message movie
Spiritual Lessons from the movie "Avatar" - Paradigm Shift
Everyone loves an epic. Everyone loves a good Holiday movie. The movie "Avatar" is a triumph, and I believe it goes beyond blockbuster entertainment.
You can call Avatar a message movie, subverting the dominant paradigm about more than one theme:
.war
.living close to the Earth in a sustainable way
.race and difference (using lovable purple humanoids as the "Other")
.return to a balance of feminine and masculine power
.living on the Enlightenment path
Wow! There are lots of messages here.
When Margaret Cho comes to town here in Portland, Oregon, she entertains, but underneath her entertainment are messages about her society, including race, body image and healing. Margaret Cho gets 5 minute standing ovations at the end of her comedy show, not just applause. She is not just a comedienne, but a comedienne with a message.
In the same way, I feel that the movie "Avatar" deserves an ovation.
A Fresh Look At The Way Humans Live
By now you may have heard that the basis for the movie is humans going to another planet to mine the resources of that planet, a valuable mineral called "unobtainium", and to do it in a violent way if necessary. On the planet are a people called the "Indigenous", who are disrespected as "savages" but also at times respected for their "healing ability" and "knowledge about wildlife".
With the disclaimer that this movie has to really rankle anyone of a Native American/Native Canadian descent, I know the imagery would trigger me, themes of colonization and diaspora are Universal, as evidenced by the Dalai Lama's country in exile, as well as many other examples.
The depictions are non-threatening, or not pointing to any particular group of people in the sense that the characters are not human, they are animated. This animated sci-fi picture can so easily depict the parts of our culture we normally don't think about often, like the way we do difference, the way we do war, etc., and it does it in non-threatening, even amusing way--with animation. Avatar gets our attention, and then it starts to create new images of what good things can look like, through watching the Indigenous, like
.good community
.male and female leadership in harmony
.connection with Divine Guidance
.harmony with the elements of nature
.respect for the Indigenous
When we're watching purple, animated, alien versions of people, we get to watch people like we're watching them for the first time.
When the humans are behaving badly we see
.dehumanizing language and thoughts about those that are "different"
.military use of power, with little negotiation
.preemptive strikes
.destruction of Nature
.derision of the female and her contributions
.arrogant speech and mannerisms
Avatar is a chance to see ourselves, and see us entertainingly.
What is an Avatar?
I knew that this movie was going to be interesting to see because it is called Avatar. An Avatar in Hinduism is a "God that comes to Earth". In Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages around that gives us many English words, the word Avatar means "descent" as in from Heaven to Earth.
Although Jesus can be seen as an Avatar, Jesus was actually a mortal that lived on the earth. In Eastern mythology where Avatars are more prominent, mythological Avatars come to Earth disguised as humans. Lakshmi, a Divine Mother figure, comes to Earth in different forms. Imagine that God, or a piece of God, comes to Earth in a disguise. This is an Avatar.
Hinduism is an amalgam of many indigenous texts and traditions. In fact the word "Hindu" appeared in English in the 17th century, to mean "Indian Pagan". The word "Pagan" also means "non-Christian". We have lots of terms that mean "a religion different than us", yet more and more our religions look the same.
If you haven't seen the movie I won't spoil it by disclosing the plot or ending, but for me these are some of the spiritual lessons the movie Avatar holds:
.Knowing We Are All Connected Is The Path to Enlightenment
.You too, can be an Avatar
.Return of the Divine Feminine
.Living Sustainably
Knowing We Are All Connected Is The Path to Enlightenment
On the planet Pandora where the movie Avatar takes place, everyone believes that everything is connected. The movie shows "connection" through visual means:
.The protagonist, a down and out Marine quadriplegic with little sense of life purpose, gets "connected" with the DNA of an "Indigenous" , that acts as his other body
.There is a female guide that shows the Marine how to "connect" with a horse to ride, or a bird
.There is a Sacred Tree to "connect" with the ancestors' voices
.The blossoms of the Tree show a "connection" with Divine Guidance is trying to get your attention
Whether we are talking about an Eastern Religion or a Western One, Enlightenment is meditation (connection with God), and finding out there is no difference between the seer and the seen. In the Bible the quote is "I and the Father are One". In Hinduism, in the Yoga Sutras 2.17, an ancient (and yes, indigenous) text, it talks about how the way to break cycles of Karma and find Enlightenment is to find where the "seer can engulf the seen". In other words, when the One that is Consciousness will engulf the individual Ego consciousness. This can be learned viscerally, through expanding the senses beyond the senses, through meditation and inner exploration.
