The Spiritual Lesson from the movie The Lord of the Rings

 I recently watched The Lord of the Rings, much after my son's insistence, as I am not much of a movie person. I remember watching it in bits and pieces when it was released, but as usual, it didn't interest me. Perhaps this time also, I would have given up but for my son's persistence. And honestly speaking, maybe that might be one of the best spiritual learning for me. The movie seems to be a lot like the Mahabharata war, where good wins over evil after much chaos and destruction. Many things reminded me of our Bhagwat Gita, where all Krishna had to convince the reluctant Arjun to fight the war besides supporting him throughout the epic battle. Somehow the friendship between Frodo and Sam was like Arjun and Krishna. From beginning to end, Sam remains his unconditional friend who leaves nothing to support Frodo. But as the movie unfolds, like Arjun', Frodo has to carry the task of throwing the Ring in the fire, however difficult it is. "Maybe I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you ", this dialogue from Sam has immense depth. The invisible power, which we can name anything God, Universe, or Existence, always has our back if we can truly trust, but we must carry our actions. We must also learn to throw our Rings if we have not to let the Ring control our lives. The Ring in the movie is symbolic of our incessant mind that never stops and is mainly involved in bringing all the negativities in our life in the form of unnecessar desires, ttoo much past and future, jealousy, hate, greed, fear, guilt, regret, unnecessary pain, and suffering. By giving all power to our mind by identifying with it, we lose touch with our innate intelligence and eternal soulful presence.

And we are not ready to let go of it, for it's so addictive. We are so seduced by its charm, however much pain, and suffering that entails. We believe we will lose our identity if we let go of our minds. And the addiction is so strong that we stubbornly remain identified with it. Ring like our minds was attracting Frodo not to give up and keep holding on to it. Even when he was very near to the volcano, his sudden desire to keep the Ring engulfed him. It was the same with our minds. It doesn't let us drop it.

Like Krishna, who kept counseling Arjuna in Bhagwat Gita, Sam says, "Destroy. What you are waiting for. Just let it go." This is perhaps one of the most profound scenes. Frodo couldn't drop himself as his desire took over him, and he wore it only to fall into the grip of the evil eyes of the main villain Sauron. Likewise, by not distancing ourselves from our minds, we keep making the same mistakes in circles and keep suffering the pain.

The greedy character, Gollum,

finally wins the Ring after he fights with Frodo to regain his precious possession. But the Ring is symbolic of death. And eventually, he perishes in the fire. Again this is a reminder that if we don't stop identifying with our minds, following everything it blabbers incessantly without any awareness, which bestows us a discerning power, we are designed to perish without gaining knowledge of our true self, our eternal soul. The beauty is it's never too late to start our journey. 😊💗😊