking at “Right Action” on the Eight Fold Path we come across the concept of sexual misconduct. Lust easily falls within the range of sexual misconduct and lead to the downfall of both Hrothgar and Beowulf. Let’s not forget the suffering that Beowulf, Wealtheow (the queen) and his mistress Ursula all deal with because Beowulf keeps Urusla in his bed and Wealtheow in a seperate chamber in his later years.

When looking at “Right Speech” on the Eight Fold Path we realize that Beowulf had never heard of this concept. Let’s be honest, Beowulf couldn’t tell the truth until he realized his death was at hand. Only then did he try to set things right. If you only kill three sea monsters don’t tell people you killed nine of them. “Right Speech” is more than just being honest though and that is a trap most of us fall into. Unferth, the king’s adviser, called Beowulf out the first night he was there. He attacked Beowulf with his words and Beowulf responded in kind. When somebody throws an insult at you it’s hard to just let it pass. I know I’ve made the mistake of both throwing and returning insults many times in my life. Heck, just looking at the posts on my blog show I’m not the greatest when it comes to using Right Speech.

From the Four Noble Truths we learn that attachment leads to suffering. Unless you plan on being a monk there is nothing wrong with wanting the finer things in life. Just be sure to stay on this side of greed and to give back where you can. Beowulf and Hrothgar both wanted to live forever as kings. They wanted the wealth, the power and the throne of a kingdom. What ultimate price did each pay for their desires? A life of suffering. Neither found happiness in their lives after making the deal with Grendel’s mother.  Watch the funeral of Beowulf again. Did you see all of the treasure in the boat? Did you see it make him smile at all in the movie?

Let’s look at Grendel’s mother for a moment. Yeah, Angelina Jolie in stunning CGI form. Whoops! We’re back to “Right Action” again. The character of Grendel’s mother was a great example of Mara in my opinion. She was always there, just below the surface, ready to tempt the heroes of the story.

So what happened to Wiglaf? Did he give in to temptation? Did he hurl the Dragon Horn into the sea? That’s up to you to decide.

I’m sure there are many more Dharma examples in the movie just as I am sure there are Dharma examples all around us in life. Open your eyes. Open your mind. See the Dharma for yourself.

I found a series of five videos recently I would like to share with you. You’ll find all five of them in the continuation of this post. I discovered one of the five at Precious Metal the other day and tracked down the other four. The five videos are basically one video broken apart. It features Noah Levine and Vinny Ferraro talking about their lives, meditation, and a 15 minute guided meditation.

These are two guys who went from troubled lives to happier lives helping others and they contribute a lot of the credit to meditation. If you can spare 15 minutes a day it should only take you five days to get through them. At the very least you might learn something interesting.

I recently re-read Dharma Punx and I just finished Against The Stream, both by Noah Levine. They each provide an interesting view of Buddhism as it relates to the world today. I especially like how Noah showed that the Buddha was a human like the rest of us both before and after he found enlightenment. I’ll go into more detail when I write about the book later.

Don’t let the blank whitespace on some of the following videos worry you. Just give them a click and they will play.

A single spotlight illuminates a microphone stand on the stage. From the behind the curtain steps a man in a saffron robe. He steps to the microphone and says “Three monks walk into a bar. Given the title “Stand up Buddhists” I just had to picture a monk at open mic night.

Matthew Weiner wrote has an article published in the International Herald Tribune titled “Buddhists who stand up.” Something he points out is that Buddhists do more than just meditate.

Westerners tend to think of Buddhism as a passive religion, focused on silent meditation and personal spiritual growth. The image of the Buddha seated with a smile sums it up.

So while the West is highly familiar with conflict and activism in other religions, the “saffron revolution” in Burma and the “high altitude revolt” in Tibet have come as a surprise to many.

In fact, there is a healthy tradition of Buddhist activism. Often called “engaged Buddhism,” a term coined by Thich Nhant Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, it encourages a Buddhist critique of governmental and economic structures and other efforts to alleviate social suffering.

Take the time to read the article for some interesting non-violent protest methods done by Buddhists over the years.

The Associated Press ran an article on March 24th that I want to share here. As you can see by the picture on a left the question of “Does a dog have Buddha nature?” may have been answered. Conan the Chihuahua joins priest Joei Yoshikuni for the daily prayers at the Shuri Kannondo temple in Naha, Japan. Conan has seen Joei doing his daily prayers and began mimicking the motions.

A merchant bearing fifty rolls of cotton goods on his shoulders stopped to rest from the heat of the day beneath a shelter where a large stone Buddha was standing. There he fell asleep, and when he awoke his goods had disappeared. He immediately reported the matter to the police.

A judge named O-oka opened court to investigate. “That stone Buddha must have stolen the goods,” concluded the judge. “He is supposed to care for the welfare of the people, but he has failed to perform his holy duty. Arrest him.”

The police arrested the stone Buddha and carried it into the court. A noisy crowd followed the statue, curious to learn what kind of sentence the judge was about to impose.

When O-oka appeared on the bench he rebuked the boisterous audience. “What right have you people to appear before the court laughing and joking in this manner? You are in contempt of court and subject to a fine and imprisonment.”

The people hastened to apologize. “I shall have to impose a fine on you,” said the judge, “but I will remit it provided each one of you brings one roll of cotton goods to the court within three days. Anyone failing to do this will be arrested.”

One of the rolls of cloth which the people brought was quickly recognized by the merchant as his own, and thus the thief was easily discovered. The merchant recovered his goods, and the cotton rolls were returned to the people.

When one goes to Obaku temple in Kyoto he sees carved over the gate the words “The First Principle.” The letters are unusually large, and those who appreciate calligraphy always admire them as being a masterpiece. They were drawn by Kosen two hundred years ago.

When the master drew them he did so on paper, from which workmen made the larger carving in wood. As Kosen sketched the letters a bold pupil was with him who had made several gallons of ink for the calligraphy and who never failed to criticize his master’s work.

“That is not good,” he told Kosen after the first effort.

“How is that one?”

“Poor. Worse than before,” pronounced the pupil.

Kosen patiently wrote one sheet after another until eighty-four First Principles had been accumulated, still without the approval of the pupil.

Then, when the young man stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen thought: “Now is my chance to escape his keen eye,” and he wrote hurridly, with a mind free from disctraction. “The First Principle.”

“A masterpiece,” pronounced the pupil.