Like many others, I'm a big fan of Lost. Unfortunately my wife has gotten into it, too, which means I have to translate the difficult international accents for her, since the show seems to be tailor-made to torture Japanese ESL learners. In a recent episode, the character Jack had to give something of his father's to another character in order to accomplish a goal, and this made my wife observe, "Wow, this is just like Buddhism." (In this case the idea is katami, possessions of a person who has died which are distributed to his friends later.) Yes, the producers of Lost do seem to enjoy adding "pop Buddhist" themes to the story, such as the Dharma Initiative, the mysterious organization doing experiments on the island, which J-List readers will recognize as Daruma, the famous famous red statues that represent the Buddhist monk who meditated for so long that his arms and legs atrophied and disappeared. Then there's the computer with a button that must be pushed every 108 minutes to keep the world from ending. The number 108 is quite important in Buddhism, representing the 108 sins that a person must overcome in order to reach Nirvana, and on New Year's Eve the temple bells are rung 108 times. Interesting tidbit: in India, the number you call when you have an emergency is...108!
The producers of Lost are fond of adding Buddhist themes to the show.
12 comments:
My best Photoshop work ever! Muhahaha!
nice one, Peter.
While J-list readers might be tempted to recognize "dharma" as "Daruma" (or vice versa) ... they'd be wrong. "Daruma" is in fact the Japanese rendering Bodhidharma, the founder of Dhyana/Chan/Zen Buddhism. Dharma, on the other hand, is an concept used across most Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, meaning "true understanding of reality".
Just so's y'knows.
Yes, I did a lot of reading on that, the word is older than the individual who inspired the Daruma dolls (and who, it seems, invented Kung Fu?). Still, the perception is there, since I've not met a Japanese person who didn't live in a Buddhist temple who could knew anything about their own religeons. Most people actually think the Daruma dolls are related to Shinto rather than Buddhism, since they're an icon of New Year's
What? You're only on that episode? We already got the season finale in the states. It's good. If I say anything aboot it to you now, it will ruin the rest of the season.
Oh, I've seen all through season 5. Just didn't want to spoil it for anyone.
I have to translate the accents for my ESL-learning Japanese boyfriend, too. :P
How are you able to watch LOST in Japan? I'll be in Japan during the last season of LOST, and I'm determined not to miss it!
Hmm, yes, how am I able to watch Lost in Japan. Well, the Internet is multi-faceted place, and there's always a way to get stuff, steamed or otherwise.
But in what way...? Unless you don't intend to go past being vague.... I know the streaming from ABC.com is blocked outside of the US. Do you download torrents? Help a Lost fan out....
Yes, it's kind of hard not to torrent some when you live in Japan. I mean, I buy a ton of DVDs and Blu-Ray, but to be locked out of something just because ABC wants to try to control something that can't be controlled, it's difficult.
A bit late on this, but anyway. Also, just so's y'knows:
The legend of Bodhidharma inventing kung fu or bringing it to China has been pretty roundly debunked. There's plenty of evidence that kung fu was being practiced in China in a variety of forms, including by the founders of the Shaolin Temple, well before Bodhidharma ever made it to China.
And clearly meditating so long that ones legs atrophied and fell off would interfere with one's kung-fu abilities.
The widespread idea that Bodhidharma invented kung fu is one of those things mainly propagated by a single element of fiction, in this case a bit of early-20th-century pulp. Much like many people believe a lot of untrue nonsense about Miyamoto Musashi due to the influence of Eiji Yoshikawa's novel. Or the idea that blood type influences personality.
Roger, I figured it was so convoluted it was probably legend, and treated it that way. So it's an early Urban Legend, I guess.
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