Spiritual Metaphors in the Mainstream- DBZ

[MeditationMann]

Hello,

I wasn't sure where the best place was to share this, but I have a theory. I know art is basically a way for our subconscious to talk to us and show us what we can't consciously perceive. With that being said I have often wondered if many of the television shows that have been published were created in order to show a direct metaphor of what we are capable of spiritually or was it simply created and the subconscious caused these metaphorical "leaks" to arise.

One of the most symbolic shows that stand out in my mind is DRAGON BALL Z.

If any of you have ever seen Dragon Ball Z then you see that these beings can ascend to higher power levels and become stronger. i have often wondered if this was a metaphor for spiritual transcendence. In that show there are essentially no boundaries and they can control the energy just as we can (to an extent) in our reality. They use the energy to heal, and create fireballs from the palm of their hands. I have seen a video of a monk light a piece of paper on fire using only his hands, as well as send volts of electricity through his hands which could be detected on a machine.

This shows me that there is a direct interpretation that can be applied to this children's television series on the basis of spiritual growth and transcendence. I'm not sure if it was created to serve this purpose but nonetheless it's still interesting to think about.

What do you all think? Do you think shows like this are created to purposely show us what our capabilities are or it was by 'accident' and the subconscious brought this information to surface for us to decipher?

[Xanth]

My opinion is you can do anything if you have the proper Intent placed behind it.  ANYTHING.

[Szaxx]

It's better to just recognised things that have a similarity to the art of projection. If you fixate yourself on one thing it'll become a belief and this can hamper your progress.
I know this Dragonball Z has a similarity in some ways but it goes nowhere near the deeper parts of the art.
Many have lost out on a belief as it looks great at the beginning. The end result is they can't get past this early stage.
What you've recognised is around the 2% mark of what I've experienced.
It's not a great deal of what's out there. Its fun though, enjoy it for now and keep your mind open for greater things yet to come.

[MeditationMann]

It's better to just recognised things that have a similarity to the art of projection. If you fixate yourself on one thing it'll become a belief and this can hamper your progress.
I know this Dragonball Z has a similarity in some ways but it goes nowhere near the deeper parts of the art.
Many have lost out on a belief as it looks great at the beginning. The end result is they can't get past this early stage.
What you've recognised is around the 2% mark of what I've experienced.
It's not a great deal of what's out there. Its fun though, enjoy it for now and keep your mind open for greater things yet to come.

If that is the main thing I was focusing my energy on then it would be preventing me from doing other more important things, I realize that. But I was thinking about it on the basis of how communication among humans can be aligned with the messages that the higher self wishes to portray through various forms of art, in this case a cartoon. So the cartoon would be like a combination of various art forms interpreted through both writing and drawing. Therefore, one would only think that the since the higher self is always working through human body we naturally leak these messages into the things we love to do.

I know that Dragon Ball Z doesn't come anywhere close to capturing the complexity of what the thing we call 'life' is truly about. But also it could all depend on one's interpretation largely and maybe there are multiple messages that can be taken from the material.

But it seemed like an interesting thing to ponder and I wondered if anyone else has thought about these types of things. It seems when you are able to make one connection, you make many so I was simply trying to connect the dots and discover how I can use these pieces of information for my own mental and spiritual growth.

[Rakkso]

This shows me that there is a direct interpretation that can be applied to this children's television series on the basis of spiritual growth and transcendence. I'm not sure if it was created to serve this purpose but nonetheless it's still interesting to think about.

What do you all think? Do you think shows like this are created to purposely show us what our capabilities are or it was by 'accident' and the subconscious brought this information to surface for us to decipher?

Maybe, definitely not an accident. Nothing is ever Created fundamentally as an accident.

See Krillin as an example, from the human race, he could never match Goku, nonetheless, through an intense extreme life-time training and meditations, he accomplished his level. He was good, through his understanding of Life.

I know that Dragon Ball Z doesn't come anywhere close to capturing the complexity of what the thing we call 'life' is truly about. But also it could all depend on one's interpretation largely and maybe there are multiple messages that can be taken from the material.

I agree.

[Kzaal]

To me DBZ or any anime are created purposely to enhance your spiritual growth.
DBZ shows a lot of emotions and spiritual qualities. How they evolve spiritually probably took Akira Toriyama a lot of studies into spirituality and traditions/chakra's and Qi energy and everything.
These shows to me are made to make the individual think about his valors and his strengths and qualities. They are there to help you found your way and understand your emotions via metaphors and imagination.
Now can we eventually reach a certain degree of accomplishment with energy as Goku did? Probably spiritually, in the real physical world I'm not saying you could throw kamehameha's with your hands. But I think that in someway, if people would go in the spiritual direction, and let everyone try it eventually someone might be able to lift their feet of the ground... Maybe even throw fireballs with their hands, but this would take an incredible amount of time to succeed.

To me Mangas/Anime's are there principally to show us a story, an emotional story which can somewhat resemble our daily life and challenges/problems. They reach us with valors and morales which are important to the development of a society. They also put our beliefs and our spiritual goals in which we would really want to see happen. This is basically what they are made of. And this is one reason why I like manga's and anime's that much. They reach deep within me where that place where I like to dream and they help me see those dreams more clearly.

You cannot create a great story like DBZ, without purposely studying morals/valors or spiritual goals and trying to show theses to your readers. To me that doesn't make sense, no one could create a great story like that without thinking about it beforehand.

[Rakkso]

Since weare refering to spiritual qualities of anime's, I'd like to point out one that would be my favorite, as I followed it all too just like DBZ, or currently Bleach.

Naruto.
You see the left-hand path and the righ-hand path represented with Sasuke and Naruto. The ultimate teaching is the converging of this Seemingly-Separated paths. Into the understaing of everything.

In one way you have Naruto, who fuels his Inner-Strenght with the Burning desire to protect his friends and village, he works with other Ones, less powerful than him, to Be, Work, and Live as One, in Peace.

In the other, Sasuke, who fuels his Inner-Strenght by the hate in his past, to ultimately become the baddest of all, a lone man who thinks that by becoming the stronghest, only then he Himself, with no ones help, will bring balance, and so, Peace.

Both are only seeking Balance. only after they collide, Light and Darkness become Blanaced, until new light and new darkness come to unbalance. Just as it has always been.

You can see the spiritual and philosophical studies of Masashi Kishimoto, Vedic as well as Buddhic content represented within the storyline. and who knows what else I missed.

One thing, if I knew how to make a rasengan or chidori, i'd certainly tell no one

[BranStark]

Star Wars (at least the original trilogy) is veeeery metaphor rich in terms of spirituality, although you have to look for it a little bit. But for me, it is not just a mindless blockbuster with lots of explosions in it even though that is a signifacnt part

For instance:
"You will find only what you bring in."

- Yoda

aka The law of attraction / manifestation.

[Rakkso]

For instance:
"You will find only what you bring in."

- Yoda

aka The law of attraction / manifestation.

some midi*cough**cough* bastards. lol
I love this law, i just wonder if they meditate everyday in their Jedi training to keep it going 

[BranStark]

some midi*cough**cough* bastards. lol
I love this law, i just wonder if they meditate everyday in their Jedi training to keep it going 

Yeah, midichlorians ruined the whole saga.

I'd rather say they meditate a lot. Perhaps, one day after a long meditation a thought will pop in my head on how to make a real lightsaber. LOL

[Szaxx]

Being open minded, I watched Naruto. It has some interesting points mentioned above. Its part of the whole represented in a way many will understand and I think it works well.
Nice find.

[Kzaal]

I think anime's and manga's are great, because it brings people into spirituality or on the tracks of spirituality/energy/chakra's purposely or not purposely.
If people are like what's chakra and research it online it will bring them to the real information eventually.
I know that's pretty much how it happened to me hahaha.

[MeditationMann]

These shows to me are made to make the individual think about his valors and his strengths and qualities. They are there to help you found your way and understand your emotions via metaphors and imagination.

You cannot create a great story like DBZ, without purposely studying morals/valors or spiritual goals and trying to show theses to your readers. To me that doesn't make sense, no one could create a great story like that without thinking about it beforehand.

That is true, anime is merely an expression of many different things all incorporated into a cartoon. It seems like there could be many people though who think it sounds like a good idea without necessarily meaning for it to have the symbolism that it does. I guess it seems like something that not many people think about, so that's why I thought it was more of a leakage from the subconscious than intentional

[Szaxx]

It plants the seeds for the younger generation.
This is worth more than forcing the issue. Those that want to chase more of it will do so with an enquiring mind.
That's the initialization of great spiritual learning. An open door to quench a thirst on the subject will give the art of projection less of a stigma in future generations.

[Kzaal]

And heroes will rise once again. lol.
But it's true, I mean how many times in anime's do we see the hero protect his friends/family with his life. Those are honorific actions and they always bring great emotions/feelings to the reader.

But yeah, Most of the anime's or good movies are based on real life in certain ways and what life is about. (well maybe not all anime's cause lots of those contains *cough*adult material*cough* lol, but well it's part of life too I guess.
Anyway it's all about that heroic deeds and spiritual evolution, and that's what life is about!
I mean would you rather hear a story about someone who's been violent all his life, or had a really boring life where he learned nothing about valors or emotions. Or you'd prefer a story about epic heroic deeds and spirituality/moral and extremely spine shivering feelings/tears etc... This is what people want to read/watch. That and well adult material mixed in that hahahaha...

[Szaxx]

It does have many overtones of what you do in retrievals too. Mmmmm

[Super Vegito]

 

[Rakkso]

And heroes will rise once again. lol.
But it's true, I mean how many times in anime's do we see the hero protect his friends/family with his life. Those are honorific actions and they always bring great emotions/feelings to the reader.

But yeah, Most of the anime's or good movies are based on real life in certain ways and what life is about. (well maybe not all anime's cause lots of those contains *cough*adult material*cough* lol, but well it's part of life too I guess.
Anyway it's all about that heroic deeds and spiritual evolution, and that's what life is about!
I mean would you rather hear a story about someone who's been violent all his life, or had a really boring life where he learned nothing about valors or emotions. Or you'd prefer a story about epic heroic deeds and spirituality/moral and extremely spine shivering feelings/tears etc... This is what people want to read/watch. That and well adult material mixed in that hahahaha...

Yesss, just came to share a couple I saw.

Highschool Dxd Born (3rd season, newest) it was pretty good since the first chapter, The hard part, is you get distracted often by big orbs popping on the screen simultaniously without any warning. I had to sacrifice time to watch this, so sad. (Also first and second season are great with lots of orbs)

Triage X (only season) watched 1-6 episodes and it had interesting content, sadly I watched the censored version but this one's got xplosions and teams and Heroic deeds apparently.

Both are pretty good I stumbled upon them by accident.