#this is kind of me just doing pepe silvia and connecting random dots

[duefault]

" i alone am the honored one " - when satoru stated this it was very clearly referential to a story which attributes these words to the shakyamuni buddha when he was born. as far as i can tell, this is predominantly from the mahayana tradition - specifically with ties to thien/chan/zen school of buddhsim. below is generally the context described for this quote.

he immediately took seven steps, then with one hand pointing to heaven and one hand pointing to earth, he said, “above heaven and below heaven, i alone am honored."

so generally this makes sense. satoru was on the verge of death; was 'reborn' through reversed cursed energy and awakened to the full potential of limitless. it was a rebirth, quite literally. in addition, the above statement is part of the hanamatsuri (buddha's birthday) liturgy in most japanese buddhist services. so paralle between the birth of the buddha and satoru.

there are few others intrepretations of this phrase that i've found. they range from the idea that the buddha was making a statement about the preciousness of life (being that all life is interrelated), the emptiness of self (i - being uttered to arise a self-reflection on the ego, maybe fitting in the view of toji who then overestimates his baility), and an interesting note recorded by vietnamese thien monk thich nhat hanh:

siddhartha ought to have revealed his true identity when he was born in suddhodana's palace. he took seven steps and with his hands pointed to heaven and the earth. because of this gesture who knows how many disciples were lost

this last one particularly interesting; primarily the last verse of how many disciples were lost. while i can certainly say this was not thich nhat hanh's meaning in this context, i think in the context of jjk and satoru we can see how that might apply to his classmates during the flashback arc, and maybe even suguru?

that all being said; i think another thing that's interesting is satoru awakening to the hollow technique: purple. purple bearing significance specifically in japanese mahayana buddhism:

raigō (Japanese: 来迎, lit. "welcoming approach"; Sanskrit: pratyudyāna) in Japanese Buddhism is the appearance of the Amida Buddha on a "purple" cloud (紫雲) at the time of one's death

for reference, amida buddha (known also as amitābha) is a buddha associated with pure enlightenment and undesrtanding of the aggregates of buddhism. he is known to have 'infinite merit' and infinite perception. kind of a fitting paralle.

moreoever, amida buddha is specifically associated with the pure land school of buddhism. the pure land school believes, primarily, that calling upon amida will ensure one's rebirth in the pure land. the pure land is essentially a paradise realm, where one can attain enlightenment without any of the roadblocks of our world.

he's also associated with the bodhisattva ideal; delaying one's own enlightenment to assist others. again, kind of a fitting parallel to satoru when he becomes an instructor himself.

so. i dont know if i have any grand thesis here. just connections that i've noticed with this phrase, that seems pretty intentional. in a western context itd be like a character quoting one of jesus' proclamations at a pivotal point. the framing of this phrase and satoru making the exact gesture that the buddha is described as making doesn't seem like this was a throw away line to me.