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    True Hollywood Blockbuster: The Making of Divine Heroes
    True Hollywood Blockbuster: The Making of Divine Heroes
    True Hollywood Blockbuster: The Making of Divine Heroes
    Ebook201 pages2 hours

    True Hollywood Blockbuster: The Making of Divine Heroes

    By Shireen Chada

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    About this ebook

    Who among us does not love a good story?

    Who doesn't root for the good guys, despise the villains, and dream, at least in secret, of being the hero?

    Shireen Chada, with her understated demeanor and quiet, sweet smile, might seem an unlikely teacher of epic-scale heroes, but in this book she proves herself up to the task. She traces for us the parallels between ancient, universal truths and popular movie plotlines to demonstrate how we can, if we choose, undertake our own Hero’s Journey of answering the call, overcoming the obstacles, and emerging victorious with gifts to share.

    To rise to this challenge we must be willing to see through the illusions, to connect with the Source of our power, and to recognize the patterns and impressions left on us by the many other “movies” we’ve played in before.

    Shireen breaks it all down for us, how we fall under the spell of “Maya” or illusion, how we cycle through the stages of sattva, rajas, and tamas, and how we can return once again to the purity of soul-consciousness and light.

    She gives her delightful insights on movies like “The Matrix” and “Avatar” to show us that yes, we are indeed “The One.” The one who wears this body as a costume, The One whose soul is eternal and undamageable, The divine hero whose destiny is to triumph in both the private movie of this life, and the grand epic Movie of all that is life.

    If you long to discover the divine hero that you are meant to be, this book is the perfect place to begin.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJun 26, 2014
    ISBN9781941883013
    True Hollywood Blockbuster: The Making of Divine Heroes

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      Book preview

      True Hollywood Blockbuster - Shireen Chada

      1981.

      Introduction

      For more than 20 years, I’ve had the good fortune of a deeply committed spiritual practice. During this time, I’ve discovered some amazing secrets about life. I’ve learned things so wonderful and sublime that it would be irresponsible not to share them. The concepts in this book are coming from my own experiences while on my own journey of an intentional spiritual path.

      Every society throughout history has looked to great narratives. These narratives reflect and inspire people’s dreams and aspirations, past and present. These stories convey a society’s message to present and future generations. Yet in this timeless process, something new began in the 20th century: we often find great narratives in movies. These movies communicate to us about our society and ourselves–where we have been, what we are doing presently, and where we would like to go.

      I’ve offered here a unique blend of stories of the Hero’s Journey from widely varying times and places, distilling from them powerful principles based on enduring truths. These eternal principles give us a recipe for transcendence.

      This book examines heroic archetypes and how they go through different stages of purity: virtue (sattva), passion (rajas), and ignorance (tamas). Understanding how the archetypes evolve through these stages enables us to discern and apply a science of happiness, which culminates in a deep understanding of our spiritual nature.

      Hence to the observant eye, even an apparently mundane Hero’s Journey can often teach us implicit spiritual principles that empower us to make the ultimate Hero’s Journey: the journey back to our true self, and our true loving relationship with other souls and with the Source of us all.

      As this book seeks to demonstrate, people today have an extraordinary opportunity to engage blockbuster stories as a guide to spiritual perfection. To do this, we must clearly grasp spiritual wisdom and the science of happiness. There are books that talk about spiritual wisdom; there are books that talk about movies; and there are books that talk about heroic archetypes. However, here we bring all these central themes of life together.

      Why are we so attracted to movies that reveal the Hero’s Journey? Why do most Hollywood Blockbusters follow this narrative pattern? Directly or indirectly, these movies portray through great drama the internal journey we must undertake to understand and regain our true selves.

      It is also true that, to some extent, we all have a desire to star in such stories--not just as actors, but as heroes acting in real life. When we accept the Spiritual Hero’s Journey, our dreams are fulfilled. Embracing the timeless truths and spiritual practices found in this book will help us fulfill our deepest wishes.

      Section 1

      The Soul as an Actor

      All the world's a stage,

      And all the men and women merely players.

      They have their exits and their entrances,

      And one man in his time plays many parts . . . .

      William Shakespeare, As You Like It Act II, Scene VII

      Shakespeare scholars explain that the phrase, all the world’s a stage, was already a cliché in the 17th century when the Bard of Avon wrote it. Yet this cliché rings so true in a spiritual context that we can’t ignore it. Therefore, let’s modernize the image and turn the stage into a movie. The world is now a big movie set, and life is a Hollywood Blockbuster. We are all actors, even stars, in this grand epic Movie. Nothing less than a true hero can star in a blockbuster. But, what are the rewards reserved for heroes? What do heroes seek? Personal freedom, saving the oppressed, restoring justice, true love, deep happiness, and victory are typical heroic achievements.

      To star in our own blockbuster movie means, we should heroically achieve the best things in life. This book will empower you to achieve what you really want in the deepest part of yourself: simple things like real happiness, freedom, and a life where you have the power to act upon your best intelligence. Is it arrogant to claim that this tiny book can bestow so many important benefits? Consider this: Although problems are complicated, solutions are often simple. We often have problems precisely because we miss the simple truth of a situation.

