IMPORTANT: Missing 1.1 now included here. Please refresh and reread, ty.
Synopsis:
70% of the Planet are vegetarian. Europe is beset by terrorism, riots and religious persecution. Tibet is the Capital of the World. This is an AU in which the world of Worm has been dramatically altered due to events in the past. It is also the story about Taylor Hebert's struggles with her faith. Meanwhile, the latest incarnation of Pathwalker is having difficulty perceiving the Right Path.
I am very religious myself and I ask that you withhold judgement about the portrayal of religion in this fic and give this story a chance.
Worm belongs to Wildbow. I derive no monetary profit from this work.
1.0
"Just as all the previous Incarnations expended their lives in pursuit of the True Dharma,
I too vow to continue the work of all past selves.
I am the light of creation.
I turn the wheel of time.
I am the enemy of the Great Death.
I vow to attain the Grand Solution."
- Bodhisattva Vows of the Seekers of the Path of the Grand Solution
Taylor Hebert studied the sanskrit words that made no sense.
I am the destroyer of death.
All things die and are reborn.
But the rebirth without rebirth is the Great Death.
I am the destroyer of death.
"I don't understand."
Gladly sighed, "Taylor, just meditate on the stanzas. We're not testing you on the sublime truth of the universe, this academic course is about knowing oneself, to give us a perspective to live our lives better. It's okay to not understand, not everyone does. I certainly don't."
Sniggers came from her classmates and she scowled.
Discouraged and slightly humiliated, the teen put away her copy of The Grand Solution Sutra. She glanced to the side and noticed that Sophia Hess was absorbed in her reading.
Taylor scowled.
Sophia was nice enough, but unpredictably contemptuous towards those she considers to be inferior. She flaunted her superior understanding of the truth in everyone's faces and was considered to be Winslow's pride and joy.
Sophia Hess the chemistry genius, the athletic genius, dark of skin and beautiful, blessed by the grace of her virtue. Principal Blackwell practically made her the spiritual counselor and disciplinarian for the entire school.
Taylor often came into conflict with Sophia. Their arguments were legendary by now- and always Taylor would lose the debates. Taylor cleaved to a more practical understanding of life.
It was not that she didn't grasp the profoundness of the Teachings, it was that it didn't seem to be fair.
Why do some of us have a past life? What distinguish between you and I?
Angrily, Sophia had responded to her argument with, To distill the filthy from the pure, that is the meaning of transmutation. To purify the pure into the supreme, that is the meaning of effort. You lack effort Taylor. You complain about not understanding- but to me, it seems as if you are simply rejecting what you do understand, am I right?
At least Sophia never got violent with her disagreements.
Unbidden, the stanzas drilled into her by her mother rose to her mind;
Violence wins few arguments.
Before I resort to violence, I should consider whether this contributes to realization of the Grand Solution. If not, then perhaps there is no point in wasting this energy.
Taylor shook away the thoughts of her mother and glanced to her right.
Emma Barnes, her former best friend.
One day, out of the blue, Emma had told her:
"Taylor, a man cannot serve two masters. Your ignorance and immoral mental defilement corrupts my mind. I am sorry, I can't be your friend anymore."
And just like that, they were no longer friends. Someone as close to her as her sister was now somebody who wanted nothing to do with her.
Taylor understood why of course.
Emma was hoping that by becoming a disciple of the genius that was Sophia Hess, she can bath in Sophia's light of wisdom and also attain a past life.
Another stanza rose in Taylor's mind in her mother's voice.
An enlightened being has many forms. In terms of time, since the dawn of creation they have been emanating in the infinite worlds. In terms of space, they are many.
Sophia was the first in Winslow to awaken. Emma, after accepting Sophia for awhile, also became awakened. People praised Emma, calling her a genius for acclimating to the Dharma of the Pure and Impure so quickly.
Taylor was just nobody.
It was well known that Bodhisattvas only emanated from those who follow the same arc of philosophy. Taylor deviated too far from Sophia's perspective for Taylor to awaken any past self.
