From US Marine to Zen Monk (doc)

From US Marine to Zen Monk

DOCUMENTARY (米海兵隊から禅僧へ) (ドキュメンタリー)

I'm walkin here! Enraged Buddhism (mf mudra)

(TheUwagaPies) American Scott Mangis is a former US Marine who now lives life as a Zen Buddhist monk near Tokyo, Japan.

Let's explore Scott's daily life story and the path that lead him to completely change his way of living. Video by Tofu Media Production, Krzysztof Gonciarz and Kasia Mecinski (tofu.media).

Look, I'm a Zen nun, mindful and demure!

Shot on Canon 5D Mark III (amzn.to/2rChZ2H). Lenses: Tamron 24-70 IS 2.8 (amzn.to/2q45ADx). Zeiss 50 1.4 (amzn.to/2rCCVXh). Canon 100 IS 2.8 USM (amzn.to/2qBWOiw). Stabilizing: DJI Ronin (amzn.to/2qF2QzB). Manfrotto monopod and tripod. Slidecamera slider. Edited in Adobe Premiere, graded in Magic Bullet Looks.

• Visiting Japan? Get a JR Pass (tinyurl.com/59zbdc5e)

Commentary

Not all forms of Buddhism are alike.

(WQ) It would be good if Ananda's student, Doggone, could learn from Ven. Scott, the former U.S. soldier who found peace through Zen, which includes a lot of Taoist philosophy and practice.

Instead of muscling through everything, efforting and straining, there's a better way that bends with the wind, goes with the flow, and follows the Way known as the Tao.

Alan Watts speaks of a great divide in outlook, self-power (jiriki) versus other power (tariki). Can we do the impossible and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, or must we rely on a higher power, an outside source of energy or intelligence, to pull us out?

In practice, the latter may make more sense or be much easier. The former may work, but it will take subtlety that ego is not just leading ego around, self-willed as always, thinking it's getting anywhere. Will faith in something outside us save us, or must we take responsibility for our own behavior and own wisdom?

Two Buddhisms have developed in Japan over this vital question. Shall we follow the example of the historical Buddha or Cosmic Buddhas (gods) like Amitabha, Ksitigarbha, Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara), Budai, or whoever? It is the Kali Yuga (the "Decadent Age") after all, as the Hindu Vedas tell Mahayana Buddha.

Let's repeat this basic message in the next post with an added video of Watts making the great distinction in religious endeavor: self-power vs. other-power.

• Krzysztof Gonciarz, Kasia Mecinski (tofu.media), March 17, 2015; Pfc. Sandoval, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly