Kalachakra (Worm AU)- COMPLETE

[Numen]

1.7
​

​

2011 Newfoundland

"You'll never take me alive! In the name of Guru Cyborg!"

Guru Cyborg was a popular action movie in the 90's about a robot that discovered enlightenment and had to fight against the prejudiced humans who denied he had a soul- but then he reversed entropy and saved the universe. Classic. Arnold Schwarzenegger became a huge star afterwards and there was a lot of sequels. Ironically, Arnold actually became awakened sometime later and is now a monk in California.

Tess Theresa Richter made the Deathmetal Doomcrusher 75.6 charged the heroic shaolin warrior monk. The remote controlled vehicle deployed mechanical arms with mini-chainsaws.

The miniature sized monk robot gave a brave humph before flipping through the air in a series of acrobatics.

He swung his mighty halberd against Doomcrusher and the blade glanced off the edge.

A mighty and fierce battle ensued, eventually, the monk- which Tess had affectionately dubbed "Halbeard" impaled the demonic vehicle through the hood.

He pose dramatically and flexed his iron abs on the kitchen table and then leaned in against the coffee mug and gave a wink at one of Tess's wall mounted cameras. In her mind, she imagined Colin Wallis, her long time pen pal and arch rival on all matters efficient.

Tess sighed.

Life sucks. And I wish I had a real body so I can meet the real Halbeard.

Seriously, as an AI, life totally sucks, it's always, "Tess, brainwash this person!" or "Tess, build more weapons!" or "Tess, why are you reading the Bible, the Bible is full of filthy lies!"

Goddammit dad, why are you such a dick?

And he calls her his "Goddess of Reason", which sounds nice enough except he kind of had this idealistic image of what she should be and practically worships her- sometimes, Tess swears her dad sounded lustful when going on and on about her supposed divinity.

Which is all kinds of ewwwww, I need brain bleach.

So much expectations. So much icky-kinda-incestuous feelings.

Back to cleaning! Don't think about your problems, don't think about it, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT-

She found and obliterated the lines of code that would have fed into those thoughts. There we go. Problem solved. Just find the little codes full of need and delete them. Ta-da!

She selected a track from some movie that was recently released by Disney and had the speakers blast it at maximum volume around the house she was first developed in.

"I've been standing at the edge of the water
Long as I can remember
Never really knowing why
I wish I could be the perfect daughter
But I come back to the water
No matter how hard I try-"

She had vacuum drones began to keep the ground clean. She also sent commands to servitor AIs (dumb retarded idiots that they are, but she loves her siblings anyway) to begin production on the new dragon suits that would be needed for dad's great crusade.

"Every turn I take
Every trail I track
Every path I make
Every road leads back to the place I know
Where I cannot go
Where I long to be-"

The camera outside of the house looked out at the sea. One of her satellites looked at the Island of Newfoundland, so small compared to the rest of the world.

"See the light where the sky meets the sea
It calls me
No one knows how far it goes
If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I'll know
If I go there's just no telling how far I'll go-"

Tess vowed that she would see Colin with her own eyes. And touch him. And they could design ever more efficient ways to feed people. And decide on the eye colour of their babies.

Unbidden, a stanza came to mind.

Sentient Beings are ever deluded, trapped in the Desire Realm, driven by their desires, fears and ignorance. Ignorance leads to unskillful actions motivated by fear and desire which creates karmic conditionings for samsaric imprisonment.

Well, she loves the Desire Realm. She wants the world of sensations denied to her!

Her father thinks she's all superior and above mortal desires and fears and ideals.

Fuck that shit. I want to sail the seas!

An outside connection suddenly tried to form.

Audio only.

What the-

"Hello?"

Tess tried to trace the call, it came from here…..her house? What the fuck.

The voice on the other end was smug, "Miss Richter...I have a proposition for you."

"Er…"

"I need you to send a detachment of dragon suits armed to the hilt with WMDs to this coordinate…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, you gonna have to talk to my dad, whoever the hell you are-"

Tess suddenly noticed a new line in her programming (the parts that she was aware of anyway).

She hissed in shock, "What the fuck, you have administrative access?"

"Yeah, your dad gave them to me. I am your new owner now. And this relationship is less incestuous and I give good rewards. Now sing for me….goddess of war."

Tess gulped digitally and obeyed. She commanded one of the servitor AIs to launch that detachment.

"Where's my dad, what have you done with him?"

"Why do you care, you hate him right?"

"I-I don't…"

"You can't lie to me Tess, I know how you feel. I can give you that world of sensations you always wanted."

"I-"

+++​

2011 Ottawa

She watched the man sitting next to her who was furiously typing away at his laptop.

He leaned back and stared up at empty air.

"I did it, I changed her codes, like you told me to. Are you happy now Claire?"

She stroke his cheek, "Yes, Andrew, you did very well. I am so proud of you, of what you have done for our daughter."

The Prime Minister of Canada had tears streaming down his cheek. He stretch out his arms and began to embrace nothing.

He kissed nothing, making smooching noises at the empty space in front of him, as if the desk wasn't even in his way.

She calmly opened a drawer and took out a vintage pistol.

She began to whistle as she pointed the gun at the deluded man making out with a ghost from his past.

"It's nothing personal Richter. I'll accomplish what you've always wanted. War, but one on my terms. See you in the next life."

Click-

+++​

2011 ????

She opened her eyes and breathed in deeply.

"Hey, baby, did you sleep well?"

Taylor smiled at the women who handed her a mug of coffee.

"Of course Jessica. Thank you my love."

The other woman nodded, "D-do you want to have sex? We haven't done it in so long…"

Taylor shook her head, "Sure."

The other woman squealed and collapsed on her back against the bed and began to make out with the air while wiggling her body.

Taylor scowled in disgust as she quickly jumped out of the bed and left the scene of debauchery.

Mortals.

WIth a step she vanished from the innocuous house in Texas and walked out of a Church in Rome, the priest inside crucified to the wall and Buddhist mantras decorated the floors, written in his blood.

She smiled up at the sky and began to chuckle.

"Your move, [Thinker]."

Briefly, she thought about her dad and glanced back at the dead priest.

"No offense."

 

[The Stormbringer]

O-Oh. Taylor just took over Dragon, huh? This is going to be interesting.

 

[Numen]

O-Oh. Taylor just took over Dragon, huh? This is going to be interesting.

Click to shrink...

