The Dao of Dragonball Blog

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Goku with Angel Wings and Halo

Have you noticed divine aspects in Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or GT?  How about similarities between Goku and a certain spiritual teacher?  Or perhaps the way in which good always triumphs over evil?

If you did notice these it’s because they’re in there!  If you didn’t, then read this to learn more.

Here are 9 specific ways in which the divine shows up in Dragon Ball:

1.   Mythically Buddhist Origin’s

Loosely based on Journey to the West, a Chinese tale of pilgrims on a holy quest for the Buddhist sutra’s of India, Dragon Ball is rife with spiritual references of an East Asian perspective.  Sun Wukong (Japanese: Son Goku), The Handsome Monkey King, is the character that Goku is based on, and Sun Wukong himself is most likely based on Hanuman, the Indian deity and warrior.

King Enma, lord of the afterlife, is based on a Chinese and Japanese deity that weighs the amount of virtue and karma on a person’s soul to determine where they should be sent, Heaven or Hell, and we find that same character in Dragon Ball.

There are a multitude of other examples and references to the Buddhist stories that Japanese children like Akira Toriyama (the creator of Dragon Ball) would have been taught while growing up.

2.  Heaven and the Afterlife

Heaven plays a big part in Dragon Ball Z as Goku spends a lot of his time up there!

After sacrificing himself to save his son’s life (and the planet himself) Goku is sent to the afterlife where his soul is judged by King Enma.  The King determines that he is pure hearted enough to ascend up to Heaven, but Kami requests a special favor of the King and asks for Goku to be trained by North Kaio, Lord of the Northern Galaxy.  King Enma agrees and allows Goku to keep his physical body, now tricked out with a super spiffy halo. Read more…

Piccolo and Gohan - Master and Disciple

You cannot force someone to change their heart.  The most effective long-term way to change others is to change oneself.

A common way to change someone is to directly inform, persuade, or force another person to align themselves with the way in which you desire them to change.  Barring any personal reasons for resistance, a willing and intelligent person will usually comply with the requirements of the request.

However, this direct method is primarily one of short-term change, because it is only the external behavior that has changed, not the underlying mindset or mechanisms that led to such a behavior.  Usually it will take 3 or more applications of such a method for it to ‘stick.’

In order for a person to truly change for the long-term they have to change their mindset, be willing to let go of their current notions or methodologies and make a conscious effort to change on their own behalf because it is what they want, for themselves and for others. Read more…

SSJ4 Gohan

I recently started reading a book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management, by Hyrum Smith.  So far it has been very engaging and informative.

I’m only on the 4th chapter, but I’ve already learned (or re-learned) some of the reasons why I procrastinate on my writing for the DBZ book, or any of my other various projects.

The essential point I’ve understood is that if I don’t prioritize my life according to my own intrinsic values, and live according to those values in everything I do, that I’ll never make progress on my projects or find satisfaction in my work.  In a larger scope…  I won’t find happiness in life.  So determining what my core values are is really important. Read more…

Forbearance

I’m going to give you a hint that you may not like to hear. During your training, as you cultivate your physical body, you’re going to simultaneously increase your power and self awareness. In addition, this body will swell up with energy and drive, along with desires. The desires will seemingly come out of nowhere and you’ll want to satiate them. But I assure you that if you do satiate these desires that your improvement will be drastically hindered.

To ultimately ascend to your highest level, you must let go of these desires. Read more…

Goku Smiles

How do you know what you know is the truth?  Because you believe it to be.

Those who cannot enlighten to higher truths believe that the truth at their level is the highest, and they believe in all that they can see at their level and below them, with the presumption, based on observable information and incite, that their current level is the highest.

If you don’t believe that there may be a higher truth than the one you currently know then you will forever be positioned at that level.

Saying “I do not know” opens the door for potential improvement. Read more…

Kame House in the middle of the sea

Let’s say you’re floating in the middle of the sea, all by yourself. You’re paddling vigorously to stay afloat but it’s such a constant part of your life that you’re used to it, and your muscles haven’t really fatigued yet.

Occasionally another person comes floating by and you notice that they’re struggling just as hard to stay afloat. The two of you start talking about how much it sucks to struggle like this, and how life doesn’t make any sense. You both agree that life is extremely painful, and seems pointless, and you wish there were some kind of purpose, or there was less suffering involved. Yet at the end of the conversation neither of your lives have improved, at all, you’re just more aware of how it’s not like you want. Read more…