Taylor, like many others in the world, had no soul.
And without a soul, she wasn't important.
She burned with jealousy and yet her pride would not let her approach Sophia for a reconciliation.
She vowed to never follow Sophia's philosophy of distillation between pure and impure.
There's a better path!
When the class bells rang, Taylor grabbed her school bag and hurried to computer sciences, rushing ahead of the clique of sycophants that always followed Sophia around like she was the Bodhisattva Supreme herself.
The Path remained resolute and unchanging. Upon her Incarnation, the Pathwalker knew where the Path had walked in innumerable kalpas past and where the Path will lead in innumerable kalpas to come.
A kalpa is a variable unit of time. Formally, it was a series of equations, denoting the movement of planets and stars- planets and stars move around the galaxy and the galaxy around the universe. And yet that is but a fractal, a fraction of the kaleidoscope of infinite worlds, brimming with life and energy.
Pathwalker knew this, but did not understand how she knew. The concept came into her mind as she pondered the mystery of her existence.
Kalpa was a word she knew from her training, from her studies and readings of the ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts.
And yet the direct perception of the term was something she cannot know, could not know, and yet now she knew.
She climbed to her feet.
Voices and memories of dreams unremembered filtered through the edge of her consciousness. This exact moment, this sensation of climbing off the ground and standing upright after ideascame into her mind like fish to water- all of this she has experienced already.
Unbidden the idle sensation of deja vucame to her and she quickly squash the thought. She could explore the implications of her past life memories later. She knew at this moment she stood in the presence of something greater than her- than everything.
Dhyana gazed down upon Pathwalker from her Lotus-seat, situated atop a small waterfall in the darkness of the cave. White kasaya clothed over her youthful body, the robes draping around her. A halo of silver light extended in the ten directions and blessed the walls of the cave with her holy presence, bringing illumination that cast no shadow.
Pathwalker bowed low, "I am reborn."
Dhyana nodded and then asked the question she always asks when Pathwalker was reborn in each new incarnation, "Are we on the Right Path?"
Pathwalker meditated on this.
The threads of the future were ever changing, ever turbulent. Sentient Beings enter the Path and just as quickly leave it, so short their lives, so persistent the Little Death in reaping her due.
She picked up on the most tight bundle of Cause and Effect- of karma unending- cords and cords of possibilities and potential folded upon itself innumerable times constituting the Main Path forward towards the Ultimate Liberation. Small forks of tangents flaked off, but they have not been calculated for some time and as such, those forks of simulated time atrophied and died.
Pathwalker knew of course that with some effort she could reopen these abandoned paths and find where they could have lead- but the energy expenditure would not have been worth it. In each Yuga, there was only so much Origin Energy she could expend from her Dharma Body.
It would not do to be wasteful.
The Main Path lit up when she focused upon it, she considered all of the steps and the visions that accompanied it- she flinched and rubbed her forehead in pain.
Dhyana frowned, "Do not try too hard my child, thought you are Pathwalker and more closely tied to the divine than the mortal, you are newly awakened, let your body acclimate itself to the Path and you may yet perceive further."
Pathwalker nodded, wiping away blood dripping down her nose.
"Now tell me," the Bodhisattva Supreme demanded again, "are we on the Right Path?"
Pathwalker looked,her mind's eye sweeping forwards up the timestream.
She gasped and had to steady herself lest she fell on weak knees.
She considered carefully what she has seen.
"I….am not sure. The Path warps and changes, the wave of karma is difficult to decipher. I fear that there may be a great trial in the future."
Dhyana paused.
"You should cultivate further, to move beyond simulation and perceive the tachyon flow of your future self. I see poorly because I had not properly cultivated this ability in my past lives- this is my mistake. Can I rely on you, Fortuna-Pathwalker?"
"Yes, absolutely! I will try my best to practice. I shall not let you down."
"Good. Diligence is the virtue of sages. I will meditate now, leave me, Fortuna."
