I'm especially partial to Serious Men (2009). After achieving great success, the Coen brothers decided to go on their own way and embark on an ambitious journey - to explore God. They knew the movie was a "box-office suicide," but they thought Jews should watch it and think about it.
The film conveys an indiscernible signal with an indistinguishable story.
In an attempt to discern
fortune, I read Mainstream of Jewish Mysticism by GG Sholem. Reading this book is not to better understand Jews or Israel, to understand the conflict of civilizations - but to explore the better and deeper wisdom in the guidance of religion to our lives - Buddha's Zen machine, like God's revelation, often cannot be directly conveyed. It requires specific feelings.
Language can become unstable in the realm of epiphany beyond its own boundaries. For example, the Buddhist definition of "truth" (that is, "emptiness" in "form is emptiness") is a difficult concept to express for the comprehension. If the enlightened person wants to convey this message, he needs to use the "Zen machine". It just so happens that when two religions are brought together, a similar concept gains greater clarity - making language and writing stable.
For example, for the understanding of truth, Judaism has a concept called en-sof, Greek called kenosis, and Buddhist nirvana is also very similar. In every culture, there are vague, hard-to-define definitions. But through the multilingual comparison of this platform, the concept has been structured, increasing its legitimacy and thus making its meaning more stable. Although the sages have great enthusiasm for higher wisdom in religion and hope to express it through language, they are still trapped in the limitation of language and it is difficult to pass on quickly. But we can make language relatively stable through discernment.
The theoretical basis for this is the postmodern philosophy of structuralism and deconstruction. In the multicultural comparison of language and text, the structure and signal are more clear, but it is extremely unstable.
summary of the story
In Minnesota in the 1960s, Larry was a physics teacher. In his class, he was telling "Schrödinger's cat" - the story of the cat is not important, the meaning comes from the fact that we use mathematics to transform an incomprehensible uncertainty into a to confirm. In Larry's words, "the cat is just a story, it doesn't matter". And when his wife is going to divorce him and marry Sy. Sy tells him tenderly, relax and don't be anxious. And Larry didn't know what kind of attitude and emotion he should use to face Sy and his wife. Should he be angry?
Larry also faces choices at work. His South Korean student wanted to bribe a failed course to get a scholarship. But Larry doesn't think there's room for accommodation here - morality is black and white. His constant pursuit of a tenure-track professorship also ran into problems on the jury. Someone has been writing anonymous letters reporting him for misbehavior, although friends of the committee say the committee won't accept it.
Larry's younger brother has social disabilities. In a mysterious move, the younger brother drew a Moleskin notebook in Hebrew, geometric patterns and numbers. The note allowed him to secure his winnings at the poker table and earned him two visits from the police.
The wife's cheating partner Sy and the protagonist were in a car accident at the same time, Larry was uninjured, but Sy died. One of Larry's problems seems to have been resolved - will his wife not divorce him? But with the cost of the divorce lawyer, the cost of the younger brother's lawsuit, the cost of the record from nowhere, the cost of living in the motel, the cost of the son's rite of passage, the amount of information overloaded Larry. Every day's bad luck throws Larry into a daze -- an absolute cycle of causality that has lost science.
In the end, Larry's son successfully sang the scriptures at the coming-of-age ceremony, and Larry's marriage also got signs of turning around because of Sy's death, and it was Sy who was apparently very good to Larry who wrote an anonymous letter to the jury. Overjoyed, Larry accommodated, revised grades for Korean students, and accepted bribes. But the doctor called and said to tell him about an important X-ray finding (serious illness). And Larry's son saw a tornado when he was at Hebrew school.
Zen machine
He visited rabbis (the Buddhist equivalent of guru) when he was trying to find meaning in the "great chaos". He wanted to know that all these chaotic voices were God's signals to him. What was the meaning?
The story of the young rabbi on the first visit: Please look at the parking lot. He might just be a parking lot. But if you change the angle, it may have a different aesthetic. The key is the angle. (Howard from The Big Bang Theory couldn't wrap up the chicken soup story.)
