"Hayao Miyazaki and the Four Noble Truths"

       by Paki Dechen Palmo

    It may be a stretch to compare Hayao Miyazaki's films to the Four Noble Truths.  I don't even know if Miyazaki is a Buddhist, but it doesn't really matter. 

    Timely great work always exemplifies timeless great truths.  Like a particularly vivid dream, from which we eventually awaken, Miyazaki's brilliant animation helps remind us of the illusory nature of reality.  

     How fitting that this post-modern master uses a cartoon format.  Aren't we like children playing Russian roulette with our environment?  After being wounded by humans, the maddened boar god in "Princess Mononoke" rampages through the forest, killing everything in its path.  We seem, like Noh Face in "Spirited Away," to be unable to appease our appetites.  And yet, as Miyazaki also reminds us in the form of the monster baby in the bathhouse, in spite of our inflated size, we can evolve into caring, responsible adults.

     For me, the First Noble Truth, the truth of suffering, is exemplified by the images in "Princess Mononoke."  "Spirited Away" vividly evokes the Second, the cause of suffering.  The Third Noble Truth, the truth of the end of suffering, is given graphic imagery at the end of  "Castle in the Sky,"  when the flying, newly-disarmed city of Laputa floats off in the sky.  And the Fourth Noble Truth, the truth of the path, could be said to be shown fancifully in "Kiki's Delivery Service," wherein Kiki learns to

apply the tenets of the Eightfold Path to her life, beginning with right livelihood.

     Miyazaki's genius is to put ideas into images that liberate the mind and the imagination.  His films are visual as well as verbal dharma teachings.

      You could also liken Miyazaki's movies to contemporary Jataka tales, which told of the Buddha's previous lives, his generous offerings of himself on the path to enlightenment.  Hayao Miyazaki's incomparably imaginative filmwork offers some enlightening ancient wisdoms for us in our post-modern folly.  Pollution of the environment is a major theme, as is overcoming our self-obsession.  Courage, kindness, and humor are woven through stories with elements of darkness and dire happenings.

 "Kiki's Delivery Service"

    

     An early work, "Kiki's Delivery Service," is a seemingly simple story about a young girl finding her way in the world -- as a witch.  Unbound by Western cultural taboos about witches -- and because they can fly -- Miyazaki explores the metaphor of flight in Kiki's search for her true home, and her true self. 

     Breath-taking images that amaze and delight the eye are Miyazaki's stock-in-trade.  Kiki's broomstick-powered flight path takes her over oceans, forests, and cities, through realistic rainstorms, starry skies, and clouds of raucous crows.  The sweet and simple wisdom of this movie is so sorely-needed that I hope all pre-adolescents get a chance to see it, no matter where they live.

"Castle in the Sky"

     "Castle in the Sky" is another major charmer from Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.  Although it contains some graphic violence, the animation is wondrous.  The characters are more complex, colorful, and dynamic than in "Kiki" and the story is bigger, too.  It was inspired by Swift's story of the flying city of Laputa in "Gulliver's Travels."

     The heroine in "Castle" is also a young girl, Sheeta, who has a mission:  to discover her own connection to the fantastical flying city and its amazing power source.  With the help of a brave and stalwart friend, Pazu, Sheeta confronts the murderous secret agent Muska and challenges his diabolical plans to become ruler of the world, using Laputa's awesome energy.

     "You can't be King of Laputa," Sheeta cries.  "You don't have any compassion!"  (In Miyazaki's imaginal world, even the robots have soft hearts.)

     In another scene, Sheeta sees the light of interconnectedness.  "Oh, I get it," she says.  "If we protect them [the trees], then they'll protect us."

     Miyazaki's timely messages about the need for kingly kindness, self-sacrifice, and protection of the environment are neither simplistic nor condescending.  His stories are enchantingly alive and uplifting.  I'm not sure that young kids could love "Castle in the Sky" any more than did this older grown-up.

"Princess Mononoke"

    "Princess Mononoke" follows some deep, dark paths through the undergrowth of the human experience.  "Mononoke" links the beginning of war with the mining of iron from the earth, something that was forbidden in Buddhist Tibet.  The violence done to Nature turns back on humans in the form of guns, bullets, and swords -- as well as nature gods who've become demented from the wounds inflicted by humans' exploitation of the earth.

     I'm not sure what American children will make of "Princess Mononoke."  In comparison with the predictable plot line of "The Lion King," for example, it's a nuanced and complex piece of work.  Miyazaki shows us just how far you can go with his chosen medium.  The sky's the limit, literally, as he reinfuses our sense of wonder, awe, and magic with his work.

"Spirited Away"

     "Spirited Away," the 2002 Academy Award-winner, is considered by some Miyazaki's masterpiece and is replete with over-the-top animation, jaw-dropping originality, and a story that offers even more on reflection than it does on first viewing.  The movie's setting of an abandoned Japanese theme park allows Studio Ghibli to show us some memorable Japanese architecture as well as a fabulous high-rise bathhouse frequented by numerous creepy creatures.

    Who are the spirits who visit the bathhouse, and where do they hang out during the day?  In the little spirit houses that the heroine sees near the entrance to the park?

     The parents of an unhappy and whiny little girl, Chohiro, turn into literal pigs after pigging-out at an inexhaustible eating counter in the spirit-haunted park.  Chohiro has to find a way to rescue them -- and retain a strong sense of who she is -- or else she will remain there, trapped in the same enchantment that snared her now-porcine parents.

     There are many levels from which to view this story.  Its main theme, of course, is greed and its chilling consequences.  But as in all of Miyazaki's work, there is also the understated theme of redemption; in this case, the clear choice between fear (for oneself) and love (for others).

     Chohiro must overcome her fear of the bathhouse's creepy inhabitants (who range from a six-armed boiler room attendant to a blob-like Stink Spirit to a monstrous spoiled baby).  She must wrestle with a dragon in order to save its life.  She must tame a monster named Noh Face.  In Miyazaki's movies, bravery is synonymous with kindness, not cruelty.

     Hayao Miyazaki's characters find their courage by overcoming personal fear and helping other beings, not by dominating or vanquishing them.  In Buddhism, fear comes from our personal ego, whereas compassion comes from our Buddha nature. 

    And so the master film-maker Miyazaki points to a sublime truth that can help relieve our own suffering, and that of all other beings, creepy or otherwise.   ***

   Paki's novel, "The All Souls' Waiting Room," is now available online at www.barnesandnoble.com under the author's name of Paki S. Wright.