Buddhism in Sky Children of the Light

Buddhist influences in the video game, " Sky: Children of the Light "

musings by Kevin Wohlmut

I don't play a lot of video games. It's difficult to get me hooked on one. Let me introduce you to one that got me! Sky: Children of the Light is a kid's game. It's popular among young people around the world -- (and so it is important that you regulate your speech and behavior when playing... many of the player characters that you meet, might be literally in the single-digits of age.) And yet, the beauty of the imagery and the simplicity of the game are both complex and nuanced -- plenty enough to fascinate adults as well as children.
It's pretty unique among video games, or else it wouldn't hold my interest.
(The closest relative is another game put out by the same game company, called "Journey," which has some similar themes and is also non-violent and non-confrontational.).

The fact that you meet players from all over the world, and mostly co-operate with them -- despite being limited to communication mainly by gestures -- really promotes cultural understanding and peace, IMHO. On top of the other non-violent themes of the game. Outstanding, in my opinion.

You could read this game review, or not, it doesn't spoil much, but the review captures some cool images from the game. In addition to mine, that you see here.
https://www.godisageek.com/reviews/sky-children-of-light-review/

I keep thinking that I should write about it, because it seems to me to have a strong Buddhist influence. Which I find interesting, given the local dominance of American themed games that I know of. Many American video games revolve around violent confrontation and acquisition of rewards. Sky does not.

Sky's game company, called "That Game Company," was apparently founded by a Chinese-American, born and raised in Shanghai but now living in California, named Jenova Chen. Along with others including Kelly Santiago. I have no idea if Jenova Chen is actually a Buddhist, but it would make sense, culturally, if he was.

First, since I'm a non-Buddhist, let me specify some things that I _think_ are defining qualities of Buddhism.

The cycle of inevitable death and re-birth are a strong part of the religion / philosophy of Buddhism, and a strong part of the game of Sky. And the re-birth sequence in this game is just stunning.
Importantly -- real Buddhism (as opposed to, say, Hollywood Buddhism) has an element of service to others. The game of Sky incorporates this theme too.

h/t to moderator Dave Thompson, also notable: there are bells and features of temples which are strongly reminiscent of real-life Tibetan prayer wheels. The process of "Candle Running" (accumulating in-game currency which is candles and flames) focuses one's mind on meditation, and so does the eerie silence inside the temples. Pruning away the dark plants, which brightens your environment, is a bit reminiscent of Zen gardening!

Buddhism and Christianity overlap in some ways, particularly (depending on the sect) in the aspect of service to others. And Christianity has a strong presence in China. However, I feel like there is a certain element of humility to Buddhist service which is different than Christian community. And that's what I detect about Sky. It touches on themes that interest me, particularly hope in the face of fatalism.

So what is the World of Sky like?

I'm glad you asked.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Once upon a time, on some other planet, there was an eco-system that revolved around light itself. I mean, here on Earth, our ecosystem is ultimately powered by sunlight, but on the Sky Realm planet, light is how creatures inter-act with each other, it's food, it's currency, it's everywhere. There are more or less six realms within Sky, with different environments and ecosystems.

The "people" (and animals) in this Sky Realm are light spirits, they are beings of energy and light, so they have certain powers that are almost like magic. In certain situations they can teleport, and they're basically invulnerable to physical harm.

Long ago, they had a civilization which looks to our eyes like basically a feudal level of technology, although the aesthetic is very "native" (with symbolism resembling Mayan and other native cultures. Some of it seems to be inspired by ancient Hebrew.) They had art, music, theater, sports, trade and commerce.

But as their population and civilization grew, they needed more and more light energy. They started to exploit the light-creature animals in their environment harder, and some species of animals started to resent and become hostile to the spirit people, even though everything was in harmony before. Finally the king at the time, named "Resh" (a Hebrew word for King) came up with a plan to use a crystal of darkness to react with light and generate huge amounts of power. But the plan went wrong.

The crystal exploded and contaminated all the different Realms of Sky with darkness and corruption. Many of the light spirit people in all the realms, but especially near the crystal, were literally petrified and turned to stone.

Some of the light-creature animals became dark and corrupt and will attack any light on sight. The surviving spirit people who weren't turned into stone, fought terrible wars over the dwindling light resources until nobody was left. The Sky Realm was an apocalyptic wasteland for two thousand years.

