Wherever something is developed it is naturally going to take on the influences of the culture whose product it is. A majority of the video games released in America have Japanese developers; especially for the story-writing process. A popular genre that involves heavy story telling during the play of the game is the Role-Playing Game (commonly abbreviated as RPG). The narratives of these games feature themes of impending crisis, a character’s personal development, life, death, the search for wisdom, and the struggle for truth and meaning in a chaotic world. These themesare often expressed in terms of existing philosophies and belief systems. Zen and its related foundations present the Japanese developers, who are familiar with these ideas, with possible answers for a player to find. Whether obvious or subtle, in the genre of the RPG there are often references and allusions to Zen and its foundations as seen in two very different games: Chrono Trigger and Earthbound.
The 1995 game, Earthbound, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System features a number of Zen references despite being a very modern-suburbia oriented game. Unlike most Role Playing Games, Earthbound takes place in what is closest to the present day, as opposed to a futuristic world, medieval times, or some totally made up civilization. Part of the reason Zen influences run throughout the thread of this game is one of the four main characters, Poo, is some form of a Buddhist. Like many Buddhist figures such as Sakyamuni Buddha, Bodhidharma, and Dogen, Poo comes from nobility and is in this case heir to the throne of his kingdom. Leaving behind this opportunity Poo decides to undergo the final stages of his spiritual training in order to better serve mankind. Under the system of Zen training he goes to receive teachings of a great master in a temple but is at first refused admittance. A messenger comes to Poo and says,
“Ah! Prince Poo…I am a messenger from your master…He sent me to tell you that you must stop your meditation immediately. Prince Poo! You must come back with me instead of staying in a place such as this. Your Master wishes it…please rise, Prince…Your highness, you must give up this trial for now…believe what I say, it is the truth…”
Poo ignores this, possessing the faith Dogen decreed as central to beginning Zen training. Once admitted he begins his meditation and a vision of his master comes to him. The transmission of the Dharma in this case varies from traditional Chinese Ch’an transmission because the vision is the “spirit of [Poo’s] ancient lineage” as opposed to a direct master-to-student transmission which was significant to the Ch’an patriarchy, but the accent on lineage is evident. Given the situation, it is not surprising that the game refers to this section as his “Mu training”. Being “a refusal to accept the conceptual distinctions which give the question meaning” (Kupperman 132), Poo does not need to answer the questions his master asks of him:
“ I am going to break your legs. You will lose the use of them. Do you accept this?… Next, I will tear your arms off…I shall then take your arms and feed them to the crows… Do you care if I take your eyes? Do you want to live in eternal darkness?”
There is a direct connection between the questions asked in Mu Training and the story of Hui-k’o and Bodhidharma in which Hui-k’o is asked, “Would you give up your life [in order to receive] the Dharma?” and then “Hui-k’o then cut off his arm to prove his sincerity” (Fei 259).
Earthbound is also one of the only (if not the only) video game to feature a tea-break into the story line. About two thirds of the way through the game the characters come upon a bath in which they can relax and drink tea. A Japanese legend credits the creation of tea to Bodhidharma, who cut off his eyelids during meditation so as not to fall asleep and as the eyelids hit the ground out from the ground grew a plant which had leaves to make a drink that fends off sleep (Yang 167). The tea sequence is supposed to encourage the protagonists to continue on with their journey and to not feel exhaustion from the long distances they have traveled both mentally and physically. This tea is given to them by a race of people known as the Tenda, whose name sounds similar to the Tendai school of Mount Hiei founded by Saicho. Both in the game and in the history of Tendai the monasteries were founded in an area of mostly swampy grasslands. The Tendai school was based on the Lotus Sutra in which “The Buddha reveals the “Greater Vehicle” (in Sanskrit, Mahayana ) which allows for salvation for a larger number of people. Buddhahood is open to all people rather than to a few” (Hooker 1). The Tenda people’s salvation was based on the book “Overcoming Shyness.” When read by their leader it converted large numbers of normally shy members of the race into more functional beings.
Chrono Trigger, produced by Squaresoft in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, has some very obvious references to the Christian faith’s stories and figures. If one looks deeper into the game the Japanese influence of Zen and Taoism is alluded to in many different ways. During one of the most memorable parts of the game the main group of protagonist characters have been transported back in time to an advanced civilization. These people once lived above the planet on floating islands far above the surface of the earth. Zeal, as it was known, was a center for cultural advancements and philosophical exploration. Those who lived in the cities in the air were referred to as the “Enlightened” while their poor unenlightened counterparts living on the surface were called “EarthBound Ones”. People became enlightened by gaining an understanding of the way of life through meditation and cultivation of the mind. “As Dogen defines it, arousing the thought of enlightenment is truly a momentous affair” (Cook 36), marked in the case of this game (for practical storytelling purposes) as the attainment of the powers of magic. Magic in video games (aside from the uses of attacks in defense in battles) signifies a character’s alignment with the Elements of nature that comprise the basic make-up of the universe. This Taoist outlook can be seen in many games.