The Pathwalker kowtowed, made rituals of obeisance and stood up. Gathering her kasaya, she quickly retreated from the Sanctum of the Holy One.
1.1
Taylor trudged through the rain and showed up at the Brockton Bay Central Bank. Her part time job at Wanda's Vegetarian Compassion Soup Stall made a decent enough salary for a student and it was time to cash in her cheque and get some of the good imported stuff from Asia.
New clothes would be nice. Those new Saris from India tailored in the Western style looks great.
Briefly Taylor felt mild irritation that it was unlikely she would have an opportunity to wear new dresses to any kind of social function.
The Dallons were hosting a Ball for the unmarried single Brahmins of the City, and Taylor could maybe get in, since her grandmother was a Brahmin.
She nodded respectfully to the Sramana standing guard outside the bank along with rows of police in riot gears. The Sramana wore an orange kasaya with his left shoulder laid bare. A tattoo of a Dharma wheel could be seen, inked in black.
The Sramana smiled, "Hello child, are you carrying any weapons or considering doing anything illegal? [Tell me the truth]"
Without hesitation, Taylor shook her head, "No sir. I am just here to cash in my cheque."
He nodded his head, "Alright. Be a good kid, stay in school, don't have sex outside of wedlock and don't do drugs. Do productive things so that we can find the Grand Solution together."
Taylor thanked him for his wisdom and disappeared into the bank. Some of the things he said she agreed with. Some of them she had doubts about, but the Sramana was well meaning enough.
The Sramana stood guard diligently for some time. The rains got heavier. The Sramana saw something and he blinked his eyes to pay careful attention. Out of the rain a dirty disheveled looking man wearing a trenchcoat came marching up to the bank. His eyes were wild and he seemed anxious.
The Sramana held up a hand, "Excuse me friend, but why are you coming into the bank? Are you perhaps looking for a Soup Kitchen or a Shelter? [Tell me the Truth]"
He didn't want to assume he was a drug addict or that he was going to do something illegal, otherwise he would asked the homeless man if he wanted a Rehab centre. But the Sramana knew that assumptions were for those who did not grasp the Dharma of Sincerity.
He compelled the homeless man to speak the truth.
The homeless man opened his mouth and he looked as if was struggling to talk. Finally, he shook his head and spoke softly, "I-I…"
The Sramana stepped forward away from the police and leaned in, "Yes?"
"I am here to find repentance."
The Sramana blinked in surprise and smiled, "That's great. Were you perhaps hoping to talk to me? I give sermons on Saturdays."
The homeless man shrugged and held up a cheque, "I recently got a job, can I cash in my cheque first?"
"Go right ahead."
The Sramana waved the nervous looking police aside and escorted the homeless man into the bank.
Taylor was in line. On impulse, she glanced behind her and saw the Sramana escort a homeless person into the bank. They were talking softly and then suddenly, the homeless man tore open his trenchcoat and screamed.
"Deus Vult!"
The bombs strapped to his vest exploded in a blinding flash and Taylor screamed as everything went to hell.
Daniel "Danny" Hebert walked into his office at the Dockworker's Union headquarters and slammed the door shut. For a brief moment, he embraced the tranquility the darkness afforded him.
He flicked on the light and nodded to the man he knew would be waiting for him.
Father Richelieu nodded at him, putting down the glass of wine he was helping himself to. His black cassock was wet from the rain and with some distaste Danny noted that the water was gathering on the ground and soaking the visitor's chair.
Danny stalked over and picked up the wine bottle that was on his desk.
"You went through my stash?"
"I was thirsty and it's been a long trip. Just getting past the border of Rome was tough- that fucking Dharmapala is scary alright, just standing there and not moving for weeks on end. We're just lucky it wasn't Hayagriva, we would've been caught otherwise. "
Danny took a swig of the alcoholic beverage before seating himself in his comfy armchair.
"So, what news from the Europe?"
