So what’s my news then? Well, I’m off to shoot a bunch of promo video’s for Thanyapura in Thailand this Friday and return to Australia in the third week of November. Yes indeedy that is 4 weeks in the tropical island that is Phuket. Poor me!

So what is this place? Well, Thanyapura is a large education and sports complex founded and funded by a philanthropic businessman. The premise is to bring education local and ex-pay children with a balance of mental and physcial training. There is also a world class sports center to which they hope to attract sporting teams from around the world to come to train. For instance, recently Thanyapura hosted the Canadian synchronized swimming team who are currently third in the world in their sport.

Here’s a little via the website:

Thanyapura comprises of three centres: Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club, Phuket International Academy Day School and Thanyapura Mind Centre. We offer a state of the art, sustainable facility which focuses on education, sports, arts and wellness for the enjoyment of the local Phuket community and for visitors from around the world. We are located in an area of natural beauty amidst the foothills of a national park on the eastern part of Phuket island, Thailand.

I came to know of Thanyapura through my friend B. Alan Wallace. Alan helps run the mind center where he teaches secular meditation leads retreats. There is some talk of the mind center becomes a place where scientists form around the world to go to study long term contemplatives.

For information about the school, sports or mind center’s go to the website there you can get all the info you’ll need.

Besides this news my “action plan” from the article on life, lessons, and the role of filmmakers in modernity is coming along nicely. I’m working on a short film and a feature too. Both are example of the ideas found in the aforementioned article. I hope to shoot the short early next year, and the feature is ongoing. I’ve had a couple of people put their hand up to help when the time is right.

So long with my foray into the world of a freelance director/shooter my plans are going along nicely. Exciting times!

Ok, here it is: be true to yourself. I know, I know…it’s cliche to even point out that it’s a cliche. So, perhaps a smarter way of saying this is, know who you are, know what you do best, and then do that!

I have made this point previously—most recently in the article the impact positive childhood memories can have on adulthood. I wrote that article as we often focus on the impact of bad memories, and I wanted to suggest that it might in fact be more effective for personal transformation to focus on the good memories, or at least point out the profound impact good memories can have on us in ways that we do not always recognise.

But what does it mean to “know who you are, know what you do best and then do that?”

I will explain this via my own experience. So, a little of the backstory to kick us off.

As many of you know before my Buddhist journey I was studying improvisational music at the Victorian College of the Arts here in Melbourne, Australia. In fact, when I first met the man who was to become my mentor—the Tibetan lama Geshe Loden—I was in the planning phase of  a performance piece that would combine music, dance and moving images—this would have been June/July 1995. The work itself was to be an hour long live performance that told the story of the migration of a pod of whales (without there being images of whales as this would be too obvious, I recall thinking).

Although I was studying music at the time (now that I think about it), even back then I was interested in telling stories with an empathetic theme. For I also remember that the sounds of the whales (to be played by different wind instruments) were really a metaphor for the cry of suffering. I imagined those deep sounds that whales make represented the collective groan of all beings. This all sounds rather pretentious now but back in the day I thought it was quite interesting.

I still remember the idea behind the combination of music, dance and images was to immerse the audience in the storytelling as much as possible but to leave enough space for an individual audience member to think for themselves (are you seeing a theme here?). By having the music minimalist in tone and the dance slow and smooth I felt this was possible. Suffice it to say, it was never performed (however, some kind of multi-media live thing is still something I would like to do someday).

Then in the first six months of my arts degree that I left the VCA and found myself in my own immersive experience—Buddhism (the exact details surrounding how I went from the VCA to living in a Buddhist monastery are book length, not blog length…so I apologize for the jump-cut here). I slept, ate, and dreamt about it. I read everything I could get my hands on and wasn’t all that happy when my teacher—Geshe Loden—had me learning about computers, working, and pulling weeds from the garden rather than what I wanted to do, which was to study Buddhist philosophy and integrate what I had learnt with meditation. It went like this for the next 13 years—wanting to do one thing and being told to do another.

However by 2007, and because of my love of philosophy I thought it might be a good idea to get a job in a university teaching. I felt that I could combine my vocation with employment. While I won’t go into the details of how this all took place again, it’s book length, not blog length, I have found academic philosophy far too dry and by early 2011 I was totally spent, totally burnt out! I think this is in part due to the fact that I am not a natural academic, and the nature of post-grad work in Australia at this time.

To be sure, I love philosophy. I love the process of thinking deeply about a topic or issue and how this relates to life. Perhaps this is the key to the level of burnout occurring in the post-grad community? That is, because academic philosophy tends to be disconnected from a framework that allows for the integration of that knowledge into daily life it is only those that are inclined to a professional academic lifestyle that tend to make it through the programme (perhaps that is the way it should be?).

So, philosophy as a profession?…not for me.

However, it does not follow from this that academia has something inherently wrong with it. No! It was just wrong for me. Moreover, there is a need for people to go and get Ph.D’s and help others by writing academic books, doing research and so on. Just look at the wonderful things that someone like Prof. Robert Thurman has been able to accomplish from within the Academy! Truly wonderful. Inspiring. But it is not a place that works for everyone and I found this out only after giving it a shot. This last point is important so I will repeat it.

