From the film After Life (1998) by Hirokazu Kore-eda, I took a particular interest in this notion of Akasha.
Across several cosmologies and religions is this idea of a sky library: some ethereal space or upper plane where our record of the past is imprinted.
With this film, Akasha is a literal way station between life and death, enabling souls to retain a singular memory to last them an eternity after life.
As noted by Robin Syversen, motivation for this story stems from Kore-eda's own experience with his grandfather's onset Alzheimer: "the bewildered memories of his grandfather made Kore-eda realize how critical memories are to our identity and understanding of ourselves."
This hits home in my personal ballpark.
"Not only are mundane moments important. Blissful times are often random and come when you least expect it."
Watching this film feels like a meditative exercise, as it is more so a philosophical experiment than pure entertainment.
My most grounded form of altruism is reminding others of how instilling the past into our present makes for a brighter beyond.
Whether it be freezing a moment onto celluloid, using ink to jot black onto white, or materializing the immaterial . . .
. . . perhaps we are nothing more than the memories we keep.
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