MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

I mentioned in passing the other day that Mac1 and I had attended the cinema to watch the film "Arrival". It left an impression.

Yes, it is science fiction, but do not automatically write it off for being so... hah! 'write it off' is a pun in the context of this story! If you know nothing about it, then reading the reviews and write-ups will not really help, beyond the simple facts of this being NOT an action flick, NOT a chic-flick. Neither is it a horror or supernatural flick. The science fiction backdrop is simply that - a canvas upon which to portray a concept... a concept which was instantly recognisable to the YAMster, because it is the very core of Sanskrit philosophy. There was even a reference to Sanskrit at one point, misleading and inaccurate, but not so bad as to fail in making a point.

It is a movie which works on many levels and you do not necessarily have to have a philosophical degree to appreciate it; simply a keen and enquiring mind open to possibilities.

Mac1 was challenged by it due to happenings within it which echoed her journey at the start of this year seeing the Maestro through her final days. We held hands firmly through those meaningful parts and she remained strong. I would have left with her if she had wanted to, but she was determined to see it through, believing that there would be some form of catharsis. Which there was.

As much as anything, the music is to be thanked for that. Haunting, exotic, unsettling, hypnotic.

The concept of the interlinking of language with image and time was what grabbed me, though. The basis of Sanskrit teaching is that every utterance ought to bring forth an image... and that only image can create the need for sound. By clinging to image, we set up the need to move to another image and this binds us to a linear existence, even when we are actually not in linear life at all. All this which we call 'world' emanated from that very first image which appeared within the Universal Consciousness and it uttered the ultimate sound... OOOOMMMMMM.

There is a verse in the vedas;

प्रजपति वै इदं  अग्र असित्    तस्य वाक् द्वितीय असित्     वाग-वै परमं ब्रह्म 

Prajapati vai idam agra asit   Tasya vak dvitiiya asit   Vag-vai paramam Brahma

"In the beginning was Prajapati, the Brahman with whom was the Word, and the Word was verily the Supreme Brahman."

Does this look familiar? It predates St John by several millennia, but the essence is not lost. Astro-Physicists too can recognise the reference. 

If you had not considered going to see this movie, perhaps there has been enough enthusiasm offered here to change your mind? It is thought-provoking and demands that the viewer pay attention. It does not dumb down. In terms of story I will not go so far as to say this was perfect; there are one or two loose ends hanging around. This is a movie, though, I recommend ... for above all this is a movie about Love in all its possibilities. No matter what your stance or understanding, the light of Love will touch you from the screen.