Finding out what comes natural is often a case of finding out what does not come naturally, and this will only become clear when you go out and experience life. I do not mean some kind of hedonistic voyage into the unknown; I mean from within the worldview of transforming your mind and helping others whenever possible—everything from simply being a good friend, through to helping homeless people—find out what works for you by trying different things. Go out and experience different things. If you always wanted to do something, what’s stopping you?

This is what I meant by, know who you are, know what you do best and then do that! Of course, my Ph.D is not completely dead, and I will continue to write about philosophy and leverage the research methods I have learnt over the past three or four years to ground the stuff I make into the future. Its just that getting a job in a university is not the best way forward for me. This is the lesson I learnt.

So as I sit here writing this today I feel like I have come full-circle back to where I was circa-1995. But with a great deal more knowledge than the silly young boy pretending to make “art” and thinking he was sooo important!

I will finish this article off with a question. If you could time-lapse your life what story would it tell?

A Life — A Journey

If you are reading this via email be sure to click here to watch the video.

Make certain you use every moment of your life to benefit yourself and others. It might take out half a life time to know what it is that you should be doing. That’s fine. It’s all part of the process. But whatever happens, do not sit around thinking you should go and do something and yet not!

Find out what make you tick well, and do that . For there would be nothing more wonderful than to look back on your life and know that you have done everything you could to be of benefit to yourself and others. That’s a life well lived.

The piece came about because I was heading into town (Melbourne, Australia) and had to take public transport for a meeting. So I took my 60d and a lens—my 50mm 1,4 just in case something came up.

As I took the train to the meeting I listening to Hammock on my iPhone, and shooting whatever looked interesting as I went. There was no time to stop and think about each shot—just point and shoot. I hope you like the results?

if you are reading this via email, please click here is view the video.

I was planning to make this a narrative piece. I wanted to write something as a V.O., (voice over) and create something entirely different than what it ended up being. This would basically make the music a soundtrack to my piece. Moreover, I think Hammocks music has a narrative feel and so then it accrued to me that if I were to add dialogue this might change the intended meaning of the song. Or at least place a particular narrative into the head of the viewer/listener. So I refrain…for now.

Note: for those of you reading this via email, here is the link to the article on my website.

Lessons For Life

Much has been written on the subject of movies as todays moral compass ((By “morals” I do not mean right and wrong from a legal point of view…that would be the domain of ethics. Rather, I am talking about the do’s and dont’s that lead oneself and others to or away from genuine flourishing. )). So I will not bore you with my thoughts on the matter other than to say I agree.

As such, film is the medium by which many people learn life lessons.

Do you remember the scene from Apocalypto where the Mayan tribe gather around a camp-fire to listen to stories by an elder. The tribes people are having fun while listening—all the while learning about life. In a similar way, todays silver screen is yesterdays camp-fire! As such movies are todays fables. Film is therefore the medium through which we tell how to live a good life.

This is so for virtues such as courage, honesty, generosity can be found in movies. The benefits of being patient, of not taking yourself too seriously…yes, them too. Of love, friendship and loyalty. The stupidity of violence and so on, all of the things that go into the making of a good life are venerated in movies.

As an aside: this if true of film even more than Tv as often with TV we are not fully engaged. We go to the movies even if we watch them from the comfort of home. TV on the other hand can be something used to simply rest from a long day at work. Moreover, ad breaks, break the continuity of the narrative and as such distract the story-teller from his or her job. But this point is off-topic and so I will not expand on this idea here. I’m, sure you get my point though.

What I am trying to convince you of is the power of film as a rudder for life. Well maybe not the rudder but certainly some part of a ship that helps people navigate life. I like the idea of the rudder though because to some extent it is hidden. So just as a rudder helps guide the boat or ship without the captain being directly aware of it, movies have the potential to tell stories that guide people through life without us fully appreciating their function.

Overstating the Situation?

Now, someone might say, “what about the movie Transformers 3? What virtue is this movie teaching?” As I have not seen it I will withhold my opinion for now. But there’s no doubt, there are films made that have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In fact, certain genres only serve to increase dysfunctional narrative or worse (but this reinforces my overall point, which I will come to shortly).

However, as an example of the positive impact a movie can have on people let us turn to a movie I just got done watching, Good Will Hunting. While, I am sure most of you have seen this wonderful movie, if you have not, do yourself a favour and go see it. It is a beautiful story!  For those that think this was a simple love story perhaps you should go back for a second look!

While there is the love story embedded in the narrative that is not the real story. The real story is human potential. But the movie does not stand up and shout this, it shows us in an engaging and entertaining way.

There are other lessons in there too. For instance, GWH is also about not allowing yourself to become a victim of circumstances, and we have all being victims of life at times. Yes?!

Moreover, it is a film that shows us the potential of overcoming problems by simply being honest with ourselves, looking within for a solution, and then putting the solution into practice. This is only hinted at in the movie, but it is there.

The relationship between Sean (Robin Williams) and Will (Matt Damon) is gold. This relationship shows the importance of friends. Of being there for people regardless of our own situation.

All beings want happiness and do not want suffering—even Hollywood agrees with us.

So now we have the claim: films can be containers of life lessons, and we have an example of such a film.

However there are some who believe that movies are not the best place to present stories of inner conflict. Robert McKee is one such person (although I am sure there are many more who feel the same).

