Seeing Like the Buddha Seeing Like the Buddha Enlightenment through Film Francisca Cho Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2017 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production, Ryan Morris Marketing, Kate R Seburyamo Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cho, Francisca, author Title: Seeing like the Buddha : enlightenment through film / Francisca Cho Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index Identifiers: LCCN 2016031461 (print) | LCCN 2017001011 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438464398 (hardcover : alk paper) | ISBN 9781438464404 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Buddhism in motion pictures Classification: LCC PN1995.9.B795 C46 2017 (print) | LCC PN1995.9.B795 (ebook) | DDC 791.43/682943—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031461 10 Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgment ix Abbreviations xi Chapter Seeing Like the Buddha Chapter The Karmic Narrative of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring 27 Chapter The Meditative Discernment of Nang Nak 49 Chapter Rashomon and the Indiscernible Emptiness of Being 67 Chapter The Depth of Shadows in Maborosi 87 Chapter The Visual Cinema of Terrence Malick 107 Chapter Descent into the World 127 Notes 145 References 161 Index 171 Illustrations Figure 1.1 Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), Yasai Nehan (“vegetable nirvana”), ca 1792 (Courtesy of Kyoto National Museum) Figure 1.2 The artist Renée Cox substitutes for Christ in Yo Mama’s Last Supper, 1999 (Courtesy of Renée Cox Studio) Figure 1.3 The plate just right of the Cox/Christ image depicts a white Judas in the triad of disciples (Courtesy of Renée Cox Studio) Figure 1.4 Borobudur Temple, ninth century Central Java, Indonesia 20 Figure 1.5 An exposed stūpa Buddha on the circular terrace of Borobudur (Photograph by Robert DeCaroli) 23 Figure 2.1 The Bodhisattva Guanyin looks down upon the world and hears its cries 29 Figure 2.2 The man looks at the Buddha and seeks resolution for his pain 35 Figure 2.3 The Buddha is a live character who looks back at the people who come before him 35 Figure 3.1 Somdet To sees Nang Nak through meditation on the cycle of life 60 Figure 3.2 Nang Nak as seen through the humanizing vision of Somdet To 61 vii viii Illustrations Figure 4.1 The Rashōmon gate reflects the social and moral disintegration of the twelfth century and the fall of the Heian dynasty 68 Figure 4.2 The woodcutter descends into the woods where light and shadow are inextricably entangled 77 Figure 4.3 The woodcutter emerges from the Roshōmon gate into the clear light of moral action 83 Figure 5.1 The running children are more distinct as shadows reflected in the bright surface of the water 90 Figure 5.2 In this long‑distance shot so typical of Maborosi, Yumiko’s figure is hidden in the bus stop enclosure as the bus slowly winds its way out of the still camera frame 90 Figure 6.1 The men of C Company are outgrowths of the foliage and return to the landscape in death 114 Figure 6.2 Private Witt is surrounded by Japanese soldiers in the moment before his death 116 Figure 6.3 The image of flowing water sustains Private Train’s reflection: “Darkness, light Strife and love Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face?” 121 Figure 7.1 The perspective from the bottom of the stairs of Borobudur provides a clear view of the niche Buddhas, who appear to accompany beings descending the temple (Photograph by Alexander Ipfelkofer) 129 Figure 7.2 A close‑up of some of the 432 niche Buddhas on top of the gallery walls (Photograph by Robert DeCaroli) 131 Figure 7.3 Danielle as she appears seconds into the video 133 Figure 7.4 Danielle as she appears minutes and 17 seconds into the video 133 Acknowledgment For the students of my Buddhism and Film course offered in the Spring semesters of 2010, 2012, and 2014: It has been a privilege to share my ideas with you and you have inspired me with your amazing insights in turn ix References 165 James, David 2002 “Im Kwon‑Taek: Korean National Cinema and Buddhism.” In Im Kwon‑Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema, edited by David James and Kyung Hyun Kim, 47–83 Detroit: Wayne State Uni‑ versity Press Jump, Herbert 2002 “The Religious 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(Haneke), 106 amulets, 52, 64–65, 81 animal fables, 30, 52–53, 63; in Kim Kiduk’s Spring…, 32, 40–41; in Pancatantra, 53 Anūnatvāpūrn.atvanirdeśa Sūtra, 145n3 Apadāna literature, 30, 150n2 aśuras, 63 Aśvaghos.a’s Buddhacarita, 44 At .thakavagga (“chapter of the eights”), 78–80 avadāna literature, 30 Avalokiteśvara (bodhisattva), 29, 92 Bae Yongkyun, 27 Barthes, Roland, 101–2 Bashō (poet), 99 Becker, Carl B., 142 Bentor, Yael, 12, 17 Bielefeldt, Carl, 42 Blade Runner (Ridley Scott), 104–5 Bo Zhuyi, 98, 99, 158n12 Bogin, Benjamin, 149n26 Bordwell, David, 31 Borobudur Temple, 19–21, 44–45, 100, 125, 128–31, 139; central stūpa of, 101–2, 108; Gandavyūha panels at, 20–22, 72; as man.d.ala, 25–26; photographs of, 20, 23, 129, 131; structure of, 149nn30–31 Boucher, Daniel, 15, 149n25 Brahmanism, 14, 148n23, 153n8; exorcism rites in, 58–60 Brahmāyu Sutta, 145n1 Bronkhorst, Johannes, 14, 58 Buddha-nature, 2, 16, 18, 24, 42, 45, 143, 145n2; buddhadhatu and, 4; tathāgatagarbha and, Buddhaghos.a, 136, 141, 155n9, 160n9 Buddhānusmr.ti practice, 127–28 Buddhist cinema, 1, 18–26; film criticism of, 19; Hirokazu Kore’eda and, 102–6, 149n29; Malick and, 110, 124–25 Buddhist visionary practices, 65–66, 127–44 171 172 Index Buswell, Robert E., 151n10 Campany, Robert, 148n24 Cao Xueqin, 46 Cerniello, Anthony, 132–37, 133 Chang Chen, 45 Chastain, Jessica, 111, 118–19, 122 Chōmei, Kamo no, 96, 156n3, 157n8 Christianity, 1, 4, 6–8; cinema’s potential for, 8, 9; confession in, 64; ghosts in, 51; icons and, 5; Malick’s films and, 109, 110, 115, 121, 123 Cloud Atlas (Tykwer), 46–47 Cohen, Hubert, 109, 110, 115 Conroy, Melissa, 36 Cox, Renée, 6, 6–8, Cuddy, George, 134 Cuevas, Bryan, 52, 55 Dalai Lama, 12, 19, 131 Danielle (Cerniello), 132–37, 133 Daodejing, 94–98, 102, 156nn4–5 Daoism, 93–95; ecological movements and, 101; ghosts in, 51 darśan, 34 Daśabhūmika Sūtra, 148n20 DeCaroli, Robert, 51, 57, 58, 65 Denby, David, 107, 108 detachment, practice of, 79 Deuteronomy, 109 Devorohana (“coming down from the deva world”), 130 Dhammapada Commentary, 159n5 dharmadhātu (“dharma dimension”), 10, 14 dharmakāya (“ultimate body of the Buddha”), 10–12, 22–24, 124–25, 130–31, 146n10, 147n18 Diamond Sūtra, 159n2 Digha