Religious Discourses Protrayed in Film

Salvation In the feature film ‘Spirited Away’ Shinto beliefs are portrayed throughout scenes in the movie. The film shows that ‘salvation’ is made through the connection with the Kamis (spirits). In the scene where Chihiro recalls a childhood memory about a near death experience, of drowning, while trying to retrieve a lost shoe, in this scene Chihiro informs Haku of this event and realizes that Haku’s true name is Kohaku River, and he was the spirit of the river that washed Chihiro to shore to save her from a near death experience.
Shinto is the only major world religion where it is not necessary for followers to express and/or agree with a governing opinion of life after death. However the main belief is that you will become a Ujiko (family spirit). To achieve success in life it is vital to have the favour of the spirits and to give them respect. Once a person develops respect for Ujikos and other important Kamis they will receive favour, like Chihiro received the favour of Kohaku River and therefore it saved her from death. This Shinto belief is or could be referred to as a realization, rather than salvation. Once at this realization of the Kamis one can start to respect, and therefore, receive the favor of their family Kamis or natural eddies Kami. This realization is seen as a form of salvation with the word salvation literally meaning “the saving from evil’’.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Likewise with the movie ‘The Matrix’, Buddhist ideology of enlightenment is portrayed to be a door that one can be shown, where it is (or how to receive) but no one, apart from the individual, can open the door for another. In a scene when Neo is trialing his new fighting skills against Morpheus, Morpheus explains he is trying to free Neo’s mind by showing him a door, but he will have to chose to walk through it or not.
Like the Shinto’s realization of the Kami, the Buddhist must come to the point when they have received enough information about how to eliminate suffering, by ridding themselves of desire. One can be shown where to look for the door of enlightenment and ultimately Nirvana but they must chose to walk in the path of the Four Noble Truths to build up enough good karma to achieve this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Role of Supernatural In the scene when Chihiro first encounters the Kamis of the bath house, she finds that her parent’s greed has turned them into pigs, which shows a Shinto relationship between the Chaos in the Cosmos. .

The world, in Shinto, is a place where Kamis co-exist with everyday life, which may be in an obscure way or, like in the movie, a very clear way as portrayed in the story about the Kohaku River, Kami have the ultimate choice in considering if Chihiro should live or die. Kami have power to decided life or death and therefore are seen to be a higher supreme class above humans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The seen in ‘The Matrix’ where Neo is hurt in both the matrix and the real world, shows the concept of Buddhism that the Chaos and Cosmos are connected but don’t directly co-exist. Neo tries to free his mind and make a jump from the top floor of a high rise building to another; he does not make the jump and experiences pain in the matrix and also in the real world.

Previous lives are connected to each other with the mind being transferred from life to life. This cycle of Samara makes all the previous lives, as well as the spiritual life, directly affect each other. The mind is the key to Enlightenment and the mind can be affected by all the realms and be injured by previous karma. The supernatural exists within the natural but only through people’s minds, which creates unnecessary suffering, therefore must be controlled to end suffering.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Obtaining a Righteous Life ‘Spirited Away’ most dominantly portrays the path of obtaining a righteous life in the scene where Chihiro is offered anything she wants, including gold, by the Kami No Face but Chihiro refuses not putting herself above the need of rescuing Haku.

Chihiro does not get eaten by No Face because she does not judge the value of her life by her possessions or wealth, but rather by how many people she has affected. In the most ancient writings of Shinto, the story of the creation of Japan, even Kamis make mistakes and need help. Chihiro shows No Face an experience that life as a hated evil Spirit never shown to him, he is shown a person who does not crave ‘worldly things’ but craves to create the most overall happiness for all. Chihiro even shares a magical pill that she got for cleaning the dirty river spirit. She was keeping this for her parents, to change them back into humans from pigs, but when the need arose she sacrificed the pill (and the only known chance to save her parents), for a better life for No Face. This sacrificial love is a true Righteous Life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Buddhist concept of living a Righteous life is expressed in ‘The Matrix’, when Neo is first taken by the ‘freed people’ to have a chance to learn about the matrix. He is in a car traveling down the road when he has a gun pointed to his head and Trinity tells him ‘Please Neo you have to trust me …. You’ve been down there, you know that road’

This scene connotes that all people know where a decision will led them, they have been down it in previous lives, it is ultimately their choice to repeat the same mistakes, as they did in previous lives, in the cycle of Samara or work towards a better more Righteous life by heading towards enlightenment and ultimately Nirvana.

