Death as a Salvation in Zestiria
Good night, Heldalf. Your life of eternal solitude is at last over.
Zestiria, despite its medieval fantasy and Arthurian legend outward appearance, actually doesn’t hold back in its Japanese inspirations (among a lot of things, the devs have at least admitted that Sorey and Mikleo are inspired by the Japanese historical figure, Sakamoto Ryouma, and that seraphim are based on kami.)
Often overlooked, though, are its very obvious Buddhist inspirations, especially Japanese Buddhism, despite it supposedly being as apparent as the other inspirations. Perhaps viewing it through Buddhist lens would help some to understand arguably the most controversial message in Zestiria, that is, “death can be salvation.”
I will start off with a disclaimer: Even if I just say Japanese Buddhism, there are actually many schools for Buddhism even in Japan alone, so I will try to just keep things to the general stuff that is applicable in majority of the schools, or if I have to point out something specific, then I will specify which school it is from.
One thing for sure though, in whatever form it is, Japanese Buddhism has had a major influence on Japanese society and culture and remains an influential aspect to this day.
There’s a common saying that a Japanese is “born Shinto, but dies Buddhist.” In Shinto, an animistic religion, everything has a kami inside it, living or non-living. This kami that everyone has will be released at the time at death and move on. Those who pass away are highly respected, and it’s not appropriate to mourn deceased family members intensely. Death is just a reminder to push towards living more fully, meaning that it focuses more on life and is less associated with death. Buddhism, on the other hand, came to be known as the religion of funerals in Japan, and as such, it has also come to be associated with death.
This duality of a Japanese spiritual life can also be seen in Zestiria themes and messages: On one hand, you have the game celebrating how beautiful, how sacred this world, this life is. On the other hand, it also says that death can also be a release. The same duality is reflected in Sorey, the mere human with dreams to explore all the ruins, and Sorey, the Shepherd with his duty. How can he realize both of these at the same time?
By the way, Zestiria is not short on its Japanese Buddhist inspirations: you can see sokushinbutsu (即身仏) in the Trial Shrines, the Five Lords are called Godaishin (五大神), the Crucibles are named after Naraka, heck, even the original Japanese term for Shepherd, Doushi (導師), is a specific Japanese Buddhist term. Which we will get there, I promise.
But first up, I want to talk about the elements in Zestiria, our first relevant Buddhist inspiration here.
The five-element system in Zestiria is actually modeled after the same five-element system in Japanese Buddhism, known as Godai (五大), meaning the Five Great [Elements], that even the Five Lords are called Godaishin (五大神) meaning Five Great Lords in Japanese. Godai, in turn, is related to Mahābhūta, which is basically the same concept in Indian Buddhism.
This system explains that all physical aspects of existence originate from a common source and can be classified in one of the Godai manifestations of physical matter. Chi (地), or the Earth, symbolizes solid matter. Sui (水), the Water, symbolizes liquids. Ka (火), the Fire, is the symbol of combustion, or the elements in an energy-releasing state. Fuu (風), the Wind, symbolizes gases. Kuu (空), the Void, is representative of the formless subatomic energy that is the basis for the structure of all things. This Godai symbolism is also used to describe the emotional nature of human beings.
(By the way, Light and Darkness are also included in Void in this system. It is everything yet nothing at the same time.)
You can see these elements in gorintou (五輪塔), stupa used for memorial purposes.
Sometimes you can even see the Lotus Sūtra (妙法蓮華経) carved on it too.
The shapes these elements are represented by symbolize the order in which someone progresses in their spiritual journey:
The square of Earth is the basis, the will to attain perfection.
The circle of Water is the attainment of equanimity.
The triangle of Fire represents the energy created in pursuit of the truth.
The crescent of Wind represents the development of intuition and awareness.
The lotus of Void represents perfection.
However, just for one element, there are more meanings than what have been said so far, at least in Buddhism. That is, Fire, the element of the Silver Flame, as the power of the Shepherd.
