THOUGHT
MOMENTS (WITH EYE TRACKING) by Michael Simon Toon.
‘Thought Moments’ is a Buddhist term for the mental
states experienced after a physical or mental object enters
the mind. This film records the reactions to questions asked
of
people on the streets of Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, London
and Brighton. The questions are simple, but
they seek to reveal their true nature; their
loves, fears and desires. “Between thought and expression,
There lies a lifetime” - Lou Reed.
“Taste is not only a part and index of morality, it is the
only
morality. The first, and last, and closest trial question to any living
creature is "What do you like?" Tell me what you like, I'll tell you
what you are.” - John Ruskin.
Michael
Simon Toon read about ‘Thought Moments’
while he was a Buddhist monk in Bangkok, Thailand. He learned that the
Buddha identified thought moments and their sequences, quite
specifically, going so far as to count and name them. The next day,
Toon read an article in a Bangkok Post (delivered every day to the
temple) about a new technique in America for scanning the brain which
showed the sequence of brain states during the thought process, even
going so far as to count and name them. The frequencies of these
thought moments, described by both the Buddha and the scientists were
remarkably similar.
Thought Moments was produced in 2004, and has been reproduced by students, professors
and other film-makers
around the world.