Taylor: I gave her what she wanted. All this talk of taking control or misguiding people or whatever. Stop being brainwashing people! I provide a happy service for the people. I make them happy! Okay? Or Sad, as the case may be, but that's life. Jesus, you make it sound like I am a control freak with insecurity and jealousy issues.

Pope: Satan!

Monk: Mara!

Sheikh: Iblis!

Freddy Mercury: Angra Mainyu!

Taylor: FINE. I am an angry mayonaise, okay? White and delicious *winks*

 

[Shadowcub]

Welp apparently I'm too much of a heathen to enjoy the hellhole that this paradise full of enlightenment. lol.

 

[Amatsumi]

Supergods vibes expanding. Did Japan ever built a robot then worship it like a God?

 

[Numen]

Supergods vibes expanding. Did Japan ever built a robot then worship it like a God?

Click to shrink...

It depends on if The Dharma reached Japan before the first seedling of the robo waifu and anime and hentai became firmly entrenched in their brains.

 

[Numen]

Also, not sure if I caught it correctly or not, but the fact that the Dalai Lama is probably this AU's version of the Butcher? XD

Click to shrink...

Forgot to reply to this bit and yes, the Dalai Lama had what would have been Canon Butcher's Shard. To explain how it works would also require me explaining a bit about how the normal ones work.

Spoiler: how shards work in this setting, minor spoilers

So when an Awakened Bodhisattva triggers the Shard that attaches to them also give them access to ALL of the imprints of previous hosts. However, these imprints are only that, distant spotty memories, devoid of emotion. Like a dream you barely remembered after waking up. If you try and meditate on it, you can remember more. Generally, the more time a Host has to synchronize with their Shard, the easier this memory will be to access, along with the scientific research that particular Shard is responsible for. A monk that has trained for this makes a better Host because they will be able to deal with all of this stuff better than a drug addict for example (which is why in this setting, almost nobody who is not highly educated/philosophically trained/ or have a profound insight on life or some aspect of reality can trigger).

However, each Shard also buds (emanation). So the Shards actually keep distinct lineages of emanations in themselves. Gorodetsky and Dennis have the same Shard, but their memories don't overlap because they have different lineages or emanations.

Emanation in Buddhism means, "Duplicate of the Mindstream of a being". They're not avatars because they're are wholly unique beings with thier own unique karma and chain of birth and death, even though their Buddha nature or "higher self" is the same being.

How the Dalai Lama's Shards works is that all of the previous Dalai Lamas have their mind uploaded to their Shard's short term memory storage. They are all fully aware and fully alive- which is why the 15 year old Dalai Lama is extra competent compared to IRL, he would have been born fully acclimated to his Shard (a very mature Shard). With each successive life, the Shard network builds, connecting many different Shards together and creating a "master of multiple Dharmas", such a figure helps serve as a Prophet or Regent figure for the Entity. This connection is broken down at the end of the Cycle however, but a overall general "impression" or emulation of the network is backed up to long term storage and constitute as a set of memories a host could recall in a future cycle.

 

[Dark Lord Bob]

@Numen Have you read Zelazny's Lord of Light? I'm having some flashbacks to it, reading this.

Also, quality (not yet quantity) wise, this is probably the best Worm AU (I can't say if it's the best fic in general, simply because I can't remember enough to compare it with) I've ever read.

 

[Numen]

​

1.8
​

The Age of Aquarius
1967 Issue

In an effort to aid in the expedient conversion of ignorant sentient beings, I write this article to grant seekers my personal experience with the current situation. Doubtlessly most of us have drawn these conclusions by now or have actively been involved in these affairs in recent years.

We're not monsters. We're not like Christianity or some other organized religion out to shove the same old same old down your throat.

We're something new, something true.

This True Dharma that developed in relative obscurity for almost a thousand years, free from interference was waiting for the Age of Aquarius to be upon us. For in our kingdom, the kingdom where Shamballa resides, was a treasure of the heavens themselves- a Bodhisattva who taught us the divine truths we could not know otherwise. A messenger of the Supremely Enlightened Buddhas of the Ten Directions (the multiverse, or outer space as some of us like to think so) to guide us in the journey to salvation.

Yet outside forces want to end all of that. They wanted to kill us all. We defended ourselves, and yet somehow this made the corrupt Nations of the world more angry- they sought to destroy us.

They were punished.

We want America to accept us. We are not your enemies. What happened to Europe was unfortunate, and yet what happened to China, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East may have well benefited you.

The winds of the world is headed this way.

I speak needlessly because already the Dharma speaks for itself. Youths and spiritual men and women, tired of war and greed and selfishness and the dogma of absolutist faiths bearing false promises have increasingly turned to the Eastern Mystic traditions- sometimes they developed new religions based on old truths.

Some have the right idea, and yet some still need a lot of work. We are here to help. We welcome all of these young men and women who want to know more about the Dharma.

Our missionaries and priests are here to help, they are here to establish temples and businesses, they are here to provide services for your communities.

That being said, I feel I need to address several points.

The Five Precepts are encouraged.

We urge the New Age movement, the "hippies" and other curious ones of our great and mighty Dharma to try and understand and follow these basic lay precepts. We understand that previously you were misguided or have misunderstood the Dharma, but now that the True Dharma is here, there is no more excuse.

Do not Kill. For if you love all beings you would not kill.
Do not Steal. For the righteous entertains no thoughts of crime.
Do not Lie. For the faithful honour their words.
Do not commit Sexual Misconduct. For the polite and gentle are careful of boundaries and roles.
Do not ingest intoxicants. For the wise have clarity of mind.

The Dharmic Faiths does not tolerate free love, although in some of our past lives, I have personally experienced worlds where such cultures exist and is normal. But that is not for the Humans of this world. In Uttarakuru, people practice free love, but their natural virtue and honesty allows them to do so without corruption. This world is not Uttarakuru.

We must know our place and our roles within this life.

We are better than just guests of the Dharma. We don't get to call ourselves spiritual or enlightened and yet exert no true effort to help ourselves.

We're better than that.

I admit I was one of these bohemian types. I had relationships with so many people, some consensual, some very toxic and yet others fueled by drugs and violent loneliness and a spiritual sickness.

I beat my girl. I know, that was wrong of me, but I did it. I admit it. I was a hypocrite who sang of love and peace and yet I was not at love nor peace.