Nikāya, 36, 145n1, 148n19 Dōgen, 146n5 Doninger, Wendy, 110 Donohue, William, Dream of the Nine Clouds, 152n12 Dream of the Red Chamber (Cao Xueqin), 46 dr s.ti (“views”), 78–79 Du Fu, 158n12 Earle, Edmund, 134 Ebert, Roger, 108, 111 Eckel, Malcolm David, 12–14, 149n27 ecological movements, 101 Empire (Warhol), 132, 136–39, 141, 143 emptiness, being and, 84–85; in Daodejing, 94–95; in form, 15–17, 97, 107, 130; in Heart Sūtra, 33; in Mahāyāna Buddhism, 41–42, 45, 157n5; Nāgārjuna and, 95; samādhi of, 128; tathāgatagarbha and, 4, in Tendai Buddhism, 96–98; Vairocana Buddha and, 146n9; visions of, 22–23, 41; in Zen, 98–99, 146n4, 157n5 exorcism, 58–60 Fayuan zhulin (“forest of gems from the Dharma garden”), 155n5 film noir, 103–5 folk religion, 49, 65 Fredriksen, Paula, 8–9, 146n8 Freedberg, David, 9, 146n7 Fudaraku (legendary island), 92, 156n2 Fuhrmann, Arnika, 50, 52 Fujiwara Shunzei, 95–98, 157n10, 157nn6–7 Fujiwara Teika, 96–97, 157n6 Fuller, Paul, 78, 156n10 funeral rites, 54, 148n23 Index Gandavyūha sutra, 20–22, 26, 72, 127 Genshin, 145n2 German expressionism, 104 ghosts, 55; in Buddhism, 54–55; in Catholicism, 51; exorcism of, 58–60; as folk religion, 65; “hungry,” 55, 62; karma and, 52–54, 56; in Taoism, 51 Gibson, Mel, 8–9, 84 Gifford, Julie, 20, 21, 72, 128–30, 139, 149nn30–31 Gimello, Robert M., 151n10 Giuliani, Rudolph, Gomez, Luis, 148n22 Green, Ronald, 149n29 Griffiths, Paul, 13, 147n16, 148n22 Groundhog Day, 19 Guanyin (bodhisattva of compassion), 29, 29–30, 33–36, 35, 45, 121, 124, 154n2 Hallisey, Charles, 31 Hamilton, Sue, 16 Haneke, Michael, 106 Hansen, Anne, 31 Harrison, Paul M., 128 Hayashi Yukio, 154n9 Heart Sūtra, 32, 33, 38, 41–42, 159n2 Heidegger, Martin, 108 Hershock, Peter, 57, 66, 84; on karma, 45, 153n8 Hirokazu Kore’eda, 132 See also Maborosi Hōjōki (“record of the ten-foot-square hut”), 156n3, 157n8 Hōnen, 145n2 Hossinshū (“tales of religious awakening”), 156n3 Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 45–46 Huanyuanji (“requiting grievances”), 152n1 173 Huiyuan, 145n2, 160n10 iconoclasm, 5–6, 9, 99, 143–44, 146n5 Im Kwon-taek, 27 Inagaki, 160n11 Iryon, 155n6 Islam, Itō Jakuchū, 2, 3, James, David, 27 jātaka literature, 30, 53, 155n5 Jātakamālā, 21 Jetavana Monastery, 157n11 Jinapañjara mantra, 59 Jingliu yixiang (“aspects of Buddhist doctrine”), 155n5 Jizang, 145n2 Job, Book of, 109, 110 Jowo Śākyamuni, 10–11 Judaism, 4, 8–9 Jump, Herbert, 8, 9, 146n6–7 Kakuju, 154n1 Kakyō (“a mirror held to the flower”), 97 Kālacakra man.d.ala, 159n3 Kalina, Noah, 134 Kannami Kiyotsugu, 97 Kannon (bodhisattva), 92 karma, 29–33, 44–45, 59, 66, 79; Chinese notion of, 44–45; ghosts and, 52–54, 56; Hershock on, 45, 153n8; knowledge of, 21; kusala/ akusala of, 84–85; in Nang Nak, 50; Wheel of Life and, 39–40 Karmavibhanga, 21 Kelsey, W Michael, 70–71, 154n1, 155n4 Khuddaka Nikāya, 55, 159n6 Kim Kiduk, 18, 21–22, 27–47, 124, 132 174 Index Kisāgotamī, tale of, 134–35, 159n6 Knee, Adam, 50 Kobayashi Hiroko, 154n1 Konishi Jin’ichi, 95, 97, 157n9 Konjaku monogatarishū (“tales of long ago”), 69–71, 154n1, 155n4, 155nn4–5 Korai fūteishō (“notes on poetic style through the ages”), 96, 98, 157n6, 157n10 Kore’eda See Hirokazu Kore’eda Kūkai, 146n5 Kundun (Scorsese), 19 Kurosawa, Akira, 67 See also Rashomon Kurylenko, Olga, 112, 