Teachings of the Buddha

[Der Tor]

i checked it out... and i have no words... i honestly don't know what to say to you as i don't wanna critiize you, and it's really your business and not a concearn of mine - and much less would i want to get into an argument with you as i am sure your intentions where good.

But needless to say, all my worries and fears about it being inapropriate and disrespectfull to make the Sutras into a Visual Novel where reinforced.

If you want to know specificly what i think you did wrong than i will tell you, otherwise i will leave it at this.

[usul]

By all means express yourself and let me know what you think would make this project better.

I'm already working on 0.2 which I plan to release two weeks from now.

[Der Tor]

Well first of, your intentions are certainly good. And i don't think that there is anything wrong with publishing the sutras in various digital ways that make them convinient to read and widely acceseble. Nore do I think that there is anything wrong with Theravada, as i believe Theravada is one of the religions that has best preserved Sakyamuni's original Buddhism.

What gives me a headache is simple the ussual japanese Visual Novel kinda stuff you introduced. After all 90% of the japanese visual novels where allways hentai and in the beginning basicly all where. So i really think this style is innapropriate for presenting the sutras.

The most obvious influence is your picture of... ahmm IS it supposed to be Sakyamuni?
The style is like a cartoon style and he moves his eyes like a cartoon charachter every now and than. Maybe you yourself allready realised that this is innapropriate, so you said that you based it on an actuall image from Tibetan Tantrism. But isn't Tantrism a completely different religion than Theravada? So haven't you actually mixed things together? Could Theravada have stayed as true to Sakyamuni's original teachings as it has for 2500 years if everyone would have mixed in things from other religions? Wouldn't it than also have ended up looking like Mahayana or like Hinduism?

The same goes for all your Cartoon like and Visual Novel like elements. Like the Art in the main menu, the cursor and even the visual novel style in which the sutras are presented etc.

And what is with the stearing wheel? I allways thought the symbol of Buddhism was a swastika - NOT a stearing wheel...

Also it still says "game" etc. in various places - the sutras certainly are not a "game".

And even the title - "Teachings of the Buddha". Did you include all of Skyamuni's teaching? I don't think so... And "Buddha"? Well i know you are refering to Sakyamuni because i looked up the english Theravada Webpage you linked in your post and looked up their introduction... but in your visual novel itself there is no such introduction - much less in the title. So how are people supposed to know WHICH Buddha you are refering to?
As it's not only religions like Mahayana who believe in MANY other Buddhas but there are also many other religions who believe in another Tathagata Buddha alltogether and don't even know of Sakyamuni.

I also don't think it is aprropriate to ask people for donations - monks do that - but somehow i don't think you are a monk in a monestry and are going to give the donations to your monestry so that the monks can use the money to buy food so as to not starve to death

So well, sorry i critizized you, but after all you wanted me to be honest and tell you everything i think. So i told you my opinion. Now you are free to dismiss my opinion as just being my opinion and your opinion being different. Anyway i don't want you to improve your Visual novel based on what i said - as following my advise would inevetably involve choosing a diferen't format than a visual novel. So if you don't wanna do this and like your visual novel - than simply don't listen to me

But anyway... even though i told you that i find it inapropriate - on a personal level i still wanna thank you for doing it as your intentions where certainly good.

[usul]

Well first of, your intentions are certainly good. And i don't think that there is anything wrong with publishing the sutras in various digital ways that make them convinient to read and widely acceseble. Nore do I think that there is anything wrong with Theravada, as i believe Theravada is one of the religions that has best preserved Sakyamuni's original Buddhism.

That is my intention.

What gives me a headache is simple the ussual japanese Visual Novel kinda stuff you introduced. After all 90% of the japanese visual novels where allways hentai and in the beginning basicly all where. So i really think this style is innapropriate for presenting the sutras.

Which elements are you refering to exactly? I have never played these japanese hentai games. I discovered the visual novel medium when I discovered Ren'py through my quest in finding a good game engine I could play with.

