23 Oct 2007 —
Question
Q13: Watching movies?
Question 13:
“Why do we watch movies with excitement, even though we know it is just acting?”
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Question 13:
“Why do we watch movies with excitement, even though we know it is just acting?”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
forgetting the truth… that nothing exists
could relate to real life situations or one’s dreams, ideas… the list goes on…….
Probably we have a identification in the roles of the actors. We choose an actor and we can think that we’re simliar to him. Or we can think: “I would be like him”.
My mind will do whatever it takes to convince itself that all of that maya is important and there is no need to sit silently, be present, be loving with others, and deeply question who is behind these eyes. My mind runs from distraction to distraction, whether it is a book, a movie, a website, the ads on the bus, or tasty food!
Watching movies for me is because of the suspense associated with it. If I watch the same movie once again it is because of the resemblence of the story to my own experiences in life.
Because we like to Dream.
Movies are nothing but someones Dream. He / She Dreams of things He / She would Like to happen or just imagines it. when we watch a Movie, we Live in it as if we are in a Dream.
Because I am SLEEPING, I don’t know whether i am Dreaming or Watching a Movie.
I am fond of watching movies from the childhood and still find time to watch movies. May be, it’s a common phenomena of normal or abnormal human beings; not being able to BE IN THE PRESENT – as Amma says. So we need to review all issues to realize the fact. This may be the reason why movies or visual media play a vital role in our life.
When we seriously watch a movie we ‘live it’ as though it is real, and forget that it is a movie or a drama; that is why we get excited. Similarly our life is also a movie, in which unnecessarily we get excited forgetting that all this AMMAs Maya.
I read all the above comments. It seems that we really want and ‘need’ to believe that the movies are real!!
Maybe we should rather practice being a witness to the maya that the movies create, and use this practice to also be more of a witness to the biggest maya that we are drawn into: the Maya-perception of our outside ‘life’ and the inner emotions that we link to it…
I think our minds tend to adopt the characters on the screen as ourselves.. The emotions are then automatically drained to us while watching… I dont know whether there is no excitement while watching a movie for a person who has attained perfect control over his mind…
I don’t watch too many movies anymore, except the ones that are spiritual like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Sri Krishna serials, Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, etc. They are based on the scriptures and therefore spiritual and help to learn the teachings of the Masters, and entertaining at the same time. They help increase my remembrance of Amma, as I see Amma the complete embodiment of selflessness, compassion and divinity.
Ha! Ha! Ha! This is really a funny question.
Just like when I was a school going child, I was totally ignorant of the action-setup of movies, I used to think, eveything was real, including the marriages, blabla fights, death and cremation etc… Sometimes, I used to even shed tears at some moments.
Now, it’s well-known. It’s sheer bunch of nonsense. I don’t even think of it……………..
Movies are a reflection of peoples creativity – it’s a story told in a way that influences people… and if we are able to relate to that story, it strikes a chord with our own thoughts, feelings, emotions and imagination… and that very feeling excites us… because it was something we could relate to in our real lives or in our dreams…
The only reason we watch movies or anything like this which is really wasting time, is because we are afraid of the True Self.
Doing my Sadhana, my Dharma is the Only thing to do all the time.
There is no reason whatsoever for wasting one’s time, because Blessed Amma has said far too many times in Satsang, “Children!!, Time is short, stop wasting time!”
Since our minds want to be engaged continually in external pleasures, movies provide it an outlet to get caught up for a little while in a dream where it can live the story enacted by the actors in the movie. I have noticed that if I have an interesting book or another more interesting external pleasure, then seeing a movie gets a lower priority. So I find it’s just a pursuit of the mind to engage in some form of pleasure where it is getting to do what it is comfortable with.
I get caught up in the movies. One particular set of movies completely caught me up in it. At the death scenes in the past two movies, even though I know the plot from the books, I cry! I think it’s also because there are people playing the parts, and you identify with them because they are human.
Perhaps entrancement into illusion. Much like the dream state. ‘Once i dreamt that i was being dreamt in the mind of a huge snake, and when i woke up i jumped out’. After that the the Silent Witness, was present in dreaming. Now when dreaming there is the Silent Witness, the dreamer, and the one that gives an analysis of the dream as it is happening. This question helps me to see that movies and waking life is like dreaming and to also reside with the Silent Witness in ‘waking life’. Thanks
It is a leela of the mind, exemplifying how much the ‘mind’ is in control of our ‘show’, inner and outer. At best, some movies can provide genuine upliftment. (to that end, I recommend ‘Amazing Grace’ which will be out on DVD mid Nov.) Was anyone else present for Amma’s satsang when She asked, “What is the cause of all the problems in the world?”
