How buddhist themes in JJK frame Satosugu
(This is actually the author's note from chapter 86 of my stsg fic, but I felt like sharing it on Tumblr, because why not.)
ICYDK, A bodhisattva is someone who reaches enlightenment but chooses not to fully transcend, staying in the cycle of suffering to help others reach it too. Sort of a "buddha-to-be."
This is just me studying the idea I think Gege was trying to convey of Gojo being a true Bodhisattva, while Geto is a corrupted/fake one.
Suguru's reaction after he killed everyone in that village can be seen as a sort of transcendence, a final understanding, but he takes that feeling and reduces everything into one answer: eliminate the source of suffering. It feels like enlightenment because it removes doubt, but itâs actually just fixation. He doesnât let go of attachment, he replaces it with ideology. And the key thing is, he never questions that interpretation again. He clings to it because he needs it to be true. If it isnât, then everything heâs done since collapses. So his ânon-selfâ becomes the most rigid version of himself possible.
Satoru goes through that state for real after Toji. He couldâve gone down the same path, the story even puts him in a position where mass killing (destroying the source of suffering) would be effortless and, in a twisted way, justifiable. But the difference is that Satoru rejects it because Suguru is there to tether him. Because of him, he understands that it's not just freedom from suffering, itâs freedom from connection, from responsibility, from other peopleâs weight. And thatâs the part he refuses. He chooses to come back down, to feel, to carry things that would be easier to drop.
So where Suguruâs âenlightenmentâ is about escaping suffering by eliminating its source, Satoruâs becomes less about escaping suffering and more about reducing it, by helping others grow strong enough to carry their share.
Thatâs where the Bodhisattva parallel comes in. He could detach, could live above everything, but doesnât. He stays, like a true Bodhisattva would.
And it ties back to a core JJK idea: people can only really transcend when theyâre aligned with who they actually are. We see this a LOT with Yuji, Sukuna, Mahito, etc.
Suguru isnât aligned with himself. Heâs someone who loves deeply, who forms bonds easily, who cares A LOT, and he turns himself into someone who doesnât. That contradiction undermines him, his twisted ideology is the only thing holding him together.
Satoru, on the other hand, is aligned. Heâs someone who protects, who invests in people, who acts freely according to his own will. Even when his life is a complete mess internally, his actions still move in that direction. Thatâs why he stabilizes instead of spiraling.
So yeah. Same starting point, same âenlightenmentâ feeling.
One becomes obsession.
The other becomes purpose.
Mind you, I'm not a Buddhism expert at all, this is just my two cents after a lot of research and hours of non-stop thinking about them and narrative themes.
Then this also ties to Sukuna being the only other person who truly found enlightenment in the whole narrative, turning him into Gojo's equal. But he has an extremely different approach to the cycle of suffering because he didnât know love. Essentially, Sukuna didn't have his own Suguru, so he's not a complete bodhisattva because he is still untethered.
âThe loneliness that comes with unrivaled strength. The one who will teach you about love isâŚâ
There's so much more, but thatâs a discussion for another day.