Finding My Values

This is my last post and I will be talking about my values. I have a strong belief in fairness. I believe that everyone should be seen on the same level. I also believe that no matter what you have done in the past that you should still be able to have a chance to live your life to the fullest. I am a Pentecostal Christian which means that I have a strong belief in ethics. Ethics means that even if you can get away with it with doing the wrong thing that you should still be faithful and do what's right. In my faith I believe that no matter where you are and no matter what you have done that you always can have a chance to make a connection with god. I normally find these connections by Fellowshipping(with other Christians), debating (over religious issues), listening to my iPod (to praise and worship songs) and by praying. Whenever I pray, I can always find a sense of sacred space. The bible tells me that no matter how insignificant my prayers might seem that God will still listen. I pray for a large amount of time everyday; sometimes out loud and sometimes in my head. I sometimes pray in classes, at school, on the bus, morning and night and even when i play sport. To me prayer would be my most important value in my life because for any relationship to work it must have communication and I believe that a relationship with God is the same. I like to think of my spiritual walk in 3 different levels;
1. Mind
2. Body
3. Soul
When I pray I complete all these levels. I use; my mind to think about what I’m going to say, my body to speak what I’m praying and my soul to get deep and personal throughout my prayers. Whenever I pray I know that god is listening and is wherever i am. I always get a sense of sacred space during prayer because where god is there also is his sacredness and holiness.

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rejesus.co.uk/images/pdf/sacredspace.pdf

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Scared and profane in the media

In today’s media the terms sacred and profane aren’t commonly used but if we look closely at nearly every article in the newspaper or that is on the news you can always seem to find these aspects expressed. In the article 'Father Peter Kennedy in defiant mass at St Mary's' (http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25090091-3102,00.html) the usually idea of sacred and profane is challenged. Most would believe that whatever the church decides is sacred but in this article it is debated. The church dismissed Kennedy of performing priestly duties but he still has many followers who are willing to fight alongside him. With Kennedy drawing 1500 faithful followers to his support this must mean that what he preaches must be accepted amongst his congregation and the overall wider community. If the Catholic Church is really meant to be all about community it could be argued that the Archbishop Bathersby is the one who is harming ecclesiastical communion by making unnecessary tension among those of the church. If one man has brought together hundreds of followers then how is it possible that he is breaking the sense of communion it would seem that he is bring the opposite a sense of communion rather than harming it. I do not know the full sense of what Father Kennedy did, therefore I am not saying that this decision to dismiss him was wrong but the wording on his dismal papers (http://media01.couriermail.com.au/multimedia/2009/02/090219_stmarys/decree.pdf) stating that he has harmed ecclesiastical communion cannot be fully justify. The people of St Mary's deserve a legitimate answer from the leaders of the church. If this answer is not received the people of the church would have reason to believe that there is profanity and not justice throughout the Catholic Church leadership.

Another article in the media that talks about the Sacred and Profane is 'Italy crucifix row teacher barred' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7897802.stm)In this article a teacher has been suspended for removing a crucifix from his classroom. In Italy is the custom to display a crucifix in every building but with judges refusing to enter courts with a crucifix displayed. This gives fear that this tradition may not be a tradition for much longer. I believe that there is a sense of sacredness where religions can co-exist and show the love of their god to all and that profanity is where religions fight amongst themselves not showing any qualities that they want to be associated with. It is an outcry to think that a judge would refuse to enter a court room that has a crucifix in it and that a teacher would even go to the extent of removing one. Without a faith in these religions these symbols mean nothing which is just the same as having a statue or any other decoration. A crucifix represents a valuable story but all symbols are profane they only can become sacred if in your state of mind that you associate with the heavens (Chaos). Therefore it is right to conclude that a symbol only has the value (or sacredness) that you put on it, therefore if you don’t put value in it then what’s the need to refuse to enter a room with a decoration in it.

