The Tao of Batman

(Author Note: I apologize for my obscene lack of knowledge of Buddhism and Eastern Philosophy, I just thought this would make for a cool title)

As I posted earlier, Rod from Narutofan (yes really), has come up with a very intriguing theory the approach that Morrison is taking with The Return of Bruce Wayne. I was still wrapping my head around it so all i managed to do was repost the Wikipedia article he was basing his theory on.

Recently Rod put a couple hours to hammer his theory into a cohesive post. Since I figure more people are going to come across this blog than to go browsing on Narutofan, I am reposting it in its entirety (with his permission of course). Enjoy.

Batman and the Six Paths.

Clicks something?

Allow me to remind you then:

The concept is just much bigger, have a sit thar, here comes the wall o' text.

1. Who is this?


k.

Depicted in Batman 681, Yama, the buddhist devil, guardian of the hell. The one who turns the wheel of life, Six Paths, Rokudo Rinne. (picture two pics above)

Additionally, when Bruce was failing for black glove as they were invading the cave, an image appeared in the computer:

Seems to have a similar estructure of mandible (notice this one was drawn in a previous issue [677] before clear photo as above), based of perhaps;

Now to this:

2. "Five fingers, and no more!"

"five fingers and no more!"

?

Well imo, this might be refering to a very interesting point here, in the buddhism and hindu figures, entities some of them are portrayed as having 6 fingers, once occurance of this in someone, it might be believed that individual may be one godlike figure.

Generally there's no distinction of good and evil per se, but what you get for that is the ones who protects the ppl, the good fortune entities are the ones with six fingers, the ones related to punishments or stuff generally have five fingers only.

Yama has five fingers only, for example entities from the hell usually have.

Still I wanted to explain you this, pay very attention:

Enlightenment:

"Enlightenment" is the central masterpiece of Gautama Buddha, and it is what he got sitting for 7 weeks under a fig tree (the bodhi tree), near Benares, after having wandered around for 7 years to search for the cause of suffering... all of a sudden, "in a flash", "he saw the light", and became the Buddha, the enlightened one... his divine eye was quickened, and he was able at last to extinguish all his ignorance, desires, and craving... and life's problems were no longer an enigma to him.

The Buddhist word for enlightenment is "bodhi," which is the basis for the title "Buddha." He was the first to be enlightened and thus was called "The Buddha." The root meaning of bodhi is "to awaken"; thus the Buddha is the "Awakened One." The rest of humanity is asleep.

Enlightenment comes essentially one step before nirvana. It is the realizing of the true nature of the cosmos, the link between samsara (six paths) and nirvana. It is at this point that one can view their past lives.

7 weeks reminds you something? 7 weeks with 7 days each equals a total of 49 that were Bruce's days.

Just to explain:

Nirvana (nibbana):
Nirvana for Gautama is to live the life on earth as the result of the Enlightenment, it is not a place, but a state of mind in which one is released from desire, craving, fear... and, most specially, Nirvana brings a Buddhist out of the cycles of the curse of reincarnation for ever.

Nirvana has many names in Buddhism and Hinduism Traditions:
-"Enlightenment"... "Nirvana".- "God-realization".- "Union with the Universal mind".
- "Heightened awareness".- "Expanded consciousness"- "Altered perception of reality".
- "Cosmic consciousness".- "Satori"...- "Transcendental bliss"...
The discipline to obtain it may be yoga, Zen, ascetics, meditation... and the religious frame may be Buddhism, Hinduism, Unity, Theosophy, Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishnas, Rosicrucianism, EST, New Era...

Results of the Enlightenment in Gautama:

He got two kind of results: A positive and a negative:
Negatively, the eradication of all greed, hatred and egotism from his mind.
Positively, the cultivation and development of metta, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity as inherent aspects of one’s personality. "Metta" is a Pali word and is usually translated into English as "love", and if we simultaneously think of the words "friendship", "love" and "kindness", we will have some understanding of the true meaning of "metta".

With this "Enlightenment", Buddha sought to remove much of the supernatural from Hinduism. Hindus worshiped too many gods, and used too many relics, magic prayers, superstitions, candles, incense... and he saw no need for a church institution or authority or priests or rituals; no need to believe in "miracles" or supernatural agencies as means to obtain "nirvana", after the "enlightenment"... he dared to question the authority of the Vedas and advocated abolishing the caste system... and even suggested that the concept of God be abolished...


