On The Way To The Movies with Dean Sluyter

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We don't often associate such films as "Jaws" or Clint Eastwood's "Fistfulof Dollars" with the spiritual quest, but Dean Sluyter does. There is much spiritual content found in movies and we can all name quite a few of these. However, Sluyter doesn't go for the obvious; rather he takes us on a metaphorical enlightenment journey through some surprising films. He is a master teacher helping us look with new eyes at films. He observes such details as how the wicked stepmother of Snow White has an addiction to her mirror, and sees herself as narrowly defined within its frame. He points out that the "central enlightenment teaching in most spaghetti westerns is that the bad guys are always agitated. They sweat a lot, literally. They are always upset and always caught in their passions. Whereas the hero, generally the Clint Eastwood character, is like the eye of the hurricane. He is super cool and what he personifies there is the way we would like to be in the midst of all the craziness and violence and challenges of daily life." Sluyter takes us through such films as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," "Jaws," the Marx brothers "A Night at the Opera," and more. He also tosses in some profound Buddhist wisdom along the way. (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Dean Sluyter has taught natural methods of meditation and awakening throughout the United States and beyond since 1970. He’s taught at colleges, yoga studios, corporate offices, and maximum-security prisons. He’s known for his funny, down-to-earth style, and for making life-transforming teachings accessible and easy. 

Dean Sluyter is the author of many books including: 

• The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom (Tarcher/Putnam 2001)
• Why the Chicken Crossed the Road: & Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings from the Buddha to Bebop to Mother Goose (Tarcher/Putnam 1998)
• Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies (Three Rivers Press 2005)
• Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin 2015)
• Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction (TarcherPerigee 2018) 

To learn more about the work of Dean Sluyter go to www.deansluyter.com

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• How do you gain happiness through letting go
• What is the psychological make-up of the wicked stepmother of Snow White
• Why prisons inmates practice meditation like their hair is on fire
• How the samurai persona is captured in spaghetti westerns
• What is the surprising metaphor the shark in "Jaws" represents
• How the Buddha discovered the scientific method 2500 years ago
• What is the nature of comedy
• What Nirvana is and letting go of the pursuit of happiness is how we gain happiness