Nirvana in Point Break: FINAL BLOGSPOT

There are several interpretations of nirvana across many cultures and religions. Though it may be called something else, most interpretations follow very similar descriptions. Nirvana is found in the texts of all major Indian religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The belief in its most basic form refers to the profound peace of mind that is acquired with moksha, liberation from Samsara, or release from a state of suffering, after respective spiritual practice or Sādhanā. These religions and other cultures vary, though, in the path in which one takes in order to achieve “peace of mind.” In a movie released in 2015 named Point Break, the main characters take a rather unconventional path towards enlightenment.

               The movie takes place originally in present day United States following the heist of a skyscraper. The criminals that launched the heist made off with a large amount of diamonds, escaping by parachute. Later the same individuals unload millions of dollars over Mexico, then disappear into the Cave of Swallows. The following investigation shows that the men responsible for these actions were attempting the Ozaki 8, a list of eight extreme ordeals to honor the forces of nature. The completion of these tasks is said to lead an individual towards a state of spiritual and natural enlightenment. As they continue through the rest of the ordeals, they travel to a gold mine where they detonate explosives destroying the mine. The leaders, Bodhi and Grommet, seem to commit large scale crimes as they continue the eight ordeals. The common theme present in their heists seem to revolve around the so-called “liberation” of the Earth.

               The leader, Bodhi, can be interpreted as a sort of Robin Hood role. He is commonly described as an eco-warrior judging by the liberation of natural materials during the heist. The first heist, raw diamonds are stolen from a company and “returned” to nature. The gold mine heist caused a large scale rockslide, taking out trucks carrying the gold. In the film, Bodhi justifies these actions by claiming that they are offerings to nature in order to allow them to continue along the path of the Ozaki 8. When Bodhi finally reaches the final ordeal, all of his partners have lost their lives while attempting the previous tasks. The original Ono Ozaki, who is known for being the first to attempt the ordeals, died prior to attempting the fourth ordeal. He was attempting to save humpback whales and a whaling vessel crashed and destroyed his boat, killing him.

               The debate is the morality of the heists and its motives. Many probably would agree with the motives behind the heists, but not the heists themselves. They began as clean heists, solely based on the liberation of the materials, but they steadily grow intense, leading to the deaths of innocents during the gold mine heist. This ultimately lead to authorities following Bodhi and the others throughout the rest of the movie. The groups’ deaths effectively act as martyrs, which ultimately becomes the motive for Bodhi to finish the Ozaki 8. Bodhi’s death on the final ordeal was his “enlightenment” and caused Utah, the main agent charged with the tracking down the group, to finish the ordeal in honor of Bodhi and his crew