The script writers for Chrono Trigger added a little Taoist humour in Zeal as well. “Am I a butterfly dreaming I’m a poet… or a bowling ball dreaming I’m a plate of sashimi?” asks a poet from Enhasa (the city of dreams) in the fashion of Chuang Tza’s “Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man” (Yutang Leveling). A book on one of the shelves of the research center in Enhasa reads, “All life begins and ends with Nu, that’s what believe… at least for now…” Dogen’s metaphysical view of the nothingness of Buddha-nature relates to the Nu of which the book speaks. In the game a Nu is a mystical creature that is essential to function of life and is woven into the fabric of time. The word Nu is close to the word Mu, which is connected to the “nothingness of Buddh-nature [mu-bussho]…” because it is “so closely connected to the ideograms for Buddha-nature” in Dogen’s doctrine,” (Dumoulin 115). The Enlightened philosopher who was writing the text possessed a skeptic view of Mu which perhaps reflected the feelings of other Enlightened members’ skepticism. The ultimate downfall of the civilization may have been due to a lack of faith.
During this downfall many of the more important members of the Zeal society, such as the Queen, her advisors, and the royal family were thrown into a time warp representing samsara. They can be viewed in the Buddhist sense as having collected bad karma during their lifetime since all were either greedy, arrogant, or associated closely with people who were. One of the antagonist characters from this period, Janus, when thrown into the time warp was sent to the Middle Ages where his anger brewed and transformed him into an evil wizard named Magus. Magus’s understand of the Way is ambiguously displayed. “If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh,” he tells the main characters of the game. Contained in this arrogance is a matter of truth about the nature of the world according to Taoism. Like a Taoist, Magus seeks immortality and to become aligned with Nature and the Universe, but goes about it in a completely inaccurate fashion. “On one hand, a good Daoist is expected to have a low-key preference for remaining alive. Daoism teaches poise, and emotional freedom that carries with it the elimination of inner conflict… this is held to be conducive of long life,” is opposite Magus’s goals and therefore he could never gain immortality though he understood the way of the Tao (Kupperman 123).
“Even if the person is only seven years old, if he is my superior, I shall seek the teaching from him. Even if he is a hundred years old, if he is inferior to me, I shall teach him,” reads a story about a great master name Chao-chou from the T’ang Dynasty (Cook 99). Through the magic of time travel Magus was able to go back 11,000 years to see himself as a child (Janus) in the land of Zeal. Disguised as a prophet, Magus sought to gain any knowledge from his younger self who was an “Enlightened” being. Magus had an understanding of the importance of teachings from a superior (even if it was his younger self) but misjudged the level of Enlightenment he had thought Janus possessed.
The scenes from the two video games supply their own teachings as to how much Japanese cultural influence goes into the production of a video game. As an up and coming form of media, the video game industry will hopefully be considered a producer of texts which can contain messages in need of analysis the way movies are looked at today. By paying close attention to the modes of production and the content within a game (not all games, but some of the better ones), more meaningful elements of culture, religion, and philosophy can be seen as integral parts of gameplay and the story line.
Works Cited
Belc, Peter. “THE CHRONO TRIGGER SCRIPT VERSION 1.0″. Game Text Transcript. Parts 1-3.
< http://princemars.8m.com/script1.txt > < http://princemars.8m.com/script2.txt >
< http://princemars.8m.com/script3.txt >
Cook, Francis Dojun. How To Raise An Ox: Zen Practice as Taught In Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo.
Wisdom Publications. Boston. 2002.
Dumoulin, Heinrich. Zen Enlightenment. Weatherhill. New York. 1979.
Fei, Tu. “Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-treasure.” RELB245 TOOLKIT.
Hooker, Richard. “Japanese Buddhism Mount Hiei and Tendai School.” 1996. Washington State University < http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/HIEI.HTM >
Kupperman, Joel J. Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. Oxford University Press.
New York. 2001.
Rogovitz, Brian. “EarthBound Script (v. 1.0)” Video Game Text Transcript.
< http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/snes/eb/text/info/txtscript.txt >
Yang, Jeff, et. Al. Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture: from Astro Boy
to Zen Buddhism. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. 1997.
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