How to obtain Enlightenment:

For Gautama it was very simple, he got it "in a flash" under the Bo tree, as we just mentioned.

But it is not so simple... the many traditions, sects, branches and denominations follow different special techniques, most of them from Hinduism... and thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns dedicate their whole life with vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience to try to obtain it.

The Four Noble Truths are the basis to obtain Enlightenment... and most specially Meditation.

Meditation:

In general, to obtain "enlightenment", man's own "mind", "body", and "character", are the greatest obstacles:

1-The "mind", is suppressed, for example, by repeating thousands of times a "mantra", a meaningless word for the student, until the "crisis" comes, when the mind gets so boring that stops reasoning, letting only the "animal mind" at work; or by trying to solve for months or years a "koan", an impossible riddle, like "what is the size of your right hand's sixth finger?", until the mind gets so tired, that it gives up, stops reasoning; or trying for months a ridiculous impossible astral projection; or looking for hours at a "yantra", a geometric figure, a triangle... yes, you're thinking correctly, in Morrison's Batman context: Zur ehh arr!

2- The "body", is restrained by sitting for hours in a difficult position, until numbness occurs... and this way you seek to release the spirit from the limitations of the body, say the Buddhists.

3- The personal "character", is controlled by having a guru or a master that continually humiliates you...

All, until your mind gives up, becomes obsolete, and your body becomes numb, and you feel yourself like nothing, without self, without any personality... and then, "comes the crisis", you will give up your "human mind" and experience the "animal mind" with all kinds of illusory hallucinations and the bliss of having the joy and peace of an animal, without any reasoning, without any concern of yesterday nor today nor tomorrow nor the after death... just the simple instinctive let it go of any animal... pretty sure you are making already the connections instintively to the Morrison script here.

The Four Noble Truths: Gautama describes temporal life as featuring four noble truths:

1. Diagnosis: The condition of all existence is suffering.
2. Cause: Suffering is caused by selfishness, desire and craving
3. Prognosis: Selfishness, desire and craving can be overcome... and then, suffering ends on earth and the cycle of the curse of reincarnation is gone.
4. Treatment: The Eightfold Path:

The Eightfold Path: Enlightenment and Nirvana is attained by meditation and by following the path of righteousness in action, thought, and attitude... it's all your work!:
1-3- Wisdom (panna):
- Right View
- Right Thought
- Right Speech
4-5- Morality (sila):
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
6-8- Meditation (samadhi):
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Contemplation


And this is what is called "enlightenment", and "god-realization", and "union with the universal mind", and "heightened awareness", and "cosmic consciousness", and "transcendental bliss"...

True is not perceived to be an absolute or objective revelation... "knowledge" is not "to know", but "not to know", it is only a "subjective intuitional experience", the thinking has been replaced by feelings; logic plays no part on it, it is the negation of one's rational faculties... it is an "ego" religion, where one's own enlightened self becomes the arbiter of all actions and the gauge of the truth...

The light upon which a Buddhist stumbles is the false glow of one whom the Bible depicts as a deceiving "angel of light", Satan (2Cor.11:14)... because in that state on numbness and without the control of the "human mind" the devil settles in.

3. Pretty Flower:


The Sacred Lotus (“hasu” in Japanese). Early on in Buddhist history, Shaka Nyorai (the Historical Buddha) is pictured seated on a lotus with four petals, representing the four great countries of Asia (India, China, Central Asia, and Iran) of the time. The lotus, moreover, is a symbol of purity. Although a beautiful flower, the lotus grows out of the mud at the bottom of a pond. The Buddha is an enlightened being who "grew" out of the "mud" of the material world. Like the lotus, the Buddha is beautiful and pure even though he existed in the material world. The “lotus” seat, moreover, is used very often in sculptures of the various Buddha (Nyorai) and Bosatsu (Bodhisattva), as is the lotus stem with flower, often shown held in the hands of the various deities.


