Kung Fu Panda

Sometimes, the most unpretentious and enjoyable of movies can carry a deep message... think 3 idiots, Munnabhai MBBS, Life is Beautiful.

Recently, I saw an animation movie which on the surface was a children's movie, but seemed to be made by someone who has studied Buddhism.

It is the journey of the most unlikely kung fu warrior (a panda called Po) from being a waiter in his father's noodle shop to becoming the dragon warrior who single handedly saves an entire town from destruction.

These are some of the messages from the movie which will remain with me forever:

"There is no good news or bad news. There is only news."Master Oogway says this on hearing that the dreaded villain Tai Lung has escaped prison. This profound message is borne of a deep truth - every bad news carries within it the seeds of a positive transformation. And every good news has the potential to turn us complacent and arrogant, and leading to a downfall. This attitude is what equanimity is all about.

"A thing doesn't need to have something special in it to be special. You just have to believe it's special" Po's father reveals the secret of the secret ingredient noodle soup by this insightful message. He tells Po that there never was any secret ingredient in his soup. And it is this statement that makes Po understand the meaning of the dragon scroll. Come to think of it, Isn't this what faith is all about?

"One meets his destiny on the path he takes to avoid it"

So why fear what future has in store? Why not meet it head on?

The movie begins with Po's dream sequence where his opponents are blinded not by his kung fu skills, but by "his sheer awesomness". To me, this movie was awesome till the end. Watch it whenever you can. It's running on HBO.

The stonemill around the neck

Why is it that in spite of a determination and a clear goal, we're not able to advance towards it sometimes? Sukhdeepak uncovered the reasons behind this paradox for us. And brought us face to face with our negative beliefs which we may not be even aware of. But they are holding us down like an invisible stonemill around our neck. We did an exercise where I agreed to jot down whatever negative beliefs that I have in my mind on my way to my goal. I was not sure if I would be able to write more than 1 or 2. But within 5 minutes I had jotted down seven! And another five minutes could have resulted in another seven. We ended up dissecting each of those negative beliefs and see them for what they are actually worth. At the end of the day, none of those had any reason for existence. And even the ones which were not just negative beliefs but were based on some solid fact, could be overcome with a little push.

It feels like some chains have been unshackled. And that stone mill has started dissolving in the water in which it was trying to pull me down... aaaaaaaaaaahhh!