If people were asked to name one of the most famous
masterpieces from Disney’s animations, many would likely pick The Lion King. Even though it has been
26 years since the movie was released, it is still remembered in the hearts of
people, loved by audiences worldwide, and has also been made into a musical on
Broadway.
Why are people so enthusiastic about Lion King, and why has
it remained a beloved movie by many for so long? The reason could be because it
resembles our lives in a number of ways. A common theme mentioned by critics
and audiences alike is about endurance. The fact that Simba lost his father,
survived the threat to his life from his uncle Scar, survived to meet his
friends Timon and Pumbaa, to have undergone such an ordeal, only to rise again
to become the king of the jungle illustrates endurance as being one of the major
themes. But I would like to interpret this film from another point of view:
Overcoming yourself.
To achieve what we want and succeed is the goal in life that
people strive for, but we must realize that the purpose of true life is to overcome
the fake self that is within and find the true self. That is the ultimate
success. Even in the Bible, which speaks of angels and demons being within us means
that the devil is not some existence of some image we saw on TV or in a movie.
Rather, that very devil resides in a person’s heart and mind while the angel or
Buddha is the true original human nature.
A person’s body possesses the same functionality that a
camera does. From the moment we were born and even up to now, we take pictures
of the world with our senses – eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and body, and store
everything in our minds. Man creates a world of pictures, illusions, and lives
in it. That is what the devil or the demon is – that very world of pictures. Because
of this, a person cannot become one with God or Buddha and is trapped in sin
and is dead.
In this sense, if we are unable to rid ourselves of our
false self, we will eventually be consumed by our demons or the devil and die
forever. But while living, if we get rid of the fake world and the fake self
that is within, we can find the true self, the God of Buddha within, and when
we return to the world as the true self, heaven exists within and paradise is
within. We must become like Simba – overcome ourselves – by pursuing this
meditation which enables us to find the true self from within. We need to
abandon until there is no more falseness left to abandon.
In the end, like Simba, you can become the king of the true kingdom in your life and live the true life of the true kingdom. In that blessed kingdom, you can enjoy it forever and live happily ever after. I would like to recommend the Lion King to watch. Likewise, I recommend you not miss this opportunity to do this study, no matter how hard and difficult a task it may seem. I write this in the hopes that you will endure in overcoming yourself through this meditation of eliminating the fake until the fake within disappears completely. You will see that your kingdom awaits you.
https://meditationincampbell.blogspot.com/2020/03/campbell-meditation-movie-disneys-lion.html