#buddhist cosmology

[jareckiworld]

Tsuneo Iwasaki (1917-2002) — Hydrogen Atom [ink, colour, japanese calligraphy, panel, 1990s]

[mashounen2003]

I thought about something kinda funny a few hours ago, a crackpot theory I came up with.

First of all, I know there's always some speculation about ZUN either planning to reintroduce some long-lost but very popular PC-98 character in the Windows era or having already done that via creating a character with similar vibes:

Mima coming back through Nina Watari in Touhou 20 (similar names, though I'm 90% sure this one is a joke).

Shinki coming back as Byakuren in Touhou 12 (both having been in Makai and Byakuren's "Devil's Recitation" looking very familiar).

Yumemi Okazaki being reinvented as Sumireko Usami (similar character tropes at play, and also both wearing a cool cape).

Rikako Asakura from Touhou 3, Orange from Touhou 4 and Yumeko from Touhou 5 being reinvented for Touhou 6 as Patchouli Knowledge, Hong Meiling and Sakuya Izayoi respectively.

Elly in Touhou 4 being a "Komachi Onozuka prototype".

Shinki coming back as Hecatia Lapislazuli in Touhou 15 (yes, I heard that one somewhere as well).

... and probably many others I didn't even think about.

But now I came up with a different one that I'm surprised nobody else has thought about before:

What if Shinki has already been reintroduced in the Windows era...

... in 2019...

... in the form of Keiki Haniyasushin, the final boss of Touhou 17?

Here's the list of details about both characters that made me think about this:

Both are gods whose main power is to create things and people. Keiki made the army of haniwa statues, which still don't have spirits in them (hence why the animal spirits couldn't harm them). Shinki created everything and everyone in Makai, including (the PC-98 version of) Alice Margatroid; in turn, Alice makes dolls/puppets, who are not autonomous yet, but she still tries to create a fully autonomous doll.

Keiki created her lieutenant in the haniwa army, Mayumi Joutouguu. Shinki made the same with Yumeko.

Keiki was summoned by the human/primate spirits in the Animal Realm, so she had to be born somewhere else. Shinki was the one who created Makai in the first place, and her birth-world is still unknown.

Keiki operated from the Animal Realm, described in the Touhou universe as a region of Hell. Makai is translated as "demon world/realm" and described as "populated by demons", thus being a form of Hell. (This is something that heavily depends on personal interpretation and exactly how nitpicky you want to get about correct language, so take it with a grain of salt: as a reference to a concept from real-world mythology and religion, Touhou's Animal Realm and it being defined as a region of Hell is kinda inaccurate because its inspiration, the Buddhist animal realm, is defined as something separate from Naraka, the actual Buddhist Hell; likewise, it could be argued that equating Makai with Hell or calling it a part of Hell is inaccurate since the kanji of Makai could be translated as "world of magic" or "mystic realm", Hell could be defined strictly as a world where dead people go after being judged and that'd make Makai something different from Hell, demons could be found in other dimensions and not everyone in Makai is a demon, and Touhou 1 has separate routes for Makai and Hell)

Also, in a version of the Touhou Project where all the PC-98 characters kept on showing up normally in the Windows era, it'd be pretty funny to see Keiki and/or Mayumi meeting up with Shinki and/or Alice.

[yoga-onion]

Heart Sutra ~ A sutra that describes “The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom" (8) 

Mantra that releases all suffering

The mantra is: 

“Gate・Gate・Paragate・Parasamgate・Bodhi・Svaha”

Its meaning is:

“O ye who go forth, ye who go forth, ye who go to the other shore, O enlightenment, be blessed.”

This mantra is the secret language of the Buddhas, so it is not known to ordinary humans, but is understood only between Buddhas, and there is no need to pursue its meaning. Just read it in phonetics.

The mantra is like the name of the king of demons, and just as people obey the king in worship at the mere mention of his name, apparently, the demons surrender at the mere mention of the mantra. Moreover, they say that a mantra is a wish. This is because it fulfils all prayers.

In any case, this mantra is highly spiritual, so it might be a good idea to be able to recite it by heart.

般若心経 〜「智慧の完成」の精髄を述べる経典 (8)

あらゆる苦しみを解放する真言

般若波羅蜜多 (梵: ﾌﾟﾗｼﾞｭﾅｰﾊﾟｰﾗﾐﾀｰ) の真言を口誦するものは、すべての苦厄から解放される。と般若心経は述べている。

その真言とは：

「ギャーテー・ギャーテー・ハーラーギャーテー・ハーラソーギャーテー・ボージー・ソワカ」

その意味は：

「往ける者よ、往ける者よ、彼岸に往ける者よ、さとりよ、幸いあれ」

この真言とは仏たちの密語であるから凡夫の知るところのものではなく、ただ仏たち同士の間のみにおいてのみ理解されるものであり、意味を追求する必要はない。ただ音写語で読むだけで良い。

また真言は鬼神王の名のようなもので、その名を聞いただけで人々が崇拝の念で王に随順するように、諸悪鬼たちはこの真言を聞いただけで降伏するという。また真言は願いであるという。つまり一切の祈願を成就するからである。

とにかく、この真言は霊験あらたかであるから、暗唱できるようにしておくと良いかもしれない。

[heaven-is-in-your-arms-series]

Singha

Not the beer! A mythological lion creature referenced in Brahmanic texts as the sun carrier and also appears in Buddhist literature, often seen guarding temples in Thailand.

In the Jataka tales Buddha was reborn as a singha/rajasihaten around ten times and the singha is regarded as a protector of the Buddha.

But yes, the beer is named after the myth.

[maaruin]

I am currently listening to a playlist of YouTube videos by two Buddhist monks about Buddhist cosmology. And the thing I like most about Buddhist cosmology is just how big it is. There are many many worlds with many many kinds of beings who go through many many lives and the time spans are just so long.

Maybe I should start making a list of “things that I admire in different religions even though I am a Christian”. So far there are at least two items on this list:

the Jewish culture of discussing things and letting contrary opinions stand

the vastness of Buddhist cosmology

[arcticdementor]

I was a bit disappointed in myself that the realization took me so long, when I finally figured out that Hueco Mundo is just the Preta Domain.

[journeytothewestresearch]

In chapter 2, Sun Wukong learns the 72 transformations to escape the three heaven-sent calamities (三災) of lightning, fire, and wind. I wrote this piece suggesting the novel borrowed from Buddhist cosmology. 

https://journeytothewestresearch.wordpress.com/2018/09/09/sun-wukong-and-the-three-heavenly-calamities/

My photomanipulation represents Monkey's Daoist master explaining the calamities.

[jareckiworld]

Putu Wirantawan — In the Circle (pencil and ballpoint on paper, 2012)