Character Study By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

I, of course, am a practitioner of Zen Filmmaking. Zen Filmmaking is all about embracing the naturalness of the moment—allowing your portrayed character to exist in the spontaneity and genuineness of the moment. Thus, the words you speak, while in character, and the actions your take are all guided by the response to what the other actor is saying and where you find the life understanding of your character naturally flowing towards.

Traditional acting is much different from that. A person is told what their character is to be—how they should look, act, feel, and behave. They are then provided with the words their character should say and the way their character should speak those words; all defined by the script.

In many ways, this is a much harder process. In many ways, it is much more unnatural. That is why I devised Zen Filmmaking—to embrace the true essence of the individual to let them be who they truly are while portraying the someone else.

But, there is a great art to actually becoming the someone else. It takes time. It takes practice.

I think we have all seen actors on the screen doing a very bad job in their portrayal. Sure, they are dressed appropriately. Sure, they have memorized their lines. But, they have not become the character they are playing. And, from this, there is something lost in the believability of the character and, thus, with the entire production.

As an actor, every now and then, I am asked to act in a traditional production. I am given my script and I must learn my lines. For me, it is a fun, enlightening experience because I must become that someone else. As I am running my lines I try to emerge myself into the mindset of that character. I try to understand who that person truly is. I try to become that person.

More than simply a process used in acting, I believe this is a technique that people should bring into their life. Ask yourself, how often do you truly try to understand life from the perspective of the other person? How often do you put yourself in their shoes and take the time to try to understand life from the perspective that they are living it? Most people just judge. They just see others from their own perspective, never trying to see the life melodrama that the other person is living.

So, next time you are passing judgment on a person… Next time you think that you know what someone is feeling and why they are feeling it… Next time you believe that you know why a person is doing what they are doing, become that other person. Put yourself into their mind. Become them as a character you are playing on the silver screen. Put yourself into their shoes. If you do, I am sure that you will come away with a completely different perspective about who they truly are and why they are doing what they are doing. In fact, by mentally becoming them as a character you are portraying, you might even emerge with a better perspective about who you truly are.

Copyright © 2019—All Rights Reserved

 Scott Shaw Zen Filmmaking

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness

Wikipedia and You Can Only Play in Your Own Playground By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

         Like I have long said, “You can only play in your own playground.” You can/should only play in your own playground if you want to keep yourself: friends and family safe and not be accosted by the diabolical forces of the world.

         You know, once upon a time this ideology applied to the actual physical safety of an individual. I hate to sound old, (even though I am), but life was not necessarily better way back in the way back when but it was certainly a bit simpler.  A person was defined by where they lived and where they hung out. Me, (unfortunately), I grew up in the hood, so I was always accosted by danger the moment I stepped outside and I never knew where it would come from. It wasn’t fun. But, that was all outside. If I didn’t go out into the out and about, I would not have to be forced to fight. Now, the danger is different. It comes to attack from inside. Of course, I am speaking about the world of the internet.

         You know, I always find life, (my life included), very interesting and sometimes very strange. Most people live in a space of observances. They look outside of themselves hoping to find something that will make them feel the way they wish to feel. Most people are cool. They just look for normal things that they decide they like. But, then there are those who want to feel some sort of something and they venture into the realms where they can extend their control. Many do this via the internet. Where, as we all know, there are very few rules of defined appropriate codes of conduct and behavior.

         Me, I don’t surf the web too much. Only if I am looking for something specific. I check my Facebook most days, unless I am out of the country or off doing something more important, and my Instagram. There, I like to look at fun animal photos and videos. I’m not on the internet to preach, debate, fight, or tell someone/anyone what they should or should not believe. So, the thing is, unless I am told about a situation that involves me in cyberspace, I probably wouldn’t even know about it.  And, I think that’s better; isn’t it? Not knowing. Then you are living in a world free from the unnecessary agitation.

         Anyway, all this rambling brings me to the point of all this…

         I’ve never really been a fan of Wikipedia. From its early days forward, as far as I can tell, it is just a platform that is controlled by a bunch of people who have nothing better to do and want to force their opinion(s) onto someone else. They want their truth and their perception of reality to be the truth, whether it actually is the truth or not.  Sure, Wikipedia has its checks and balances. But, who controls those checks and balances? A bunch of unknown cyber people whose faces you will never see. Many of them are teenagers. People, who have moved up and through the Wikipedia ranks because they really don’t have anything better to do. They just edit all day, everyday. Yet, in that space, they can control the knowledge of the masses. That’s a pretty powerful thing, don’t you agree?

         I remember when Wikipedia was in its early stages and I found it on the web one day. I forget how. I noticed an article about Steven Seagal. The article totally tore the guy apart. I thought that was pretty uncool.

