Ok, so I was asking chaotickairos why she used "karma" instead of "responsibility" here:
When chaotickairos first translated the chapter he wrote:
Lucifer: Why must we continue to exist, burdened by karma and suffering? This world is not as strong as you. It is filled with the weak.
Then, chinonamida translated:
Luficer: why is it, we must maintain this state of existence while shouldering such responsibilities and pain. in this world, there is not only beings as powerful as you. there is many weak beings also.
Then Viz went along the lines of Chino.
So, I wanted to ask, is there any reason why Chaotic chose "karma" and Chino chose "responsibilities"? Something to do with the kanji and the furigana may be?
and she answered:
Hi there! First of all, I am a girl, just so you know.
With that translation, the raws used this kanji, 業, gou. According to the dictionary we used, it was translated as karma. At first, I thought we might have mistranslated, (My sister translated this page, so I was unsure.) but I checked as many online kanji dictionaries, and they all gave me the reading karma. It probably has to do with word choice and what sounds better, but I'll concede to the other versions, as they probably know more about what they're doing than we do.
So, according to the article about Karma in Buddhism from Wikipedia, indeed, that's how Japanese write "karma" so I think I will take it as a valid alternative and develop from there one of my crazy links that lead to nowhere but are fun to write (and I hope to read, too).
Ok, a long time ago, I found that the symbol in the students' ties, some characters' emblems and the school's crest might be a "Sacred Seed" that correspond to the Tibetan Buda of Compassion Tara:
http://www.theblueknight.host-ed.me/forum/index.php/topic,218.msg4971.html#msg4971As you know, Tibetan Buddhism is influenced by Taoism.
Now, I want to remark some of Lucy's words about his goal:
Now, I shall introduce you to the creation myth of Taoism:
'Before the world came into being there existed only the Cosmic Egg that floated unchanging in the Void for untold ages. Yin and Yang was the Egg, opposites perfectly mingled. And it was because they were perfectly mingled that the world could not yet be.
'Then within the Egg was born P'an Ku, the primordial man who slowly grew and grew until the Egg felt too cramped for him. Impatiently he stretched out his limbs and his hand closed about an axe, coming from whence no one knows. Striking with all his might, P'an Ku split the shell of the Egg and burst free.
'He then began to fashion the material of Chaos, separating Yin and Yang into sky and earth, in which he was aided by the four most fortunate creatures who had emerged from the Egg with him: the Unicorn, the Dragon, the Phoenix and the Tortoise. They were engaged in this labour for 18,000 years and each day P'an Ku grew ten feet, using his own body as a pillar to force heaven and earth apart.
'When the separation was complete and they had settled in their places, P'an Ku died. His breath became the wind and clouds, his eyes became the sun and moon. His stomach, head and limbs became the principal mountains of the world, watered by the rivers of his sweat and tears; his flesh became the fertile soil and his hair the plants and trees which took root in it. The fleas on his body became the human race. Then P'an Ku drifted in space for a further 18,000 years before entering a holy virgin as a ray of light and being born into the world by her as Tien-Tsun, the First Cause.'
Now, let's remember what Fujimoto said about Gehena and Asshia being mirrored worlds:
Now, I will take a moment to clarify the concept of Yin and Yang
(because no, it's not about good vs evil):
Yang is the white side with the black dot on it, and yin is the black side with the white dot on it.
The relationship between yin and yang is often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and a valley.
Yin (literally the 'shady place' or 'north slope') is the dark area occluded by the mountain's bulk, while yang (literally the 'sunny place' or 'south slope') is the brightly lit portion. As the sun moves across the sky, yin and yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed.
Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime.
Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime.
Ok, now I will remark and aspect of Tara's figure in Taoism:
Tārā is also known as a saviouress, as a heavenly deity who hears the cries of beings experiencing misery in samsara.
Samsara, for those not familiar with he term:
Within Buddhism, samsara is defined as the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. Specifically, samsara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the six realms of existence, where each realm can be understood as either a physical realm or a psychological state characterized by a particular type of suffering. Samsara arises out of avidya (ignorance) and is characterized by dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction). In the Buddhist view, liberation from samsara is possible by following the Buddhist path.
Ok, if we remember, in the
"Mad Ravings of Mephisto", he speaks about the human desire for knowledge.
The cycle of rebirth of Samsara is linked with ignorance.
Budhism links suffering to desire and many of its teachings are about getting rid of material desire
(Mephisto names three desires that drive humans: material, sexual and knowledge).So, my theory is this:
Gehena would be the Yin
(because of how demons are often weaker on daylight and also because of the peak we got when Rin fought Amaimon, the place looked rather dark).Asshia would be the Yang, then.
Lucy wants to go back tot he beginning, to the cosmic egg, when Yin and Yang were mixed.
Mephisto doesn't like that idea, because that would mean no humans, nothing of the shit he likes then. Or, maybe it has to do with what he said in "The Mad Ravings..." about him not knowing it all, too, and how there are many answers that have scaped him so far. And how he predicted that the desire for knowledge would end up being what would b the only thing to keep people fighting later on.
The Tara Seed all over the Academy would them have to do with some Mephisto approach of the Samsara cycle.
It's also on the Kurikara's sheath:
http://i38.mangareader.net/ao-no-exorcist/1/ao-no-exorcist-632409.jpgWhich reminds me of Mephisto's bet on Rin turning out either into a Demon King or a Saviour for Asshia.
And, remember that Uchussma said Rin would eventually have to choose between being human or being a demon, that kind of could be linked to the idea of Yin and Yang having to exist separated.