4. Six realms of existence, Six paths, Six worlds, Rokudo-Rinne, significance:

1- The world of heaven. This is the world of enjoyment, pleasure or pleasant things. The condition of heaven is impermanent, and this state of mind will also change.
2- The world of humans. (Human beings) In the world of humans, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are laughing, sometimes we are crying.
3- The world of asuras. This is the world of fighting, or strife. The realm or state of mind of fighting.
4- The world of animals. It is the realm lacking reason. The state without reason. Without reason, mistakes are made, causing hardships or suffering to self, and at times others. Without reason, being dominated by one's desires.
5- The world of hungry spirits. This is the realm of dissatisfaction, not being content. The state of having endless unsatisfied desires, or greed.
6- The world of hell. Hell refers to the realm of suffering. The state of suffering and pain, which through cause and condition people will enter.


Connecting, we have:

- The world of hell. Hell refers to the realm of suffering. The state of suffering and pain, which through cause and condition people will enter:

- The world of hungry spirits. This is the realm of dissatisfaction, not being content. The state of having endless unsatisfied desires, or greed:


























- The world of animals. It is the realm lacking reason. The state without reason. Without reason, mistakes are made, causing hardships or suffering to self, and at times others. Without reason, being dominated by one's desires:


























- The world of asuras. This is the world of fighting, or strife. The realm or state of mind of fighting:

- The world of humans. (Human beings) In the world of humans, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are laughing, sometimes we are crying:


























- The world of heaven. This is the world of enjoyment, pleasure or pleasant things. The condition of heaven is impermanent, and this state of mind will also change:


























Conclusion:

Morrison: "I've spent two years in the making of this story!"

"He is like the Buddha"

Sort of hinted the answer not wanting to reveal, fooled us.

Bruce Wayne acts in Morrison's metatext as the figure of Buddha, passing by the final test of Yama the devil who per se has been taunting Wayne the whole life through various occasions and as various figures (the truth of it's identity? It's simple, the great truth is: There's no real one, it's everyone and noone, it's a manifestation), yet it would not kill him before his soul gives up, one needs to acknowledge the corruption in your own, yet that's not the case in the character, Bruce Wayne will prove his faith by achieving the true wisdom on himself (prepared in Thogal with hints from his past times) and escaping the Samsara wheel of life (represented metatextually in the script as "Omega Sanction"). A fact that historically only the Buddha could do, afterall the devil will be one giving up to finally recognize the contrary of all it has seen: The incorruptibility in this being.

"The ultimate human. The definition of humanity."

Blew your fucking mind didn't it? But wait isn't this falling into the trap of randomly looking for shit where none is? Or as one of the great scholars of our time would say:




Well this being the internet someone asked Rod this and he came up with a very good answer that further blew my fucking mind.

^

Exactly, Bruce lived in a logical world, it was all just a big math for him (see his monologue in front of the Batcomputer in 678 or 679 exemplifies this greatly), that's what he needed to understand, like Gauthama in the enlightenment, it's not simply "to know" it's also "not to know".

He needed to figure ilogical is part of the plan, that was key item missing and what troubled him into Hurt's identity.

Make of this what you will.

w00t - Kirkman Answered my letter

Insane Theory Time - Batman

So I was on a forum and a buddy of mine posted his insane theory, and with permission I'm going to post it here. The more I think about it the more I think he's spot on.

Here is essentially what he means (with help from Wikipedia)

Six Paths (Jp. = Rokudō 六道 or Rokudō-rinne 六道輪廻)
Buddhist concept stemming from Hindu philosophies.
In Japan, most commonly referred to as the “Six Paths.”

spacerLong before Buddhism's introduction to India, Hindu (Brahman) beliefs and traditions held sway. One important concept was "transmigration," more commonly known in the West as "reincarnation." It holds that all living things die and are reborn again. Your rebirth into the next life will be based on your behavior in your past life. This rebirth occurs again and again. When Buddhism emerged in India around 500 BC, it too stressed this Hindu belief in transmigration, one that still plays a major role in modern Buddhist philosophy. The modern Buddhist concept of Karma is also a byproduct of ancient Hindu beliefs in transmigration and reincarnation.

Among Buddhists, all living beings are born into one of the six states of existence (Samsara in Sanskrit, the cycle of life and death). All are trapped in this wheel of life, as the Tibetans call it. All beings within the six realms are doomed to death and rebirth in a recurring cycle over countless ages -- unless they can break free from desire and attain enlightenment. Further, upon death, all beings are reborn into a lower or a higher realm depending on their actions while still alive. This involves the concept of Karma and Karmic Retribution. The lowest three states are called the three evil paths, or three bad states. The Japanese spellings of all six, plus brief descriptions, are shown below:


1. Caveman Beings in Hell. Naraka-gati in Sanskrit. Jigokudō 地獄道 in Japanese. The lowest and worst realm, wracked by torture and characterized by aggression.

