Dharma-Inspired Movie Review
Basking in the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
www.EternalSunshine.com
Tagline: You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story.
Synopsis: “Eternal Sunshine” scored an Academy Award for Best Screenplay by Charlie
Kaufman (with nomination for Best Actress Kate Winslet), and Golden Globe nominations for Best
Picture, Best Actor (Jim Carrey), Best Actress and Best Screenplay in 2004. See this comical and
poignant look at breakups, breakdowns and breakthroughs. Joel Barish (Jim) is stunned to
discover that his girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski (Kate) has had their tumultuous relationship
erased from her mind. Out of desperation, he does the same. But as memories of her begin to
fade, he suddenly realises how much he still loves her, as he runs and hide with her in his own
mind. Kirsten Dunst (Mary), Mark Ruffalo (Stan) and Elijah Wood (Patrick) co-star in this
memorable film that is a smart and seriously funny comedy. (from various sources)
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Some Enlightening Lessons from the Film
01) Being Existentially Displaced
In the beginning of the film, Joel wakes up seemingly existentially displaced, lost in space and
time. He also discovers an inexplicable dent in his car. This reminds us of our bewilderment when
we find ourselves caught in a predicament that we cannot explain, as our ripening karma deals us
an unexpected hand. Every morning we wake up to has a life of prior history, whether you
remember it or not. We are the way we are because of the way we were. And we will be the way
we will be because of what we do now. This is the Buddha’s simplest explanation of how to know
about the nature of our past and future lives.
02) Going on a Personal Retreat
Joel ditches work the day he awoke from his loss of memory of Clementine, unsure of why he
chose to break routine. Perhaps it should be done sometimes, especially when we feel
existentially displaced. Perhaps it means it is time to reflect on our life and its direction. A
personal solo retreat of sorts. Sometimes, you need to be alone to find yourself.
03) Missing Pages of Your Life
Joel discovers pages ripped out of his journal. But he remembers neither what was written onto
them nor what was written. Likewise, we live our present lives with “missing pages” of our past
lives, not being mindful of our past experiences. It can be a blessing in the sense that we do not
have to consciously carry the burden of any painful past. But it can also be a curse in the sense
that we might not consciously outgrow our past, as we repeat mistakes.
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04) Is Your Journal Blank?
Joel found his journal largely blank and thought his life to be rather pointless. Do you keep a
journal, diary or blog? Do you live a life meaningful enough for you to make a point to take note of,
and to share? Even if not literally, verbally perhaps?
05) What is Worth Dying For?
On the frozen river, Joel says, ”I could die right now, Clem. I'm just happy. I've never felt that
before. I'm just exactly where I want to be." What is the one experience that is worth dying for,
that will leave you contented forever? Is it enlightenment? Or love? Why aren’t you there yet?
When you live in the moment without attachment to the past or future, everything’s worth it. Is
Joel’s remark indication of his attachment to the moment and aversion to other moments?
06) Stealing An Identity
In his mind, Joel realises that Patrick was stealing his identity by mimicking his words and
rediscovering his experiences. But what truly is one’s identity? Is it merely one’s memories? What
are memories if they can change in time as we reinterpret them? Can identity really be stolen? An
identity can only be stolen if it is a fixed and tangible thing. If our identity is fixed, it means we
cannot grow spiritually. Thus did the Buddha teach us on the truth of non-self, of the reality that
be it physically or mentally, we are changing from moment to moment. When we realise this, we
cease “identifying” with dissatisfactions that arise from attachment to our identity and ego.
07) Demons of Bardo
Joel encounters bizarre blurred faces in his mind as his memories are erased. It reminds us of the
“demons” one might encounter in the bardo state (intermediate state between death and the next
life), which are actually manifestations from one’s own mind’s inner demons.
08) Importance of Self-Reliance
As Dr Mierzwiak tells Joel, ”I'm part of your imagination too, Joel. How can I help you from there?
I'm inside your head too. I'm you.” In a sense, only you can help yourself in the bardo state.
However, mindfulness of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can help a great deal too. But even this
mindfulness requires your personal effort on your part. Joel tells Clementine in his mind about
stopping the memory erasing process, “I can't just cancel it. I'm asleep.” To which she replies,
“Wake yourself up!” Likewise you need to “awaken” to the importance of your self-reliance.
09) Life is But a Dream
Joel remembers a song of ethereality from childhood, ”Row row row your boat, gently down the
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stream. Merrily merrily merrily merrily. life is but a dream.” Life can feel fleetingly dreamlike, yet
that is as “real” as it gets. The Buddha taught in the Diamond Sutra that, “All conditioned
phenomena, is like dreams, illusions, bubbles and shadows, like dew and lightning. One should
contemplate thus.” When we let go of our attachment, we will merrily sail along the stream of life.
10) Is the Past Erasable?