Second visit, the story of a middle-aged rabbi: A Jewish dentist was making a tooth model when he found a goy (non-Jewish "Help me, save me" is inscribed in Hebrew on his teeth. The dentist couldn't sleep at night, and the tea and rice were tasteless. He dug out all the patient's tooth models, but found no mysterious inscriptions, neither for himself nor his wife, nor for newcomers. He found goy and found that there were no more clues on the man. He converted the Hebrew inscriptions into numbers and used the numbers to make a call, driving to the supermarket where the phone was located late at night, before returning home disappointed. Finally, the dentist found a middle-aged rabbi.
"We don't know what God wants to say; but to help others, you can."
"How did the inscription get there?"
"Does it matter?" "What about
the goy?"
"Who cares about him?."
The dentist finally returned to his own life, happy to help others, a happier life, and a better relationship with his wife. He seemed to have gained a real knowledge, but he couldn't tell what kind of real knowledge it was. But life is better.
The third time to visit a respected old rabbi. The divorce lawyer thought he could give Larry the answer and relief. But the old rabbi has retired from the world, and has not seen Larry's visit behind closed doors. But after Larry's son's bar mitzvah, gave him his radio (American 60's story, this one should be a lot cooler than the iPod), the epiphany text that was supposed to teach, but slowly said a band of several member's name.
The young rabbi tried his best to explain the Zen machine but failed. The story of the middle-aged rabbi aroused the deep thinking of countless audiences, but it did not work for Larry, and the story of the old rabbi was full of performance art.
The dentist's inscription
Thomas Aquinas (medieval theologian, the greatest Catholic theologian, "Doctor of Angels", author of the Summa Theology, whose important contribution was the introduction of reason into theology) defines mysticism as "acquisitiveness through experience. knowledge of God") - "You shall taste the Lord's thoughts and know that he is good". In general religious history, this experience is called "mystical oneness with God."
Sholem argues that it might be wrong if we equate mysticism entirely with the personal experience of madness and maddening meditation. Mysticism as a historical phenomenon contains much more than the experience in which it originated. At the end of the day, all religions are based on mysticism.
The point of revealed religion is not to struggle with the authenticity of its historical stories (such as Noah's Ark, or the language of Cassandra), but to focus on finding a path to the heart. "A long time ago, the world was full of gods, and people could meet him every step of the way, and they could experience their existence without resorting to maddening. to restore some." The claims of Gnosticism (the collective name for many mystical sects that were popular throughout the eastern Mediterranean coast during the Roman Empire) provided the psychological basis for the "disappearance of gods," that is, belief in ghosts and spirits. , But everyone who has never seen ghosts and gods thinks this way more or less.
The maddening experience of mysticism is the encounter with the absolute being in the depths of one's own soul. In a sense, mysticism is the resurrection of myth. Apocalyptic myths, or mystical stories, can be unexpected, and achieve the effect of "only comprehensible, but inexpressible". The Zen machine that Buddhism pays attention to is the philosophy of "see through but not say through".
The dentist's inscription is what Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher, father of existentialism) called the Leap of Faith. When we judge the existence of God by direct experience, God does not exist. When we make a leap of faith, we discover the rationality of our faith. To tell it in simpler words, that is, from the top of the mountain, some meanings can be understood at a glance. American theological author Karen Armstrong describes the same thing: when we look at myths with scientific eyes, they become obscure and opaque; when we choose to integrate into them, we perceive their meaning, but we cannot use words lay bare.
The dentist's exploration of the mysterious meaning of the inscription is the pursuit of human beings, the mysterious experience of mysticism, "the mysterious unity of man and God". And what the dentist finally got was the epiphany of Zen. The mundane meaning of mysticism is also very aesthetic, you are attracted by the mystery, and finally you get the epiphany. Some are like what the sculptor said, you start to do A, and you accidentally do B, the accessory is C, and finally you make money on D.
In fact, there is a metaphor buried in the film. Larry is very clear that "Schrödinger's Cat" is the story that attracts everyone, and the real meaning lies in mathematics. The same goes for the dentist's story. The inscription is just a story, and its real meaning lies in "letting go". "Let it go" or math, which is more difficult?