         Now, I have no feelings about Seagal one way or the other. I initially met him a million years ago when he was studying from Fumio Demura and then I ran into him again in Japan in the ‘80s. I thought his early films were pretty good.  But, that was that. On Wikipedia, however, somebody had torn the guy apart. My thought was, how is that an honest biography or portrayal? Anyway, as anyone could and can edit Wikipedia, I decide to try my hand at it and I cleaned up Seagal’s bio. You know, do a good deed and all that… A day or so later I looked back at the page and it was once again the scathing portrayal. Someone had undone all of my doing. That was the last time I ever edited on Wikipedia. What was the point? I guess things have gotten better over the years on Wikipedia, but it is still based upon the fact that anyone can edit, say whatever they want, and there is no true checks and balances.

         For those of you who may not know, if you ever want to see who said what and why on Wikipedia all you have to do it go to the View History button on the page. From there you can find a listing of all of the edits. If you follow through by clicking on the, "Contribs," link after the screen name of the person who made a specific edit, you can commonly see what type of edits they focus on and what they are trying to personally achieve on Wikipedia. As each editor does have an agenda, you can really observe what contribution (or lack thereof) they are trying to make on the platform.

         One of the main things to keep in mind is that, on the education level, you cannot use Wikipedia as a citable resource. That fact alone explains the nature of what is going on at that website. In fact, Wikipedia itself says, Wikipedia is not a reliable source. Click on that title to see what Wikipedia says about itself.

         Thus, I have always been anti-Wikipedia. The website is based on love or hate and personalities, not the truth. …Not the people who have lived what other people are writing about.

         For someone very famous like Seagal, he has a lot of fans and supporters. And, this is good, I guess. It is what keeps his page on the site somewhat in check. But, what about all the other people that are not really famous who have pages on there? Then, it is a free for all. 

         Somewhere along the line someone put a page up about me on Wikipedia. Initially, it was flattering, but I quickly saw the downside. Every now and then someone would let me know that there was some false information or some seriously derogatory statements made about me on the page. Me, not being all that well-known, I don’t really have all that many supporters. A number of years ago I was told that there was a crew of people working out of Raleigh Studios that were obsessing about Zen Filmmaking and they were playing with Zen Films and my stuff on Wikipedia. At least they were operating from a space of positivity. But, most of the people who like what I say or do are usually very Zen. They don’t charge in with guns blazing. Of the people that do like what I do, and have tried to help my Wikipedia page, I am told that they have been shot down by the more obsessional Wikipedians. In fact, a number of years ago one of my martial arts students from the 1970s and 1980s was on there, making edits to martial art pages, and he told me they kicked him off by making up some lie about him. So, that just goes to show you the nature of the beast. Thus and again, “You can only play in your own playground.”

         I was recently told that there was some negative editing going on about Don Jackson, myself, and some of our films that have pages on Wikipedia. I glanced over at the pages and it looks like someone is trying to make some point, take down some facts, spread some falsehoods, and/or to diminish and rip on DGJ and I and/or our films. Okay… Good for you whoever you may be. If it makes you feel better…

         And, that's the thing, the people who have learned the inner workings of Wikipedia know how to throw shade and make it look like what they are saying is for real. But, is it?

         I mean, the reality of life is the reality of life. The reality of me is the reality of me. Kind of like Popeye used to say in that funny accent the person who voiced the character used, “I am what I am.” Does what they say on Wikipedia change any of that?

         Mostly, I wish I didn’t even have a page on a site like Wikipedia. If you know how to take it down, please do. Does it really do my life any good? I don’t think so. It certainly doesn't help my life in any way. It just provides the people with nothing better to do a place to waste time and not face the truth about their own reality and, instead, spent their Life Time attempting to cast their judgments on the all and the everything, as they project their feelings about a person or a subject in the subtle ways that can only be done via Wikipedia.

         In my mind, that's just not right. That is not what a site like Wikipedia should be used for.

         So, if you see some negativity or bullshit on Wikipedia about me (or anyone else) you can change it if you want. Anyone can edit on that site. Go for it! I thank you in advance. But please, don’t think that you’re helping me by telling me when some bullshit is up there about me, because I just don’t want to know. Just let me play in my own playground.

Copyright © 2019—All Rights Reserved

Originally from the Scott Shaw Zen Blog

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness

The People Who Never Evolve By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

Life is a process of personal evolution. We are born, we experience, we are taught, and we continue to pass from birth to death; growing in both understanding and in wisdom. Many of us have done foolish things when we were young. When we look back to those times, we shake our heads and question, “How could I have ever been so unwise?” But, we have grown, we have evolved, we have become better people—we took a long hard look at our self, our life, we studied our existence, we learned from our mistakes, and we emerged as a better person refusing to ever make the same mistakes again. 