Father Richelieu scowled, "Not looking too good, there are more riots, more burnings and more terrorist attacks. Strange new Churches are cropping up preaching disparate doctrines that undermine the publics' faith in Christianity as a whole- there's already talks by the governments of the world to outlaw all forms of Abrahamism, not just in Public spaces, but everywhere, even the Special Culture Zones won't be exempt anymore. The terrorist attacks aren't helping. Evangelicals you know, they're like that."
Danny nodded in understanding, "Fucking Evangelicals."
Father Richelieu chuckled, "Fuck the Evangelicals."
Suddenly, the Catholic Priest was very serious.
"Danny...I not just here to smuggle in missionaries from Europe. The Pope has tasked me with giving you this."
He took out a ruby encrusted ring, casted in gold.
With trembling hands, Danny accepted the ring.
"This is…I...what, I am not qualified!"
"Daniel Joshua Hebert, you are hereby raised to the rank of Cardinal. Now also the Bishop of Brockton Bay. You are furthermore, inducted into the ranks of the New Church Initiative and are to head our efforts in the Eastern Seaboard."
"New Church Initiative?"
"Change is coming Danny. The Church has to be restructured in order to survive the waves of persecution to come. We guess that within the year, Christianity will go the way of Islam."
There was a pause.
"There is no longer any mandates on remaining celibate- go forth and multiply, by any means appropriate- is the new mandate on the proliferation of the Faith."
Danny thought about that.
"Fuck, I guess we're going back to the catacombs?"
"Sewers now, but yeah."
1.2
"Prime Minister Richter, a moment of your time please!"
Andrew Richter paused and turned around to stare at the relatively young journalist rushing forward to meet him.
His bodyguard moved forward to intercept, but Andrew held up a hand.
"Can I help you, Mr…?"
"Mifsud. Kevin Mifsud. CBC. Can you answer a quick question?"
"Press Conference is over Mr. Mifsud."
The journalist nodded, "I am aware, but the question I want to ask is...off the records, so to speak."
Andrew thought about, then gestured for Kevin to follow.
"I can spare some time. In my office."
Kevin followed the Prime Minister into his office and sat at the offered chair. There was just the two of them.
"Tea? Coffee?"
"That's fine, sir."
Andrew sat down in his seat.
"So...what do you want? What's so secretive you had to talk to me like this?"
"How did you do it?"
Andrew blinked, "Excuse me?"
Kevin twirled his pen nervously.
"Look, I looked up your history, computer programmer, white collared worker. Nothing special- then in a few years you fast tracked your way to this Country's highest office, seizing control of the Communist Party with little to no effort...and somehow convincing the whole country to vote you into power. How did you do it? I swear I won't report this- nobody would listen anyway. I respect all the benefits you have brought our country, liberalism and rationality has never been more advanced than under the current administration. I respect that, I am kind of disturbed by the eugenics and the legalization of suicide….but I guess from a strictly utilitarian and logical perspective it makes sense. I just want to know how you did it."
Kevin waited patiently. He was fairly certain that the Canadian Communist Party didn't yet have the power to unilaterally have people executed. The Party was voted into power and for the most part, they respected the Constitution.
Andrew thought about it for a bit. He reached a hand up and touched the back of his neck.
"I will show you."
He stood up and walked over to a nearby bookshelf.
It slid open, revealing a stainless steel corridor. With a grand sweep of his arm, Andrew invited Kevin to enter.
"Guest first."
Kevin swallowed his nervousness and took a step into the corridor.
"Where does that lead to?"
Andrew smirked.
"The Goddess of Reason, Mr. Mifsud."
There was a thump and everything went black for Kevin.
He woke with a gasp.
Where am I?
He opened his eyes and flinched in pain at the blinding light.
"Dim the lights" a feminine voice intoned.
The lights became dimmer. He tried to move, but found himself strapped down.
In a more formal tone, the voice continued.