Stan remarks while trying to get a grip of Joel in his mind, “That's strange - he's in a memory we'd
already erased.” It is harder to erase memories than we think, as they remain rooted in our eighth
(alaya) consciousness. Or is it possible at all? We can only transform what we interpret of the
past, not erase it.
11) Can Someone Complete You?
Clementine tells Joel, “Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make
them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl looking for my own peace of mind.” Many people yearn for
lovers who they suppose can complete themselves, who are their other “halves.” What they will
discover in time when they are with someone is how complete they already are. A neurotic love
relationship is one where both parties resemble hungry ghosts, who crave for fulfillment, for
qualities they miss in themselves in each other – sometimes when they are absent in both. In a
sense, Joel and Clementine are similar to spiritual hungry ghost lovers, as he probably searches
for wild freedom which he misses in himself, as she searches for stable grounded-ness which she
misses in herself? Yet both of them were not exactly as they expected, as their love relationship
becomes a love-hate one – at least, for their “first round” together, before the movie ends. Does
your love embrace each other only to fall deeper or deeper into Samsara, or does it help each
other out?
12) It Would Be Different?
As Joel tries to persuade Clementine to give their relationship another go, he says, “It would be
different if we could just give it another go around.” The realistic unromantic truth is, it will only be
different if they had learnt from their previous experience. If not, it will just be the rebirth of the
same relationship.
13) Try to Remember
Joel tells Clementine in his mind, “Remember me. Try your best. Maybe we can.” Our eighth
consciousness is like a storehouse which keeps all our past experiences, whether we like them or
not. Our deeds and memories are like stored seeds of potential, which bear fruit when conditions
are appropriate. This is how karma affects us.
14) A Good Bye
Clementine tells Joel as they relive the last of their memories (which is actually their first) together
“Come up and make up a goodbye at least. Pretend we had one.” (As they did not bid each other
farewell the other time.) If you are to suddenly die or have memories of the ones you love erased,
would you want to bid a proper final farewell? Perhaps there is no need if you treasure them from
moment to moment now. Love can only be true and alive here and now, not by mere hankering
on past lost loves or pining for unknown future loves.
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15) Past Life Regression
Joel and Clementine’s rediscovery of their memories through the tape-recordings of their
thoughts reminds us of past life regression or the process of rebirthing. There is always
something shocking yet enlightening when we relive our past with our present mindstate - if we
are wiser now, because there are bound to be many obvious and subtle lessons we missed with
our past delusional mindstate back then.
16) To Know a Stranger
Joel records for the doctor, “But I don't know her at all. What a loss to spend that much time with
someone, only to find out she's a stranger.” How much do you know the ones you love? Is it
definitely their fault that you know so little about them? How much do you know yourself? Whose
fault is it?
17) The Pont of Trying Again
Clementine: I'm not perfect.
Joel: I can't see anything that I don't like about you. Right now I can't.
Clementine: But you will. But you will. You know, you will think of things, and I'll get bored with
you and feel trapped because that's what happens with me.
Joel: Okay.
Clementine: Okay?
We will all make the same mistakes time and again, in love and other matters, going through
meaningless cycles - unless we conscientiously realise our past mistakes and make a point to
breakthrough. Otherwise, love and life will end up in plain dissatisfaction (dukkha).
18) Change Your Heart
Beck’s song goes, ”Change your heart. Look around you. Change your heart. It will astound you.
Now, I need your lovin’ like the sunshine. And everybody's gotta learn sometime.” If everybody
learns to change their hearts, they will realise that the primary love we need to have is from
ourselves, not anyone else. Thus is it emphasized in the cultivation of loving-kindness that we
first need to nurture unconditional loving-kindness for ourselves before we can readily radiate it to
others.
19) The Person We Are
We will not be the person we are now with the absence of the people we encountered in the past,
and our experiences with them - be they pleasant or painful. Thus, everyone we come across is
an invaluable teacher of life. Everyone should be seen as a Bodhisattva. As we cannot change
our past, we should not bear resentment, but learn best we can from it. In fact, we should be
grateful.
20) Communication as the Heart of Any Relationship
Joel tells Clementine, “Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.“ The heart of any
fruitful relationship lies in truthful and heartfelt communication which benefits each other spiritually.
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If not, it is just a mundane and empty relationship.
21) As They Are
Clementine: You know me, I'm impulsive.
Joel: That's what I love about you.
Is this delusional or true love? It would be delusional of Joel loved only everything negative about
her impulsiveness. It would be true love if he accepted her as she was without conditions, both
her goodness and faults, including her impulsiveness.
22) Inner Loveless Child
Clementine tells Joel, ”When I was a kid, I thought I was ugly. I can't believe I'm crying already.
