Karma in Lady Snowblood
“Even the Buddha has forsaken you”
“Karma is only a bitch if you are.” I used to believe this. Do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and bad things will happen to you. This is the common, oversimplified misunderstanding of karma.
The more I’ve studied Buddhism and interpreted how the world really works, the more I’ve found this to be wrong. It makes for a fun premise in the sitcom My Name is Earl, but the real world is not that straightforward. The true concept of karma is more complicated to accept. In a way, though, it’s more simple. It’s more difficult to explain, but when you understand it, the workings of the world make more sense. The 1973 Japanese martial arts movie Lady Snowblood is not only a bloody journey of revenge but also an intriguing exploration of the concept of karma.
Fundamentally, karma is the basic law of cause and effect in the universe. When people say that “everything happens for a reason” they are correct. But, it doesn’t mean that everything happens for a good reason. Karma does not mean “God works in mysterious ways”. It doesn’t mean that every bad thing that happens to you serves a greater purpose in the long run. Even if you only do good things, other people can affect you negatively with their bad karma. Or, better said, the bad karma that they put into the universe affects you. The key is to remember that the good karma you put out into the universe also makes a difference.
Let’s look at a quote from Lady Snowblood:
“Even before we are born into the world we are marked by karma.”
This quote sets up a flashback to her father (the man who should be her father) being murdered before she is born. The karma she inherits from the bad action of the four murderers means that Lady Snowblood will grow up without a father. It also means she is destined to seek out the vengeance her mother never could enact herself.
This is the part that could be misunderstood. I used the word “destined”. It is her destiny to seek revenge and her karma was marked before she was born. However, this framing of her family history and life purpose does not necessitate a belief in predeterminism.
We can say that the karma she received was determined before her birth, yes. We can go as far as to say that her destiny is predetermined in a sense—but not her fate. Not her decisions along the way that determine her future. Her ultimate destiny—as in destination—can still change based on her choice of actions. She has free will. Her course will continue to be affected by the karma of her actions in life. It will also be affected by the karma created by the actions of others—good or bad.
This is karma. The law of cause and effect in the universe, influenced by the actions of humans upon themselves and others.
There are things Lady Snowblood cannot control. She grows up without a father because he was killed. She cannot bring him back to life. Zombies resurrect via science fiction—not real life karma. But, there are plenty of things which Lady Snowblood can control. She can follow the rules of her teacher and martial arts trainer. Or, she can choose not to. She can choose to carry out her mother’s vengeance. She can choose not to. Both are valid, but the movie would be far less entertaining if she decides to be a pacifist.
In the lore of the movie, Lady Snowblood is born as an asura, a kind of Buddhist demon or—the term I prefer—an “anti-god”. Of course, she does not follow the first Precept of vowing not to kill (sometimes even translated as not to harm) any living beings. Her lack of adherence to this precept is what piques the journalist Ryūrei Ashio’s curiosity. Not only is he an avid truth-seeker. He likes to write novels for fun and describes himself as “curiosity personified”. Lady Snowblood’s Precept-less action inspires his writing, voiced over in the movie as these questions:
“Who cries a river of revenge, lost in a whirlpool of karma? Who kills without rules, knows no forgiveness, roams seeking her enemies, and leaves them dead without a second look?”
Obviously Lady Snowblood is not an example of good ethics to follow. It is not a moral map. It’s an entertaining martial arts revenge movie. That being said, it has some of the most subtly interesting incorporations of Buddhist thought that I’ve seen on screen.
The simple realism of things like karma is what drew me to Buddhism from a young age. The Precepts are there if you choose to take them on. They are not Commandments declaring Thou Shalt Not. The Noble Eightfold Path can serve as a practical guide on how to live and improve your life by practicing mindfulness. If you mess up, some karma will be created in the universe by your actions. But, the Precepts and the Path are always there waiting for you. You can return to them for some helpful reminders to inspire meaningful reflection and meditation.
You can create more good karma. You have free will. If you adventure off the trail sometimes, the trail does not disappear. If you find that your off-roading is not blazing a better trail that you thought it would, you can always return to the Path.