Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: Was Keanu ever the Buddha? 'Colorism'

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Was Keanu ever the Buddha? 'Colorism'

The Hollywood sign, Los Angeles

There is a Hollywood legend that actor Keanu Reeves, that guy from The Matrix, Neo the Neophyte, starred in an earlier life in the role of the Buddha Shakyamuni. What was Hollywood thinking? Reeves can hardly speak his lines, which he must have gotten in writing and been given lots of time to memorize. Anyone who saw him in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure will have to wonder how such a skilled thespian would be chosen for the role of a lifetime.

A search of the archives reveals a film from 1993, Little Buddha, about an American tulku (important reincarnation of a rinpoche in Tibetan Hinduism/Mahayana Buddhism). Would Tibetan Vajrayana elites really choose to be reborn in the West (perhaps an interpretation of Amitabha's "Western Paradise") among whites?

They might. There is a long and harsh history (thanks, England) of colorism in and around India (Bharat), which was violently occupied, exploited, and colonized, forced to be a part of Rome II (the United Kingdom of the British colonial power) that set up a Raj (King) System and left behind a lot of DNA.

Suck it, boy, suck my tongue good. I'm Pope.

And the current Dalai Lama (#14), who is thought to be a or the reincarnation of Kwan Yin/Kwannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara), has said that next time he may choose to be reborn as a woman outside of Tibet, in which case he says he wants to be "hot," presumably so more little boys will be willing to suck his tongue in a totally consensual and not at all creepy or perverted act of child grooming. The pontiff in the Vatican probably does the same thing must be the rationalization, and everyone knows the history of the imperial Holy Roman Catholic Church with little boys and erotic priests in sheep's clothing, so there's nothing weird going on.

The History of Colorism in India

(The Emissary) Oct. 1, 2024: Explore the fascinating journey of skin color (shade-ism) perception in India from ancient times to the modern day. This video delves into the genetic migrations that shaped Proto-India's diverse skin tones, ancient Indian (Maha Bharat) scriptures, and their positive views on dark skin, depictions of dark-skinned gods and heroes in Indian mythology, the impact of Islamic imperialism on beauty standards, European (mainly but not exclusively British) colonialism and its role in shaping colorism, the modern Indian perspective on skin color, and the push for change. Let's uncover how a culture that once worshipped dark-skinned (blue black) gods came to idolize fair skin and the ongoing journey toward embracing all shades of beauty in India.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
02:24 Genetic migrations
06:16 Skin color in scriptures and ancient India
13:40 Islamic India's new beauty standards
21:02 The impact of European colonization
27:08 Modern India's struggle with skin color

📝 The Emissary articles referenced:

The Bhāratāyan: How the idea of “India” came to be: theemissary.co/the-bharatayan...
Critical Caste Theory: A Dubious Discourse: theemissary.co/critical-caste...
The Dravidaryan Invasion Theory: https://theemissary.co/the-dravidarya...
The Confluence of Two Seas: India and Arabia: https://theemissary.co/the-confluence...
The India They Saw: When Socrates Met the Sindhu: https://theemissary.co/the-india-they...

🔬 Book References