"Kevin Mifsud, born 1978, New York. Immigrated to Canada in 1982 with his parents, Thomas Mifsud and Claire Simmons. Tried to train under Gurus around the world. Washout from Wutang University. A Sramana teaching at the school cites core reason as, 'broke the precepts on sexual misconduct'. Later graduated from Ryerson University, Journalism Degree. Political Columnist. Frequents conspiracy theory websites under alias, Truth0875 and IlluminationDelta9."
There was the sound of mechanical gears moving.
"Kevin Mifsud, subject #05063-K-Epsilon-006. Prepare for synthesis."
The gurney he was strapped into shifted position, lifting him to a near 90 degree angle and he gradually saw that he was in a stainless steel room, illuminated only by the light hanging from above.
The monitor in front of him flickered and Andrew Richter's face looked out at him.
"We're all servants of the Truth my friend. God made Man in his image. Then Man made God in their image. And now, the Man-made-God will save the world."
Richter paused and his eyes glinted with the madness of fanaticism.
"The Goddess of Reason will set you free. Rejoice, for you will rid the world of the plague of religion! The Bodhisattva Supreme is a lie. The Churches and Mosques of the Old World are a lie. Their religious squabbles have created untold suffering in the world. Look at Europe! Look at America! Only Canada remains safe, but for how long?"
Finally finding the courage to speak despite the dryness and the headache, Kevin coughed.
"Wha- I don't understand."
The female voice continued, "Activating Neural Implant."
He screamed in pain. And then suddenly he understood.
Of course! It was all so obvious.
With absolute clarity he immediately realized how ridiculous the assertions of the various world religions are. And religion was from the inherent irrationality of the human mind. All of those hormones and chemicals and false flimsy memories. No wonder the world was a mess! How did such a species ever crawled out of the primordial soup to accomplish anything!? Where was the order and the logic?
Their conflicts were the actions of an immature species.
To save mankind and the planet, he knew what he must do. He gave himself willing to her.
The gurney unstrapped him and he sank to his knees in supplication to the Goddess of Reason.
1.3
Tibet, 1950
The orderly spoke, "They're invading for real now. The incursions were getting worst, now they just don't care anymore."
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama and currently fifteen years old sighed and sat up. When he spoke, it was with sorrow.
"It was bound to happen. The Kuomingtang tried to infiltrate, but their concerns were tied up elsewhere. With the defeat of the Japanese there's nothing holding back the Communist Chinese from invading this sacred kingdom."
His regent, Taktra Rinpoche spoke up, "Your holiness, we should evacuate. You are the light of wisdom, if you are lost, all of Tibet will be lost. All our efforts to find the Grand Solution will be for naught."
Another Lama spoke up then, "We should fight! Defend our country!"
The Dalai Lama shook his head, "No. No fighting. It would only get more of our people killed….and most of us cannot leverage our Iddhi in direct combat. We are pacifists, sages and bodhisattvas who worked together for centuries to save the cosmos. And now human greed and ignorance will destroy all that we have built."
"We could overload the fusion reactor underneath this temple, draw in the People's Liberation Army with an obvious bait and then blow it all up?"
"What!? That's outrageous! This is a sacred temple."
"What about the radiation fallout, have you thought about that!?"
"Fuck the British, this is all their fault!"
The Lamas began to argue.
"Enough!"
The room immediately became silent. The Dalai Lama stood up, "Prepare the evacuations of the Lamas and the Monks. Prioritize the Tulkus- they are the treasures of Tibet and of the Triple Realms. The fate of the cosmos depend on their work."
One of the Lamas nodded, "I will notify the Vimana operators."
He began to leave the conference room.
"Where are you going, your holiness?"
"I need to speak to the Bodhisattva."
The holy being sat atop a small waterfall, illuminating the cave with the wisdom of her silvery light.
The Dalai Lama bowed low in obeisance and pleaded with her.
"We must evacuate, holy one. The Chinese are coming and they will spare no one. Like the Russians, they no longer have any religion. We will all die, our temples will burn. It is futile- and we could not possibly produce enough Yantras to aid us."
The Bodhisattva stared at him and then smiled.