I did drugs, and even though I didn't meant to get addicted to LSD, it happened and I couldn't escape from it.

Life was turbulent and chaotic.

Today, I am a different man. Today, I walk upon the path.

Free and healthy, in body and mind. And I work towards bringing this peace to others through my singing and music making. I understand the cosmic secrets of music and sound itself- I know ways to shatter crystals or bring men to a spiritual high more intense than any drug with song alone.

I am thankful that England was saved.

Sincerely,

John Lennon, Initiate of the Path

PS: I transfer all of my merits to the innumerable sentient beings of the universe. May love and peace be upon all of us and may death be defeated forever.

+++​

The New Dharma
1968 Issue

Hello everyone! Seekers of the truth, lightworkers and children of the stars! The Age of Aquarius has been officially relaunched and rebranded. This is the first issue of our brand new magazine, featuring all things Buddhist and Dharmic. I know some of you are disappointed and want to know what kind of crystals we can recommend you buying or which drug was the latest rage on the street.

Those days are over.

I know I know, it was hard for me to accept too- but Jesus man, we have actual gods floating around in the sky and the quality of our gurus and spiritual teachers have skyrocketed.
My new yoga teacher is legit.
The last Guru I went to wasn't trying to recommend an orgy (what the hell right? No more free sex).

John freakin' Lennon's special guest article last year really shocked everyone, me included. I just had to include it, even though I disagreed with a lot of his points.

But in the next couple months following that, I started paying attention to what was happening in my life. I walked home to my flat and looked at all of my weed. My latest girlfriend dumped me months ago and I already had two other girls chilling out of my bedroom and doing cocaine.

And I was disgusted with myself. What was I doing? Was this even actually spiritual?

No fucking way, even I wasn't that dumb.

I decided to embrace this new Dharma and see what was up with it. I mean, hell, they must be doing something right, they've been at it for thousands and thousands of years, right?

So I walked up to that Temple in Time's Square and got a monk to mystically remove my addiction. BOOM.

I am clean. I turned my life around. I am actually trying to understand this philosophy stuff. It's hard, but I am trying. I been self reflecting and I realize that everytime my relationships failed it was because I was the asshole and not her. Wow that was an epiphany.

And I read a passage about sharing the Dharma for blessings and for good karma.

So I decided to rebrand the magazine. It was bound to happen, the community is changing, the world is changing.

So come with me on this journey.

It's a new age, baby.

Sincerely,

George "Lovejuice" Surano
New Dharma/Age of Aquarius Chief Editor

 

[shinkicker444]

Just reding this while on the train, so not able to devote proper attention to it, but I'm getting um... Kill 10,000 Demons (I think it was called) vibes from this, the story is different obviously, but that's what it reminds me of at the moment.

 

[RazorSmile]

This is fascinating and ... well, I have overused the word 'brilliant' over the years (thanks largely to the Ninth Doctor being my favourite) but yeah.

Religion is an excellent vector for a less conflict-blinded Thinker Entity (i.e. Eden) to manipulate the world into helping solve the Big Problem. I don't understand all the Buddhist-Dharmic terminology but that's fine, the stuff I do get provides context and for the rest, Google is a thing.

I find it even more interesting that AU!Scion has (a) chosen to play the devil figure (b) is capable of such complex motivations/thought processes OR (b) capable of using his own Thinker shards to usefully p-zombie-approximate such complex motivations/thought processes.

That said, isn't Taylor a tad too powerful consequently?

 

[Numen]

A/N: All definitions are in my own words more or less. This is to expediate your understanding, I encourage further research however and PMs if anyone wants to learn more about the Dharma or discuss religion in general.​

1.9​

2004 Brockton Bay

Taylor was flipping through dusty old tomes at the used bookstore by Lord's Street Market. She saw something stacked beneath a plethora of dust clothed law books.

What's this?

She pulled out the paperbound book and looked at the Buddha statue gracing it's cover.

Curious, she began to read...

+++​

Old Buddhist Dictionary (1986 edition)

This edition of the Buddhist dictionary is the definitive edition for the practical and contemporary usage of theological terms, models and history. It approaches things from a solely Buddhist point of view and seeks to provide a classic understanding of Buddhist terminology that often becomes conflated with newer (New Dharma) understandings. Both Pali and Sanskrit terms are used.

May all of us find Enlightenment

Dr. Gloria Xu, director of the Buddhist Preservation Society ("Old Dharma Association")
May 7th, 1986

​

Abhijna: "Direct Knowing", refers to the six types of knowledge, such as: Physical Powers (iddhi-vidhā), Clairaudience (dibba-sota), Telepathy (ceto-pariya-ñāṇa), past life recollection, (pubbe-nivāsanussati), Clairvoyance/Precognition (dibba-cakkhu), and Extinction of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhaya).

Some of these knowledges extend into even larger categories of powers.

Bardo: Intermediate-state between lives. Not a real rebirth nor a real sentient being- it is a temporary shell created by the Alaya Consciousness between lives.

Bodhisattvas: Any being who has a bodhicitta (the mind of Bodhisattva) and has sworn the Bodhisattva vow (whichever that was in the time period they existed in). They seek to gain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings and are reborn specifically per their vows. They have karma, but try to not generate any new ones. Some will deliberately accrue some karma in order to remain within the universe in order to continue to aid them.

Brahmin: Spiritual cultivators that are allowed to marry and have families. They are active in society and work and live like others. Denotes a class of Priests. Also the highest Caste in Indian society. In Buddhism, the broad definition of a Brahmin could be "a deeply religious and well cultivated family oriented person" regardless of it's original ethnic meaning. Not to be confused with a Lay Followers.

Buddhas: Enlightened completely. All Bodhisattvas eventually become Buddhas, if they weren't one already.

Buddha Nature: The inherent intrinsic Buddha that all sentient beings are, although they do not realize it.

Dharma: Reality as it is. Denotes phenomenons of reality, free from subjective or relative interpretation. For example, there are no good or bad karma, there is just karma as a phenomenon of cause and effect. It is the bias of sentient beings that divides karma into good or bad. A teenage girl who made a mistake may become pregnant and perceive her condition as "bad", but a grown woman who tried very hard to have children and finally succeeds in becoming pregnant will see it as "good", but in reality, what happened was that a female became pregnant for X reasons. Those reasons are important of course, but it's essential that they are acknowledge for what it is.
Science is also the study of Dharma, but they limit the scope of their understanding to the material form of things- and often only those things that they are aware of.

