This year, as I watched them, I kept thinking, I’ve got to do a blog about all the great and pithy sayings from the characters. Such as, inside the Mines of Moria when Gandalf can’t quite remember which way to go, and Frodo laments he wishes the ring would never have come to him, that none of it had ever happened. Gandalf replies, “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

Or consider Sam’s speech to Frodo, who is about to throw in the towel, and Sam agrees that by all rights, they shouldn’t be the ones in this situation. However, Sam goes on. He likens what is happening with them to a fable, a great story, where it’s the darkest ever, and the heroes, despite the odds, keep going because they are holding on to something. And Frodo asks, “what are we holding on to?” And Sam answers, “that there is some good in this world, … and it’s worth fighting for.”

And the last excerpt, my favorite, is Gandalf’s drawing of a very clear boundary for the Balrog by standing on a bridge and shouting in a guttural tone of pure wizardry, “You … shall not … pass!” And bringing down the full weight of his staff which breaks off the bridge just as the Balrog is stepping on to it and causes the monster to drop into what looks like an endless chasm.

What ties all of these together for me? That no matter what is happening, we all have agency in our lives. We can lament living in such precarious times, we can want to give up, we can express our preferences, but such empty action does not change what is happening. People act inelegantly, the weather turns, the economy crashes, the marriage ends. The most important question is, what do we do at that point?

This for me, is best answered by Gandalf’s response when the Balrog’s whip catches his foot and drags him into the chasm right along with the creature. The scene ends there, leaving us movie-goers to think all is lost … that Gandalf dies. However, in the next movie, Frodo dreams that Gandalf doesn’t just fall, he instead turns head first into the chasm, grabs his falling sword and basically dives after the Balrog. Later in the movie, Gandalf (now the White Wizard) explains how he pursued, fought and smote his enemy on the tallest mountain of the lowest dungeon. He did not succumb to circumstances, he instead chose to finish the battle the Balrog began.

Why? Well, yes, that’s how it was written. But if I project my own interpretation on it, by not giving up, Gandalf found a level of competency, determination, and an absolute resolve to go through what was difficult, disheartening, and yes, frightening. For it is by doing such bold action we prove to ourselves … we can. People may tell us we are capable, however, that can be easily dismissed. We don’t believe them … mostly because we don’t believe in ourselves. But when we go through the fire, and come out the other side, perhaps singed, a bit bloody, and visibly shaken, we have touched, and acted from, our true nature, our true heart, the one that can never be broken. It is such steadfastness that lies at our core when we put down the phones, social media, TV and current culture that instead wants us to doubt and second guess ourselves, and blindly rely on the addiction to external forces to tell us what to do in order to keep us safe. (Which is usually, to buy something, listen to a podcast, or watch a new TV series, anything other than constructive action.) The trial by fire is what transformed Gandalf the Grey into the White Wizard, a far more competent and wise being. This is why, I believe, the Buddha’s dying words were to work on our own salvation diligently. No one can save us unless we want, and take action, to be saved.

How can we embrace Gandalf’s attitude with the Balrog? How can we keep to our New Year’s resolutions or intentions? We can take at least one step, as small as it may be, of mindful action that proves to ourselves we are capable. And if such action helps others, great. We can also find a fellowship, a group of people who can help us take that step. At another point in LOTR, Sam muses if someday there will be a song about Frodo and the ring. As he talks about it, Frodo reminds him he would not have gotten very far without Sam by his side. In Buddhism, this is interdependence, or the idea that nothing exists in a vacuum. We are constantly affected by other people, and affect other people as well, endlessly. It is not so much that one person can change the world … it is that one person supported by several others with the same vision can make a great impact. Looked at from a rather dispiriting side, Hitler couldn’t have done what he did on his own. It took a lot of people supporting him, who had a similar vision, to do what he did. He wasn’t alone.

Which brings us back to something Gandalf says to Frodo in the Mines of Moria right after his pep talk on agency, and I paraphrase, “there are other forces working in the world besides evil … Bilbo was meant to find the ring, and therefore … you (Frodo) were also meant to have the ring. … And that is an encouraging thought.” When we consider that where we are right now is exactly where we are meant to be, it can give us a sense of strength and courage to continue. We’ve made it this far. The Buddha, surrounded by sangha, could not do what he did alone. He said that sangha wasn’t half the spiritual path, it was the whole of it. While we may not be able to solve the ills of the world, we can at least make a constructive difference in our own lives, and that will undoubtedly affect those around us.

And while this last quote comes from The Hobbit series, I offer it as a reminder, something to give courage and strength to whatever you are facing:

“It’s the small things, simple acts of kindness and love,

that keep the darkness at bay.”

Everyone is on a hero’s journey, not to save the world … rather, to defy the darkness in our own lives … to act simply, with kindness and love. Which in turn … might just save the world.

About the Author: Beth Hinnen came to the spiritual path from the corporate world. After experiencing impermanence and greed, she left to study Yoga and has over 1,000 hours in Yoga teacher training, and ended up specializing in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, spiritual scripture that closely aligns with Buddhism. From there, she studied Zen Buddhism for over ten years, including in-person, month-long monastic retreats, until she earned certification, in January, 2023, as a Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Currently, Beth is a co-leader of the IMCD Council, and on the Teachers Collective, as administrator. She hosts a Meetup group called Yoga Meets Buddhism, and for the past three years, has held an online Dharma Wednesdays class that discusses the Yoga Sutras while also bringing in Buddhist teachings, along with Sufi poets, Christianity, Judaism and other spiritual paths that reinforce the words of Sri Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral Yoga where Beth studied. “The truth is one, the paths are many.” More information about Beth is at www.samayaco.org.