After a variety of suggestions from those present, such as the greedy capitalists, President Bush, etc., Amma revealed the answer to be ‘the mind’, which is why we need to have a firm grip on the reins of our mind. Until we’re realized, there will always be a ‘dream’ and a mind.
its mainly to satisfy our pleasure seeking mind..to see something which we can identify with but can’t do in real life…
You know, thats a very good question. We live in this illusion, and in this illusion there is nothing better to do. It is a dreamy state to entertain us. Because we are humans and the people who are acting are humans, it feels so real and a lot of them can be real life situations that can happen to you. In that case, we feel watching it helps us relate to our lives.
May be because we lack the proper control of our mind and fail to be a witness….
probably because we wish that our lives would be so well defined from moment to moment as with the characters in the films. And that complex problems or situations would eventually work out flawlessly. But generally, I used to watch mostly as a distraction or way to kill time. I have to take a step back and realize that movies are just fantasies and not any way related to life.
Why does AMMA enjoy the “leela” with so much excitement? I feel we enjoy movies because we are detached from what happens in the movie. Consequently, does it mean that the more detached we are, the more we tend to enjoy it??? I confess that it is something too difficult for me. Anyway, namah shivaya.
Nothing but identification with one or more characters in that movie as we are living in the identification with our body.ie sub folder named as “character identification” of the main folder named “body identification”.
i think Live in dreaming or sleeping
From Swami Ramakrishnananda’s book, The Secret of Inner Peace, p. 56-57:
“One can better understand the concept of focusing on the Self through the metaphor of watching a movie. After watching a movie, we may feel elated, sad, bored, energized or inspired according to the events of the movie. But in reality, we didn’t do anything. All the action was simply on the screen. The change in our mind was brought about not by action itself, but by our identification with the actions of the characters in the movie. Like this, our True Self is not affected by anything that happens in this world. It simply witnesses all that takes place. In actuality, we are not engaged in action. Our True Self is like the screen, rather than the characters in the movie. However, because we are identified with the body, mind and intellect, we feel elated in success and depressed in failure.
If we want to avoid being influenced by the movie, we have to constantly identify with – or pin our awareness on – the screen. Likewise, if we learn to identify with the Atman, rather than the body, mind and intellect, we can overcome the ups and downs of life. This change in focus – from the apparent to the Real, the temporary to the Eternal – is the secret to inner peace.”
Probably to find and live the excitement that we lack in our own lives. That’s why its called entertainment, because it gives us something beyond our mundane lives, a succor, if you will. Now thats truly ridiculous come to think of it, but sometimes movies do provide me with the adventure and things i am missing terribly in my own life. Sometimes also you want to be away from your own life and watch somebody else’s life unfold albeit movies have exaggerated characters. Therefore, in a way it helps me forget about me and my problems. In that way its also major stress-relief and/or escapism.
My perception is that while it is true that identifying with the characters of the film is ultimately “incorrect” — as instead, if we are identified with the Self, then we are only observing such actions with detachment — there is also meaning in that identification with the film.
The intensity of the identification may reflect our vasanas. Therefore, it may offer insight into those things that could lead gradually to self-knowledge (or the opposite, in most cases).
How we find ourselves instinctively responding to films may help us understand what is hidden in the mind. It can also, however, lead to new vasanas or the strengthening of existing vasanas.
I think we should view films with discrimination, that is, analyze our reactions and be selective about what we “put in our mind”. I think you should ask yourself, “Why do I enjoy it? What do my feelings about this film say about me?” and accept its meaning for you, but then try to move beyond that if you like.
because its ‘real’ for us when we see it. we become identified with the here or heroine.
degree of excitement depends on degree of identification with some characters in the movie
Watching films is a way of escaping one’s everyday life, as is acting… unless we’re talking about documenraties. Whatever it may be, it is possible to learn a variety of things from them, usually.
timepass;funny..enjoyment of senses
even though i know its just acting i watch movies bcoz i want to know the story the scriptwriter told and the way director showed that story…its bcoz i want to get happiness from external world…
i have no habit of seeing Movies.
Escape from reality. Stopped watching them after experiencing Amma
very good question
I used to watch rarely to kill time.Being Amma’s child i love to see amma’s DVD only.
mind and ego watch them,
are circuits and vasana.
Most time I listen heart and don’t watch.