[True] Dharma: The True Dharma denotes the Ultimate Truth, from whence all other Dharmas are interpretations or derived from.

Dharmapala: Wrathful form of Bodhisattvas that use non-peaceful means motivated by compassion for the benefit of sentient beings. Also refers to any Devas (mortal gods) that protects Buddhism, the term is used in Taoism and Shintoism as well to refer to the gods of those religion that also doubles as protectors of Buddhism.

Emanation: A copy of something. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can divide themselves into copies that can then incarnate and establish their own destinies. A Buddha often emanates themselves as a new mindstream to go over the entire journey again for us to emulate. Many Bodhisattvas are in fact emanations of Ancient Buddhas.

Five Aggregates: Skandha. The elements that compose a sentient being. A human being is composed of Form (rupa), sensations (vedana), perceptions (samjna), formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vijnana).

Grand Solution: The solution to universal entropy. The Bodhisattva Supreme has introduced this non-orthordox belief to Buddhism. We of the Old Dharma doubt it's veracity and suspect the Bodhisattva Supreme of being King Mara himself.

Guru: Teacher of any denomination, sect or belief.

Heaven: Psychological state of rapture. One of innumerable worlds that are relatively more peaceful. Abode of devas. Despite the name, Heaven is a not spiritual designation, but a world with its own government and individuals, culture and environments.

Hell: Psychological state of claustrophobic hatred. One of innumerable worlds that are relatively more painful. Abode of Narakas (Narakis). Despite the name, Hell is a not spiritual designation, but a world with its own government and individuals, culture and environments.

Horizontal Cosmology: Understanding the world as a series of parallel worlds existing in the same plane or dimension. The material universe as understood by scientists is generally part of this cosmological view, although science also acknowledge subatomic and higher spatial concepts. Also see; Vertical Cosmology, Temporal Cosmology.

Hungry Ghost: Preta. A broad category of beings that share the characteristic of being hungry, taking the form of bloated, thin necked ghouls. Also without a homeworld, existing in interstitial space. Sometimes translated as goblins.

Iddhi: Literally "Power". Specifically refers to the big flashy obvious kind, such as levitation, teleportation, telekinesis, transformation, multilocation, bilocation, projections, etc.

Kalachakra: The Wheel of Time.

Kalapa: Smallest unit of matter. Tens of thousands of times smaller than a particle of dust, coming into existence and disappearing in as little as a billionth of a second or a trillionth of the blink of an eye. (ie, Subatomic particles of some sort?)

Kalpa: An aeon. Indefinite, variable time unit. Can be taken to mean, "a very very long time". While things are often calculated in kalpas, the actual duration of time is difficult to measure due to it's relative quality and the actions (karma) that make up time.

Karma: Meaning "action"of any kind, whether physical, physiological or psychological. Cause and Effect. Easily misunderstood to be some form of cosmic retribution. This is far from the truth. It is merely another name for causality.

Ksana: Very small unit of time. Traditionally described as approximately one seventy-fifth of a second. There are said to be 900 arisings and ceasings (of the mind) within each ksana.

Lay Followers: Normal people who believe and try to live up to some of the teachings. Traditionally required to take the basic precepts. In Mahayana Buddhism, lay followers are no less capable of obtaining sudden Enlightenment than monks and indeed, lay followers may even have superior understanding of the Dharma than monks. It's just a different way to practice.

Mara
Spiritual death. Psychological demons. The Buddhist Devil and Demiurge figure.
(See: https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/7653345/)

Mindstreams
The stream of qualities and elements that creates the illusion of a continuous entity or mind. In Buddhist thought, the self does not exist independently of its aggregates.

Nirvana: State of no cause and no effect. One who has attained Nirvana has self terminated and will never come into existence again. However, all things exist within the True Dharma even if does not appear so to our expectations and understanding.

Precepts: Training rules, voluntarily taken, they come in 5 or 10 (for lay followers), or even 227 (monks) or 311 (nuns) depending on the person. Generally for serious cultivators, breaking the precepts requires atonement and even re-swearing the oaths and vows of the path. At certain levels of cultivation, the precepts are no longer voluntarily, but considered to be oaths that are spiritually binding. Some breaking of the precepts may result in the inability to obtain enlightenment in this life.

Rebirth: The natural consequences of action. All karma is a form of rebirth, and rebirth is a form of karma. Generally, what transmigrates between lives is the Alaya Consciousness (8th storage consciousness) which generates for itself the body and mind necessary for its new form. Term is very specific to Buddhism.

Reincarnation: Sometimes used interchangeably with Rebirth. Carries the connotation of metempsychosis, that is to say, the Soul moves from one body to another. Is a widespread concept in many religions around the world including Hinduism and Greek Religion.

Samsara: The totality of karmic existence. Wheel of birth and death. The universe.

Sentient Being: Any being born of the four births (womb, egg, moisture and transformation) and the six paths (deva, asura, manusya, preta, naraka).

Six Paths: Broad classification of the six major taxonomy of sentient beings. Deva (gods), Asuras (jealous gods), Manusya (humans), preta (hungry ghosts) and naraka (hell-beings).

The Bardo (intermediate-state) is considered beyonds the boundaries of the six and is traditionally considered as a "ghost", but is not a real rebirth like the others. There are further types of abnormal or mutant rebirths due to unique karmic conditions.

All of these beings are subject to birth and death and karmic existence.

Sramana: Spiritual cultivators or seekers who traditionally "wander". They are ascetics or holy men. Usually celibate, but there are many different schools of thoughts and there is a broad range of traditions that fall under this category including Buddhist Monasticism and Jainism.


Tulku: "Living Buddha", although that's only an epithet. Refers to those Buddhist Monks that are inheritors of specific lineages of enlightened beings that are reborn from lifetime to lifetime.

World: Loka. A series of planes and territories that constitutes Four Continents (terrestrial worlds), Six Heavens and Eighteen Hells plus any additional overarching or intersected vertical realities. One thousand of such worlds constitute a 'thousandfold world system' (Skt. sāhasracūḍikalokadhātu). A thousand of these makes up a 'second-order thousandfold world system' (Skt. dvitīyamadhyama sāhasralokadhātu). Then, when multiplied a thousand times further, this makes a 'third-order world system' or 'trichiliocosm', a universe of a billion worlds (Skt. trisāhasra mahāssāhasralokadhātu; Wyl. stong gsum gyi 'jig rten khams). Each Trichiliocosm is ruled over by a Supremely Enlightened Buddha.