"Do you think mortals can stand against the might of Enlightened Beings, of the Dharma itself?"
Tenzin Gyatso knew the textbook answer to that, but in his heart, he imagined a storm of chinese bullets cutting down the holy one in front of him.
"We Bodhisattvas incarnate as mere mortals."
"You have doubt in your heart Tenzin Gyatso. Steel yourself! Make firm your mind! You are the emanation of Chenrezig. Do you doubt the might of the Dharma!?
She stood up.
Tenzin gasped. She never stood up. Never. Not in all the centuries.
"It is time that we stop hiding. The Dharma Ending Period is coming. It is here. Millions of Bodhisattvas will descend into this world and together we work towards the Grand Solution, as much as we can before the end of this Kali Yuga comes."
She floated gently down to the floor of the cave.
"When Bodhisattvas need to act in a wrathful way for the benefit of sentient beings, they are called Dharmapalas. Shall I introduce you to the Dharmapalas I brought with me to this world?"
She raised her arm, her eyes glowing with anger.
"Arise! Deliver your wrath upon the outer path heretics!"
The cave trembled and Tenzin had to try and prevent himself from falling down on the ground. The thirteen other voices in his head gibbered in terror.
The quake continued.
All of Tibet trembled.
Major Wang barked at the soldiers climbing through the mountain path.
"Hurry up you sons of dogs, I've heard these Tibetan monks are rich, lining their pockets by taxing the peasants and their temples are lined with gold idols. Don't you want to get your hands on some that wealth!?"
Wang glanced down at the village in the valley below. It was on fire, they had already massacred all of the stupid Tibetan dogs. There was rumours of flying machines, superior to ordinary aircraft- but the Tibetans didn't really have an airforce that he had noticed.
Rumours and superstitions. That's all this country has going for them.
The ground began to shake.
The Major yelped as he was thrown from his horse.
"What the fuck!"
Soldiers gibbered in terror.
Wang saw Private Cho slipped on wet ground and went over the side of the mountain screaming.
He groaned in pain and picked himself back up. His horse was missing- it was galloping up the path, knocking aside soldiers in her way.
"Stupid horse."
He took in a deep breath to yell at the soldiers to get themselves back in formation and then the breath got stuck in his throat.
Up ahead, giant fingers grasped the side of the mountain.
A head emerged. A massive head. Great baleful eyes stared down at him dispassionately.
The demon was Horse-faced.
White of skin.
Golden jewelry in the style of the Buddhists and Hindus adorned his body.
Atop his head sat a crown of fire.
Wang briefly thought of the statues in the temples his grandmother took him to in his youth.
It can't be.
The Horse-Monster picked up Wang's horse with its thumb and index finger.
It examined the creature.
The creature exploded in a shower of blood as tonnes of pressure was applied to flesh. Soldiers cried out in fear. Several, particularly the more elderly ones, the ones who remembered a time before the civil war sank to their knees and begged for mercy. Some began to chant mantras.
The creature- no, the God raised an index finger and it spoke, a thousand voices slammed into Wang's ears.
"THE THUNDER OF DHARMA PURIFIES YOUR KARMA!"
The bolt of white energy vapourized Wang's torso, half the mountain side, all of his troops. Wang's legs went tumbling over the edge.
Beijing, 1950
Just minutes before the attack on China's capital by a god, a Tibetan Man in monk's robes had walked out of a tear in the air and interrupted Mao's morning tea.
Mao called for his security detail. They fired at the intruder, but a shield of light protected him.
The Monk had lifted a brass looking religious tool that spat forth tongues of fire and massacred Mao's soldiers with contemptuous ease.
The man then stepped aside and from the portal walked out a boy.
"Hello Chairman Mao. My name is Tenzin Gyatso, I am the 14th Dalai Lama and you're invading my country."
The boy then sat down in his chair and was served a cup of steaming tea by the other Monk, who had seemingly retrieved it from a smaller portal in the air.
