Marley Movie

Having been a Bob Marley fan for 17 years or so I was excited to find out about Marley, a film by Kevin Macdonald that had its international release on April 20th 2012.  The release here in the UK was sporadic with selected cinemas showing it for a week or one night only.  I hadn't banked on being able to catch it at the cinema so when I discovered it was showing late at a local picture house I jumped on a pre-booked ticket faster than I could say One Love!  So after a chaotic day working Ina Babylon I pulled up to the cinema for a two and a half hour treat with one of my all time heroes. A work colleague and friend of mine, Chris, managed to join me as his wife had provided him with "a gate pass" for the evening.  Being of Jamaican origin and having lived in Kingston during the 70's, Chris would be adding his own layers of depth to the movie as it unfolded infront of us in Digital Technicolor.  He provided me with personal insights into what it was like living through the political turmoil of the time and pointed out the legendary policeman known as 'Trinity' in one of the scenes.  Trinity was feared by all the bad men and gangsters of Kingston because apparently he was invincible in a gun fight having somehow survived point blank attacks.  Chris' real claim to fame though was sneaking into Bob's funeral as a young boy against all the odds, leaving his friends out in the metaphorical cold.

But first, when I think back to when I was a young ragamuffin of thirteen leafing through dusty record stores attempting to track down as many Bob Marley LPs as possible, I would never have imagined I would be watching such a well produced biography on the big screen some 17 years later, 31 years after his untimely death.  Such a prospect back then would have probably caused me to literally explode with such youthful enthusiasm that I would have left nothing but a red, gold and green mess all around.  During that time I had no one to share my interest and enthusiasm with but a few long suffering friends and family members. Consequently I thought I was born too late as I was rather out of touch with my peers regarding my musical taste, if you didn't count Jungle, a version of Drum 'N' Base that was popular in certain circles at the time.  In fact Jungle music with it's Dancehall and West Indian influences had a splice of Bob's musical and cultural influence within its DNA.  That and the fact that the Jungle and Drum 'N' Bass culture celebrated the smoking of marijuana, something Bob has been overly identified with detracting somewhat  from his message of revolution, mental emancipation, love, unity and liberty.  So those were the links, spurious as they might be but still links enough to arouse my curiosity when Keep on Moving was released in the UK during the summer of 96.

When I first heard Keep on Moving there was an instant connection to the feel of the music.  It was genuinely positive, not in a contrived or happy clappy kind of way, but as I would discover later it communicated positivity overcoming lived adversity which characterised Bob's life, forged his character and enlivened his spirit.  The lyrics were imbued with meaning which I found refreshing in a time of predictable music that reflected teenage angst, puppy love or the simple raw energy of Jungle and Drum 'N' Bass.  So I bought the single and then soon after my kind mother treated me to Legend.  I listened to it back-to-back in order to suck up the strangely familiar vibe as if I was a wilting plant in an arid land that had been experiencing a drought of fresh water.  Other albums followed, a general interest in Roots Reggae developed alongside, biographies were read and the odd documentary was recorded onto VHS where I went on to test Scoth's life time guarantee.  Sorry Scotch, they did start to fade away!

 

Dharma in the West

Sometimes I wonder to myself if we in the West really understand what true Dharma is or not.  Perhaps I don’t have a clue myself, that’s probably more likely, however after reading and listening to teachings, thinking about those teachings a little bit and trying to put the instructions contained within them into practise I wonder.

It seems to me that we often swap one identity and set of attachments and labels for another, choosing “Buddhism” and being a “Buddhist”, with all the cultural trappings of the particular tradition we are attracted to, as the latest thing to grasp onto and satisfy the ego.  Personally, I don’t think that this is necessarily always a bad thing because there is the possibility that this new identity might reduce mental suffering when compared to a previous one.  This is because associated with this new “Buddhist” identity are many useful teachings and methods so there is a chance that some of that will rub off and we will discover a route out of all identities.  So on the relative level I think it is good, it is okay but ultimately it is not the true Dharma and it is not enough. We can get stuck there, wallowing happily in the relative level still bound by our attachments, fears, and self-cherishing as we have only changed their form but not gone to the root of the matter.  There is even the danger of our emotions becoming inflamed and our ignorance being reinforced if we become overly concerned and attached to how important this relative “Buddhism” is to our egos.  We may even enter into the path of spiritual materialism if we are not careful; unknowingly we become tightly bound by and fixated on the very object we believe is leading us to liberation.  Here the object, the Buddha Dharma, is not at fault rather the problem lies in how we relate to it.  This needs to be analysed, watched, re-analysed and watched again.  We need to be vigilant because the ego can be difficult to pin down.

So often we do a retreat where the conditions are good for experiencing the inner qualities of the mind beyond mental fabrication.  After the retreat the immediate experience of our true condition can become covered over time and the ego mind may identify the previous peace and contentment with that retreat, that gompa, that practice… whatever, and long to experience it again.  It allows the relative aspects and ideas of the past to interfere with the freshness of the present moment and this prevents us from experiencing the suchness of the present moment, the liberation we are seeking to realise.  An ironic roundabout one might say.  

So we often feel, “I must give up my life, I must live in a Dharma centre, I must ordain, it is the only way!”  It is a way, yes, but it is not the only way for there are no absolutes.  In fact if we did do those things then we could imagine ourself having doubts about what we had given up, having attachments to that life and encounter Dharma centre problems or the problems of a nun or a monk.  Our relatively conditioned mind won’t just get left behind with our old job, life or outfit; it will come with us and pop up whenever the conditions are right.  So that is where the work must be done, on our own mind. Our mind is ever present irrespective of the outer conditions so there is no time, situation or opportunity like the present moment to practise Dharma but right here and right now in whatever situations we find ourselves.

That is not to say that the monastic tradition has got it wrong or is not necessary, because it hasn’t and the Buddha taught that wherever the monastic tradition exists, then it can be said that the Buddha Dharma exists.  However, the Buddha Dharma, that path, is relative and is not the true Dharma in and of itself but a way of discovering the true Dharma if applied to our own experience and put into practice diligently – that is why it is so precious on the relative level and extremely useful if engaged with in that way without a confused understanding.  Whether it is called Buddha Dharma or not isn’t the point, ultimately it is a mere label and labels are what bind us - even the useful ones have to dissolve in the end.  

   

So then we may ask, “So what am I supposed to do, sit at home and meditate all day long?”  Perhaps not sit at home all day, no, but we should be aiming to be able to meditate all day long, yes.  When we sit on our cushion and practice meditation, calm our minds and practice awareness we should not be leaving it there and allow agitation to rule our mind and become distracted for 23 and a half hours a day or however long we are not “meditating”.  The formal practice is like a mini-retreat because the conditions are more conducive to accessing the level of mind that is clear, knowing and luminous in its own state.  Being mindful of our natural awareness and recognising it under those conditions familiarises us with it so that we can more easily recognise it under “busier” circumstances.  It is always there whatever the weather.  So the point is to integrate that natural awareness into our daily lives, to recognise that all external and internal arisings are happening within that boundless perspective.  Or to put it another way, to see situations, and the thoughts, feelings and emotions they conjure up within us as clouds emerging out of the clear blue sky and then evaporating or passing by.  To do so is to practice Dharma and if you have a mind then you are qualified to practice whoever, wherever or whenever you simply are.