Cinema Scene

By sister initiate Liang Guoray, Taipei, Formosa

 

In the video "Devine Love Is the Only True Love", Master reveals to us: "The only real thing is positive; the only real thing is love; the only real thing is that whatever you want, you will get. And you will get all the good things, because that's what God wants us to have." I did not fully understand the meaning of this passage until I saw the movie, "Life is Beautiful," recommended by Master, when I was deeply touched by the loving heart and noble spirit of the main character.

"Life is Beautiful" tells the touching story of fatherly love shown in a Jewish concentration camp. Its delicate narrative style reveals the beautiful, pure and God-like heart of the lead character. In order to encourage his wife and son to live on with love, he retains a positive attitude toward life even in the terrible and inhumane surroundings of the camp. With love and sacrifice, he protects his son from the harmful effects of the cruel reality around him, thus maintaining the boy's childlike purity in the hellish camp environment.

One scene in the movie touched me deeply: The lead character's son was of such a young age that he had to rely on his father's love and teaching to survive. But he came to a point where he could no longer bear what he was seeing and hearing in the camp, and almost lost faith in what his father had told him that the camp was just a big game that they were playing. One day, the boy said to his father sadly: "I heard --that they burn people in the ovens. They burn us in the ovens." The father immediately retorted, "You were deluded. You'd believe anything! I have only heard of a forge or hearth. Where in the world is there an oven that burns humans? Don't kid me!" Then the boy kept asking, "Why are there no other children left but me?" And the father replied, "We are playing hide-and-seek, and they're all hiding so that no one can see them." At last, the boy smiled again, and continued to play, along with his father, the game of life in the camp.

His father's positive attitude successfully diverted Maya's cruel influence on the child, so that they could live without fear of the evil manifesting around them. They looked upon it as a play, and refused to submit to the camp's hardships and miseries. As I watched this scene, I felt deeply how beautiful it was. These wonderful people lived a truly "Beautiful Life" even under such difficult circumstances. I believe that instead of ordinary people they must represent noble beings descended from Heaven, just like the Buddha and our dear Master, coming down to accompany us and play with us in the vast game of the universe. It is all because of their boundless love that our lives can become bright and beautiful.