Kurasawa said that this film is about the heart. IMHO, most people are unequipped to understand the film because they lack experience in thinking from a Buddhist perspective. This film begins with several minutes of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo which is the mantra of all Nichiren Buddhists. We chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo because that is the primary method that we use to practice Buddhism. The practice is somewhat like praying and somewhat like meditation, but it is different too, especially because it is very high-charged. Nichiren Buddhists have found that this practice helps our lives in many unexpected ways. The words literally mean "Praise to the great law of the universe" that Shakyamuni Buddha expounded in The Lotus Sutra. Nichiren urged people to chant Nam-Myo-Renge-Kyo to develop their own Buddha nature and, cooperatively, to bring about world peace.
Nichiren Buddhists understand that chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is a tool which each person can use to awaken their inner Buddha nature and experience energy, purpose and a joyful life. The reference to the children throwing things at "the trolley freak" could easily be taken as a direct reference to "Bodisatva Never Disparaging," an important legendary figure in Nichiren Buddhism.
I saw this film many years ago when I knew about Nichiren Buddhism but was not actively practicing. The movie haunted me for three decades. I wanted to see it again but was unable to find the title. I finally watched it again last night. I watched it with two questions in mind. My first question was about the man who ran the imaginary(?) trolley. It seems to me that he is representative of all Nichiren Buddhists in that he uses his practice of chanting to draw on a continuous supply of energy from his deepest inner resources.
There were other references to Buddhism that could easily be missed. One was the parallel between the man who tricked the would-be suicide into believing he took poison and the parable of the wise potions maker from the Lotus Sutra, who tricked his children into believing that he was dead in order to shock them into their senses. The wise man's statement at the end of that scene, when he said that there is a remedy for every poison, is an obvious statement of the Buddhist principle, "Hendoku Iyaku," which means "turning poison into elixir."
Commentators who should know have suggested that the trolley character represented Kurasawa. This should be no surprise. Kurasawa was demonstrating his own determination to keep going despite the near end of his film-making career after Tora Tora Tora. People who chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo know what it is like to vigorously chant your way through your problems. Daisaku Ikeda, Honorary President of the Soka Gakai, the worldwide lay organization of Nichiren Buddhists, says that the rhythm of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, (which is a very physical practice), is like galloping on a horse. That is not a far stretch from the clickety clack of a train. In fact, I believe that the name of the film is actually a substitution for the phrase Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
The other question I had on reviewing the film was whether the characters in the story are based on the psychological states of mind known in Buddhism as "ten thousand worlds in a solitary moment of existence" (Ichinen Sanzen). A simplified version of this is the ten worlds, consisting, in ascending order, of hell, hunger, anger, animality, tranquility, rapture, learning, absorption, Bodisatva (the state of caring more for the good of others than for the good of yourself) and Buddahood or enlightenment. According to Nichiren, most people in this despoiled age, known as the "latter day of the law," spend most of their time bouncing around in the lower four worlds and occasionally experiencing life in the fifth and sixth worlds. In the movie, it is obvious that several characters are living in a psychological state of hell. Many others are dominated by hunger, anger and the animalistic instinct to fear those who are more powerful and to pray on the weak. We all possess these potentialities but some learn how to cultivate states that are known as "the higher worlds." Two characters clearly exhibit this: the wise man who seemed to protect all the people in the shanty town and the Buddha-like character who loved and raised the children that his wife bore from other men. The trolley driver was enigmatic but he was also the most self-assured and perhaps the happiest person in the story.
Why did he pray for his mother to become smarter? Because if she became smarter, she would not be as bothered by little things that have no consequence, such as all the stupid people who made fun of him because, to them, his trolley was invisible.
This film is an allegory. It is about hidden meanings. I cannot say what was in Kurasawa's heart when he made this movie, but to me, it is a very clear affirmation of the optimistic message of Nichiren Buddhism. I would still like to know whether Kurasawa practiced Nichiren Buddhism. With such American cultural luminaries as Herbie Hancock and Tina Turner practicing Nichiren Buddhism, it would not surprise me if Kurasawa used this popular spiritual practice at some point in his life too.
Nichiren Buddhists understand that chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is a tool which each person can use to awaken their inner Buddha nature and experience energy, purpose and a joyful life. The reference to the children throwing things at "the trolley freak" could easily be taken as a direct reference to "Bodisatva Never Disparaging," an important legendary figure in Nichiren Buddhism.
I saw this film many years ago when I knew about Nichiren Buddhism but was not actively practicing. The movie haunted me for three decades. I wanted to see it again but was unable to find the title. I finally watched it again last night. I watched it with two questions in mind. My first question was about the man who ran the imaginary(?) trolley. It seems to me that he is representative of all Nichiren Buddhists in that he uses his practice of chanting to draw on a continuous supply of energy from his deepest inner resources.
There were other references to Buddhism that could easily be missed. One was the parallel between the man who tricked the would-be suicide into believing he took poison and the parable of the wise potions maker from the Lotus Sutra, who tricked his children into believing that he was dead in order to shock them into their senses. The wise man's statement at the end of that scene, when he said that there is a remedy for every poison, is an obvious statement of the Buddhist principle, "Hendoku Iyaku," which means "turning poison into elixir."
Commentators who should know have suggested that the trolley character represented Kurasawa. This should be no surprise. Kurasawa was demonstrating his own determination to keep going despite the near end of his film-making career after Tora Tora Tora. People who chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo know what it is like to vigorously chant your way through your problems. Daisaku Ikeda, Honorary President of the Soka Gakai, the worldwide lay organization of Nichiren Buddhists, says that the rhythm of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, (which is a very physical practice), is like galloping on a horse. That is not a far stretch from the clickety clack of a train. In fact, I believe that the name of the film is actually a substitution for the phrase Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
The other question I had on reviewing the film was whether the characters in the story are based on the psychological states of mind known in Buddhism as "ten thousand worlds in a solitary moment of existence" (Ichinen Sanzen). A simplified version of this is the ten worlds, consisting, in ascending order, of hell, hunger, anger, animality, tranquility, rapture, learning, absorption, Bodisatva (the state of caring more for the good of others than for the good of yourself) and Buddahood or enlightenment. According to Nichiren, most people in this despoiled age, known as the "latter day of the law," spend most of their time bouncing around in the lower four worlds and occasionally experiencing life in the fifth and sixth worlds. In the movie, it is obvious that several characters are living in a psychological state of hell. Many others are dominated by hunger, anger and the animalistic instinct to fear those who are more powerful and to pray on the weak. We all possess these potentialities but some learn how to cultivate states that are known as "the higher worlds." Two characters clearly exhibit this: the wise man who seemed to protect all the people in the shanty town and the Buddha-like character who loved and raised the children that his wife bore from other men. The trolley driver was enigmatic but he was also the most self-assured and perhaps the happiest person in the story.
Why did he pray for his mother to become smarter? Because if she became smarter, she would not be as bothered by little things that have no consequence, such as all the stupid people who made fun of him because, to them, his trolley was invisible.
This film is an allegory. It is about hidden meanings. I cannot say what was in Kurasawa's heart when he made this movie, but to me, it is a very clear affirmation of the optimistic message of Nichiren Buddhism. I would still like to know whether Kurasawa practiced Nichiren Buddhism. With such American cultural luminaries as Herbie Hancock and Tina Turner practicing Nichiren Buddhism, it would not surprise me if Kurasawa used this popular spiritual practice at some point in his life too.