Not long ago, Nick Calibey at A Rather Silly Blog posted a two-part response in the ongoing Madoka and Jesus as Saviors discussion. While the posts that started the discussion at Alex’s Ashita no Anime blog were written from an atheist/agnostic perspective, Nick attempted to show the themes of Madoka Magica from a Buddhist perspective, then compare them with his own Christian beliefs. I would like to offer some of my own musings on the issue, presented as a response to Nick’s claims. My upbringing and theoretical background are purely Christian (Roman Catholic, to be precise), but I consider myself a practicing Buddhist. My comments will therefore be the reverse of Nick’s – with the Christian constructs based on a more technical understanding, and the Buddhist elements coming from personal experience.
Nicks’s posts can be found here and here. As both are very long and detailed, I will offer a summary of the point discussed before offering my thoughts on it. I will strive to offer as fair a summary of the points as my understanding of Nick’s post allows (and inevitably fail to do him justice), so you may read through his posts first, or go straight to my response, as you see fit.
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Nick: Madoka herself is not the locus of salvation. Madoka’s own transformation is because of the karmic power of the universe, something that while humans interact with, ultimately lays external to them, and as such it is that karmic power that is the actual saving factor and not Madoka. Unbeknownst to her, Madoka had to wait for karmic time lines to build up in order for her transformation to occur since it is karma and not herself that is the locus of salvation.
As a side note, I cannot exactly agree with Nick’s notion that karma is external to the being it belongs to. Enlightenment signifies the individual cessation of karma, and the Buddhist endgame equivalent to the Christian Judgment Day is the universal cessation of karma, neither of which would be possible if karma were external to the beings of this world. To begin with, if we assume karma to be an external force, it necessarily follows that it holds little bearing on achieving enlightenment, as most variants of Buddhist thought hold that external factors are illusionary, and the way to enlightenment is through dispelling that illusion. Thankfully, this point is not actually that important for analyzing Madoka, so there is no need to argue this.
The reason why Nick thinks that Madoka needed to wait for karmic lines to build up is that he equates her wish and ascension/transformation with her act of salvation. This does not, however, make much sense from a Buddhist perspective. We may of course choose to view Madoka’s wish as the moment where she makes her Bodhisattva vows. We may see her ascension as the point where Madoka leaves behind the mortal part of her journey and gains eternity. Viewed like that, the event is certainly not without meaning to many Buddhist interpretations of the story. But if we are truly concerned with a Buddhist interpretation, then the crux of salvation must be enlightenment.
Enlightenment cannot be granted by space squirrels (we are already born with the potential to reach enlightenment). Enlightenment is not concerned with power levels. Enlightenment is seeing things for what they are by conquering one’s attachments and aversions. Madoka was technically capable of achieving enlightenment in each and every timeline, as was every other creature existing in those timelines.
What was it then, that caused a change profound enough for Madoka to succeed in the last timeline, when she failed in every other? Certainly it was not the fact of her karmic burden and the potential power of her wish increasing – Madoka learns of her potential mid-series, long before she becomes capable of making her ultimate wish. In fact, Madoka’s impulse upon learning of the potential of her wish is to undo Sayaka’s transformation into a magical girl – a wish which would have surely ended in despair for everyone involved. No, the reason for Madoka’s change had to come later, and trying to grasp it means creating a new interpretation of the entire show for every answer proposed. Let me discuss just one possible answer.
From the beginning of the series, we can see that Madoka holds a deep love for others. As she gets dragged into mortal peril again and again throughout the story, the only thing that allows Madoka to overcome her natural fear of death is her dedication and loyalty to her friends. Multiple times, Madoka is ready to sacrifice her happy and stable life and become a magical girl to help out the other girls – a decision always prevented by Homura in the nick of time. The flashbacks of the original timeline show that Madoka’s love reaches even further, as she immediately extends a helping hand to the stranger-in-need Homura, and takes on the responsibility of a magical girl to save the life of the cat Amy. A deep love and compassion for all beings is one of the ideals often associated with those who achieved enlightenment, yet the Madoka of previous timelines always ended up a step short of reaching salvation. The reason for that is simple. That Madoka loved all those around her, but she did not yet love herself.
Throughout the show, basically any comment Madoka makes about herself is full of self-deprecation. She says she is clumsy, stupid and has no redeeming qualities. Upon seeing the flashback episodes, many people were shocked – how did the cheerful and confident Madoka from the past timeline turn into the frightened little girl we see in the final timeline? But it is not to be underestimated how world-changing the experience of becoming a magical girl was to Madoka – in saving Amy, Homura and the people of Mitakihara, Madoka received undeniable proof of her worth for the first time in her life. This new awareness turned Madoka into who would become Homura’s savior. But from a Buddhist perspective, there is a tragic element to the hero Madoka born that way – she chooses to sacrifice her safety for others not only because she sees how precious their lives are, but also because she considers the risk to her own life a cheap price in comparison. She gains confidence in herself when fighting as a magical girl, but that confidence is largely dependent on the new powers and abilities she gained. Even as she grows as a person, the magical girl Madoka is still limited by her aversion towards herself and her new attachment to power.