Not everyone is like this, however. There are some people who never change—they never evolve. They are so lost in the realms of misplaced self-adsorption that they never take the time to learn from their mistakes and to understand that bad thoughts, bad words, and bad deeds not only do nothing to help the overall evolution of this world but they, in fact, hold them back, (as a person), from ever achieving anything of substance with their life. 

Having been involved in the martial arts for over fifty years, I have watched as many so-called martial artists have played the game of attempting to make themselves, their teacher, their school, or their system look like something more by diminishing the accomplishments of others. Throughout these years I have watched as most of these people have grown into something more—became something better and have left this foolishness behind. But, this is not the case of everyone. Every now and then I will encounter a person, years later, and discover that they are still locked into the mindset of believing that it somehow makes them look like something more if they say something negative or bad (be it truth or a lie) about someone else.  I forever find this very-very sad.  The martial arts are about making someone a better; more whole, more complete person. The martial arts should never be diminished to the level of personal attack—motived by individual ego. This type or behavior destroys the true essence of the martial arts. It robs them of their true beauty, as this type of behavior is simply motivated by a very sad and low level of human consciousness. 

Having been involved in the film business for the past three decades, I often encountered this type of behavior, as well. The one thing I will say is that the film business is an industry motivated by ego. So, unlike the martial arts, which should solely be about focusing on the higher self, the motivation for this behavior can be more understood in this arena of life.  This is not to say it is right or good, but it can be explained.

The fact is, it is easy to find a reason for criticism in the film industry. You may not like a performance, a storyline, or a style of cinematography. From this, judgments are made. 

Certainly, the enlightened filmmaker does not follow this path. As a true filmmaker, they understand that each project and/or actor is art onto itself.  The true filmmaker understands that whether or not they personally like a specific project, that project is simply a process of giving to the great whole of the art form. Thus, judgment is put aside. 

But, as in all things in life, the low-minded, the unaware, the egotistical, and the unaccomplished are generally the ones who are screaming the loudest.

Over the recent years I have found myself discussing the internet and how it relates to human consciousness quite frequently. The internet is the defining factor of this period of history. As such, it has become the conduit for both all that is good and all that is bad with humankind.  From this, many have found a voice where in times gone past they would have had none. 

Here, on this internet, people can say anything about anyone with little consequence. Most hide behind screen names so no one even knows who or what they truly are. To me, this simply seems like a coward’s soapbox. People scream as loud as they can; scream about anyone or anything but they do not even have the personal level of Self-Honor to tell the world who is truly saying what, what they have accomplished in their life that gives the right to voice an opinion, and why they are saying it in the first place.

This brings us back to the entire point of this discourse. Most of us evolve as we pass through life. We become more, we become better, we develop a deeper understanding of life and, from this, we possess less unfounded critical judgment. We, through our own personal accomplishments and our own mental evolution, become more whole onto ourselves. Instead of issuing critiques, criticism, and deformation, we reach out a helping hand. We want to make the world a better place. We want to help those that need help. We do not want to hurt anyone in anyway for any reason. But, the sad truth of life is, some people never evolve. They have become so lost in their interpersonal anger, their sense of lack of fulfillment, their lack of personal accomplishment that they remain lost in the mind of attack. From this, all that they do is attack, especially when they can hide behind the wall of perceived anonymity. 

For those of us of who walk the path of consciousness, we cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into their web of misplace anger—anger that should be focused on themselves for behaving in an uncivilized manner but, instead, is broadcast to the world. These people are out there and you will, more than likely, encounter them. When you do, the best course of action is understanding and forgiveness. Forgive them, because if they were not a truly lost person they would not be doing what they do. 

At each stage of our life we all need took at ourselves. We need to view what we have done: whom we have helped and whom we have hurt. We need to study our own personal trajectory. Where are we going in our life? What will be the consequences of the actions we are currently performing? 

Many people hide from the truth of their life. They hide as many do on the internet. They believe the actions issued by a screen name are not true and their will be no ensuing karma leveled at them because of these seemingly anonymous deeds. This is, however, the explanation of the unaware and the unenlightened.

Everything you do sets everything else in motion. Whether people know who you truly are or they only see a screen name is virtually irreverent. What you have done is what you have done. What you have said is what you have said. If what you have done or what you have said does not produce immediate positive reaction your world will be negatively influenced. This is why so many people fail in life, because what they are doing is not adding to the greater good. 

