Crazy Wisdom - THIS Buddhist Film Festival

Very perspective and mind provoking especially to those that deem themselves righteous. haha! Its a biography about the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. According to the synposis , he is called the greatest spiritual leader as well as the bad boy of buddhism. I am sure he can't be bothered over this two title.

I would not repeat the content of the film but just my own after-thoughts. He drinks, smoke, and have a wife. People see it as Rinpoche trying to humble himself to get close to his western students. Some might just heuristically labels him as monk gone astray with full of self-justification. I see him as a living Bodhisattva. To me, I feel that he is trying to remind others not to get fixed to conventions in all his intention or this is just how liberating is for a mind of a enlightened being.

There is no mention that he goes any ways to correct someone but rather pointing out that their habits (be it good or bad) are not fixed but just another phenomena of impermanence. People who are not successful in changing their bad old habits are due to seeing their old ways hard to change. So Rinpoche does not resort to long brainwashing sermons to teach the hippies.

To see his practice upon reflection of Buddhism practice, we are always easy victims of our grasping mind. Very often, once we gain a new concept that breaks our old ways, this new concept is the new attachment. We are just like walking on quicksand. Going full force to drag one leg out resulting in sinking of another leg. Buddha is his teachings, his main ideology is change, impermanence as well as non-attachment. And so, should we get ourselves fixated to certain rituals or practice. I personally don't see it as alignment to the path. Not to say the rituals or practice are wrong but seek the true meaning of the practice after shelling away the forms is more important.

"This world can not be saved by religion alone" as mentioned by Rinpoche can be translated as "This world can not be saved by Buddhism alone" if I boldly dares to quote him. When we are fixed to the notion of even  Buddhism, we risk evoking our 'self-ego' as well as those that agrees and don't agrees with you. This world doesn't need another title or status to divide the world more. We seek to be a liberating Buddhist and not a 'Attached Buddhist'.

Buddhism is about compassion and kindness. And its not a patented characteristic of Buddhism. As mentioned in the Sutra, Buddha land has no distinction and that could only be done by smashing down the walls of religion and acknowledging that everyone of us seeks peace and are fundamentally the same. Only than can Samsara gets transformed.

So why are we a Buddhist? Is it by what and how we do our practice?

http://thisfilmfest.com/crazy-wisdom/