Necessary Conditions for Understanding the Zen Machine
"I can't say more." "I have explained it to you myself." "This is only for those who are familiar with the secret wisdom." These are some expressions of Jewish mysticism. The following are some excerpts from "Hu Shi Said Buddha".
Zen machine: It is generally believed that the Zen machine is mysterious. In fact, the real Zen machine only gives you a hint. Because if you don’t say it, you will make people suspicious and ask people to think for themselves. Therefore, the Zen masters after Daoyi have come up with all kinds of strange methods, such as hitting, laughing, clapping, and touching the nose. , if the donkey's lips are not right with the horse's mouth. This method, called "Zen Ji", often contains a deep meaning, that is, to give a hint to a certain cause and condition, so that you can gradually become enlightened. Give a few examples.
First: Li Bo asked Zhichang, "What does a Tripitaka say?" Zhichang raised his fist and asked, "Is it still possible?" Li replied, "No." Zhichang said, "This Tso is big, and he doesn't even know his fists!"
Second: There was an old man who saw the sun's shadow through the window, and asked Master Weizheng: "Is the window the sun, and the sun is the window?" Weizheng said: "Elder! There are guests in your room, go back. Let's go!"
Third: The monk asked Zongyin: "What are the three treasures (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha)?" Zongyin replied: "He, wheat, and beans." The monk said, "Students can't." The master said: " The masses are pleased to uphold
it.” Fourth: Monk Yangshan asked Weishan: “What is the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the west?” Weishan pointed to the lantern and said, “Great lantern!”
Fifth: The monk asked Monk Balingjian: “The teaching of the Patriarch, is it true? Is the same or different?" Jian said: "Chicken goes up to the tree cold, duck goes down to the water." Monk Fayan said, "Baling can only understand half of the way, but the old monk doesn't. With the water moon in his hand, he can make flowers and fragrances full of clothes. Sixth: The
monk asked the monk Yunmen: "What is the talk of transcending the Buddha and the ancestors?" Yunmen replied: "Paste cake." A little hint.
Seventh: In "Serious Men", when everyone was full of expectations that the old rabbi's solo professor for Larry's son could bring answers to Larry's problems, the old rabbi named a member of the band. .
"Humans are story animals." We instinctively absorb stories and let them guide our lives. We also instinctively look for the contradictions in the story, so as to detach from the inertia of life, make new attempts, and obtain higher wisdom. That's what mysticism is all about, giving us inspiration to explore, experiment, be creative, and create a new and better life.
Hegel said, "The task of art is to reveal truth in the form of the senses". The Coen Brothers' "Serious Men" prepares us with some contradictions to ponder, thus one step closer to discovering epiphany and wisdom.
Reason Says "Naturally and Egg" to Religion
In the end, Larry also didn't gain the knowledge of a dentist, and thus no further understanding of the chaos of life. Larry's scientific abilities and moral grounds could not bring him joy. In the end, the teachings of several rabbis were still the same for him. "What you said doesn't answer my question. I still can't believe you."
Larry, though wise, was still ignorant. But with a strong Jewish tradition, he consciously sought the help of the rabbinical religion. For Larry, the mysterious Torah (the classics of Judaism) and the Kabbalah (the oral tradition of Judaism) does not ignore the simple side of life - the world is afraid of life and also afraid of death.
But to understand the Zen machine, or enlightenment, the guidance of the stories and art of the ancestors is only the first step, and you need to spend weeks or months thinking and debating painfully with yourself. After the painful debate, you still need to walk (the life experience in Zen, the so-called "Taoist goes down the mountain"), and truly turn these true knowledge into life-after these three steps, your wisdom will truly become yours. The so-called "after the epiphany, is the true cultivation".
I read a review written by a real-life American rabbi. He thought the Coen brothers were nothing. Larry is arrogant with reason. Because in the film, in the end, Larry didn't get the true knowledge as he hoped.
I think the Coen brothers give both sides of things. A discordant voice, a contradiction, is more detached. When a person discovers "ran and eggs", his deep memory of what "ran" looks like is the first step to gain meaning. If Larry really had an epiphany in the end, and the Coen brothers "broke it up", then the movie would be meaningless.
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