For all the Shinto inspirations, it’s funny how they went with Fire instead of Water, the main element usually used for purification in Shinto (it’s not that it doesn’t use Fire either, just that the main purification ritual, misogi, uses water).
So first, I want to talk about how Shinto sees Fire. Fire seems to be viewed as the most powerful element, able to both bring something of the sacred into this world and to open the gates to the other. Izanami-no-Mikoto, the mother-kami who created the Japanese Archipelago and most of the Japanese kami, died giving birth to the Fire kami, an episode that is relevant from two perspectives: first, Izanami’s death represents in itself a myth of origin, as death did not, could not exist until it happened for the first time; second, it is fire that facilitates the transition from one level of existence to another. Izanami died, but that does not mean that she disappeared; on the contrary, she continues to exist in the world of shadows, changing her role as creator for that of destroyer, of death-bringer.
Fire is still used in Japanese rituals to establish connection between the known world, inhabited by living humans, and the world of kami and things passed. In the beginning of every year, shrines all over Japan make huge bonfires named dondoyaki (どんど焼き), where used New Year decorations and amulets are burned. At Buddhist temples, similar fires are lit for the burning of prayer tablets and amulets that had been used during the previous year. In both cases, the objects to be cremated are not viewed as no longer useful, but rather as something that has fulfilled its role on this existential level and must now ritually pass into the other, Fire being the potent element which opens the pathway.
A lot of connections to death here. But more than anything, there is a bigger symbolism for Fire in Buddhism, that is, in Ādittapariyāya Sutta, more popularly known as the Fire Sermon in English.
Sabbaṃ bhikkhave ādittaṃ
Bhikkhus, all is burning.
“All” (sabba) here refers to six internal senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind), six external senses (visible forms, sound, smells, tastes, touches and mental objects), consciousness (viññāṇa) contingent on these senses, the contact (samphassa) of a specific sense organ (such as the ear), its sense object (sound) and sense-specific consciousness, and finally, what is subsequently felt (vedayita): pleasure (sukha), pain (dukkha), or neither (adukkhamasukhaṃ).
And by “burning” (āditta) is meant the fire of greed (rāgagginā), the fire of aversion (dosagginā), the fire of delusion (mohagginā), as well as the manifestations of suffering: birth, aging and death, sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses and despairs.
Nibbindaṃ virajjati virāgā vimuccati, vimuttasmiṃ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṃ hoti, khīṇā jāti, vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ, kataṃ karaṇīyaṃ nāparaṃ itthattāyāti pajānātī ti.
Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, “Fully released.” He discerns that “Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.”
This will be relevant later on, but we’ll save this for now. Just remember the three fires and suffering, “burning.”
For now, I want you to focus on the word “Shepherd”, or “Doushi” (“導師”) in Japanese. Surprisingly to me, no one has really overthought this word before, despite it being the main focus of the narrative itself. Sorey, the protagonist, is the Shepherd. And sure, I’ve said that “Shepherd” is a fine enough translation for the term, but fine enough doesn’t mean it’s the best it could’ve been, though this is a tricky one to translate because no matter what they could’ve gone with, it would’ve still been lost in translation.
See, “導師” on surface level means a guru/master (師) who guides (導), that meaning is still retained in “Shepherd”, thankfully enough. However, in Japanese Buddhism, this term has a very specific meaning, and no, it’s not just “monk.”
It’s specifically a monk who facilitates funerals.
Originally, Doushi is just a monk who gives Buddhist sermons, who guides people to the path of Buddha, however, it has specifically come to mean a monk who gives indou (引導), which, to put simply, is a requiem of the dead, meant to lead/guide the dead to Nirvana, enlightenment; by having the Doushi recite the Dharma (“cosmic law and order”, Buddha’s teaching) to them. Aside from that, they’re also in charge of makuragyou (枕経), literally pillow sutra, which is the sutra recitation at the bedside of a deceased person.
So with this, I want to remind you that Sorey has a title, Vigil-Keeper (看取りし人), that basically means someone who attends to death. Someone who watches over someone else on their deathbed. And I’ve talked about that too here.