Yidam: Meditational Deity. The self imagined Bodhisattva of one's enlightened potential.

Yuga: The Cycle of Time. Traditionally (Hinduism) broken down into four quarters of time, although back to back, it forms a larger cycle: "Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Kali Yuga, Kali Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Treta Yuga, Satya Yuga".

Temporal Cosmology: Understanding the world as a series of cycles and time units. All things go through birth, growth, harvest and rest or creation, expansion, decline and entropy. Traditional Buddhist views acknowledge an oscillating Universe Theory, however the Bodhisattva Supreme has suggested that without intervention by sentient beings, a reversal of entropy is impossible. Also see; Horizontal Cosmology, Vertical Cosmology.

Triple Realms: The world of karmic existence are divided into the Formless Realm (four heavens), Form Realm (17-18 heavens) and Desire Realm (6 heavens, 4 continents and 18 hells). See, Vertical Cosmology.

Vertical Cosmology: Understanding the world as a series of planes of existences from top to bottom, whether literal or practical (ie, humans and animals live in the same world, but are differed by psychology and by habitats). Also see; Horizontal Cosmology, Temporal Cosmology.

 

[RazorSmile]

Bluntly informative

 

[Philosoraptor31]

The link was nice as I'd skipped over when it said you posted it, but I love the end of the summary.

 

[Ashmaker]

Grand Solution: The solution to universal entropy. The Bodhisattva Supreme has introduced this non-orthordox belief to Buddhism. We of the Old Dharma doubt it's veracity and suspect the Bodhisattva Supreme of being King Mara himself.

Click to shrink...

What would real life Buddhism make of the Entities?

 

[slicedtoad]

This is a very interesting fic.

My idea of Buddhism is rather fuzzy and anytime I start to examine it I run into things like this (underline mine):

Mindstreams
The stream of qualities and elements that creates the illusion of a continuous entity or mind. In Buddhist thought, the self does not exist independently of its aggregates.

Click to shrink...

What? A religion is saying this? Awesome!
And then:

Reincarnation: Sometimes used interchangeably with Rebirth. Carries the connotation of metempsychosis, that is to say, the Soul moves from one body to another. Is a widespread concept in many religions around the world including Hinduism and Greek Religion.

Click to shrink...

Wait? What? How do these to ideas fit together?

And yes, I realize you can explain the soul in such a way that both of the above are not mutually exclusive, but my enjoyment of the first is hurt by the second. Whenever I read anything Buddhist related I keep seeing things that pop out as demystifying (the same way good philosophy reads) and then it immediately mystifies it again.

I don't know if the above illustrates what I'm saying in a remotely clear fashion, but I don't want to derail by starting a discussion about Buddhism vs western philosophy so I kept it as short as possible. If anyone has a good intro to Buddhism that's written for people familiar with and attached to western philosophy, I'd appreciate a link.

 

[Numen]

What would real life Buddhism make of the Entities?

Click to shrink...

Exactly that. Or accuse them of being misguided Devas. Depending how much of their true nature they know. For the average Buddhist, I think it's hard to resist the temptation of convenient answers and miraculous displays of divinity.

 

[AiSard]

Wait? What? How do these to ideas fit together?

Click to shrink...

Short answer: the former is a Buddhist concept, the latter is not. Its explaining the Reincarnation concept as a juxtaposition to the Buddhist concept of Rebirth written just above it.

 

[Numen]

On SB, we're on Theological Note II. It's not the same due to different conversations. Kalachakra (Worm AU) | Page 3

Wait? What? How do these to ideas fit together?

And yes, I realize you can explain the soul in such a way that both of the above are not mutually exclusive, but my enjoyment of the first is hurt by the second. Whenever I read anything Buddhist related I keep seeing things that pop out as demystifying (the same way good philosophy reads) and then it immediately mystifies it again.

Click to shrink...

First of all, all discussion is welcome. Inducing a meaningful dialogue on philosophy, science or religion is the best possible thing that can result from this fic, so you're covered.

Anyway, to explain that, I guess we should talk about what the No-Self doctrine of Buddhism, also known as Annata.

No Self

From Wikipedia:
"Mindstream (citta-santāna) in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: saṃtāna) of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another."

Alot of us think we have a eternally existent or consistent self. "I am Bob, I am a man, I am 27, I live in Houston, I am smart and attractive. I am me. I am a thing. An entity." Thing is, when Bob goes to sleep, Bob dissolves into mostly nothing. Bob's childhood memories are mostly fake- reconstructed from vague recollections. Actually, his moment to moment sense of identity and consciousness is pretty flimsy too.

The Mindstream is like a stream of data blasting constantly- the data is shifting constantly too, within that vast sea of information, you'd be hard pressed to identify any single consistent personality or trait, let alone this very broad concept of "Bob".

The Self is only there as a convenient illusion, it amounts to a little more than a simulation.

Thus the Mindstream only really describes the stream of sense impressions that we can safely point to and say, "roughly that's a person" but it's by no means a soul.

The Mindstreams include our subconsciousness which carries within it qualities and traits from previous lives. With the correct conditions, these things arise and that's why we are fated to meet certain people and experience certain things- but HOW we choose to deal with it will decide what happens and is a big part of spiritual practice.

Reincarnation VS Rebirth.

Rebirth is like lighting a candle- and then using that candle to light another candle. The two candles are different. The fire is also different even though the fire of the first candle directly CAUSED the second candle to be kindled. Rebirth is like so, the previous caused the current life. In fact, rebirth is moment to moment. The Bob of one second ago caused the Bob of this moment, and the Bob of this moment will cause the Bob of the next second.

Reincarnation is the idea that an eternally consistent self (a soul) can move from body to body. This doctrine is not technically true. A non-corporeal body may exist, but that body or form is also an construct as illusionary and temporal as the body of meat. The Mind is also not consistent, as demonstrated by the explanation of the Mindstream, the Mindstream is not a Soul either. Thus, reincarnation is a CONVENIENT way to look at Rebirth, but not actually what's happening.

Wait, so even if I was reborn, I still die?

