Idealization is a part of every religion. To the Christian’s Jesus is the epitome of an idealized human being. His idealization is particularly apparent in the accounts of the beginnings of the church. If one is to look at the time of Jesus after His resurrection, a much idealized individual was presented to the apostles. They were frightened at first but later began to relish the splendor of Jesus.
One of the first questioned Jesus asked of the apostle was that He was hungry. He wanted to eat with the apostle; Of course, He probably was not hungry as we know of hunger from lack of food. But he case can be made that He wanted to sit and eat with the apostles. He wanted to enjoy a meal and clam their fears. The phenomena of eating together seem to be a shared way of sharing the feelings. In the movie, “Words of My Perfect Teacher”, there are several scenes of people eating together and enjoying the company of each other.
This is a form of idealization and respect for not only the religious leaders but for each other. When we break bread or share a meal with others, the tendency is to get to know the person not in a business sense but in a friendly deeply human level. This example reminds me of something in the film where the statement is made that Buddhism does not have to change anything. Christians change many of their manners and manmade laws however the belief in Jesus Christ and His Word remain a constant.
The idea of meeting people at mealtime is especially important in families. To the followers of Buddha this virtue was also important. Some people wonder, “What is the best way to make sure our children grow up to appreciate the Dharma and become Buddhists?” The advice I give is to get along in your family. If the members of a family all get along and are kind and loving, honest and straightforward, peaceful and affectionate with one another, the children will see it and say, “You know, Dharma practitioners must be all right.” They consequently develop an interest in the Dharma and eventually start to practice. This is why it is very important not to bicker or quarrel or fight .
One of issues that everyone has to deal with tis that of submission and surrender in their lifetime. The journey changes constantly as you proceed through your life from childhood to adult hood. The words in the film, Words of the Perfect Teacher offer much help to those going through the changes in life and the process of submission and surrender. It starts when we are babies and so small and helpless that our parents are everything to us. We idealize and share a feeling of greatness and are happy to be secure in their love. As the child turns into an adult they see their parents differently and may be annoyed with them. The Words of the Perfect Teacher offers help in the surrender to the elder’s emotion that we must have. In the final phase, as emulating the teacher’s realization and actions, consist in carefully examining the way he behaves and doing exactly as he does. As the saying goes, “Every action is an imitation, he who imitates the best: acts best. It could be said that the practice of Dharma is to imitate the Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas of the past. As the disciple is learning to be like his teacher: he will need to assimilate truly the latter’s realization and way of behaving” Film Words Perfect Teacher.
This is a common theme in families. As annoyed with their parents as many adolescents get as they naturally begin their own path in life, they find themselves emulating the actions and emotions of their parents. The submission and surrender to the will of parents is the similar emotions that everyone goes through in their faith.
The idea of de-idealizing tendencies reminds me of the people at the time of Christ. When the Pharisees and the government leaders began to see that the people were looking Jesus as a leader, they de-idealized Him. It is my feeling that adult faith requires a de-idealization of some of the approaches to faith and beliefs that we held as a child. The need is to de-idealize the institution of religion and hang onto the parts of the religion that are central to living a good life. The life without so many entrapments is the life that adults need to get in touch with. The Words of the Perfect Teacher, explains this as (119) “King, Neither possessions, friends nor family can follow. But whenever beings come from, wherever they go. Their actions follow them like their own shadow. The effects of our positive or negative actions may be immediately neither evident and identifiable, but nor do they just fade away. We will experience each one of them when the right conditions come together even after a hundred kalpas Beings . This speaks to me of the reward of submission and surrender to the right proprieties in life.
Compassion and carefulness are virtues that the Buddhist hold very dear. Compassion for all is important. If more people practiced this part of religion and its beliefs the world would be a much better place the idea of an omnipotent concept is that of compassion. It has the power to stop wars and evil words between family members. Compassion can make someone happy and share happy moments in your family. Compassion can add to the benefits of society and help to reduce problems. For an example world hunger, if people practiced the omnipotent control of a higher being they would see that in terms of world goods they have too much. Others do not have enough; compassion would dictate a sharing of those that have with those that have not.
Conclusion
The ideas in the Words of My Perfect Teacher are well worth the time to listen to and invite a time of reflection in your life. My reflection on the first interaction with this film is that makes so much sense. Although the film partly needed interpretation the ideas of the film were well portrayed. My feelings toward the amount of goods that I own, the relationship in my family and the time that I spend in reflection, has been touched by this film. My recommendations would be for all to view it but most of all for those going through a hard time in life. I believe that this film can offer comfort to someone just been diagnosed with a disease, going through a particularly bad family situation but most of all by those among us needing to change from within ourselves.
References
Garson, S. (2015, October 15). Words of my Perfect Teacher: family life. Yours in the dharma. http://yoursinthedharma.blogspot.com/2015/10/words-of-my-perfect-teacher-family-life.html Retreived April 2016.
Quintman, A. (2014). The Yogin and the Madman: Readings the Biographical Corpus of Tibet's Great. New haven: Columbia University Press https://books.google.com/books?id=UNWrAgAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&source=gbs_pub_info_r#v=onepage&q&f=falseRetreived April 2016.
Rinpoche, K. T. (2015, October 18). Words of my Perfect Teacher: family life. Yours in the dharma. http://yoursinthedharma.blogspot.com/2015/10/words-of-my-perfect-teacher-family-life.html Retrieved April 2016.