The most obvious influence is your picture of... ahmm IS it supposed to be Sakyamuni?
The style is like a cartoon style and he moves his eyes like a cartoon charachter every now and than. Maybe you yourself allready realised that this is innapropriate, so you said that you based it on an actuall image from Tibetan Tantrism. But isn't Tantrism a completely different religion than Theravada? So haven't you actually mixed things together? Could Theravada have stayed as true to Sakyamuni's original teachings as it has for 2500 years if everyone would have mixed in things from other religions? Wouldn't it than also have ended up looking like Mahayana or like Hinduism?

Yes the image you are referring to is intended to represent Sakyamuni. I don't think this style is inapropriate, that is your opinion. I based the image off of Tibetan Thangka (or scroll) painting. I've only taken the visual iconography from the Tibetan style, the content of the visual novel is to remain closer to the Theravada tradition, that is to say, focused on the sutras.

It was my intention from the beginning to offer a choice to the reader as to the visual representation of the Buddha as they read the different sutras. This has yet to be implemented as of version 0.1 and will probably be one of the later features included in the visual novel. I have chosen to start with the Tibetan style as I find it quite beautiful. If know of any good viusual representations of the Buddha that are free of copyright restrictions, I would very much like to see them.

The same goes for all your Cartoon like and Visual Novel like elements. Like the Art in the main menu, the cursor and even the visual novel style in which the sutras are presented etc.

And what is with the stearing wheel? I allways thought the symbol of Buddhism was a swastika - NOT a stearing wheel...

The wheel is the wheel of Dharma that the Buddha set in motion when he started teaching. You can find more info on that image on the wikipedia article for buddhism.

Also it still says "game" etc. in various places - the sutras certainly are not a "game".

Agreed. I've already taken steps to rectify that in for the next release.

And even the title - "Teachings of the Buddha". Did you include all of Skyamuni's teaching? I don't think so... And "Buddha"? Well i know you are refering to Sakyamuni because i looked up the english Theravada Webpage you linked in your post and looked up their introduction... but in your visual novel itself there is no such introduction - much less in the title. So how are people supposed to know WHICH Buddha you are refering to?
As it's not only religions like Mahayana who believe in MANY other Buddhas but there are also many other religions who believe in another Tathagata Buddha alltogether and don't even know of Sakyamuni.

All of the sutras will be added as work on the visual novel progresses. There are 32 sutras on the version I'm currently working on.

You are the first person that seems confused about which Buddha is referred to. I will think of a way to make this clearer in the near future.

I also don't think it is aprropriate to ask people for donations - monks do that - but somehow i don't think you are a monk in a monestry and are going to give the donations to your monestry so that the monks can use the money to buy food so as to not starve to death

Monks aren't the only ones who ask for donations. Many artists ask for donations as well. I don't live in a monastery, but I do live with a community of artists and meditators.

So well, sorry i critizized you, but after all you wanted me to be honest and tell you everything i think. So i told you my opinion. Now you are free to dismiss my opinion as just being my opinion and your opinion being different. Anyway i don't want you to improve your Visual novel based on what i said - as following my advise would inevetably involve choosing a diferen't format than a visual novel. So if you don't wanna do this and like your visual novel - than simply don't listen to me

Quite the contrary, I'm interested in everyone's point of view on this project. I don't agree with the fact that because this particular medium has been used for Hentai that it shouldn't be used for the Buddha's teachings as one could say the same for any medium, film, comics, the written word even. I do recognize that this project is still in its early stage, it is still very much incomplete and imperfect. I hope to do my best to improve this visual novel so that it may help spread Dhamma by means of this digital form.

But anyway... even though i told you that i find it inapropriate - on a personal level i still wanna thank you for doing it as your intentions where certainly good.

Your comments are the first serious form of criticism I've received so far and am very grateful for your willingness to take the time to express them. I'm always open to hear what people have to say.

[usul]

I've uploaded Alpha version 0.2. Some of the most notable modifications are the reformatting of the text to remove the 'wall of text' effect, adding 9 sutras, a few illustrations and one animation.

I'll be away for a couple of weeks so I won't be able to reply until then.

enjoy!