122 kusala (“wholesomeness”), 84–85 kyōgen kigo (“wild words and embellished phrases”), 98 LaFleur, William, 88, 91–93, 98–100, 106, 116 Lakkhana Sutta, 145n1 Lalitavistara, 21 Lang, Fritz, 104 Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese), Leonardo da Vinci, 6, Li Bai, 158n12 Lopate, Phillip, 110 Lotus Sutra, 13–14, 148n24 Lubezki, Emmanuel, 108, 111 Maborosi (Hirokazu Kore’eda), 24–25, 87–106, 90; Malick’s films and, 112, 113, 116, 124; shadows in, 89–93; title of, 88, 93, 156n1 Madhyamaka (“middle way”), 95, 96, 145n2 Mahāparinirvāna Sūtra, 145n3, 148n19 Maitrībala Jātaka, 62 Majjhima Nikāya, 145n1 Malick, Terrence, 19, 25, 107–25, 132, 132; Badlands, 107, 108; Days of Heaven, 107, 109; New World, 107–9; Thin Red Line, 19, 107–9, 111–17, 119–21; Tree of Life, 19, 107–10, 117–19, 123; To the Wonder, 19, 107–9, 111–12, 122–23 man.d.alas, 2, 25, 150nn31–32, 159n3 Marran, Christine, 103, 106 Maslin, Janet, 112, 113 May Adadol Ingawanij, 50 McDaniel, Justin, 51 McMahan, David, 16, 72 Meier, Nathan, 134 Mills, Mary Beth, 50 Minamoto Takakuni, 154n1 Mingbaoji (“record of karmic retribution”), 155n5 Mingxiangji (“manifesting the dead”), 152n1 Mizoguchi Kenji, 53 Moerman, D Max, 156n2 Monet, Claude, 138, 139 mortuary rites, 54, 148n23 Nāgārjuna, 95 Nang Nak (Nonzee Nimibutr), 22, 49–66; karma in, 50; Kurosawa and, 76; Malick and, 124; Ueda and, 53 Nang Tantrai (Thai story collection), 53–54, 153n6 Newman, John, 25 nienfo of Pure Land Buddhism, 128 Nihon ryōiki, 152n1, 154n3, 155n4 nirvana, 5, 44, 99, 102 Nō drama, 52, 97–98, 152n2, 157n9 nonnarrative language, 109–12 Nonzee Nimibutr See Nang Nak Orientalism, 100–101 Index otogizoshi (“companion tales”), 52, 152n2 Ozu Yasujiro, 87, 103, 106 Pancatantra (animal fables), 53, 153n6 Pas, Julian, 142, 159n8 Passion of the Christ (Gibson), 8–9, 84 perception, 16, 33; of no-perception, 77–84; subjectivity of, 71–77 Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), 33, 127, 148n18, 149n27, 157n5, 159n2 Petavatthu (“stories of the departed”), 55, 150n4 Phya Lithai, 153n7 Piśācapakaranam (“ghost stories”), 53 prajñāpāramitā (“perfection of wisdom”), 33 prapañca (“proliferation”), 16, 85 Pratyutpanna-buddha sam mukhāvasthita-samadhi, 128 Preminger, Otto, 104 pretas (“the departed”), 54–55 Pure Land Buddhism, 93, 127–28, 140–42, 145n2, 156nn2–3, 159n2, 160n10 Qiu Wei, 17 Rashomon (Kurosawa), 22–23, 67–85, 68, 77, 83; Maborosi and, 88; Malick’s films and, 121, 124 Rashōmon gate, 67, 68, 69, 82, 83 Ratnagotravibhāga, 145n3 Reinhartz, Adele, relics, 11–12, 14, 148n23 Reynolds, Frank, 63 Richie, Donald, 87 Russell, Catherine, 103, 106 Ryōkan (poet), 99 175 Śākyamuni Buddha, 1, 2, 5, 10–11, 44, 57, 130, 131 Salayatanavagga (“book of the six sense bases”), 36–37 Salla Sutta, 76 Samannaphala Sutta (“fruits of the homeless life”), 36 Samguk yusa (“legends of the three kingdoms”), 151n7, 155n6 samsara, 5, 16, 40–43, 99, 102, 124, 130 Samuel, Geoffrey, 143, 150n32 Samyutta Nikāya, 37–38, 159n6 sarugaku (“monkey entertainments”), 97, 157n9 Satipat .thāna Sutta, 135–36 Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg), 113–15 Schrader, Paul, 103–4 Scorsese, Martin, 9, 19 Scott, Ridley, 104–5 Seiryōji temple, 10–11 self-immolation, 92–93, 151n6, 156nn2–3 setsuwa literature, 52, 69–71, 152n1, 154nn2–3 