So while it seems that everyone likes to rag on Robert McKee almost like a sport. I guess he is an easy target because he seems so sure of himself, and in fact appears to enjoy the position. So, even though there is some truth to be found in his theories there are certain McKee tenets that I believe are just plain false.

For instance, in his screenwriting “how-to” book Story and in his many seminars (you can see an example of his style in an hour long interview here) Mr. McKee stated that there are basically three kinds of mediums for story—screenplays (movies), play writing (theater) and prose (books). I will let him explain:

And the principal differences between the three of them is the level of conflict that interests the writer of each of them.  And so, you have stories—they all tell a story—but stories involve characters in conflict with their social or physical world, in personal relationships with friends, family, lovers, and an inner conflict within their own natures between themselves, their subconscious mind, their body, their emotions, and so forth.  The novelist tends to be interested in inner conflicts; characters in conflict with their own contradictory natures, their own contradictory desires, their emotions.  Playwrights tend to be more interested in personal relationships, of family, friends, lovers—because the theater is a form for dialogue, primarily.  And talk is the way in which people in personal relationships work those relationships out for better or worse, right?  And so the power and the beauty of the theater is personal conflicts.

The power and beauty in film is the extra personal conflicts of characters in conflict with their physical world and their social world.  And so while all three media can tell complex stories because you can work with inner conflict, certainly, in a film, you can work with personal conflict naturally in a film, and in a novel, you can do all three, in a play you can do all three. But the strength of each of them tends to be at one of those three levels.  And so, if you’re trying to make a career choice as to what kind of writer should I be, you really need to ask another question; which level of conflict in life really interests me the most?  And then you would presumably move into that medium.  But I know a lot of writers whose real interest is not at the level of conflict that the medium in which they are writing is strongest in.  And so a lot of independent filmmakers, for example, are really interested in inner conflict.  And so they should be writing novels and not trying to make films of people staring into space, coming to big decisions in their lives, or whatever, it would bore people.

Movies of people staring into space are boring. I agree. And it is true that some art films are more about the people in art than the art in people. But it is an oversimplification to claim that because films must have a social-physical locus in order for them to be presented on screen this somehow rules out of possibility the sub-text focusing on an internal conflict. Was Good Will hunting boring? Yet the story is all about Will overcoming his fear of abandonment so that he can get on with the rest of his life. Was GWH an example of people staring into space? I think not. It was engaging, dare I say it entertaining, and yet educational.

McKee reminds me of certain academics I have met that believe what they do because they have thought about a given topic a little (and sometimes not even that much!). Or how science claims to have found a “truth” in their latest research. Besides the fact that science as a arbitrator of truth goes against the very nature of the scientific method—the falsifiability principal—such claims are often politically and economically motivated and for this reason should be seen within that context. This approach allows for scientific theories to do good in the world without us getting all hung up on them being “truths” at all. Much better for all concerned, don’t you think?

So it should be with story telling. That is, McKee’s general claims about filmmaking notwithstanding, it is true, for a film to engage it must play out in a physical and social environment. People do not live in vacuums and so we must see internal conflict, somehow! Staring into space does not cut it. But that does not discount internal conflict from being the story of the story. Good Will hunting is an example of such a film. Don’t you think?

McKee is no dummy so I’m not sure why he believes that those interested in writing about inner conflict should stick to writing novels. It does not make sense to me.

Narrative Film From a Buddhist POV

Anyway…to the point of this article: given the degree to which films hold our imagination, not to mention their place in Western culture, it seems to be important to tell stories from a dharma point of view. Now, what I do not mean is to make movies that simply champion Buddhism. That, in my opinion, would potentially drive people away! Or at least drive away those that need it the most.

I think this is true because some people will not listen to the message of a film if it is wrapped in Buddhist culture. Some will think it religion. Some not there religion. And because of this it could not possibly have anything valid to say. Even the word meditation, for some, evokes feelings of austere lifestyles where fun equals sin. It’s true, people do think such things…sadly, some of these people are even Buddhists. Silly, right!

However, making films about ordinary people, doing ordinary things and trying to make a fist of life by overcoming obstacles (something we all suffer from…me included) is a worthwhile project to my mind.

What I am talking about here are films with solutions to life that draw on Buddhist ideas and thinkers. Buddhism has always had something to say about human suffering so why not in the movies? I mean, there is an audience sitting there waiting to be entertained so why not give em something they can use in their daily life’s as well. Why not?!

Of course, there will always be films about Buddhism—both narrative and documentary. That’s great. But do not be mistaken, the people who go to see such films are already open enough to do so. While this is fantastic what about people who are not interested in such things? Why can’t they share in Buddhist wisdom? All we would need to do is be less attached to the outer appearance of Buddhism and present it in a manner that speaks to them, not at them! This can be done. No doubt.

I hope you see the distinction I wish to draw—films about Buddhism vs. films about personal, inter-personal and social conflict addressed from the point of view of Buddhist ideas and thinkers.

To make it even clearer, rather than a film about a young man who goes off to become a Buddhist, or a film about Buddhist monks playing soccer, just imagine Morgan Freeman quoting freely from Shantideva to explain the importance of self-confidence to a young man with personal issues.