People fall prey to the addiction that can be had from the adrenaline of unleashing negative emotions outwards. But, take a moment and study that emotion. What are you experiencing when you embrace that negative emotion? Is it positive? No, it is anger and it is rage. Does anything positive ever come from of anger and rage? No, it does not.

Now, think about this, if you have spread that anger and rage outwards, perhaps on the internet, think how many people are encountering your anger and your rage. What do you think will come from that? What you have done is set a negative course of events into motion and those negative events may be wide spanning. Yes, maybe your ego was stoked because you said or did something to someone or something that you do not like. But, that is you unleashing your personal judgment—which is egotism. And, we all know what happens to those who base their life upon egotism. Thus, ultimately, what have you done? At best, you found a moment of ego stimulation and a momentary adrenaline rush. In the long run, however, you set a course of negative events into motion which will, sooner-or-later, all come back to haunt you.

Now, to the evolved person, they will immediately understand and agree with this.  To the un-evolved they will argue in their mind and defend their right to say or do anything that they feel like. …The world and its people be damned. 

But now, for those of you who behave in this manner, let’s look at your life. Is your life all that you hoped it would be? I would bet that it is not. And, that is probably why you are embracing your un-evolved mindset. You are angry at what you are not. 

Again let’s look at you. You can turn this around. Yes, it can be addicting to spew out negativity. But, if you are not living the life that you want to live, then what is that addiction giving you? Just like all additions, it is harming you. Stop it! Be more! Do more! Undo the negativity you have created and redo it with the positive! 

Your life can be more. It can be what you want it to be. But, you have to make it that way by not allowing yourself to be seduced by the negative and doing only positive things.

Copyright © 2016—All Rights Reserved

No part of this article may be used without the expressed permission of Scott Shaw or his representatives. 

This article can also be found on scottshaw.com @ The People Who Never Evolve

Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness 

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International 

They’re the Ones Talking About Me I’m Not the One Talking About Them By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

            Long ago I coined the statement, “You know you’re famous when people you’ve never met say things about you that aren’t true.” This came about when I read an article someone had written about me that was full of unsubstantiated falsehoods and flat out untruths. Yet, the person who wrote it had the appearance of being credentialed in his field and presented the paper in a very formulated format. Though the reading of it amused me to no end, I later began to contemplate how someone who didn’t know me and read it would believe the false words to be fact, not fiction. And, here is where the problem(s) begin…      

            Ever since I first began writing poetry, novels, articles, books, painting, and making music and movies, people began to draw conclusions about me. This is a fact of life, when you create, people who love, hate, or don’t care about what you create are going to come to their own conclusions about your work and yourself; be they true or false.

            In times gone past, opinions were kept to one’s circle of friends. If you were going to send your opinion about a person or their creation to a magazine, more times than not, the magazine would fact-check the writing before it was ever published. This is the world I grew up in. Throughout my studies at the various universities I attended and later when I began to be published as a journalist and an author, what I wrote had to possess a verifiable factual essence. You had to prove what you said. Then came the age of the Internet and the publish-on-demand world of printing. Anybody could say anything and there is no one there to challenge what a person says. Sure, you can get into twitter wars with a person but what is the point? People believe what they choose to believe, whether it be true or not.

            The fact is, in today’s world, when someone says something about somebody that is not based in fact, the lie simply continues to spread. I have seen one person say something about me that was completely untrue and then I have seen that same statement quoted by another and another. All false, yet it is presented as if it were the truth, when it is not.

            This is the thing about the life of the creative… The creative, create. The others talk about those who create.

            Whenever I teach a university class or a seminar I always pose the question to my students, “Who do you want to be? The creative or those who talk about the creative?”

            In a world where you can say anything about anybody with little consequence, the only person you are beholden to is yourself and the karmic destiny you lay out that will unfold in front of you based upon your deeds, actions, and words. Therefore, it is you who must ask the question of yourself, “Are you a person who speaks of others, expounding your opinions about an individual based upon your own appraisal of their words and creations or are you a person who is the source of your own creations?” Yes, being the source point of your own creations will put you in the bull’s-eye but it will be something wholly you own. If, on the other hand, you spent your time focused upon analyzing the creations of others and the personage of who created them, all you are doing is further spreading the myth of that individual.

            If you speak the truth that is the truth, then the truth will be known and the truth will embrace you. If you spread the lie, based upon your judgment(s), then all you will be known as is a liar once the truth is revealed and all you will be defined as is an individual who relished in the limelight of others.

This is Life.

This is Zen.

This is Scott Shaw Signing Out. 

 

Copyright © 2016—All Rights Reserved

 

They’re the Ones Talking About Me I’m Not the One Talking About Them @ Scott Shaw.com

 Scott Shaw Writings on Zen, Yoga, and Human Consciousness