I’ll be honest. We spent the first half of this episode geeking out on Star Trek, talking about how this vision of a utopian future hinges on the civilizing influence of an alien culture and that the Federation, being created by humans, is actually less of a utopia and more of a homogenizing galactic empire.… Continue reading Buddhism, Star Trek, and Utopia
We’re not talking about magicians, we’re talking about ritual and whether or not there is some efficacious power inherent in Buddhist ritual practice. Ritual is often derided by modern folks or rejected explicitly as not a part of Buddhism, distinct from practice proper. But there’s ritual throughout Buddhist history and practice, and ritual serves an… Continue reading Buddhism and magic
Inspired by conversations in our last two episodes, today we discuss creativity, art, and love. What does Buddhism have to say about the creative process? Is it merely a kind of desire? Or attachment? And what about familial and romantic love? (It is almost Valentine's Day, after all!) Classical Buddhism suggests that we ought to… Continue reading Love and Creation
We're not done with TRON yet! Well, sort of we are. We use TRON -- film, art, music, anything really -- as a jumping off point for discussing the suspension of disbelief. What is it about our expectations or preconceptions that sometimes get in our way, that keep us from appreciating certain kinds of films?… Continue reading Suspension of Disbelief
We're going to talk about Buddhism and sci-fi again! Get ready for several episodes about sci-fi, movies, music, the creative process, and Buddhism. In this episode we talk about TRON: Legacy, a movie that probably only the two of us and, like, three other people ever saw. But it's got specific and explicit Buddhist references.… Continue reading Buddhism and TRON
Our second live recording -- actually live this time and broadcast via webstream across the Internets -- was recorded in the lobby of the Jodo Shinshu Center. This is the first installment of that day's recording. Our jumping-off point is our previous conversations about science fiction and Buddhism, focusing here on the issue of cosmology… Continue reading Live show part one: cosmology
Picking up from where we left off, this week we ask what does any of this sci-fi stuff have to do with Buddhism?! On the one hand, while there may be parallels between sci-fi and Buddhism, often they deal with similar issues in very different ways. How movies like Alien or Starship Troopers deal with… Continue reading Buddhism and sci-fi (part two)
This week, Harry and Scott take up the topic of Buddhism and science fiction, inspired in part by our off-hand conversation about Cthulhu from a couple weeks back and in part by Harry reading Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the novel that in turn inspired the movie Blade Runner. (Spoiler alert!… Continue reading Buddhism and sci-fi (part one)