Back to Fire, the element, there’s an interesting expression in Japanese that basically is a euphemism for dying, which is “命の火が消える”, literally meaning “the fire of life is extinguished.” In the novel, among the many deaths, this expression is only used twice to describe death.
The first time, it’s Mikleo’s death as a human.
だが、生まれたばかりで柔らかかった皮膚はいま、熱と炎でただれ、命の火を消えそうとしている。
But the newborn’s tender skin was now inflamed with heat and flames, and his fire of life was about to be extinguished.
The second time, it’s Heldalf’s, as killed [saved] by Sorey.
And we know Mikleo immediately got reborn as a seraph afterwards, a being described as the purest, the noblest being ever. Seraphim are also beings that don't experience external change, unlike humans (人間は天族と違い、時間・経験と共にその在り方を変えていく), meanwhile life is full of changes according to Buddhism.
「おやすみ、ヘルダルフ……永遠の孤独はいま、終わった」
「………気に入らん……な……最後まで抗おうと……いう……のか……」
ヘルダルフの口がさらに何かを紡ごうとしていたが、もはや言葉にならず、彼は命の火を消した。
“Good night, Heldalf. Your life of eternal solitude is at last over.”
“You dare fight back even until... until the very end. I can't... I can't stand it.”
Heldalf’s mouth was trying to spin something more, but words could no longer come out, and his fire of life extinguished.
I want to note here that “命の火を消した” is more “extinguished his fire of life” but I didn’t want to make it sound like Heldalf, himself, did it, since Sorey was the one who did it. Wording, deliberate, Zestiria is all about reading between the lines after all.
But why? You might ask.
Remember how I said the Buddhist Doushi’s job is to lead the dead to the Nirvana? Nirvana (涅槃), the Buddhist salvation, as a word often gets translated as “enlightenment”, as “liberation” from suffering, but at the base level, it has another meaning. Or two, even.
One, “extinguishing of a flame.” Two, “death.”
Nirvana is the extinction of the “three fires”, namely of greed (raga), aversion or hate (dvesha) and of delusion or ignorance (moha or avidyā), the same three fires as before. This signifies the permanent cessation of saṃsāra (meaning “wandering” but basically is the “karmic cyclicality of all life, matter, existence”) and rebirth. Attainment of salvation or Nirvana is main goal of Buddhism.
SOREY: No one involved was fully in the wrong, but no one was really right either. That’s how it felt to me.
SOREY: My answer... is I want to save Heldalf. SOREY: The Shepherd’s job doesn't just boil down to “quell the Lord of Calamity,” or even “clean up the previous Shepherd’s mistakes.” SOREY: When malevolence consumes seraphim and turns them into hellions, we save them... SOREY: ...Yet when it brings misfortune and grief to humans, we say they only have themselves to blame. SOREY: It doesn’t seem fair.
MIKLEO: There are humans out there just like Heldalf. MIKLEO: He just happened to play one part in a cascade of terrible events. ROSE: I’m not gonna say you shouldn’t sympathize with him. ROSE: But I will say it would strike me as bizarre to completely let him off the hook for the horrors he brought to such a peaceful village... ROSE: And what he’s trying to do now is still messed up... Right? SOREY: Absolutely. It’s wrong, period, and I will stop it.
SOREY: If I won’t save humans like Heldalf who’ve had hellionhood thrust upon them, I’ll never see humans and seraphim live in peace!
In Shingon Buddhism, Fudou Myouou (不動明王), of the Vidyārāja, is assigned as the Doushi to the first seven days of service when mourning, as he tops the list of Thirteen Buddhas. Fudou Myouou is the manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai (大日如来) in disguise, always close at hand to protect us. He resides within the hearts of those who believe in him, protecting them and providing them with blessings.
If he were an animal, he would be a dragon; if he were an object, a double-edged sword; and if he were a color, gold or blue-black.
