Zorba The Buddha

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Amrit Sadhana [1]

Recently there were two funerals of two very different creative people: Amy Winehouse, a talented but troubled performer, who died at the age of 27, and Michael Cacoyannis, the 90-year-old director of a life-affirming film, Zorba the Greek. Winehouse’s untimely passing drew worldwide attention while Cacoyannis, a prominent Greek filmmaker from Cyprus, died quietly at his home. Although he had directed 15 hit films, on his death he was described by the media as “Zorba the Greek director”.
Zorba the Greek, which was released in 1964, won a number of Academy Awards. What was so unforgettable about Zorba the Greek? Its message of living life to the fullest.
Zorba the Greek is a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis. It is a story of an aimless Englishman who finds that he has a small inheritance on a Greek island, a granite mine. His joyless existence is disturbed when he meets Zorba, a middle-aged, gregarious Greek with a tremendous lust for life. As he discovers the earthy pleasures of Greece under Zorba’s guidance, the Englishman finds his view on life changing. As the movie progresses, we see Zorba’s penchant for living life with abandon and zest. By the end, you’ll probably wish that you were in the movie, dancing with him. Virtually anything that you’ve ever wished you could do but never had the chance, you can bet your money that Zorba does.
Arianna Huffington, a regular columnist for the Huffington Post, recently wrote “Sunday Roundup”, has mentioned rightly that both deaths — of Amy and Cacoyannis — in very different ways, remind us of Zorba’s message to live each moment fully.
There is something existential in the character of Zorba, which has made him unforgettable. Zorba is an irresistible element that lies in every one of us.
Another person who has made him immortal is Osho. The complete vision of Osho can be summed up in his expression: “Zorba The Buddha”.
In fact, this adage is Osho’s original contribution to human thought. Zorba and Buddha were considered polar opposites because Zorba was the epitome of gross materialism and Buddha represented asceticism.
Osho contends that unless human beings integrate the Zorba and the Buddha within themselves, they can never be peaceful and blissful in their lives.
Osho also says, “Zorba’s whole life is a life of simple, physical enjoyment, but without any anxiety, without any guilt. I would like this man Zorba to be alive in everybody, but Zorba is only the beginning. Sooner or later, if you allow your Zorba full expression, you are bound to think of something higher, greater. Buddha himself came to be Buddha because he had lived the life of a Zorba.”