Truth is, films about Buddhism are already being made. There are even film festivals dedicated to films about Buddhism. However, and perhaps I am wrong about this but, in my opinion (and this is always subject to change) many of these movies reinforce the wrong conception that Buddhism is something “people from over there” believe in. Or that you have to be born into a certain culture to have any chance of  gaining realizations. This way of thinking is utter nonsense.

More pointedly, other than a good story what purpose does a movie about a Western tulku not wishing to follow in his Tibetan fathers lineage serve? It is an interesting story no doubt, and I’m sure it was fun for the filmmakers, but other than this, how does it help ordinary people realize their own potential? To my mind it does not.

Films about Buddhism are often really films about culture or tradition, not Buddhism.

Am I being too harsh? Perhaps!

But I do believe it is because of this, because Buddhism is often presented in cultural wrappings, that many Westerners are still confused about how to integrate these ideas into their lives. Some reject it because its too Tibetan, or too Asian, or too religious, or too whatever. While others embrace it thinking that to be Buddhist is to wear some special piece of clothing or chant stuff in a foreign language. I ask you: what do clothes, hair styles, or singing stuff you do not understand have anything to do with transforming your mind?

To be fair, there was no other way to present Buddhism at first. But this is no longer the case. It is therefore up to us to carefully explicate Buddhist ideas and present them to a western audience in a manner that they can relate to without having to adopt someone else’s culture. This is not a new idea. And it is certainly not mine. Lama Yeshe, an extraordinary Tibetan teacher said as early as the mid 1970′s, Tibetan culture is not Buddhism. Buddhism is embedded in its culture, no doubt, and it has wonderful things that we Westerners could do with, but it is not Buddhism. Because of this fact it is absolutely possible to take the seeds of Buddhist thought and plant them in Western soil.

This is a delicate point to be sure—the meaning and function of culture, tradition, Buddhism, and how they interact is not an easy subject to grasp. It is perhaps a topic for another article.

Action Plan

In the tradition of placing an idea out into the world and seeing if it grows organically, here are some thoughts:

Actually before I do let me add some prefatory remarks: Yes, movies are difficult things to have made. Yet it is not totally impossible. And if you are like me and think that helping others see their own potential is important then why not make movies about this? After all, there are movies made about all kinds of useless rubbish. So why not make movies that help people rather than grind against the idea?

Moreover, if you believe something is possible, have the right people around you and necessary support, even big ideas such as these can happen.

One idea would be to form some kind of network group (writers, directors, producers, actors, etc.) to help produce mainstream films that are down to earth solutions to human problems from a Buddhist POV.

These movies would be focused on solutions to real-world human problems of ordinary people—not the promotion of a particular lifestyle. And this can be, nay, should be done without thinking we are somehow special. The Bodhisattvas of the past and the ones out in the world today do not think they are special. They just go about helping people overcome problems in various ways. Helping those in front of them by whatever means they can find to do so.

Using film as a platform to help others therefore appears useful, highly effective, possible, and worth working your butt off for. Don’t you think?

How do we make this happen? I have no clue! But perhaps someone, somewhere, does.

13th Beach a Postpositive is a little video I made while staying with family after returning home from a long Indian field trip for my Ph.D (I write about the circumstances of creating the video in more detail in the BTS section below).

For now, some prefatory remarks if I may. I am slightly reticent to say too much about the ideas to follow before you have a chance to watch the short-film. That being said, I would like to make a small comment about the use of the grammatical term “postpositive.” First, its important to know I am using this term as a bit of a play on words rather than in any traditionally correct grammatical fashion (I apologize to the English teachers in advance).

Second, as you probably know articles on blogs and websites are often called blog”posts” and the sub-text of this one is of course “positive.” This sounds awfully cheesy I know but I mean this in a rather different manner than you might first imagine. For more accurately a postpositive is an adjective that modifies its proceeding word. As one dictionary states: Postpositive: (of a word) placed after or as a suffix on the word that it relates to, and this is important to understand for what will come. For now, if you can, please watch the video (with headphones) before reading the article (although it is not critical to the ideas below that you watch it at all).

Note: if you are reading this via email click here to watch the video.

Some Thoughts

Do childhood memories impact adulthood? Of course they do but, what I mean to ask is, do happy memories of childhood experiences (what John Locke called direct memory experiences) play a large role in what we find enjoyable as adults? If so, to what degree are our “choices” not really choices at all? These may seem unrelated questions given the title of the article, and on the surface the subject of the short-film, but they are not. Now, I will not try to put forward a reductionist explanation as to why or how memory may render free-will a non-starter for the truth is I have no idea whether this is the case or not. However, I can tell you a little story (and a tiny bit of theorizing) about my own experience in this regard if you care to listen?

Like many Australian families Christmas meant packing enough gear into a caravan to last four weeks and heading off to our favourite holiday destination. I was only six months old when I had my first Christmas family holiday, and in my case this meant travelling ten hours to Pambula beach holiday caravan park. My first Christmas holiday was spent paddling in the shallows of the Pacific Ocean held securely in my mothers arms and watched over by a proud new dad. Not a bad start I’d reckon.

