The Last Mimzy

I was just watching "The Last Mimzy" on my laptop in my bedroom since my wife is helping my daughter with her science project in the living room. Since my daughter turned 13 she has moved into full teenage pain in the butt stage and her version of reality is that I should move out and she doesn't want my help with her homework anymore. However, my point of view is that she is very strong minded like I have always been and my wife is the only one of the two of us that will actually put up with my 13 year old's behavior. However, she works hard in school and does get very good grades so maybe she will think I'm useful again within a couple of years. However, she is the youngest of my 3 kids and I find this very hard to deal with.

When I reached the point in the movie where the teacher's wife is chanting "Om Mani Padme Hum" in front of an obviously Tibetan Buddhist alter in the Himalayan style it took me back to trekking through the Himalayas with my older kids(now 35, 36 and 38) in 1985 and 86. I felt sort of like the teacher and his wife and my dreams to were very different after visiting the Himalayas and Dharmsala, India.

This movie always made a whole lot of sense to me because of all the experiences in my life. Viewing life in a familial, humanistic and scientific way and close to the earth always worked quite well for me. So I was very touched by this teacher's wife trying in her very american way to begin to do the mantra to Avaloketsvara (The jewel in the center of the lotus), which is the Diety that the Dalai Lama represents on Earth. I found this whole movie very precious.