shadows, 100; in film noir, 103–4; in Maborosi, 24–25, 88–93, 89–93, 90; in Roshomon, 77, 77–78, 82; in Thin Red Line, 113 Shandao, 160n10 Sharf, Robert H., 145n2, 147n13 Shinran, 145n2 Shōtoku, Prince, 98 Shu Qi, 45 shushi (temple performances), 97, 157n9 Siodmak, Robert, 104 Sisyphus, myth of, 41 Solaris (Tarkovsky), 66 Somdet To, 51–52, 59–65, 60 Songtsen Gampo, 10 176 Index Spielberg, Stephen, 113–15 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Kiduk), 18, 21–22, 27–47, 124, 132 Srīmālādevīsimhanāda Sūtra, 4, 145n3 Stevenson, Daniel B., 128, 159n4 Stone, Jacqueline I., 55 suicide, 32, 75, 91–93, 151n6, 156nn2–3 suiziyi (“following one’s mind”), 159n4 Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, 159n2 śunyatā, 4–5 See also emptiness Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha, 14, 15, 149n25, 152n11 Sūtta Nipāta, 76, 78–80, 84 “symbolic fantasy,” 72 Udayana, King, 10, 11, 147n13, 148n24 Ugetsu (Mizoguchi Kenji), 53 Ugetsu Monogatari (Ueda Akinari), 53, 62–63 Uji shūi monogatari (“collection of tales from Uji”), 155n7 Tambiah, Stanley J., 153n5 Tanizaki, Jun’ichirō, 100–101 Tantropakhyana, 153n6 Tarkovsky, Andrei, 66 tathāgathagarbha (“embryo of enlightnment”), 4, 145n3, 146n10 Thin Red Line (Malick), 19, 107–9, 111–17, 119–21 Three Times (Hou Hsiao-Hsien), 45–46 Tiantai Zhiyi, 157n7 To the Wonder (Malick), 19, 107–9, 111–12, 122–23 Trai Phum Phra Ruang (“Three Worlds According to King Ruang”), 55, 62, 63, 153n7, 154n10 Trainor, Kevin, 11 Treasure Store Treatise, 145n2, 148n21 Tree of Life (Malick), 19, 107–10, 117–19, 123 trikāya theory, 147n16 Tsongkhapa, 147n14 Tykwer, Tom, 46–47 Warhol, Andy, 132, 136–39, 141, 143 Warner, Cameron, 147n14 Wencheng Gongzhu, 10 Whalen-Bridge, John, 19 Wheel of Life See samsara Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East? (Bae Yongkyun), 27 Wilder, Billy, 104 Winfield, Pamela, 146n5 wisdom, 53–54; eye of, 59–65 See also Perfection of Wisdom Woodward, Mark, 44 Woronov, Mary, 137 Wright, Dale, 45 Vairocana (Universal Buddha), 10, 146n9, 150n32 Vajrapāni (bodhisattva), 38 Vale, Eugene, 84 Vasubandhu, 14, 148n21, 149n27 Veidlinger, Daniel, 153n5 Vimānavatthu (“stories of mansions”), 150n4 Visuddhimagga, 136, 141, 158n1 xiang (“visualize”), 159n8 Xuanzang, 146n11 yaks.a (demons), 62–64, 70 Yijing, 149n25 Yin/Yang, 93–95, 102 Yo Mama’s Last Supper (Renée Cox), 6, Index yūgen (sense of profundity), 89, 93–97, 100, 104, 105, 157n5 Yuminglu (“the dead and the living”), 152n1 Zeami Motokiyō, 97–98, 157n11 Zeitchik, Steven, 111–12 177 Zhanran, 145n2 zhiguai (“accounts of the strange”), 52, 152n1, 154n2 Zhiyi, 159n4 Zhuangzi, 156nn4–5 Ziporyn, Brook, 94 Zurcher, Erik, 143 ... the Guanyin image at the end of the film is an explicit reference to what a Buddha sees, and this theme is repeated throughout the film through another icon—the Buddha image that occupies the modest... Seeing Like the Buddha Erasing the Buddha T he objective of this book is to demonstrate that films can take on the role that has been played by traditional Buddhist icons and images Film can articulate... behind the films that have been selected for Seeing Like the Buddha discussion The progression of films increasingly loses references to and images of all things Buddhist until “the Buddhist film? ??