Coventry Cathedral

Before taking a virtual tour of the Coventry Cathedral I thought it was unworthy to be called a holy site. I thought this because it was built to boost the moral of the English during World War 2 that I couldn’t be holy. To my suborned mind I could not call it worthy to be a holy place because I thought that for something to be holy that it needs to be built for God and for no other reason. Therefore I regraded Coventry Cathedral as a famous religious building but not a sacred place.

My opinion of this building has changed since watching the below YouTube clip by being in awe of all the little detail in the decorations of the building. I was also amazed by all the things that could be debated over being in a sacred place all had definitions of how it represents Gods love and compassion.

At Coventry Cathedral there are many 'Holy icons' such as a stone from Bethlehem and statues of the saints. They are many crosses throughout the cathedral that do not allow the mind to wonder of the point of Christianity. This keeps the attention focused on God which is a sign of what the cathedral is used for today.

The Cathedral is tall so you look up to see the roofs of the cathedral which can be seen as a sign of focusing our attention on heaven above.

My opinion on this building has differently changed and I have come to the conclusion that the Coventry Cathedral is indeed a sacred place.

The Sacred and Profane in Christian Worship

To many Worship DVD’s are seen as a performance with the musicians seeking praise and the congregation giving praises to skills of earthly figures rather than god.



I was trying to deconstruct the clip by separating the key icons/elements into sacred and profane. When I viewed the clip I could find many profane things; like the expensive instruments and gear. But these are used to bring glory to God and because this connects between the scared and the profane I came to the conclusion that anything profane can become sacred if used in a way to glorify the chaos.

In this clip there is an Axis’s Mundi with the choir and the seating, with everything starting from the floor to the roof of the building. This is seen as an Axis Mundi by connecting the heaven and the earth. To me this gives the impression that this choir is reaching up past the building and even after it leaves the building that there is an angelic choir building all the way up into the centre of the chaos.

This clip could be debated to be all made up but the feeling I get when I listen to a clip like this is so amazing. I can agree with every word said. In this clip there is a close up of a dark skinned lady who is so deeply into worship which could be seen as racist by doing a close up on someone just because they are different. Too me personally I believe this is trying to show unity through the church and that ALL people of ALL nationality’s can come together as one to worship the creator.

For the stated reasons I believe that worship DVD’s and clips are great in exhibiting the ideas of the scared and the holy.

Sacred Space in my Life and in the Wider World

I can indentify sacred space in my life in any area/place that I can pray, read, praise, fellowship, share, worship and respond to God. For me this can be at any place at anytime. The two most successful ways that II have found in my life to connect with the choas are as follows;

1. On camping trips (especially ones with church) where I can stay up and talk to other Christians. During this time we debate our faith, pray and overall glorify God for what he has done in our lives and where we need help. I believe that where I find the best connection is in this type of setting. This is because I can get into a deep and meaningfully conversation with someone, at a time that we won’t be stupid and play around but are sober and have open hearts. When I have these encounters I can really feel the presence of God over me and I feel enlightened by His Grace. In these situations I am normally with a small group of people which is my preference over being by myself or with a big group. So both my spiritual and personal preferences are met.

2. On my bus trip every afternoon I usually listen to worship and praise songs and sing them in my head. At one point in the trip we climb up a small hill, from this point I can see a suburb with heaps of houses, mountains, bushland, national parks, sand dunes and the beach. This is a point where all the natural and human wonders all come together and are represented as living together is harmony. It always seems to happen that as I have this 5 second sight that my I-Pod is deep into a worship/praise song and for a moment I have a really deep sense of awe towards God and His creation and feel like nothing else in the world matters.

In the wider world different religions find sacred space in meeting places (like churches and temples), relics (ancient artefacts of the forefathers), and places where special events took place (like Mecca for Muslims where Mohammed was born).

NOTE

As seen above I do not believe that there is a difference between the sacred and the profane but for the purpose of this blog it is necessary that I draw a obvious conclusion between the two. So in the following post I may blog using words that I don’t necessarily agree with or that don’t agree with my first post. Therefore I am using the word sacred to describe more holy places/sites (were a religious group gathers and/or where groups/individuals can make a divine connection with the chaos) and profane to describe everything that does not fit into the sacred category.