#buddhis

I’ve been lazy of late. So here’s another Fantasy Invader post :D

I’m making my own path of thorns, folks.

Ah, yes. The guy who screams Buddhist symbolism as hard as he can is talking about Christianity now.

Oohhh, are we getting another “AYMR BAD CUZ DEVIL ARCANA BAD ‘CUZ DEVIL!” take again? :D

And yes, Crimson Flower is a path of thorns because it’s the most dangerous and uncertain path.

See? The game even calls it a path of thorns!

Now FI probably knew that one, but I’m still laughing my ass off at the mental image of him thinking he came up with that on his own and just patting himself on the back for his symbolism decoding genius.

Anyways, he’s talking about Proverbs 15:19.

The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway.

a. The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns: Those who are lazy may not see it in themselves. Often, they may more easily see the result of their laziness, which is a life filled with constant trouble and irritations (like a hedge of thorns).

b. The way of the upright is a highway: The wise man or woman – upright and hardworking before the LORD – does not know the same constant troubles and irritations of life that the lazy man must endure. Life for the upright is much smoother and more efficient in its progress. 

Remember that.

But... how. Who’s being lazy? Crimson Flower is the path you have to work to get into. Silver Snow is the default path.

I think FI’s right, I remember something to that effect. Also I’d just like to posit that removing Edelgard is not what makes Silver Snow harder. What actually makes it harder is that Edelgard takes her deployment slot with her and Silver Snow’s endgame chapter is genuinely fucking atrocious.

Also, Silver Snow is harder on the player, but it’s Byleth who supposedly is taking the lazy route, so it should be Byleth who feels the pain (though I think it would be harder on them too since they don’t want to fight Edelgard, as you can constantly have them say throughout the route, only for Seteth to tell you to be quiet and do what you’re destined to do).

But anyways, how does the righteous path (SS according to FI) being the harder route mesh with the righteous path being straight and clear, like a highway, as the Bible verse says?

So yeah, like I said. Shouldn’t the supposed unrighteous route not be the easier one? Shouldn’t it be as a hedge of thorns, like the Bible verse says?

So yeah, if it isn’t already obvious, Fantasy Invader was just talking out of his ass. He can’t make Silver Snow being the straight and clear route of righteousness with Silver Snow also being the tougher route, as the devs intended, so, whether by deception or incompetence, just chose to ignore what Proverbs 15:19 says to suit his narrative.

Oh okay, so we’re back to Buddhism now. Then again, Fantasy Invader was kinda butchering his Christianity analysis so he might as well retreat to more familiar (but tragically just as incorrect) ground.

Also, this is as good a time as any to copy-paste one of CaptainFlash’s brilliant reads on what Nirvana truly symbolizes in Three Houses:

I think in the same way that this game is very critical of some aspects of Christianity, it is very critical of Buddhist theology. Particularly the idea of attachment. Attachment in Buddhism is bad, and individualistic and leads to suffering. Each of the lords is kind of unselfish in their goals-El gives up her humanity for her dream, Dimitri is trying to appease the dead instead of living, and Claude has given up human connection for his ambition. They only become their best selves when they have the selfish little human moments we see in their routes. Byleth becomes a human when she spends time around her students, but a “wandering flame” in SS because they rejected human connection. In Buddhism, the cessation of the human flame (attachment) is a metaphor for Nirvana, and I think you can see why this adds resonance to the “Flame Emperor” trying to create a world “for humanity” 

And as I said in my reply to Buddhism anon,

How is killing Rhea in that context a bad thing? By that point, Rhea's fallen so far into paranoia and madness that she'd rather set Fhirdiad on fire, killing every man, woman, and child living inside it, rather than accept a peaceful surrender.

Also, Byleth does not lose divine favor or whatever by killing Rhea: they are still capable of S-support Sothis (the scene even has a specific provision for Crimson Flower) during which Sothis reaffirms her adoration for Byleth.

Crimson Flower is the only route in which Byleth embraces their humanity, as Sothis told them to in the opening minutes of the game.

The core of the Vajrayana tradition is that we strive to embody pure perception. We view our thoughts and emotions — even the difficult ones — as manifestations of timeless awareness. We see every person as a Buddha, and we treat them as such. We view the world that we live in as a pure realm, enlightened just as it is.

This tradition of treating everything and everyone as though we are meeting the Buddha face-to-face is our main practice in the Vajrayana. It is the life blood of our tradition and the very highest ethical standard we could aspire to. In this day and age, with confusion and conflict all around us, the world needs this more than ever.

Buddhist monk Budai by Liang Kai(1150-??) in the Southern Song dynasty