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Reader comments on Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring
Response to this comment:
the symbolic
The animals in the movie represent aspects of the human mind, and so the dog is the naive faithfulness of a young child, the rooster is the cocky curiosity of a young man, the cat is the ferocity and courage of a grown up man, and the snake is the wisdom of the enlightened person.
The text that the old master paints on the floor of the temple is the heart sutra ('form is emptiness and emptiness is form'), and the act of painting it with the tail of the cat symbolises the taming of the tiger just as the man wild with anger is being tamed inside the temple.
The old master doesnt 'commit suicide' but simply floats away into enlightenment, discarding the old frail body on the way. The person who before me commented that such things dont happen in buddhism must be completely ignorant of buddhism's history, and especially of the symbolism of the chan/zen sect which dominates in south korea and japan. Same goes for the old master beating the man when he painted the character for 'shut' on his eyes, ears and mouth - the young man attempted to shut himself from the world with his anger eating him from inside - and that was the real suicide attempt! The old man beat him for that, and later tamed and healed the anger which as the buddha teaches is the all consuming fire of attachment.
Also the old master was not practicing 'magic', but simply using his enormous chi to pull the boat. It is correct that the Buddha emphasised the futility of magic and showmanship of special powers, yet he never rejected the existence of such powers, his point was that these powers are a side effect of spiritual attainment and not the goal of it! And as you can see the master uses his chi not to showcase his powers but to subtly alter the perception of others (as with throwing the stone at the can at which the policemen were shooting)...and from time to time to help himself with the boat.
Also it is not true that Buddhists dont pray - every Buddhist prays, even more so the Amitabha Buddha sect which is dominant in Japan. The act of prayer though does not serve the role of catholic prayer for example, but is rather the equivalent of paying respect , or making a mandhala of one's heart...
Finally, the statue that Kim Ki Duk carries all the way to the top of the mountain is that of Kuan Yin, the Boddhisatwa of Eternal Compassion. While carrying it to the top and pulling the stone, the mature monk learns the lesson of compassion for others and leaves the stone burdening his heart at the feet of Kuan Yin.
I hope this clarifies some parts of themovie.
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Comment index:
all from Erik, Aug 11, 2005
» Re: the symbolic « from sean lee, Jan 16, 2008
all from Erik, Aug 11, 2005
» Re: the symbolic « from sean lee, Jan 16, 2008
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