The Kingdom of Sky, to me, has the same feel as the classic "Adventure Time" cartoon -- (or, others have pointed this out regarding traditional fairy tales, such as the Brothers Grimm). It looks all childlike and cute-sy and simple and beautiful on the surface... but if you scratch that surface just a little bit, you are confronted with bone-chilling horror and terror just underneath.

Now you show up as a player. You are a "Sky Kid" (You are one among many of the children of the light -- you are child-like and small compared to the few surviving spirits from the old realm). The rumor among the players -- this hasn't been officially confirmed by the creators -- is that the King Resh is trying to fix his mistake, so he split himself up into a million little Sky Kids whose job it is to use their internal light to burn away the darkness and contamination in the realms.

Weird dark fungus surrounds a lot of the petrified trapped spirits, and you have an internal candle which can burn away the dark plants and crystals of corruption. Sky Kids can fly -- but the ability starts out very weak and difficult, you can fly better and longer as you find and absorb these glowing spirits called "Winged Light". (The Winged Light spirits are also child-like, they are the "Children of the Light" in the real sense.) So you move from realm to realm, going on different quests and missions and burning away the darkness.

The more you burn away the darkness in all the realms, the brighter and more idyllic your game setting becomes. You can really see that you are making a difference in your world.

You can accumulate clothing and possessions for yourself -- it's kind-of a "life simulator" for a weird life on a distant planet -- and you meet other players from around the world, but the circumstances under which players can talk directly to each other are somewhat limited. Most of the time you must communicate with other players with only gestures and emotes, which is very interesting ... and in my opinion that is one of the things which keeps the player community very friendly and nice to each other, unlike other violent game communities where players are often very mean and derogatory towards each other. You are not playing against other players, your job is to rescue trapped spirits and cleanse the realm of darkness. So it's non-competitive and non-confrontational.

There are many tasks in Sky which you cannot accomplish alone --
you need the co-operation of other players, but even strangers
can help you. I like this about Sky, it promotes co-operation
and community.

** REAL SPOILERS START ** REAL SPOILERS START **

You can goof around and have many different kinds of adventures, and accumulate in-game rewards like costumes and possessions... but ultimately, you realize that your purpose as a Sky Kid is to eventually enter a realm called "The Eye of Eden" where the shattered dark crystal is still active and spewing corruption across the realms. Your ultimate purpose is to rescue as many of the petrified spirits as you can, who were trapped in Eden when the crystal exploded. You can spend a lot of time going on adventures in the other realms, but Eden is your purpose... and there are certain rewards you can only get by going into Eden.

So you will go there. You choose the day. But it is inevitable.

Sooner or later, you will enter the Eye of Eden.

And when you go into Eden, you will die.

There is no way to survive a trip to Eden.

This is where it really gets Buddhist.

You pretty much know what you're in for, before you go into Eden. There are clues around the other realms, and you hear it from players.

You have been gathering these pieces of "Winged Light" which help you fly. Flying around is a major attraction of the game. It's fun to fly through the gorgeous realms of Sky, although it's difficult to master. You have integrated these "Winged Light" pieces into your body and flown with them, so you feel like they're a part of you. But as you consider going into Eden, you realize you did not accumulate these "Winged Lights" for yourself. The way to free trapped spirits who were petrified by the dark crystal, is to give them your pieces of Winged Light.

You must give away the things you've worked hard to accumulate. That is your purpose. To get the most out of Eden, you must, of your own free will, give away all your Winged Light.

You can't take it with you, in the end.

As you enter Eden, crystals of corruption are flying around in the hurricane wind, and when they hit you, you lose pieces of your light. You have to be nimble and avoid the flying crystals so that you can penetrate farther into Eden and find more of the petrified spirits. But each time you find a petrified spirit, you must give it another piece of your light. As you lose your light, your ability to fly gets diminished. So you have more trouble avoiding the dark crystals flying all around you. But you still have to press on and rescue more of the trapped spirits.

And that's why death is inevitable when you enter Eden. Your duty is to give away your valuable energy to others, until you just can't go on anymore, in the deadly environment. You don't die from facing opposition -- you die from sacrifice, in the middle of a rescue.

You realize that all the skills you learned in the other realms -- flying, crouching and hiding, etc. -- you learned for the purpose that maybe you can push your way just a few feet farther into this disaster zone and rescue another one or two trapped spirits, more than you otherwise could have. Before your end.

