Bill Murray, eccentric boddhisattva??

Has anyone else seen this documentary called The Bill Murray Stories, about the famous actor's tendency to spontaneously pop up in random places, join in the activities of strangers, and bring joy to everyone there simply by hanging out with them, and then disappear? It's a cute documentary, and a bit intriguing (the filmmaker wonders if it's some kind of spiritual thing, that he lives totally spontaneously and always giving joy to others). I saw it on the plane a couple weeks ago. Blurb here: www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/bill-murray/...rray-stories-netflix

Just took a look at it on Netflix. I think his celebrity and spontaneity draw people in, and in the context of these random appearances in people’s lives he can do them a lot of good, but I’d hesitate to call him an awakened being because of some of the stuff from his personal life. His second wife accused him of abuse and infidelity, for example, about 12 years ago. Maybe he’s changed in the meanwhile; who knows?

Chris Marti wrote: Laurel, are you saying that awakened people don't do bad things?

Ooo! Hold on, let me get out the popcorn...

I have thought this before actually, that he is a bodhisattva. Some people are bodhisattvas but not mind-awakened in this lifetime, but they display through conduct. He's an embodiment of fun, no doubt.

Okay, Chris, you got me. But really, how can we know? Maybe he’s just a famous person who’s a really nice guy to strangers, but not always nice to intimates. So if behavior is out as a measure, how would his good behavior be an indication?

Laurel Carrington wrote: Okay, Chris, you got me. But really, how can we know? Maybe he’s just a famous person who’s a really nice guy to strangers, but not always nice to intimates. So if behavior is out as a measure, how would his good behavior be an indication?

Isn't that throwing the baby out with the bathwater? I have done many, many, many not nice things in my life. Some even recently. Some I regretted very much the moment they happened, others I regretted only in hindsight when I realized what a mess I'd made or how much hurt I'd caused. Some things I've done might have been perceived as not nice by others, but were necessary and not ill-intentioned (a break-up or firing someone, just for easy example). I am hereby utterly disqualified from ever waking up, certainly I can never be a saint, and I also might as well not bother trying to do better, let alone bother doing anything nice, because my very first sin already put me in the "no chance of heaven" box? How do you (anyone reading this) measure up? Do you think you can never really make the progress in holiness/enlightenment/whatever that you once dreamed of because you have made mistakes and still make mistakes? Might as well close the forum then.

Mixing in my own tradition and being dramatic, but you get the point...

Holy smokes, people! Just saying we can’t conclude the guy is a bodhisattva based on what’s in the film. I guess my first post concluded he isn’t, but I stand corrected. I don’t know. His behavior is kind of curious, not sure how I feel about sneaking up on people in the bathroom . Actually, the person who sounds like he’s awake is Jim Carrey.

More fuel for the fire...

Here's a recording of Bill Murray talking about "What's it like to be Bill Murray?" that's been held up as an example of a dharma talk by him.

https://onbeing.org/blog/bill-murrays-dharma-talk-on-what-its-like-to-be-you/

It sounds to me like he's trying to give a pointer to the experience of "I AM," but perhaps is not getting it quite right.

I have no idea about his particular life or experiences (besides seeing Ghostbusters and the movie under discussion), but I wonder for broader reasons about something.

Some traditions describe practices as a preparation of the person to receive insight or grace. I once heard a guy saying he felt like his practice was the careful daily polishing of a beautiful golden bowl, in which treasures were put. There are, however, some people who awaken to one degree or another without really having a strong practice, or a regular practice, or a committed practice which 'polishes the bowl'. I would assume then that one gets some insight, perhaps even quite a bit, but it gets tangled up in things that haven't been 'cleaned up' on the recipient side, as it were. Not sure the imagery works in all traditions. That is, there are some common truths, and some things that seem self-evident, but if one hasn't trained and prepared and doesn't have a clear vocabulary for conveying what's happening, it might manifest in a rather confusing or messy way.

onbeing.org/blog/bill-murrays-dharma-tal...-its-like-to-be-you/

“Let’s all ask ourselves that question right now: What does it feel like to be you? What does it feel like to be you? Yeah. It feels good to be you, doesn’t it? It feels good, because there’s one thing that you are — you’re the only one that’s you, right?

So you’re the only one that’s you, and we get confused sometimes — or I do, I think everyone does — you try to compete. You think, damn it, someone else is trying to be me. Someone else is trying to be me. But I don’t have to armor myself against those people; I don’t have to armor myself against that idea if I can really just relax and feel content in this way and this regard.

If I can just feel… Just think now: How much do you weigh? This is a thing I like to do with myself when I get lost and I get feeling funny. How much do you weigh? Think about how much each person here weighs and try to feel that weight in your seat right now, in your bottom right now. Parts in your feet and parts in your bum. Just try to feel your own weight, in your own seat, in your own feet. Okay? So if you can feel that weight in your body, if you can come back into the most personal identification, a very personal identification, which is: I am. This is me now. Here I am, right now. This is me now. Then you don’t feel like you have to leave, and be over there, or look over there. You don’t feel like you have to rush off and be somewhere. There’s just a wonderful sense of well-being that begins to circulate up and down, from your top to your bottom. Up and down from your top to your spine. And you feel something that makes you almost want to smile, that makes you want to feel good, that makes you want to feel like you could embrace yourself.

So, what’s it like to be me? You can ask yourself, “What’s it like to be me?” You know, the only way we’ll ever know what it’s like to be you is if you work your best at being you as often as you can, and keep reminding yourself: That’s where home is.”

Chris Marti wrote: Hey, I think everyone is awakened to something.

What does that even mean??

Saw the Netflix documentary last night. Good fun. Probably the most key quote in the whole thing is Bill saying "You know, I'm not always so clear on this stuff. Sometimes I get trapped for days in my narrow thinking and someone else has to wake me up... So when I see someone else trapped, well I just do what I hope someone else would do for me." (loose quote)

One thing I recall hearing -- I think from Harold Ramis -- was even back in the days of filming Animal House and Stripes, his friends called him "America's Houseguest" because even way back then he was just randomly inviting himself into people's homes, crashing on stranger's couches, sitting down with people eating dinner...