Like the Dharma Bums, Fight Club shows three characteristics of the Buddhist Faith: existence, rebirth, and nirvana.

 

In Dharma Bums the narrator explains the Buddhist belief that all of lfe is suffering. This point of view is painfully obvious in Fight Club. Prior to meeting Tyler Durden, Jack's life is nothin but suffering. His life is meaningless, he suffers from insomnia, and the group therapy sessions are the only thing that gives his life meaning.

In the movie, Jack is meant to represent the everyday citizen who has become trapped in the everyday cycle of consumerism. According to the Buddhist faith, a person must be able to detach themselves from material comfort in order to attain enlightenment or Nirvana. Tyler Durden at one point even refers to the members of Fight Club as "slaves with white collars."

 

Fight Club is full of scenes of rebirth for characters. The most prominent character that goes through multiple periods of rebirth is Jack, the Narrator. Jack's periods of rebirth happen when he begins to let go of his life before Tyler and become more like Tyler. When Jack starts going to his support groups he goes through periods of rebirth every night. He is reborn by the fact that he is actually able to sleep. Sleep is symbolic for the fact that he is able to escape the suffering that his life has become.

When Jacks apartment is blown up we see another example of rebirth. This is when Tyler Durden truly becomes a part of the person. Jack has lost all of his material possessions and is forced to move in with Tyler. Jack comes to live with Tyler in a house that is literally falling apart. The house is isolated from the rest of the city and there are almost no creature comforts to be had there. But since we later learn that Tyler and Jack are the same person, it turns out that Jack blew up his own apartment and exiled to a life of simplicity, a common Buddhist tradition.

Probably the most memorable scene of rebirth is where Tyler and Jack are making soap. Tyler kisses Jack's hand after getting plenty of saliva on his lips. Tyler then puts lye on the wet kiss causing a chemical burn. The pain is excrutiating and Tyler will not let Jack go until he realizes that this is the greatest moment of his life. Jack struggles and then accepts that there is no escape from the pain just as there is no escape from the suffering that is life. The sooner that he accepts this idea, the sooner the pain will stop. Jack stops struggling and Tyler pours vinegar on the mark to neutralize the burn. The reborn Jack has completely let go of material comforts and has ceased caring about trivial problems.

Another rebirth that Jack goes through is the famous car scene. Tyler is driving and he starts to merge into oncoming traffic. Jack keeps trying to get him back in the right lane. Tyler tells him to let go of his illusion of control and just let whatever happens happen. The car goes flying off the road and into a ditch. Here, like in the soap scene, we actually see Jack change his mind and choose to be reborn. He lets go of the wheel. he abandons his need for control.

Raymond K. Hessel is another character that is reborn during the course of the movie. At one point Tyler and jack enter his store and hold him at gunpoint. Tyler begins to ask Raymond what he wants out of life. Raymond used to have aspirations to be a veterinarian, but the school was to hard for him so he quit. Tyler tells Raymond that he will check on him in time, and if Raymond is not on his way to becoming a veterinarian, Tyler will kill him.

 

While no characters ever actually reach Nirvana, it seems that they are attempting to the entire time. Giving up comfort items, leading a life of simplicity, and meditation are seen in Fight Club prominently. While Tyler and Jack do not meditate per se, the Fight Club the form can be seen as a form of meditation. Fighting in the movie should not be viewed as a form of violence, more a form of self-induced punishment. After all, nobody forced people to join Fight Club, they came of their own free will.

Meditaton can be seen when people wait outside of the house in order to join Project Mayhem. The applicants had to wait for three days without food, shelter, or encouragment. If they made it for three days, they could enter and begin their "training". This sounds like the Buddhist practice of meditation where some can meditate for days.