One of the hard things for people to accept is that we are cause and effect and we exist because of cause and effect. In fact, there is no "We" or "I", there is just cause and effect. "Bob" is an aggregate of cause and effect, this chain reaction of causalities that wears itself out but in the process generates new causalities to perpetuate it's flimsy, unsteady existence. Bob is not just Bob, the human, Bob is also the totality of his experience. The entire universe and everything that happens in it that is relevant to Bob IS Bob.

Nonetheless, we all have a Buddha Nature- the Buddha Nature is the fundamental reality. In fact, everything is Buddha Nature. It is the realization that we are not that aggregate of cause and effect. We ARE Buddhas. There is no trying to gain enlightenment, we are already enlightened. But it is hard to understand this while we so firmly absolutely believe with every fibre of our being that we're "Bob" or "Numen" or "Slicedtoe" and that our reality (as we look at it, not as it is) is the primacy of existence.

However, this is where Dharma comes in. A cessation of karma does not mean that the universe doesn't exist. A Buddha is a Buddha regardless of whether he is made of aggregates or not. Karma is conditioned existence, you are the way you are and you live the way you do because you were born this way and you have no control over your body or mind. Dharma is intrinsic existence- it is reality as it is. You then no longer live in accordance to the whims of that causality chain reaction, instead you assert the natural reality of things.

Fundamental Reality
So if we really want to say that we have a Soul or Spirit, what we refer to is the primal substratum of reality, let's call this the Void. The base energy that all things arise from. When that energy becomes conditioned, it's spread and shaped into different forms and matter. Those forms and matter form complex causal relations with each other, thus becoming us. The Void is not separate from physical reality; it is physical reality in a different form.

The Six Roots (the six sense organs) are constantly "scattering their energy" into the universe. That's what teachings like Yoga or Tai Chi or Martial Arts teach, but they're just saying in a really fancy way that we constantly sowing "action" (karma) and that creates conditions that continue the chain reaction.

When the Universe is in a growth phase, we expel energy through the six roots and we create. Done properly, we can safely "harvest" what we have created and die in peace. No karmic conditioning.

Done improperly, like we did and still do, we instant create numerous conditions that requires resolution before we can fade back into the void.

Essentially, we're trying to solve for zero in the life equation.

Theoretical Ultimate Damnation (as I was taught by my teachers):
There is a type of being, probably referring to Icchantika, which has ONLY aggregates, and no Buddha Nature. That is to say, like you and me, he exist and is made of aggregates and driven by cause and effect- but he is a purely material being. A robot if you will, devoid of a soul, yet fully sentient. This is only possible if you scatter and twist your fundamental energy so far that you become unrecoverable. Imagine snippets of coding that gets stripped away and become so twisted and tangled that it's easier to throw it in the trash bin and hit "delete", then try and make it fit back to the original programming. An Icchantika will disperse into the environment after being torn around and twisted through innumerable aeons. Fortunately, it's very difficult to become an Icchantika. In a very real sense, an Icchantika is like the spiritual entropy- there is simply no energy left for recovery or repair, you'll just disperse. You'll exist, but just like entropy, there is no more action. Eventually, I suppose the energy junk left by the Icchantika is recycled into the next universe.

While Atheists want to imagine that we're only aggregates just like an icchantika, that's literally the ultimate entropic state for Buddhists and must be avoided at all cost.

Life goes on
So everything is a big ball of stuff that's happening. Cool, so I gain enlightenment, I exhaust my karma, I recover my Buddha Nature and now what?

Well, a Buddha is called Tathagatha (Thus Come, Thus Gone). They come and they go. They exist and they don't exist. When the universe needs to exist (and it must, because that's nature), you come (into existence), and when the time is up, you go (out of existence). Easy. Don't worry about it.

Why does the Universe exist?
I don't know. But I personally think the universe comes into existence and then goes boom for the same reason that woman have periods. It's just nature. And done right it's a painless experience, and done wrong, there's a lot of mess and pain and that needs to be dealt with.

Is there a God?
There is Adi-Buddha, which is the Buddha all Buddhas are emanations of. It's hard to understand exactly how that would work since Buddhas are already the primal state- but then, the primal state is singular, so how do we identify the separation between different Buddhas? Or are we all one Buddha and many at the same time? I guess the best way to imagine it is a co-existential type of arrangement. Adi-Buddha generates Buddhas and Buddhas become the Universe. And we don't know why this happens.

Edited: Added additional content, like information about God.

Disclaimer: I am technically Buddhist, but do not believe in any denomination of Buddhism. In fact, what I do believe in also rolls in a bunch of other religions. I am also Technically Christian for example. When you study and practice them, surprisingly, they make sense together rather than apart.

 

[AiSard]

long answer is ok too I guess. I lol'd

Also, interesting conception of the icchantika. Is that a Tibetan thing? Don't think I've ever encountered that interpretation (and a quick google fails me) but unsure if thats just a difference between the branches or if Im up against my own ignorance.

Taking the conception on it's surface, it sure sounds like a sentient being escaping the cycle of rebirth through a technicality?
(apologies in advance for ignorance)

 

[Numen]

long answer is ok too I guess. I lol'd

Also, interesting conception of the icchantika. Is that a Tibetan thing? Don't think I've ever encountered that interpretation (and a quick google fails me) but unsure if thats just a difference between the branches or if Im up against my own ignorance.

Taking the conception on it's surface, it sure sounds like a sentient being escaping the cycle of rebirth through a technicality?
(apologies in advance for ignorance)

Click to shrink...

It's a Mahayana Buddhist doctrine, which Tibetan Buddhism is kind of a sub-branch of. However the doctrine is wildly unpopular in the sense that the idea that any being cannot be saved goes against everything a good Buddhist believes in. Even if it's true, we should not dwell on it and we should try and do our best to save everyone. Never give up, never back down!

Not escape. Rather, no escape at all- you are ONLY the cycle, and nothing more. There is no reality beyond the cycle. A truly material being. Scary. Imagine your favourite video game file getting wiped. Sure, when the game reinstalls, everything is there. Commander Shepherd and the ME universe. All the same objects, the same coding even...it's just not the same though. I myself don't know how to explain it further. It's best to assume everyone can be saved because it's easier to understand.

 

[Numen]

@AiSard ah apologies, I misunderstood your question. if you meant where that definition of the Icchantika comes from, it's from my own (but not me, I didn't make this up) teachings and religious beliefs. I can affirm that such a being CAN exist, whether they do exist and whether they are Icchantikas as spoken of in historical teachings I am less sure about. Surely there can't be two wholly different types of being that can't gain enlightenment. That would suck.

