The Hunger Games: Who are the Hungry Ones?

The Hunger Games: Who are the Hungry Ones?

The movie was well, quite good considering the number of times that it got me on my edge with my emotions, clutching my paws tightly in anticipation of the next scene. Young individuals are being hurled into a game of mutual killing in memory of civil war and, for the individuals, in the name of survival. In my own opinion, the only reason is the gratification of the desires for assumed superiority through the expression of depersonalization, human cruelty. Why was it called the Hunger Games? That was the first question that arises in me after the movie, the origination of the naming of the games. I have not read the book on which the movie is based. However, to me, the games are a metaphorical outlet for the psychosocial hunger that the people in the Capitol feel, beyond the biological demand for food to sustain the physical body of ours. After all, it is only entertainment, an exciting sport to them. All of them suffer from hunger, the differences lies in the kind of hunger that they feel.

The tributes, as the individuals participating in the games are called, suffers from biological hunger, and in order for their people to survive, they need to be in the game as game. The people in the Capitol are hungry too, for blood, for violence, for feeling of superiority. Gratification of their desires of superiority to others can be illustrated by the simple act of degrading, in my own opinion, of the individuals as Tributes; the label is effectively a depersonalized form of extension of the desire to feel superior as fellow humans. Another evidential concept in the movie is the idea of competing for sponsorships which forces the individuals to try within their means to appeal to the people in the Capitol, an act of submission and inferiority. As for the blood and violence, if Sigmund Freud has his say, he will interpret it psychoanalytically as the collective gratification of the primitive drive of Thanatos that resides in our unconscious Id; the games as an expression of collective catharsis, which allows for the people in the Capitol to ‘emotionally release’ the aggression that they have in their mind through watching the aggression in play.

Then the next question arises in me, are we too, like the people in the Capitol? We may show empathy in watching the show towards the individuals forced to participate in the mutual killing game but in retrospect, did we exhibit similar behavior as the people in the Capitol? Did we consciously or subconsciously put degrading labels on others who are perceptively different from us? Did we enjoy watching movies, programs or events which connotes aggression, violence? There is no need to tell me your answer. I am not putting any morality label on the actions, the important question here lies in whether we are aware of the actions when we did it, are we aware of the intentions, the motivations that drives the actions? How does being aware of the intentions behind the actions help us as a member of the Homo sapiens.

Now think about it, who are the Hungry Ones?

Happiness in the Now

Happiness in the Now

‘Don’t put off your happiness to the next moment because the next moment is never certain.’

Simple Bear 06.04.2012.

I guess when I put forward the statement, the ultimate goal of all is happiness, most, if not all of us will be in concurrence. The only difference for us all lies in the causality of happiness; what puts a smile on our faces? Is it the excitement that we felt when we kiss our partner for the first time? Is it the elation that we felt when we have the ability to fulfill our materialistic wants? Is it the warm, fuzzy feeling that we felt when we helped to bring a smile to those less fortunate. Happiness, is well, covers almost everything listed above and more.

Happiness, is cognitively and affectively semantic; we interpret the same ‘feel’ of the state of happiness differently, dependent on the current cognitive and affective states, situational conditions and experiences. If that is the case, what is happiness? Happiness, to me, is peace; the blissful affect which is accompanied by a state of cognitive stability. It is about being in a state of subjective equilibrium; being at ease with oneself, with the ‘universe’, with the absence of negative affect and thoughts. The notion of universe in this case, refers to the perceptive world that we live in; everyone from your family, your friends, your colleagues, the people on the streets, to the animals that you see. To me, at this point of time, being able to sit in solitude in a nice quiet cafe, sipping my black coffee and writing this blog entry on a nice cold morning, feeling the after-rain breeze on my face, is well happiness.

The focus of this blog entry is however, not what is happiness but how to perhaps in a way optimize happiness in our lives. It is not about the various methodologies to bring about happiness, we can find them in tons and tons of religious and self-help books. It is about not delaying the moments of happiness in our lives, putting them off to future moments when the future is uncertain. There are perhaps a lot of us, who holds on to the mentality that we need to study and work very hard in our teens and youths, in the hope of a better future ahead in our retirement; we may think that being in agony now is perfectly fine if we can enjoy the fruits of our labor in the future. I am not picking on this age-old mentality towards happiness, I am saying that in the midst of struggling with life now to bring about hope for the future, isn’t it better to enjoy little bits of happiness if the conditions allow it. I am not a hedonist and I am not encouraging the indulgence of pleasures, the gratification of desires at the expense of the future. My point is to find happiness in what we are doing right now for a better future; enjoy the little bits of happiness along the journey to well, the ‘ultimate happiness’ that all of us are working hard towards. It is about making the decision to accept happiness when favorable conditions present itself and not sacrificing the current conditions now for the happiness that is in the future which may or may not come to realize.