2. Witch Hunter Hungry Ghosts. Preta-gati in Sanskrit. Gakidō 餓鬼道 in Japanese. The realm of hungry spirits; characterized by great craving and eternal starvation; see below photo/link for “Scroll of the Hungry Ghosts” (Gaki Zōshi 餓鬼草紙)

3. Pirate Animals. Tiryagyoni-gati in Sanskrit. Chikushōdō 畜生道 in Japanese. The realm of animals and livestock, characterized by stupidity and servitude.

4. Cowboy Asura. Asura-gati in Sanskrit. Ashuradō 阿修羅道 in Japanese. The realm of anger, jealousy, and constant war; the Asura (Ashura) are demigods, semi-blessed beings; they are powerful, fierce and quarrelsome; like humans, they are partly good and partly evil. See Hachi Bushu (8 Legions) for details.

5. Detective Humans. Manusya-gati in Sanskrit. Nindō 人道 in Japanese. The human realm; beings who are both good and evil; enlightenment is within their grasp, yet most are blinded and consumed by their desires.

6. Dark Knight Deva. Deva-gati in Sanskrit. Tendō 天道 in Japanese. The realm of heavenly beings filled with pleasure; the deva hold godlike powers; some reign over celestial kingdoms; most live in delightful happiness and splendor; they live for countless ages, but even the Deva belong to the world of suffering (samsara) -- for their powers blind them to the world of suffering and fill them with pride -- and thus even the Deva grow old and die; some say that because their pleasure is greatest, so too is their misery.


Certainly something isn't it?

Fullmetal Alchemist is the Best manga (FMA 104 recap)

Post title says it all, FMA is one of the best mangas out there right now and now with the finish line in sight, Arakawa steps on the gas and takes us on one last epic confrontation.

Picking up from last month's cliffhanger, we have a page on Bradly commenting on how humans never seem to give up. We then quickly jump to the fight against Father, like I expected May is no match against him alone. Pride tries to attack her but Ed gets in his way.

Here's where is gets cool, Pride's human form is a kid so he's running circles around Ed remaking how Ed is always used to being smaller than his opponent. Ed then composes himself and states that while this is true, Ed also knows every technique a short fighter would use on a bigger and stronger opponent and quickly proceeds to beat his ass apparently mortally wounding him.



May desperately tries to heal herself so she can have another go at Father. Father notices this and in one of the most surprising awesome turn of events, transmutes a gun to kill her, but Al gets in the way. Izumi and Al then start going after Father who shrugs off all their attacks. Tiring of all this he puts an end to the fighting by grabbing his "sacrifices" with his tentacles and subduing them stating that "The time has come"

Just had to post this.

Back at the radio station their hostage, a military man who was in on the conspiracy, begins to feverishly plead that they take him to "the circle" since he did not wish to be "swallowed". At this very moment the eclipse occurs, many spectators look up and marvel at it, but Father gets a triumphant look on his face and yells "IT'S TIME". A massive earthquake strikes the entire nation of Amestris, this is shown in a series of spreads showing people from all over the country. Father remarks to Ed that the Earth is a "system" that holds the gate to all truth and knowledge and that it was his intention of using his "sacrifices" to open the gate.


At the last minute Greed shows up and attacks Father stating the world was his. Father gets away unscathed stating that he knew Greed would arrive since they had the same desires. Before anymore interruptions occur, he quickly begins the ceremony. Outside, a black energy shockwave spreads out across the city. All over the nation Father's hands sprout from the ground and people everywhere keel over, from a high altitude we see Father's nationwide transmutation circle has been activated. The entire nation becomes engulfed in giant shadow spires and in the capitol building a huge metal gate opens from which Father crawls out in all of his horror.

He extends his hand out to the sun and calls forth God himself. The Gate of Truth appears and opens, and proceeds to attempt to absorb Father. Father, preparing for this, grabs God and pulls it down to Earth and absorb it instead. All goes silent. We then see that all over Amestris, everyone is dead, the children, the adults, the elderly, the military, the rebels. Everyone including the named characters.

Back underground Ed and the others recover and ask if Father had gone through with his plan. Father stated that he has, in order to pull God down into his being necesitated the lifeforce of the entire nation. We then see that Father has taken on Al's body. End Chapter.


