THE TOURIST

The 2010 movie The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp may not have been a great movie (and I sure haven't seen it), but it did have a thought–provoking tag line;

The Perfect Trip, The Perfect Trap.

Its thought–provoking in the sense that life itself can be described as an hallucination, a trip, a fantasy world emerging out of a blank canvas of unlimited energy.

This zero point energy, that existed before the Big Bang, is said to persist in the brains of each human being. Its very presence distorts the space around us. Could this be a type of hyper-dimensional DMT ? – an analogue of which is only produced in any great quantity in the minds of humans at three times throughout our lives; when we are born, when we sleep/dream, and when we die? So much for the light at the end of the tunnel for NDEs (Near Death Experiences), it is just a natural release of DMT, nothing to get excited about. But then again, you could say the same thing for life itself. So, what's there to worry about, you ask?

Well, that all depends on what you really believe takes place after death. In the East, there is the belief that when you die you reincarnate, and the type of body you get depends on the type of life you have lead up to this point. In Tibetan Buddhism - even more so in the Hare Krishna sect of Hinduism - the concept that desire can lead to rebirth is an ever present concern. For example, if you like fine clothes, food, cigarettes etc. your desire for these material items will cause you to take a new body in the material world after death.

Life, it appears, is therefore an hallucination, and you are utterly alone, playing out a role which in no way conforms to your inner being and yet you are driven on by an instilled appetite, which forces you to eat and become drunk on the very material which is to be your ultimate downfall. This may not be the perfect trip, but they sure have the trap part down - and no mistakes.

So what if you ingested an inter-dimensional analogue of DMT, before the creation of the universe, and since that time you have been forced to take endless forms as befit your amnesiac desires? Would you call that really living? I wouldn't.

But the yogis of the East tell us there is means of escape. They tell us not to get frightened, not to get angry, not to spend our time accumulating money so that we can attempt to satisfy our insatiable desires and be forced upon another round of rebirth that might take us into less propitious circumstances. But it is all a matter of belief; is it not? Perhaps Buddha will save you, or Jesus Christ. I believe he will, if you do.