Nick thinks that Madoka became ready for her act of salvation because she had stacked up enough timeline power. I believe that Madoka became ready the moment that Homura, always bearing her burdens in silence, broke down before Madoka in a display of emotion so raw that it could not be doubted. Before the impending Walpurgisnacht, facing a battle which could only end in failure, Homura states that she will go and fight and lose everything if it means saving Madoka, because it is Madoka alone that is worth the whole world to her. And it is not the cool and powerful Madoka affirmed this way, it is the clueless and ditzy middle school girl who is powerless to help her friends. Through this display of pure love and devotion, Madoka is forced to consider the idea that maybe, just maybe, her own existence is equally as precious as the lives of others. Madoka gains the confidence she had in some of the previous timelines, but does so without becoming a magical girl. Sacrifice and power are no longer necessary for her to establish her self-worth, and Madoka is finally awake.
Countless times in the previous timelines, Madoka had been badgered into selling her soul cheap. But Homura teaches Madoka that her life is worth the world, and when Madoka next offers up her earthly existence, she will ask for the world in return.
The time-altering, dimension-smashing and world-rewriting fireworks Madoka shows us are impressive, but not key to her nature as an enlightened being. The fact she can formulate a karma-destroying wish in the first place is enough to show that she had fully awakened to her Buddha nature before making that wish. Madoka merely used the Magical Girl System in the most beneficial and efficient way possible – just like a farmer uses his plough to ready the field.
Christian readers might be puzzled – if I claim Madoka’s transformation was not key to her act of salvation, what would she have done if she had achieved enlightenment before a world-changing wish was within her grasp? Simply enough, she would never become a magical girl. She would go on living, saving people in the little ways that all of us can. And one day, she would die like everyone else. This is the humble Buddhist savior, working not with divine power and miracles, but with what she has at hand.
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(Further reading: The Buddha and Miraculous Power)
Other points might be discussed in future posts, if time allows.
“That Madoka loved all those around her, but she did not yet love herself.”
This, perhaps, is a profound point I hadn’t realized. However, what do you make of the explicit reference by Kyubey that it was the accumulation of time lines that granted her power so much wish? Perhaps this is a plot point that has little baring on the larger metaphysical picture?
Also, I rather liked this response and the kind tone it was written in (I was expecting something much harsher given the title!). My lodge, as you can probably tell from later on and within the piece, is not as much Buddhism (which I’ve always had a respect for both before and after my conversion), but rather the metaphysically incoherent Secular Humanism Alex is using. I (definitely) pigeonholed and straw-manned Madoka into the ladder, and unfairly so. For that, I apologize (and will keep it in mind as I continue the replies).
Have you ever looked at some of the mystical writings from Eastern Christendom? I ask this because I know of at least one article comparing Zen Buddhism’s concept of Nirvana with The Orthodox doctrine of Theosis, and while there are profound differences, there are more connecting points than one might expect.
The post title was just a (silly) reference to your blog title, sorry for any confusion. I appreciate how you concentrate on sharing ideas instead of confrontation in your posts, so the least I can do is respond in the same manner.
With many of the past magical girls being great historical figures and leaders, I think the inga/cause-effect potential Kyuubey uses is more of a down to earth measurement of how much a person’s actions might affect the lives of those around them than anything more spiritual. (Kyuubey doesn’t even “get” spirituality, after all.) Madoka’s initial potential was about average, but when her decisions start affecting the “be or not to be” of an ever-increasing number of worlds, her potential grows to unprecedented heights.
In a Buddhist sense, having a high potential of this kind wouldn’t be anything great. Kyuubey’s miracles are only miracles insofar as they produce effects unbound by conventional physics. But they are still victim to the duality ever present in human life – you get 2 hope, you pay 2 despair – which isn’t much different from buying a sandwich and handing over two coins. Madoka might be the person with the highest tab limit on Earth, but the wise move is not to get indebted in the first place. Madoka’s greatness is in her breaking the duality of the system, not the scale of the miracle used to achieve that.