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But even before I was born my father (pictured above) was into surfing. This was well before surfing was super popular as it is today, and it was back in the day when everybody had to surf those old style 12″ boards. In fact, now that I recall, my first surfing lesson was on his surfboard. Of course my father was the instructor and he would also lay on the board so it was probably more of a ride with dad than a lesson. Nevertheless, we were a “beach” family and this was a family tradition that would last for the next two decades (until I thought I was too cool to be near them!). It goes without saying this was a time I now look back on with great fondness. However the question remains: do good experience based memories impact adult life in any significant way?

While I have not spent much time near the water in the past twenty years, for me there is still to this day, something quite special about the sea—the way the ocean meets the sky and the sound of waves lapping the sand draws my mind out allowing it to become more expansive than usual (a little bit like some types of meditation). It is such a joy to simly sit by the ocean and look out to sea. In fact, I can recall that as a young man on those family holidays I would lay awake at night listening to the sound of the waves crashing over the sand, and recently I found myself doing the same. This brought back memories of my youth, and helped to focus the topic of this article. So, I can say without exaggeration that in my case memories of those summer holidays marked me, in a good way, forever.

Nevertheless, for some the ocean does not have this effect. For them the same positive affect comes from being in the bush, or climbing a mountain, or perhaps camping beside a river and other such places in nature. Now you may think this article is all about nature—that I am going to say there is something “special” about nature, and if we could all just get back to nature everything would be alright! Or you might think I am suggesting that if one spent time as a child near the beach then this will become your magnet in adulthood. But I am not. While nature is beautiful, no one can doubt that, what I think is going on here is pretty simple but perhaps unnoticed.

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I believe our fondness for the beach (or mountains) as an adult has more to do with human to human communication than anything about the places themselves. For when we are young our parents are communicating with us in a manner that is devoid of disappointment, or resentment, or any other issue that can build up over years of parenting. Children can be pretty horrible to their parents and there is no doubt the same can be true in reverse. People can be hurt by the simplest of things and this will often effect communication moving forward. This then builds up over time so that the simplest of conversations is near impossible. Think, teenagers!

In those early years before the resentment creeps in however, our relationships were based on a strong sense of being cared about. As I said in The Writer “caring about” and “caring for” are fundamentally different in tone. This, I think, is the reason why I am drawn to the ocean. To be clear, I am not suggesting some type of Freudian mother obsession. No. I am simply suggesting that people respond to empathetic communication far better, and in ways that we are not fully aware of. And because of the circumstances of holidays (parents are more relaxed than normal) empathetic communication is the basis of much of the communication (verbal and otherwise) that occurs during these times. We then associate this experience with the holiday itself and for that reason, for me, the beach is inherently calming. This of course happens under the level of conscious thought, and it is only through introspection that this can be teased out.

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More generally, what I am suggesting is that when there is no resentment or any other underlying issues communication between people is easier regardless of age. For when communication is based on an open attitude that cares about the future of the other genuine communication occurs. This is true of all kinds of relationships, not just child and parent.

I know I keep banging on about this but I believe the importance of empathetic communication is vital at an individual, family, community, national, and international level, and should not be underestimated. But now is not the time to muse about such things.

What is the point of this post then? Well, as I mentioned in The Writer, if you want a good life, if you want to be happy, find out what makes you tick well and do that (as long as it is supporting your life and of course not hurting others).

I surmise, therefore, that our past can act like sign posts for a new future that leads us in the general direction of a good life—eudemonia as Aristotle put it. Hence the use of the term postpositive. That is to say, we can transform our past, mend broken relationships, and make good ones better, if we understand the relations between out past and the present.

Geshe Loden once said to me that even for a yogi in the mountains communication is important. What he was pointing out, I believe, was what motivates a yogi to spend years meditating in isolation, is not to remove themselves from society, but rather, to garner the conditions to communicate with sentient beings. One might say that compassion and wisdom are the ultimate tools of the Bodhisattva—the greatest of all communicators.

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Behind the Scenes

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Technical

I was hoping to have a new Canon 50mm 1.4 USM II lens by now but alas no luck on that front. So the technical section of this post is the same as the last few and that is, 13th Beach a Postpositive was shot on a Canon 60d with a 28mm 1.8 USM II lens. I then graded the short using Magic Bullet Looks.

There is quite a bit of moire in this short. I did not really notice until the final color-grade. However, I am not sure there is anything I could do about it regardless. Hopefully the 5d MkIII and next generation cameras will sort this issue out.

Commentary

After arriving back in Australia I have been staying with my family as I work out my next move. This video was shot during this stay. So, while I grew up in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne (the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria) the family home is now situated in a beautiful little beachside town called Barwon Heads (for those Australians in the audience it is the town featured in the popular TV program called Sea Change from a decade ago). Barwon Heads is a quiet and somewhat sleepy country town. The perfect place to arrive home to after spending 6 months in India.

Close to the sleepy little town of Barwon Heads is an even sleepier stretch of coastline, which fifty years ago my father surfed as I did when I was young. It is a beautiful piece of coast with sand and reef breaks that stretch all the way from Black Rock to the Barwon Heads bluff—about a 15 kms stretch of coastline. Besides the wooden steps and lifeguard lookout (which you can see in the shortfilm) 13th Beach remains almost the same as it did when my father surfed it all that time ago.

Knowing I would spend some time at Barwon Heads when I got back to Australia I decided, even before I left India, to shoot 13th while there. So, to the video.

It was shot over the course of two afternoons. The first afternoon I walked the 30 minutes from my the family home to get to the beach. The second my father drove. I edited the two days together.

