Quote Originally Posted by Larom View Post
Man, I really wish that was stated outright by the game or the devs. The Lifestream, especially the way VII describes it, is one of the darkest things I\\'ve ever seen in fiction.
The Lifestream is basically the same concept of reincarnation you’d find in traditional Buddhism (such as Theravada Buddhism). In Japan, Mahayana Buddhism is more popular in Japan where the concept of the afterlife and soul are much more palatable but sometimes you’ll see more traditional concepts in Japanese media.

In the first place, the idea of a soul is considered an illusion (in these schools). Even in life, you are just an amalgamation of desires propagating itself and you get stuck in a karmic cycle. In traditional Buddhism, Nirvana is actually a true death to escape the cycle of suffering.

But these games aren’t as depressing as that. Japanese Shinto beliefs have taken Buddhist concepts in more naturalistic way. We are essentially reflections of an Omni-Soul which is life itself. So when you die, you return to it.

The one thing that remains in most of these Buddhist concepts is that the sense of Self and Soul are an illusion and we are all one. That’s not so depressing (to me anyway).

I do think ShB may change the cosmology a bit. This seems even more relevant with some of the info from the MSQ. FF7 was a straight rip of Buddhist cosmology, but FFXIV has a lot more to it than that. As we learn more, I think it gets more nuanced and becomes its own thing.