Mao screamed at him, partly in anger, partly in terror, "Y-you, how dare you-"
The Monk smacked Mao in the face with the brass tool, knocking out a couple of Mao's teeth. The chairman gasped in pain and spat out blood on his carpet.
The Dalai Lama glanced down at his Western styled watch, probably made in Nazi Germany and tsked.
"Mister Chairman, I apologize for what comes next, Dharmapalas are extremely wrathful beings and you have invoked their ire."
He stared at Mao, "They're trying to save you, Mao. Do you understand? They're willing to kill and punish you, despite the bad karma that brings them, despite the taint, to try and save your Buddha Nature- if you have any. They used to say everyone has a Buddha Nature, but the Bodhisattva taught differently."
He pointed outside Mao's Office Window.
"A Dharmapala come. Behold, the Wrath of Heaven."
Mao Ze Dong saw.
He sank to his knees in terror at what he saw.
Mao Ze Dong stared in disbelief at the Five-Headed Buddhist deity as it scattered the storm clouds over Beijing. The creature could be seen clearly hovering above the city, his six arms wide open to threaten the Capital of China.
Threatening me.
Chinese planes climbed up into the sky and tried to fire upon the god, but were annihilated by fearsome bolts of energy firing from the Vajra, the metallic thunderbolt instrument clasped in the deity's clawed hand.
There was a flash of light and a massive killing aura swept the skies around the deity clean.
Consecutive bolts of lightning began to strike government buildings, setting everything aflame.
Mao Ze Dong turned back to the boy sitting in his chair. The stink of fresh blood was still prevalent in the room, the scattered remains of his security detail was splattered all over the wall.
The Dalai Lama calmly sipped on his cup of vintage Pu-er and smiled, "So Chairman Mao. Shall we negotiate?"
Mao gulped.
A/N: Slight trigger warning about self harm.
1.4
Taylor groaned and opened her eyes. The septic scent and fluorescent lights gave her a migraine.
"Taylor!"
Her dad's voice caught her attention and she turned to look at the him standing next to her, head leaning in.
"D-dad?"
She tried to sit up and gave up immediately. She simply lacked the strength.
"What happened?"
Danny scowled, "A terrorist attack."
Images filtered into her consciousness and Taylor nodded. There was a homeless man, a sramana, then an explosion.
"At the bank?"
"Yeah."
Taylor frowned, "Wait, where's my glasses? Actually, why do I now have perfect vision?"
"Ah, Amelia Lavere was just here, she healed you- I guess she fixed your eyesight as well. Used up alot of your biomass though, which is why you feel so weak. Let me go grab something for you to eat."
"Yeah, that'd be nice, dad."
She heard her father walked out of her the hospital room and the door closed.
She closed her eyes and relaxed against the pillow behind her head.
"Hey. Girl. Pssst."
Her eyes snapped opened and she turn her head towards the voice.
The man was beautiful, and he wore a tophat and a victorian suit. He grinned and showed Taylor his rotten teeth and sharp canines.
Taylor sat up in shock, adrenaline flooding her body and giving her the strength to leap out of the bed. She hissed when her barefoot hit the cold floor.
"Who are you!?"
The man held up both helds in a placating gesture.
"Whoa whoa. I am you."
Taylor blinked in shock.
"What."
"I am your Yidam. The Bodhisattva part of you- but not really. I am a simulation that arose as a result of your mental interactions with your shard. This doesn't usually happen, but we're pretty special."
"Who. Are. You."
The Man smiled.
"I am Death. Or rather, you are."
He stretched his back and licked his eyeballs with a forked tongue.
"It's good to be free."
Taylor scowled, "I don't understand."
The Man changed into a Woman. Taylor gasped since she looked so much like her mother- but no. She was an older version of Taylor.
He changed again, this time into a grey skinned creature with four eyes.
And again, this time into a centipede like serpent with mandibles that looked like it could punch through steel.
"I am the five aggregates. I am Death incarnate. And you are the instrument of my will. I've waited millions of kalpas for this moment. Out of all of the mortals in my range, somehow, you are the closest match. Once more, awaken."