Overall a superb chapter. Really can't find much to fault it other than the utter lack of Scar vs Wrath, but the chapter as a whole was so great I can forgive that. Definitely makes me very excited for the grand finale and also gives our heroes their biggest challenge.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths was leaked

Not going to post it here but needless to say I was able to find the link and saw it.

It was good, very good. McDuffie shows once again he he has the chops to write a great JL when given the chance.

I'm going to avoid spoiling since the movie hasn't even come out yet. But as you all know the Lex Luthor of another universe comes to the JL for help and they (mostly) accept, what starts out as a simple crossover fight escalates as we learn more about Owlman who quickly becomes the biggest threat to everyone.

Good voice actiong across the board (yes even Billy Baldwin), especially by Gina Torres and the always James Woods, who really make their villains come alive. Movie is well written well, we're thrown into the action and backstory is given as read which really saved time. Also was well animated, when we eventually get to the fights between Batman and Owlman, they're a joy to watch.

Movie was also loads of fu, there are also some clever in jokes sprinkled throughout that is sure to make some fans smile. Also this being a movie about the multiverse, the sheer number of random cameos is pretty incredible it got to the point where I could hardly keep count.


Only real qualms I have with the story is that a romantic subplot is added for real reason that I could see other than to pad the run time, and a certain character does stuff that certain people might probably consider extremely out of character.





Also as a final note, I loved the opening credit sequence, that rocked. Can't wait for enough time to pass for it to not be taken off Youtube.

Fullmetal Alchemist 103 summation/mini review

For a first real post I guess I'll review the latest chapter of what is probably my 2nd favorite manga of all time, the great Fullmetal Alchemist (not to be confused with the overly angsty and flawed adaptation anime that graced the screens of Adult Swim).


The issue begins by picking up on Brosh and Ross' touching reunion from last month, and quickly catching us up on the status of all the rebels in the radio station and then switch over to what the Elrics are doing.

Where we pick up from last month's cliffhanger, where Col. Mustang had lost his eyesight gazing into the truth, which is really the most beautiful punishment for a man like Roy Mustang. Not only does his powers revolve around fire and bending it to his will, but like Pride cruelly stated last month, even if Mustang makes his ambitions a reality, he will never be able to look at the promised land.

Edward remarks at the inherent unfairness of it all, stating that while Al, Izumi and himself all willingly broke the laws of nature, Roy was forced into doing it. After some quick thinking, Ed realizes this was a last ditch effort by the Homunculi to get their 5th sacrifice and likely was done at great risk.

After this the required fighting begins with the Elric Brothers face off against Selim/Pride who shows himself to be a much more adept fighter than before. May Chang deciding to take on the Father herself and as you can probably guess the Father is a just a bit out of May's league and quickly brushes her aside.

I just kind of liked this panel

We then move over to some construction workers remarking how they aren't allowed to leave the build site and yet can not work during the eclipse. They spy some Ishbalans running through the chaos and then the focus switches over to them as they take out some soldiers. They break into a house and begin digging, noting that the house is built over a spot on an old map.

We finally get to the part I've been dying to read since last month: the epic throwdown between Fuhrer King Bradley aka Wrath and the Ishbalan outcast Scar. I've got to admit the idea of having Scar fight Wrath is one that never occured to me, I guess I always expected Roy or Ling Yao to be the one to take him down, but this makes sense. Wrath ordered the genocide against Scar's people, Wrath embodies everything Scar hates about Amestrians. They fight and Wrath just beats the crap out of him, but Scar has a trump card: his left arm. Turns out his left arm is tattooed just like his right one and has the ability to reconstruct, a skill he initially found blasphemous but now necessary. End of chapter.

This was a good good chapter, right mix of talk and action. Arakawa is at her peak right here in her artwork, the fight between Scar and Wrath is fluid and exciting. Definitely waiting for next week not only for the rest of this fight, but I'm hoping we see more of Ling Yao and the Elrics.

Open for Business

The name's Nathan, I live in SF and am a huge nerd, I go through comics and dvds like an addict whenever I can find some spare time.

After posting on lots of different blogs and starting a dialogue with several bloggers I've taken an interest in, I realized I had no blog to call my own and post my own opinions and such. So here we are.

I'll be honestly surprised if this evolves beyond anything other than me talking to myself but here goes.