He was certainly a prisoner of his own mind and with his addiction to habit patterns, the Rain Man personified the human afflictions (kleshas) that we recognize in Yoga as attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesha).   The great thing about this movie is that it affords we the audience the rare opportunity to see the world from a more "enlightened" point of view.

When we consider the compassion that Tom Cruise's character (as well as we the audience) learns to feel for the Rain Man, we then have a notion of the kind of love and compassion that a sage or Avatar feels for the rest of us.   As a metaphor for Everyman, Dustin Hoffman's character goes through life making many errors, but from our enlightened viewpoint, we find the Rain Man both endearing and forgivable.

May we all learn to love and forgive one another even outside the movie theater.

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