Sometimes I think people don't understand how lonely it is to be a kid, like you don't matter.” She
cried because she had yet to manage to let go of the past. Perhaps all of us have this vulnerable
inner child who seeks to be loved. However, this child needs to grow up and realise that he/she
can love him/herself, whether there is someone who loves him/her or not. This is the meaning of
“taking care of yourself.”
23) To Meet Oneself
Joel tells himself, “If only I could meet someone new. I guess my chances of that happening are
somewhat diminished, seeing that I'm incapable of making eye contact with a woman I don't
know.” What he actually needed more was to meet himself, to face himself, to make contact with
himself, who he does not understand enough of.
24) Our Baby Purity
Mary tells Stan, “You look at a baby, and it's so pure, and so free, and so clean. Adults are, like,
this mess of sadness and phobia.” But what we all need is not to unlearn our sad past as we grow
older, but to re-learn from our sadness and transform it into happiness. This is true purity and
freedom, whilst that of a baby is fleeting – just a “life-resetting” process.
25) Rekindling Faith in Love
Joel and Clementine represents those who lost faith in love. Yet as much as they yearn to forget
and escape their unhappy love, their common karma reconnects them, presenting them another
chance to make their relationship work. In the many rounds of rebirths we go through, we will
always encounter many similar people time and again due to our karmic connections. If so, let us
not leave any ill relationship unresolved. Let us do our best to learn to resolve them by learning to
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love unconditionally. Only so can we be Bodhisattvas to each other and lead each other to
Enlightenment, which is none other than True Happiness for all.
Movie Review from TheDailyEnlightenment.com
Will we become happier simply by erasing our unhappy memories? If "once bitten, twice shy",
then not knowing our past mistakes means "never bitten and never shy." Will we not get bitten
again? Will we not trip over the same old obstacles by walking the same old way? Mary (Kirsten
Dunst) quotes Nietzsche, "Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their
blunders." But isn't the reverse also true? - "Cursed are the forgetful, for they repeat their
blunders endlessly!" It is never quite enough to just forget; we need to forgive too - those who
have hurt us, and learn to love with less and less strings attached, seeing every little reciprocation
of love as a blessing, instead of a deserved right.
Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) find themselves attracted to each other all over
again, despite having erased each other from their memories. This is reminiscent of our
forgetfulness of our past lives after rebirth. We carry over our karmic affinities and habitual
tendencies, both the good and the bad, from the previous to this life. In fact, we carry over these
tendencies from one moment to the next in this very life, as they condition us to make repetitious
mistakes - for as long as we do not realise them. In this way, life repeatedly presents what you
need to learn. As George Santayana said, "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."
Deja vu ad infinitum, time and again - but whether for better or worse is entirely up to our active
choice. Discovering themselves to be falling in love the second time, the couple courageously
decide to give their relationship one more shot, wiping the slate clean. Likewise, we should strive
on diligently, life after life, towards Enlightenment. Afterall, there's no goal more worthwhile.
We see Joel desperately trying to cling onto his memories as they are being erased, much like a
dying person hanging on to precious fleeting scenes of his life. Similar to being in a bardo state
between the end of one life and the beginning of the next, his happy memories of being with
Clementine flash by. In his mind of rapidly fading memories, the following self-created inner
dialogue takes place, as he learns to accept and let go:
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Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
What good advice! In this fleeting life, let us happily treasure the moments we have with each
other without the burden of attachment and regret. To meet life after life, a couple has to be
matched in virtue, creating similar positive karma to come together. Who will be the last image in
your mind in your final moments? Is it the Buddha or someone else? Who will you return for, if
you do? Is it worth it?
Back to the issue of forgetting unhappy memories... What we need is not to erase our unhappy
memories, but to erase our delusions about them - by spiritually growing through self-reflection
and learning to forgive. Who are you trying too hard to forget? Maybe you should meet him or her
instead, and reconcile - not necessarily to be lovers again, but at least as friends. True closure
is possible only in being open. We will still meet those we fail to reconcile with in the future, in
another life, if not this one - simply because we have karmic affinity. Why not heal this affinity
then, instead of leaving it sore? As the melancholic Beck song goes in the movie, "Everybody's
gotta learn sometimes." Why not learn now then? Let's get it over with and move on to learn other
lessons on our path to Enlightenment. It's always time to clear the spots in your mind by letting in
the light of understanding - especially those dark parts with residues of regret.
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
-Alexander Pope (from "Eloisa to Abelard")
May your mind be spotlessly pure too. May you be appreciative of the blessed karmic
connections you have with those around you, and not be resentful when they seem to bring us
unhappiness - for it is your own past karma ripening and your present attitude towards it at
play. The world may forget, the world may have forgotten, but may we never forget to
love, unconditionally, more and more, just as the "eternal sunshine" shines on all.
- shian@TheDailyEnlightenment.com | www.moonpointer.com/movies/eternalsunshine.doc
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