Day one was spent mainly on the sandy area of 13th just near the club house. While on the second day I spent more time near the bluff shooting the rock pools and other stuff that did not end up in the film such as the rock formation pictured below.

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During the second days shoot, at some point I walked out to the further most rock-ledge I could find and was starting to set up for a shot of some rocks when a wave come in and totally soaked me right up to just below my knees. As I do not always feel the need to “advertise” my vocation I was wearing civilian clothes and so my shoes, socks, jeans, all get totally soaked. Here is the moment captured!

if you are reading this in an email please click here to watch the behind the scenes video.

Needless to say this was an enjoyable little video to make. The area is just so clean and quiet. Actually, Australia is full of beaches just like 13th, and could make for a wonderful documentary about people and their relationship to those beaches. Now there is an idea!

I must be getting old…sorry!

So, if you are wondering what yesterdays post was all about here is the link to the short film, The Writer.

http://clarkescott.org/the-writer-a-short-film/

And I might add the shortfilm is not about me, nor writing. The title “the writer” is simply a vehicle for the story.

What does it mean to be a writer? When does one get to call himself a “writer.” Could it be that a writer is someone who is paid to write? Or perhaps a writer is someone who simply puts pen to paper? Maybe its simply a state of mind, or even just a label we use to make it easy for others to understand what it is we do. For me, a writer, at least in one sense, is all of the above and yet in another it is none of them. For writing is communication. Of course, it’s not the only kind of communication but, at its heart, is the flow of an idea from one human to another. This for me, is key to being a writer. Indeed, this for me, is key to being human.

Think about it, what does a nurse, mother, teacher, or even taxi driver have in common? A natural desire to communicate. Of course their manner of communication is vastly different. Yet it is true to say that if we are not communicating we are not living to our fullest potential. So the question then becomes, what does it take to communicate well? For me, the answer is empathy. For if I can place myself in the shoes of another, if I can think like someone else, if I can feel what they feel, then I can communicate. But of course this opens oneself up to failure. Because we all think, feel, and act differently. Yet without doing so one cannot grow. One cannot learn the skills needed to communicate if one is not willing to feel the pain of another. So in a sense, to be a writer, is to embrace failure!

If you can please watch the film (with headphones) before reading my comments below.

2. Some Thoughts

One of the great things about filmmaking as a medium is that it affords the viewer the space to think for himself or herself. Writing, on the other hand, can often tell a reader what to think—it is this way and here are my arguments for saying so. Case in point, the previous sentence! Be that as it may, with film there is more space around the intended meaning allowing those engaging the piece at a deeper level to create their own. I love this about narrative filmmaking. Don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting an audience can simply subvert meaning. No. For what would be the point of having a point if the only person who had access to that point was the person who made it? Silly! Right?

Moreover, the notion that there is no truth outside of what we give it is a post-modern trend related to the philosophical view of subjectivism—the view that everything is purely subjective—and if subjectivism were true then it must be false for it requires at least one objective truth, and that is, everything is subjective.

Nevertheless, what I wish to point out here is the heuristic nature of film. That there is head room to think for oneself is inherent in the experience of drawing meaning from narrative. Like trying to grasp Heidegger, Kant, or dare I say it, the Buddha, film requires you get your hands dirty. Cognitive benefit is therefore derived from the very process of finding meaning. That is to say, because one must think a little in order to recover the intended meaning this process alone will benefit oneself. This is so for you are forced to think in a new manner, you are forced to come at old problems from a different angle, and it is through getting at these old problems in a new way that can yield fresh insights. This is a good thing. As I have said many times, truths (philosophical or otherwise) are not things we look up in books.

It is for this reason that I will not comment on The Writer in detail. For now I will simply add the following:

The Writer has its genesis with the idea that all beings want happiness and do not wish to experience suffering. This is a tenet central to Buddhist philosophy and a core principal motivating the Bodhisattva commitment. However, I do believe the idea that beings aspire for a good life and actively avoid even a headache is not a principal which only applies to Buddhists. I think it is simply an observation of a naturally occurring innate psychological phenomenon inherent to all of us. This is no earth shattering insight for it is obvious to anyone with an ability to introspect.

“I want to be happy. I do not want to experience bad things, and I have the right to garner the conditions of such a life. So what!”, you say!

But if this is true, as I believe it is, then understanding the causes of happiness in order to obtain the resources to genuinely flourish becomes important on an individual basis. For on one level what makes me happy, what I consider to be happiness producing, may not be the same for you. If you want to be happy therefore it is important for you to understand yourself to the degree that you know what kind of food is good for your body and what food will have you running for the bathroom.

Moreover, if you do indeed wish for a good life, it is important to understand your own psychology so that you may understand what kinds of social situations, for instance, you find difficult. You can then either avoid them or learn from them—no need to point out which approach I believe is preferable. I am not suggesting happiness is purely subjective however-you know what I think about subjectivism-but at some level it is true to say that we can define happiness based on what oneself finds pleasant. By using this analytic strategy in your own life you can not only understand what makes you tick, but what makes you tick well. As it’s your life. Live it; don’t let it live you!