You too, can be an Avatar
The Marine that doubles himself in the movie with an Indigenous body that is taller and stronger is a great metaphor, because your enlightened self gives rise to an "Expanded Self". In Hindu and other religions your enlightened body is expanded, your senses are added onto with a 6th sense. You can sense Divine Will and harness Divine Power. Answering a "spiritual call" you are on a mission of Grace, and you are in a sense, taller and stronger. The Marine's "2nd Body" is what he uses to do spiritual work.
Ever wonder why Avatars like Jesus or Buddha were so kind? They went from the "I" in their experience to the expanded consciousness. A Buddha constantly practices compassion, one way is to imagine everyone striving for happiness, in other words that we are all the same.
In Avatar, we witness the protagonist Marine "evolving" from an "I" to an expanded self before our eyes throughout the movie. When he achieves a sense of mission, finding what his Divine Guidance is asking him to do, he is at one with himself and with the Planet. He is Divine Grace in (almost) Human form. He feels kindness for everything. He is an Avatar.
Any of us, like him, can find our soul connection and our expanded self, to become an Avatar.
Return of the Divine Feminine
The word Avatar is from the East, and an Eastern theme also is Kali Yuga, the Return of the Divine Feminine.
Yuga means "world age" and for millenia an Eastern prophesy has stated that the Goddess, a symbol of Feminine Power, in a period starting in 2013.
The movie depicts feminine power in such a way that any female or male psyche that is thirsty for those images will be quenched. You have Sigourney Weaver after all, who can take on arrogance of those around her with more arrogance, but she also shows the ability to intuit a vision of better life on the planet and the will of the people around her.
You have Michelle Rodriguez who depicts the feminine in camouflage, boots and a smile. Her essence is bravery answering a call for Higher Justice.
The Indigenous Princess and Guide that teaches about the land is bravery personified. She senses the Spiritual Call easily and interprets her actions through that call.
Funny, but Hindu prophesy is that Kali will arrive here on Earth. That means that there is a call for Avatars to bring in the Age of Kali Yuga, and for males and females to bring in the Divine Feminine into harmony again with the Divine Masculine. This movie is a great example of hearing that call, and a great depiction of how things can look.
Living Sustainably
Let's face it. Blowing shit up isn't living sustainably. But just like when Hindus talk about bad karma, karma is not just the seen, as in "blowing shit up", but the unseen. It is the deeply embedded patterns and beliefs in our culture we have to look at to change, not just the external results, and movies act like a "vote" for those changes.
Here's an example of our quest and need for sustainable living. In the 1940's, 1 in 16 died of Cancer. Now it is 1 in 2. We are polluting our water, so that the change is unsustainable. Every week the runoff from automobiles into the ocean exceeds the spill of the Exxon Valdez. The trees we cut down are our source of oxygen, yet we seem to behave like we don't need oxygen, and that we don't care about trees. We only have 2% of the forest in the US that we used to.
There is so much we need to change, to live sustainably, but it starts with our deep seated beliefs.
"I See You"
When the Indigenous cause an animal to die, either through a hunt or an accident, they say "I See You". When the two important people are in love in the movie they say "I See You", and it becomes kind of a mantra.
When Eastern Religion uses the phrase "Namaste", they are saying "I see the light inside of you", in other words the light of Oneness. There are native cultures that believe you can see a light in another's eyes as the light that connects us with everyone.
"I See You" in the movie is a phrase that sees animals and human types as Sacred.
Avatar not only gives us a fresh look at how we see Nature, but how we see each other as well.
Conclusion
There is so much we need to change in this world, but why focus on the bad? Go to the movies! Buy yourself some popcorn. Millions will see this movie, and a few of you may be Avatars. ;)