Fudou Myouou holds a sword in his right hand, the sword with the dragon king Kurikara (倶利伽羅), which represents righteous Buddhist wisdom to cut off evil thoughts and doubts. The rope in his left hand is meant to bind bad minds and awaken good minds. The flame on the back is called Karura-En (迦楼羅炎); Karura or Garuda is the name of a legendary bird that eats poisonous animals. The flame in the form of this bird represents the consuming of poisonous things. The rock beneath his feet is called Banjaku (盤石), a large, hard rock. It represents a stable mind without hesitation. The sutra says “sitting on a vajra stone” (“金剛石に座し”) which means sitting on a huge diamond.
More than anything else, though, Fudou Myouou takes on a wrathful form in order to save by force even the most irredeemable sentient beings who are afflicted with kleshas.
(There’s also an idea of akunin-shouki [悪人正機] in Joudo Buddhism:)
善人なおもって往生を遂ぐ、いわんや悪人をや。
Even good people can be saved, so let alone the evil people.
(Wind back the clock to the 12th century in Japan, which was an age of devastating social unrest. The vast majority of people—poor peasants, socially disadvantaged and discriminated—were losing homes and loved ones due to never-ending civil wars and starvation, feeling abandoned and helpless. But Buddhism wasn’t available to heal them because, at that time, it was only a religion for the social elites and intellectuals. For those who are good people already. This conundrum caused anguish for some monks: Why couldn’t Buddhist society do anything to help people who were in dire need of Buddha’s mercy [who needed it the most]? It’s against our core creed, which is “each and every one is saved.”)
(Eventually, a few monks decided to give up their status in the mainstream of Buddhism for good, and founded new schools in order to help the suffering people. Among them were Hounen and his disciple Shinran. They advocated akunin-shouki, and addressed it directly to desperate people: “I know you have been belittled, bullied, and given no opportunities nor any access to things that could help improve your lives. Not only have you never learned how to pray, but you might have had to do bad things in order to survive. I feel your pain and sorrow, but I want you to know that you are already forgiven, embraced and celebrated by Buddha’s mercy, exactly because of your helplessness and ignorance. Embrace your insignificant self. All you have to do is to chant the prayer, and you are saved. Buddha is always with you.”)
(These are the “bad people [those who do not know how or did not want to become a better, good person to achieve religious goals] are saved” as part of akunin-shouki. It was enthusiastically welcomed by the “bad” people—the illiterate, ignorant, poor and disadvantaged—who were never recognized nor approved of by society, let alone embraced and celebrated. They were overjoyed to discover that all they had to do was to chant nenbutsu “I take refuge in Buddha”–which could be done even if you couldn’t read–and they were saved. Buddhism finally became a people’s religion.)
Because in Buddhism, there are no sins, as there is no judging god out there that would punish you for your sins.
What there is though, is karma, the “law of cause and effect.” But karma is not punishment, not reward. Think of karma as a natural law, like gravity. You don’t need anyone to administer the law of gravity. Any time you are not careful you may fall and hurt yourself and experience suffering, but it is not a punishment for your lack of attention. You can also use gravity to generate hydroelectric power at a dam.
The same way that gravity doesn’t have morals attached, doesn’t need to be administer by a mighty god and can produce suffering in some cases and happiness in other, karma doesn’t have morals attached, doesn’t need to be administer by a mighty god and can produce suffering in some cases and happiness in other.
Karma tells you that there are some acts that produce suffering for you or others and, that there are acts that produce happiness for you and others.
If you avoid the former and stick to the later, you will be happier.
...
With all of this said and done, I would like to end it by saying that not everything has to be taken at surface level, taken so literally. Shepherd, hellion, death, salvation... everything here is just a symbol. It’s a fictional work, it can afford to do things like this, through symbols, images, patterns, ideas, metaphors that we recognize. Because they keep coming up, and they're entrenched in our subconscious through that repetition. I want people to step back and look at this at the bigger picture, and try to glean what the message really is, instead of being caught up in the unnecessary details.
I hope this has been insightful.