Notice, however, this manner of defining happiness in terms of how the world impacts on you is closely related to a physical level of reality. This implies of course there is a level of happiness deeper than this—a level of happiness which is not derived from contact with a physical stimuli. This kind of happiness is a sense of well-being, a mental and physical feeling that we bring to the world (to borrow a turn of phrase from Alan Wallace).

Moreover, I wanted to explore the idea of whether or not there is a kind of happiness that we can all share in. That is to say, is there a cause of happiness that transcends tradition, culture, and even history? For it is one thing to claim that all beings want happiness and another to see how this manifest throughout history.

While there may be others, it seems to me that one such cause is feeling cared about. Now, I am choosing my words carefully here for I am saying cared about not care for. Being cared for is when someone does something to help another but this does not require that you care about that person. For instance, there may well be some nurses who can care for a patient without caring about them.

When you are cared about, and you yourself care about others, you cannot help but feel life is going well. This sense of well-being is not reliant on the world (not on contact with physical stimuli anyway) but rather, it is something that we can bring to the world.

The message of The Writer is that it is possible for ordinary people living in modernity to achieve this sense of well-being, and they have.

3. Behind The Scenes

In the future I hope to extend the BTS section but for now, and for those interested in such things, I have written a short commentary and have added a couple of BTS shots taken on a cheap point & shoot. I hope you enjoy it.

Technical

Shot on a Canon 60d with one lens—a Canon 28mm f1.8 USM II lens—and graded in Magic Bullet Looks, The Writer is my first narrative film.

I am not entirely happy with some of the shots and the script needs to be unless formal. I’m not entirely happy because I think the mood of the piece requires a more defused look (as apposed to direct sunlight) and feel more like a personal conversation. Several friends have pointed this out and I agree with them, I think.

Because of this I tossed up whether or not I should to publish this film as is. In the end I thought it best to publish it now, and if I do indeed redo the film later then I will simply publish it again simply because this is my first every narrative film (I am more interested in narrative than, say, documentary filmmaking).

And yes, I need more lenses! I do have a 50mm f1.4 USM II on order and plan to purchase a set of older Nikkor AI-s glass from eBay as soon as I can afford them. I think this will help somewhat when to comes to visual storytelling? We will see.

Commentary

The Writer was shot in my small one-bedroom apartment looking out over the Kangra Valley, Dharamsala in India (the home of the Dalai Lama for those unfamiliar with the area). I was there between November 2010 and April 2011 doing research for my Ph.D.

I did not plan this film it kind of just fell together. In fact, it came about because I was bored working writing and wanted to learn about visual story telling through practice instead. So I looked around my apartment for a suitable subject without luck. It then dawned on me to shoot a film about a writer. I mean I had everything I needed—a computer, a writer, a window for said writer to look out of pensively (I should point out at this stage that the film is not about me, but rather, a writer, any old writer, and if you read the section on my thoughts above you will see that it is not really about a writer either).

At this point I cracked open the Canon 60d and setup for the first shot. This is the shot looking directly at myself over the edge of the laptop (the first shot of the film). From there the words started to appear. What is a writer? At what point do you get to call yourself a writer? Am I a writer? I felt embarrassed to answer even though I spend most days writing. So, the fact that I am the subject of the story is simply a matter of convenience.

As this was happening questions about the writing process kept popping into my mind and so I sat back down to write a line or perhaps two. As it turned out the first half of the piece came together in the first few minutes. This was great as it meant I had a working vision for what I would need to convey with images. I then went back to shooting. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole film—words and pictures—was more or less complete within that first hour. Of course, I had to narrate, add sound effects, and so on but, that first hour laid the foundations for the ideas of the short.

As I said, shooting took place over the course of an hour as the sun began to appear over the Himalayan mountains. In the shots where I am looking out the window I had to keep my eyes shut until I began recording because the brightness of the sun was making them water. This would have made for a good effect if there was a crying scene but as we all know, real men don’t cry, so having a tear roll down my cheek would simply not do! Just kidding of course. But having to set focus then stand there with my eyes closed is all true.

Talking about focus. Given I had the iris wide open in order to achieve a shallow depth of field in most shots critical focus turned out to be an issue. I would have to set focus several times by doing test shots first and then play them back to see if I was in focus. This of course meant I had to move from where I was standing or sitting, and once you move then there is always a chance you will not stand in exactly the very same spot. However, once I got focus (more or less) I hit the record button, take my place in the scene. For the window shots I had close my eyes for a few second and then open them to get the shot without watery eyes. For the most part this approach worked.

I did however have to shoot additional footage (I think there are two additional 6 sec clips) as the music I chose for the piece ran a little too long for my initial edit. This meant I had to wait for another three days until we had similar weather in order to get the required shots. Not a big deal.

In terms of the mood of the piece it is clearly pensive.  The script certainly called for this to be conveyed. So there was three basic images I felt needed to be taken. (1) Window shots to show that a writer, writes alone; (2) the writer, writing; and (3) closeups as the piece is actually about the utility of empathy in everyday life, and importantly for everyday people.

Here are a couple of BTS shots taken with an Lcheapo point & shoot Panasonic.

If you have any questions, or would like further information please do not hesitate to contact me. I do respond to every email even if it might take a little long.