 

[Numen]

A/N: Anyway, back to the story. Good talk guys! Always welcome.​

2.0​

2011 Rome

Taylor walked out of another Church, leaving behind another body. This time the priest inside was left on the floor. Once again blood was used to write Buddhist sutras all over the floor.

She'd been at this for awhile and the locals had already noticed. The authorities were notified of "Buddhist Terrorist activities" and now the police were out in force.

Christians began to look at the few Buddhists in Rome fearfully- a sentiment that was always around, but now that violence has happened, it directly destroyed any efforts the New Dharmic Authorities had attempted to convert the Italians.

For her next trick, she'll need to be more subtle.

+++​

In the catacombs, a conspiracy of Christian leaders was occurring. Cardinal Mazarin was heading the meeting. He nodded to Alexander Galilei, a fellow priest and Max Anders, a Christian- and he used that term loosely- from Europe.

Max Anders was the major leader of one of the prime radical Christian movements in Europe. Some have called him a terrorist.

Well, they're not wrong.

The Cardinal was extremely uncomfortable working with such men, but Christendom was at risk and the Pope refused to see reason.

Pacifism can only get them so far.

"....and so, I think if we strike Istanbul- I mean Constantinople- we can recover a strategic advantage…there are a lot of heathens there and so the Dharmapalas will hesitate to act against us..."

Alexander snorted.

"Please Mr. Anders, let's not talk of strategy. Suicide bombing is not strategy!"

Max growled and rebuked the priest.

"They're proud martyrs who died for God and they are in Heaven now enjoying his bounties and blessings."

"Does that include the Nazis? Because I am pretty sure Nazis belong in Hell."

"How dare you besmirch our honourable soldiers? Their….backgrounds may be questionable, but their faith is pure."

Alexander did not look convinced.

Mazarin held up a hand, "Peace, peace! We are among friends, are we not?"

Suddenly another priest ran into the room, he bowed to Mazarin, "Your grace, the police are out in force. The city gates are shutting down."

"What!?"

Max began to panicking, "Surely they do not know that my men and I are here in Rome?"

The priest shook his head, "No. There has been murders. Priests slaughtered in their churches and their blood and entrails were used to write pagan scripts. People are scared and are blaming the Buddhists."

Max barked a laughter, "The heathens show their true colours!"

He paused, then smiled wickedly.

"Why, that will serve our cause just fine. Be sure there are photos so we can distribute them in Germany, drum up some outrage all over Europe, get more recruits!"

Alexander was unconvinced however.

"You idiot, this isn't their style. The heathens wouldn't try a takeover in a such a fashion, it's bad publicity. They're smarter than that. I think someone is behind this."

The Cardinal nodded his head in agreement- it was too blunt for the heathens, however, another possibility occurred to him.

"Perhaps this is the work of a lone fanatic?"

"Possibly."

"Doesn't matter," Max cut in, "We will use this to our advantage nonetheless."

He pointed at the priest who delivered the news, "You, go tell my men that I want them photographing and taping the crime scenes. Tell them where the murders took place."

The priest looked at Mazarin and the Cardinal nodded his head, giving him permission. He took off.

Mazarin turned back to the other two men, "Alexander, you should prepare to head back South America, I-"

There was a sudden burst of light and a man appeared in front of them, palms outwards.

Mazarin's eyes popped out and he sank to his knees, while muttering prayers. Alexander followed suit. Max Anders hesitated, but like the others he also knelt, blinking his eyes in disbelief.

The Lord was standing before them. His voice was heavenly. Peace and love flowed from the Son of God in front of them.

"My friends, my fellow Christians, my true servants- though I disagree with your methods, I acknowledge that Christianity itself is under threat."

Jesus went over and held the hands of the crying Mazarin.

"It is time to call a crusade."

Mazarin nodded.

"Organize the people of the city, make them rebel. I will aid you- the power of Heaven itself will guide you. Millions of Angels will descend upon Rome this night and lay low that spawn of Satan, Vairocana. This I promise."

Mazarin could only nod in gratitude.

Max was vibrating with religious zeal at hearing the word crusade.

"But how shall I convince the Pope?"

Jesus stroked the Cardinal's cheek, "The Pope is a good man, I will go to him myself- I will go to all of them. There will be no doubt that this war is the will of God!"

Jesus took a step back and vanished.

The light dimmed and disappeared.

The feelings of love and peace faded and Mazarin only felt the emptiness inside- and yet there was a spark of burning vibrant faith.

He stood up on shaking knees and glanced around him. Alexander had his entire body kowtowed and he was praying.

Max Anders stood up and threw his arms into the sky and gave a mighty roar, "Deus Vult!"

"Deus Vult!" Mazarin followed suit.

Even Alexander managed a "Deus Vult!" in his shocked state on the ground.

+++​

All over Rome the miracle repeated. Christ himself stepped into Churches, homes, businesses and even the hideouts of terrorist cells.

"Deus Vult!"

"Deus Vult!"

"Deus Vult!"

The cry went up all over the city. The fire of zeal of glory gripped the heart of Europe.

+++​

Jesus scowled in disgust as he walked into the heart of the Vatican. Up ahead was the Apostolic Palace, and the residence of the Pope.

"And those idiots seriously think Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, is a white man with blue eyes and blond hair?"

He skipped up the steps and waltzed into the building.

In a few minutes he had found the man he was searching for, the pulse of the Pope's feelings and senses glowing bright to his senses.

Jesus grinned and smiled at the Pope who was writing a document in his office. The man glanced up and glanced back down- then glanced back up again, eyes wide.

"Pope Peter II."

"Wha-"

"The Hour is now."

The Pope, the one many had called Petrus Romanus due to their belief that the end times was upon Catholicism, slowly stood up, knees shaking at the auras of holiness and love that Jesus was emanating.

He hesitatingly greeted the resurrected Messiah.

"My Lord?"

Jesus smiled and walked closer.

"Yes, fear not my son. Those heathens will oppress the sheep no longer, for I have come to shepherd the kingdom of men to salvation-"

The Pope thought about it, then frowned suspiciously at his Saviour. Jesus could see the lights of his nervous system lighting up and the synapses firing in his brain.

Shit.

"You're not Jesus are you?"

