Here is a fun link to an interview/video by Joshua Seftel and Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, entitled "What do Luke Skywalker, Neo, and the Karate Kid Know About the Bhagavad Gita?"
The experiences of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita are paralleled elsewhere - even in such movies as The Matrix and Star Wars (Jess Gamari made a connection between the Gita and The Matrix in her blog post a couple weeks ago). This shouldn't be particularly surprising; after all, the Bhagavad Gita is a part of the larger Mahabharata, which is the epic story central to Hindu cultures.
A particularly striking quote: Amitav Koul describes how his Hindu father, who rarely talked about religion, passionately stated after watching Star Wars, "If you want to know what it means to be Hindu, just think of Obi-Wan and the Force."
Is there a book or film that has taught you a spiritual/religious truth? Can you think of a popular, contemporary story that neatly and powerfully expresses the ideas of a world religion? (this is a great idea for a blog post!)
One idea that comes to mind is Samuel L. Jackson's character "Jules" in Pulp Fiction. He's a mobster and before killing those in his way he recites a passage from the bible. Or atleast he does in the beginning of the story, but towards the end it seems to take on a new meaning. His ideals change and he decides not to kill the man who he's pointing the gun at. This film hasn't taught me a truth, but was striking to see a person change so much in a short amount of time, and it makes me hopeful that I can fix my shortcomings.
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