Below is an example of the first kind:

Sitting here in the lounge of Likir House, a guest house in Delhi owned by a monastery in Ladakh, tonight is my last night in India. It been almost six month now! Wow, really? Yep. Can’t believe it myself. It has been a wonderful trip. I have meet many wonderful people and had many more new experiences I never expected.

I gotta say I did not plan to be here this long but it is only now that I feel it is time to go home. So I fly out of Delhi tomorrow. Then it is on to Thailand with a six hour stop over…yuck!…but this might give me time to work on a type #2 article. I won’t give away the end, other than to say that this article is my first narrative shortfilm and it has a long article on that most might find interesting—at least I hope you do. I am still working out the details of the accompanying article. So…In fact, by the time I get back to Oz, settle in and do stuff (there’s that word again!), it might be a week before you get to see it. I hope that is not too long of a wait for you?

I have more stuff to come from this trip—in terms of news and images that is. But will need some time and a proper internet connection to get these to you.

So until I speak with in from Australia.

Be well,

Clarke

Moreover, there is something about traveling to a place you have been before that makes it all that better. Perhaps this is something particular to me but I often find I enjoy a location better the second time round. Is it just me? For instance, one of the things I have loved about living here in Dharamsala is the chance to breathe the culture. Breathe, as in letting the Tibetan culture become more than a sensory experience–let it fill my lungs so to speak. Even after so many years living with Geshe Loden something I was unaware of about Tibetan culture is the reluctance of ordinary Tibetans to be photographed. Of course, being a polite(-ish) culture they will not always tell you so but, if you are intune enough you can “feel” have uncomfortable they are when a camera is pointed in their direction. I am not about to make people feel uncomfortable just to get some footage. And perhaps being a monk it is doubly difficult for me. Therefore, ironically, I am less likely to get film of Tibetans doing ordinary stuff than a newcomer who these people do not know.

So I have virtually no footage of ordinary Tibetans in the streets doing their thing. Yes, I am a little disappointed as I would have loved to have shot a short film about the lives of ordinary Tibetans—shooting some of the elderly locals with their deep leathery skin would have been awesome.

But I am homeward bound. I leave Dharamsala on the 18th and arrive in Melbourne on the 21st. I will then stay with my family for a few days before heading off to Tasmania to check in with the university staff. I wonder if anyone will have noticed that I was gone for so long?

I will really miss my nightly walks (chum-chum in Tibetan)  with Geshe Yonten who has become like an older brother to me, and just being another monk amongst many!

Oh, and if you have not noticed already I have updated the website with a new design. It might take a little getting used to.

be well,

Clarke

Last Sunday (20th March 2001) I went to Gyuto monastery to shoot a narrative film with two young monks. On my way home I stopped by Norbulingka Institute. Although the gardens at Norbulingka are quite beautiful, and worthy of their own piece, I ended up shooting just the main temple as I was short on time.

Technical

Canon 60d
28mm f1.8 USM II

Thoughts

A fundamental theory of Buddhist philosophy related particularly to Buddhist soteriology is the notion that every living being has the potential to become enlightened—”Buddha potential.” This potential is a naturally occurring and innate quality of the mind. It is not something outside of ourselves that must be venerated from afar. Becoming Buddha, in one sense, is simply waking up to who we really are—knowing thyself in the ultimate sense. But what does this mean and how can we, as ordinary people, relate to this potential as our own?

One way to bring this potential into a practical everyday sense is to empower yourself with a confidence born of empirical insight. That is, check it out for yourself. But in order to do so one must understand what it is that is being tested, and how to go about running the experiments.

To answer the more technical “what is” question first:

Buddha potential can be broken into two types: (1) Natural potential, and (2) developed potential. Natural potential in simple terms is the quality of the mind that allows change. More accurately, it is the fact that the mind does not exist inherently that allows change. If it were to exist inherently it would remain as it were, forever.

Examples of developed potential are functional, positive, and constructive minds such as compassion, confidence, friendliness, wisdom, courage etc. Together these two aspects of potential allow contemplatives to proceed along the path to enlightenment by developing compassion and so on.

An enlightened being is therefore someone who has completed the development of these minds, which as stated is only possible because the mind has an natural and innate quality that allows this development to occur. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to my mind, is one such person and as such is a template for my own practice.

In practical terms I personally draw comfort knowing that if I put these words into action change will happen. But it is action that is really the trick here. In that regard, a close friend and senior Australia monk once remarked, “is your biggest obstacle what you do not know or what you do not do!”

For many people, however, the feeling they are incapable of change, of success, or developing genuine happiness is like a mantra…”I can’t…I can’t…I can’t.” Sometimes this attitude manifest strongly in thoughts such as, “I can’t meditate” “I can’t develop genuine compassion for myself let alone for others!” Say it enough and it will be so.

While at other times this self-defeating attitude manifests subtly (and in such a manner as to be hardly noticeable) whereby one simply assumes that the human condition is the normal working order of things. Moreover, this attitude can manifest with thoughts and assumptions such as the Buddhist path is meant to be difficult, or only people with a non-western cultural background have any chance of developing these qualities.

Relating this to the above short, Buddhist art, be they statues, paintings and whatever, reflect this optimism. Art, in the Buddhist world, serve as reminders of this potential showing us the path home so to speak.

The take-away therefore is that you do not have to look outside of yourself to find genuine flourishing. For you have everything you need right here. All you need to do is begin the process.