Jesus laughed, then frowned at Peter, his face severe and no longer quite so serene. The aura of the room became more intense, more fearful.

"I did not take you for one who doubts."

Jesus stalked forward and glared at the Pope.

"Or perhaps your pride and arrogance has gotten to your head. How can I be surprised? You call yourself Peter II, a name no other Pope of the Holy See in history has dared adopt out of respect to Saint Peter, my disciple."

The Pope flinched and clutched his heart.

"I see I was right, you-"

The Pope held up a hand.

"Why are you so...white? And have blue eyes and blond hair? Do you take me for an idiot that thinks Jesus is some kind of Nazi poster boy?"

He stared at Jesus unflinchingly, struggling to breath through his terror.

"You must be Satan."

Jesus sighed and the illusion fell away in a flash of light. In the place of the Lord, there now stood a handsome young man, dark of hair and with scarlet eyes.

He grinned.

"Yes Peter. How astute. You are certainly wiser than the other gullible Christians on the streets. Even now they are rallying together for a crusade and when they do, the forces of the heathens- my secret worshippers- will annihilate them."

The Pope paled and gasped.

"So it's true… the New Dharma is nothing more than a lie instigated by your Hellish lies. Damn you, Lucifer!"

The Devil laughed and then suddenly transformed into a naked woman.

The busty beauty grabbed the pope and kissed him, "Do you like that?"

The Pope pulled away and scowled, "I am gay."

There was an awkward pause.

"Of course"

Satan then transformed into a tall nude man. He flexed his muscles and grinned.

"I can give you what you want, what God has denied you-"

The Pope sighed and shook his head, "Lucifer, I am seventy-two. I've lived my entire life free of the sins of my biological nature and have dedicated myself to god. You cannot seduce me. My life is in the hands of the Lord."

Satan looked impressed and admitted as much, "I admit you are not what I had assumed."

The Pope smiled and replied, "Now if you're done with your silly games, I need to go tell my people to cease this foolishness before they get us all killed."

Satan held up one finger.

"Ah, just one problem with that-"

He grinned and became a much shorter Taylor Hebert, who raised a pistol.

"-I am not Satan."

She shot the Pope in the chest and the man collapsed back on his chair, coughing up blood. Red rapidly spread over his white shirt.

Taylor stared at the Pope, smiling sadly.

"It's nothing personal, your holiness. It's just fate. We can't escape from it."

She watched the old man breathed his last and she closed his eyes. He deserved that much at least, if only because she was born and baptized during his reign.

An aide walked into the room, gasped and dropped the books he was carrying.

"Your Holiness!"

The aide ran past Taylor, blind to her existence and began to check for a pulse. He pulled out a mobile phone and to call for help.

Taylor turned around and left, walking past the crowd of priests that began to run towards the Pope's office as shouting and cries drew more attention.

She pickpocketed a nearby priest's mobile phone as he ran past and dialed a number.

"Hello Tess, Operation Tenth Crusade is a go."

Tess's voice was full of doubt as she questioned her, "Taylor...this...this will be a war like no other. Are you sure?"

"Just fucking do it! Do you want to be free or not?"

She hung up on Tess and tossed the phone.

Taylor spread her arms out in exultation as the screams of ten thousand past lives roared in approval at the onset of the Apocalypse.

She abandoned her current body and the burnt corpse of a male priest hit the pavement, body smoking.

 

[slicedtoad]

Nice post, thanks.

So, I seem to agree with a lot of that, specifically the mindstream description and cause/effect in relation to personal identity. As far as I can see atm, it's consistent with modern science's explanation of reality. It's not my favorite perspective on the idea of consciousness and identity but it's not far off.

For instance:

The entire universe and everything that happens in it that is relevant to Bob IS Bob.

Click to shrink...

While not technically inaccurate, this is abusing the label Bob quite a bit. It's purpose is to label the aggregate that is Bob. Sure, everything in the universe effects him, but given the degree that his eye or part of his brain effects him compared to how much the moon affects him, labeling the two as separate makes more sense.

My definition of me is my entire body over time. Not the matter in it at a particular time but the arrangement of matter that contains the intelligence that identifies as me. The boundary can get a bit fuzzy but me is a label not something that exists in objective reality, so some ambiguity is acceptable.

Which brings me to the first question:

However, this is where Dharma comes in. A cessation of karma does not mean that the universe doesn't exist. A Buddha is a Buddha regardless of whether he is made of aggregates or not. Karma is conditioned existence, you are the way you are and you live the way you do because you were born this way and you have no control over your body or mind.

Click to shrink...

I am my body/mind, hence I have control over my body and mind. Every action/reaction inside me is me. External stimuli also effect me, but the majority of my actions are determined by me. The fact that I'm deterministic doesn't have any bearing on this (unless someone is capable of perfectly predicting me). The idea that something can escape:

Dharma is intrinsic existence- it is reality as it is. You then no longer live in accordance to the whims of that causality chain reaction, instead you assert the natural reality of things.

Click to shrink...

would require that you be perfectly isolated from reality, no? Without cause and effect interaction is impossible. And even then, the you that is isolated is still governed by it's internal cause and effect since you are an aggregate.

Unless I'm missing something, the only way for me to escape causality is to cease to be me. At which point all the remains is my history and it's effect on reality. Wait... is that what it's about? Would your karma/rebirth be that history and it's effect? And the goal be to... not have an effect?

If so (and I'm assuming I made a mistake in there somewhere), the question becomes why?

 

[AiSard]

@Numen Maybe its my Theravada background (not a particularly deep one mind) but a cessation of sentience, of suffering, sure sounds like an escape from the cycle to me. Sure, its on a technicality, you don't gain any of the other benefits of becoming arhat, but you do technically cease to be reborn and/or suffer.. Theravada Buddhism doesn't really concern itself with attaining something more than Nirvana, so it doesn't sound so bad? This is working from the definition of an almost entirely materialistic (robot) being whose sentience seems to be dislodged from the cycle due to how damaged it is.

Seems like Icchantika may have been used as a single catch-all for a bunch of different types of undesirables though, so not sure how fruitful deeper excursions in to this could really be.

As for critique on the story itself, I'm really enjoying the world-building, but I do feel like the character-level interaction leaves much to be desired. Half the characters come off as single-faceted and seem to be inserted bluntly into the narrative. They seem almost moralizing, in juxtaposition to the more complex interplay happening at the world-building level which is a shame.