Z, my friend who is afraid of confessing his feelings to a girl he likes because he wishes to concentrate on his studies and career came to me for advice one day and I told him this, if there is a possibility that you may die the next moment, will you confess to her and accept the possibilities or will you concentrate on your studies. Both may bring about happiness but if the future is uncertain, we always choose the option that gives us perhaps a shot at happiness which is within reach. We always have the belief in the continuity of our present lives, the future is almost certain to come without perhaps considering the notion of impermanence. There will be changes which bring about impermanence and we are part of it, not in control of it; if we think that we can control the changes and the future is certain for us but the fact is the future is never certain. If tomorrow never comes, embrace happiness today. If we understand and embrace the notion of impermanence in our lives, we should treasure our lives, embrace happiness when the conditions arise, stop wasting time on unhappiness. When it is time to leave, we will leave with no regrets, knowing that we have optimized the moments of happiness in our lives.

The Buddha taught us that the length of life is only the span of a breath. Every breath counts, every breath is an opportunity for happiness.

May we all be reminded every moment to be grateful for what we have, bask in the happiness of self and others, compassion for others with less favorable conditions and be well and happy always.

In this way, perhaps, we can truly, gradually experience happiness.

With metta,

Simple Bear

The Dualism of Self and No-Self

The Dualism of Self and No-Self

‘What is there is transcend when there is nothing at all.’
Simple Bear

A few days ago, I was sharing with my friend, Brother Bear on how I think my ego always flare when I start sharing with others on my opinions and experiences and how I am trying to keep quiet, to minimize the opportunities for my ego to express itself. It was difficult trying to rein in the ego, trying to be aware of and discipline it by putting it in unfavorable conditions for expression. On retrospect, this was not a good methodology to adopt and I was finding myself trapped in a rut, unable to come to terms with reducing my ego, the sense of self in daily life, the reconciliation between the notions of self and no-self. I realized after contemplation that I have been, all these while, trying to understand no-self from a self perspective; by trying to transcend the state of self to the state of non-self, I have allowed myself to submit to the habitual tendency of acknowledging the existence of the self. When I perceive that there is a state of self to be transcended, I am acknowledging the perceived existence of the self a priori to the notion of no-self; the perception that there is a state of no-self beyond that of, the state of self. The reason behind my dukkha is perhaps engendered by the possibility perceptions that I was holding, the concept of no-self without letting go of the concept of self; thinking of them as two separate entities when they are all but one, dualistic.

Perhaps, by accepting, understanding and experiencing no-self as a priori reality to the rising of the perceived state of self due to amalgamation of various conditions, we can truly progress towards the pinnacle of spiritual cultivation. It is not easy to accept and understand as the mere notion of no-self shakes the foundation of our very existence; if we truly don’t exist as we, then who are we, what are we? What is the functionality of understanding no-self in relation to our basic, primitive, strong belief in the notion of self? The moment that we are objectively and subjectively aware of ourselves, respectively as a physical, visual and sensorial entity in relation to external and internal stimuli, the self is already perceived to exist, a schematic apparatus to understand and make sense of the stimuli that is in constant interactions with the consciousness. This notion of self lays the foundation of the world, the society that we live in; to put it in abstract terms, the notion of self is the world. When we looked into a mirror, we recognize ourselves visually as us; likewise, the society that we live in is a bigger mirror, we recognize ourselves in the society, consciously, as us.

If no-self exist in self and self exist in no-self in the mind, then what is the state that we are trying to transcend? When reality is really nothingness, then what the state of self and no-self are we talking about? There are no a priori or a posteriori realities, those do not exist, reality alone does. Perhaps by recognizing the dualism of self and no-self, we can truly, reach perhaps happiness as a self in no-self; diminution of the ego in our everyday lives, we can learn to be more compassionate and loving to the people around us, we can accept impermanence and change, reducing dukkha in our everyday lives. That perhaps in an existential point of view, is more important in making the mind a happy place to live in as I.

‘Let us grow up even if we cannot wake up.’
Wei Wu Wei

Simple Bear 05.04.2012.

P.S: Perhaps one day I can truly accept, understand and experience anatta (no-self), in the meanwhile I can only appreciate it intellectually and use it to achieve happiness as self.