      For example, we all long for complete freedom--not only political freedom, but freedom from financial and emotional troubles, freedom from fear, and ultimately freedom from all suffering and ignorance. Not only in America, but in so many countries, brave people who love their lives also sacrifice those lives for freedom. Ironically, spiritual freedom, which is highest because it bestows all other forms of freedom, doesn’t require us to give up our lives, but rather to use our lives wisely.

      So, what is that spiritual freedom? Spiritual freedom is a state in which we truly understand the self as an invincible, eternal, beautiful spiritual being. The more we see our real self, rather than the costumed actor we see in the mirror, the easier it is to be liberated from the chains of negativity, and hence, to be at peace with the self. Is this possible? Yes, if we can only desire it. And we can desire it because in our eternal existence, we have previously experienced this spiritual bliss and freedom. Now we must remember it.

      Spiritual freedom is a state in which we truly understand the self as an invincible, eternal, beautiful spiritual being.

      In his Meno¹, Plato's teacher Socrates talks about knowledge as something we already know, but have to remember. Socrates/Plato says that genuine knowledge or eternal truths are truths that have been in the soul from eternity. Human beings possess these eternal truths from past incarnations and that learning consists of rediscovering that knowledge within us. And thus Socrates (and Plato) sees himself, not as a teacher, but as a midwife, aiding with the birth of knowledge that was already there in the student.²

      We can know and remember these eternal truths because we have experienced them. All we have to do is reawaken that experience. To do that, we need to be fully conversant with, and deeply realize, answers to questions such as: Who am I? What are my original qualities? Where do I come from? What is my purpose for being here?

      As we progress further, we will discuss the above questions. Let us start with the first question: Who am I?

      I, THE ACTOR, AM A SPIRITUAL BEING

      First, let us talk about actors and costumes. When I say, I am an actor, I mean that I the soul, the spiritual energy, am the actor. This body is my costume. The soul is the life force that animates this costume we call the body. This costume has many labels. The first label is gender: female or male. Other body labels convey ethnicity, race, religion, and age. All these labels distinguish our various bodily costumes.

      We souls—actors--are eternal, beyond the mortal costume. We in the Brahma Kumaris³ describe the soul as a point of light for two reasons: 1) The soul is metaphysical, so it doesn’t have a physical dimension; 2) it is living energy. When the soul leaves the body costume (an event commonly known as death), what survives is a being of light that is eternal, imperishable, and immortal. You, the actor, are immortal, but your costume is mortal. You the actor, never perish. Nothing can destroy you. But your costume perishes. You are beyond time, un-aging, but that costume ages.

      You, the actor, are immortal, but your costume is mortal. You the actor, never perish. Nothing can destroy you. But your costume perishes. You are beyond time, un-aging, but that costume ages.

      Just as a movie uses sets and façades, all the objects that surround us are temporary façades, including our bodies. No physical object is eternal or permanent. Just as actors perform to please an audience, we are always trying to impress or please those around us. And just as a good movie absorbs us in a tense drama, we always find a way to dramatize the events of our life.

      SOUL CONSCIOUSNESS – BODY CONSCIOUSNESS

      The soul wears a body as an actor wears a costume. You, the actor, have two kinds of awareness. It is you, the soul, which has this awareness; our body is just a costume. You can not ask a costume, How do you like being worn? You will get no answer. Clothes are inanimate. You, the living soul, make the body live. You are the life force that animates it. The body doesn’t feel, think, or experience. But in body consciousness, the soul, the actor, identifies with the body’s labels. Thus, we think we have a particular gender, color, race, or age. This identification with the body and its labels is what we call body consciousness. In body consciousness, lust, anger, greed, ego, and attachment take control. The soul, the actor, takes on these qualities, just as an actor playing a particular role takes on the character of the role he or she is playing. If you identify with the costume, then you are body conscious. The soul, the actor, is body conscious or soul conscious. The body itself has no consciousness. When the actor is soul conscious, then the soul’s original qualities--peace, wisdom, purity, love, and bliss--prevail.

      There are many vices and many virtues beyond the five mentioned above, but those listed here are primary. Just as primary colors, when combined, form the entire color spectrum, so primary virtues and vices combine to form the others, such as compassion and fear.

      KEY CONCEPTS

      Nischaya

      I will introduce a few key terms from Sanskrit, the sacred language of Asia and of the ancient yoga tradition. We will use these terms throughout the book.

      First is nischaya--certainty or determination. Nischaya also indicates faith with certainty and determination. In our context, nischaya will also indicate acceptance.

      We sometimes feel as if we are actors in a movie. Now, let us fully accept this image with determination: Yes, I am an actor in a movie! Bring this to the forefront of the mind. This simple shift in awareness transforms our lives, because our awareness determines our state of being. If I’m aware that I am an actor, then I gradually move to a higher state of being. When I believe with total acceptance, my awareness transforms me, the actor.

      Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas

      The Sanskrit words Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas appear frequently in this book. I use these Sanskrit words because translations don’t do them justice. Understand these words in their original sense and you won’t lose anything in the

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