But putting all of that aside, I think the importance of that plot point lies beyond any particular religious interpretation. As you point out in your post, basically anyone given the opportunity to perform a miracle might have attempted what Madoka did, so an easily understood reason must be presented for why nobody has tried and/or succeeded so far. If possible, the right to the great miracle should also be earned in some way, rather than given randomly to a “chosen one”. The timeline idea works great for that, with the added benefit that while everything begins and ends with Madoka’s choices, the actual work in-between is carried out by Homura, emphasizing the power of the bond between the two, rather than the special nature of any single human being.
I mention in my post that Madoka might have never become a magical girl and the story would have still made sense from a Buddhist perspective. But before it is a religious parallel, Madoka Magica is a genuine magical girl story. Urobuchi almost certainly started out with the idea that Madoka would have to make a choice, and she would choose hope over despair, eventually becoming a magical girl. It is to his credit that he managed to write that conclusion out while also making it compatible with the savior figures already present in faith and culture.
Regarding your other points, I can certainly see parallels between the ideas of theosis and nirvana. I will read up more on that when I have the opportunity :).
And I’m Polish, by the way.
To tack on a bit more (after re-reading the first part of your response again), I think there is another point: because America (I’m assuming your American, silly me) is traditionally a Protestant nation, we tend to view Christ’s work as the end-all-be-all of salvation, in that once He went to the Cross and came back, mankind was saved and merely needs to believe in Him. From an Orthodox perspective, this makes no sense, as our Baptism and Chrismation into the Church is the beginning of our Salvation, the rest taking a lifetime of conforming ourselves to Him through he Mysteries (sacraments) of the Church, asceticism (we have monks, too!), prayer, etc. Just a thought.
[…] Cytrus of Yaranakya has made a reply from a Buddhist […]
Nice post…
Well, I just want to share an opinion of my friend about the ending of Madoka which I think rather fitting…
You see, as I and my friend are Muslim, the ending where Homura the only one to see Madoka in space and remember Madoka plus how people try to correlate the ending with Christianity (Islam believe they are continuation of Christianity as you might known it), we thought, “isn’t the ending just scream: We believe in Madoka, and Homura her messenger?”…
Especially with how Homura try to ‘tell’ people about Madoka (just assume her asking people about Madoka is equal with ‘telling people about Madoka’)…
Well, just a funny memory I’d like to share…
Mark,
Couple of things. While I’m not trying to start a debate on Cytrus’ blog, Islam doesn’t see itself as the continuation of Christianity, but rather a correction; Christianity specifically makes the claim that Christ is God, while Islam says that he was only a prophet and the Christians got it all wrong.
As for the ending, I can see your point (I thought of the Apostles and Christ rather than Muhammad and Allah), but given the underlying Buddhism that really is the basis of the show, it’s probably not what the author intended.
Well, correction and continuation…
Muslim believe that God gives his knowledge to people step by step and Islam that Muhammad taught is the last part of the knowledge while Jesus taught the pen-ultimate chapter…
So while Islam correcting the bit that Islam think Christianity do/think wrong, Islam also view itself as a perfected form of what Jesus taught, thus the ‘continuation’ bit…
And yeah, it certainly isn’t what Gen intended…
Just a joke+appreciation I and my friend comes up with as we are both Muslim, really loves Madoka, and realize how much the anime filled with religious symbolism (though not our religion)…
I do believe Urobuchi intended the story to be universal, regardless of how much inspiration he drew from a particular religion. The meaning of a story is not something the author imposes on the readers, it is what the author and reader create together. I think what you and your friend came up with is a fine interpretation of Madoka.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mark. I lack detailed knowledge on Islam so the comparison you make was not obvious to me, but there is no doubt that Homura acts as a prophet-figure to Madoka. It speaks for the universal nature of the work that you can see Muhammad and Allah where Nick sees the Apostles and Christ.
Again, thanks for your thoughts on the subject. I am glad to see Muslim believers liked the anime too.
You are welcome… 😀
Actually many Muslims likes the anime…
All my friends, bar view who think it as ‘not edgy’ enough or ‘pretend to be edgy’, like the anime and they are Muslims…
It is just there are so few anime/manga/LN with Islam as its inspiration that the anime fan can’t really show their identity as Muslim and anime-fan…
Well, not too surprising as Radicals become the face of Muslim for many people…
This reminds me of an interview I read on Beneath the Tangles anime blog, where a Muslim anime fan talked about her first attempt at anime cosplay – she found it somewhat difficult to find a female character she liked that kept her hair covered, but wouldn’t feel comfortable with her hair in plain view. Well, it’s only natural that anime/manga are Japan-centric in their themes, so looking for bits taken from other cultures is much like a scavenger hunt :).
[…] Cytrus responds to Nick Calibey’s comments about Puella Magi Madoka Magica and salvation by expressing his beliefs about how Madoka’s gift of salvation works through a Buddhist perspective. [Yaranakya] […]