But eventually, you have given away or lost all your light. You can't retreat, the entrance has closed behind you. You can't even fly any more, you are crawling on the ground, weighed down by the dark crystals that have struck you. Finally, you get hit by one too many crystals. And...

You die.

Your body, which once soared with the birds among the clouds -- gets turned into stone, like the spirits that you came here to rescue.

(But on a typical run through Eden, if you know what you're doing, you may have rescued around 10 or 12, or even more, of the old spirits, who were trapped by the dark crystal, before you yourself get petrified. Your sacrifice wasn't for nothing.)

Then your spirit leaves your physical body.

The game offers your spirit the choice to hang around (because often players go into Eden in groups, to help each other, so perhaps you all want to leave this mortal coil together instead of separately.) Your spirit passes through the dangers of the dark crystal, because now you are pure spirit. Your spirit is shown a vision of the rest of Eden past the crystal, as it originally was when things were in harmony.

And then you ascend into the stars.

Flying above the clouds with a good friend

A Recorded Memory of the Shattering of the
Crystal

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

"Give me the feathers I wish, as I come to understand ...
That Life, and Death, _both_ turn into dust!"

In the stars, you can see the spirits which you rescued, in Eden and otherwise, and they give you gifts of gratitude. You meet the spirits of all your friends (the other players you have made friends with, even if they're still alive. Because spirits are non-localized.) You follow flocks of the light-creature animals, un-corrupted, because they too are on a journey of death and rebirth among the stars. The imagery is truly jaw-dropping.

And finally you are presented with a doorway which you know leads to re-birth.

You pass through the doorway...

And fall back to the realm of Sky, as a rejuvenated Sky Kid. You have lost almost all your Winged Light and can barely fly again. You have lost certain other rewards (but for some reason, you get to keep a lot of the skills you learned, and all the physical things you accumulated like clothing and possessions.)

As a Sky Kid who can barely fly... you start the journey all over again.

Hopefully a little bit wiser and more confident, having survived all the dangers of the realm.

What is the wisdom I've taken away from this journey, this game and its experience?

In this game -- hopefully in life too -- when you have no more energy left to give and your resources are exhausted, you have not _lost_ the game, you have _WON_ it.

I hope I remember that lesson when I'm old & on my death bed. That lesson is a fascinating contrast to American-style video games and stories, which often tend to be violent and acquisitive, last-man-standing.

A whole lot of people in the US seem, to me, to exhibit a paralyzing fear of death. It colors our lives and dictates our choices and how we deal with people -- the fear of death takes over when someone, especially an American who has been raised on extreme Individualism... when they feel a deep _fear_ that soon their life and identity will be utterly extinguished. It's not just atheists. Such people, who fear death, might _or_ might not be religious. A lot of people tend to profess the tenets of a religion, without truly feeling it deep in their guts. Particularly on this specific subject, what happens after death. A lot of Christians seem to _act_ like they don't believe in life-after-death, even though they talk loudly about how certain they are that they will be rewarded in Heaven. But...

A meaningful death is one component of a meaningful life.

Someday you'll go down, in real life. It is as inevitable as Eden. Perhaps you'll have to go down swinging, like in an American action movie. More likely, not. Most importantly, make your death mean something, to people other than yourself.

"Be ashamed to die, until you have scored some victory for humanity." (Horace Mann)

If I have convinced you to play Sky, please message me somehow and we can exchange Friend Codes. This will let us friend each other in the game and exchange bits of in-game currency for free, without having to 'find each other' somehow in the Sky World.

Some additional resources --

Maps of the Kingdom of Sky, by artist Solsuga, on the Sky CotL Wiki: https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Maps

If you're on Facebook, check out this analysis at: https://www.facebook.com/thatskysyuan/posts/pfbid0ygESQ7hYDWE26Ny1Jn5tY5XexY8ubCjCidM52Y2mfqsbsaw5dtTG8FwhmbEFA4m5l
Entitled: "𝗡𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 '𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻' 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗚𝗖 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝗻 '𝗦𝗸𝘆: 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁'"

Buddhist influences in the video game, " Sky: Children of the Light "

musings by Kevin Wohlmut

Some additional resources --

Please comment on this essay! Send a mail to kwohlmut@gmail.com Thanks ! !

Please comment on this essay! Send a mail to kwohlmut@gmail.com
Thanks ! !