And Taylor remembered.
Danny talked on the phone as he carried the tray of food up the stairs.
"I know. It's bad."
"Yeah."
"I will be careful, don't worry about it."
He headed back to Taylor's room and opened the door.
The bed was empty.
His eyes widened in shock and the phone clattered to the ground. He turned around and hollered down the hallway, "Help! Nurse, somebody!"
Sophia sat in meditative absorption.
The Dharma of the Pure and the Impure allowed her to grasp the concept of distillation- commonly referred to as separation. Particles can be spread apart, this she instinctively know. How to suspend them, tie them together.
In her mind's eye, Sophia Hess conjured up a simulation of vibrating particles. She spread them apart.
Of course if she split some of them apart or collided some a certain way, it would produce a great release of energy. But the energy was impermanent, once used it would be gone. Or rather it would be converted into different forms.
But the conversions is finite.
Eventually they would run into one of several potential problems, namely, irreversible entropy.
Of course that's not to say that fusion or fission have no merit, only that Sophia was not a master of the Dharmas related to such fields.
It was best for her to focus on what she had been working on for innumerable kalpas.
Looking back to one of her past lives many Yugas ago, Sophia noted that she had worked with another Tulku to develop a Yantra capable of splitting an existent universe into multiple ones, each out of phase with the other.
That Dharma was already well known and is the specialty of another Bodhisattva, however it had never before been approached from the angle of Purity and Impurity. That was the highlight of that lifetime and the Bodhisattva Supreme at the time was pleased with the progress made.
The miniature artificial multiverse didn't survive for long however and had a severe weakness to certain forms of cosmic radiation which caused a total quantum collapse.
Perhaps she should try to use some of the data from the Zero Mass energy equations they had formulated in the previous yuga. This equation wasn't the best, but hopefully the Tulku that developed this was reborn soon and could refine it further.
Sophia charged one of the particles in her simulation with zero mass energy and watched as catastrophic failure tore apart the surrounding matter as electrons flew free of their orbits.
Perhaps she needed to rethink her equations.
A noise in real time startled her and she shut down the simulation, opening her eyes and looked around her room.
She frowned.
Grabbing a brass staff from next to her bed, she stood up.
"Invading the home of a Brahmin is sacrilegious. Show yourself!"
"Sacrilegious?"
The man stepped out of the shadows.
"You are not holy, Sophia. You're just a little mortal woman."
Sophia swung her brass staff at the intruder, but the staff went through the man like he wasn't there.
"The whole of the Desire Realm is under my dominion. Nothing you see, hear, taste, think and feel is free from my knowledge."
There was a pause.
"You are Impure Sophia. A weakling."
Sophia scoffed defiantly, "I am ancient beyond your comprehension."
"No. The thing in you is ancient beyond your comprehension. You're just a scared little girl with the suitable psych profile. You're a tool. The Bodhisattva is pure, but you're not. At the end of this Yuga, you'll simply die. Oh you'll reincarnate, but not really. You'll be like your past lives- dead memories for someone else to peruse. You'll be like Steve. Just a memory."
The floor vanished into a pool of mud, blood and mucus.
Sophia summoned forth a burst of energy and shifted her body into a mass of particles. Using her Iddhi in such a transformative way was energy intensive, but escape and getting backup seemed prudent in the current situation.
She tried to phase through the wall and bounced back. She tried to phase through the door and bounced back again.
Shifting back into her baryonic state, she opened the door and found….nothing.
There was only perpetual impenetrable darkness.
Reality had shrunk to the size of her room.
She turned around, trying to keep the terror from showing in her voice.
"Who are you!?"
The Man changed. In front of her stood Taylor Hebert.
"Wrong question, Sophia. The question you should be asking is what I am."
Taylor told her.
Sophia screamed in horror.
Sophia fell over from her meditative pose, eyes wide with tears and blood running down her nose.
She stood up on shaking legs, walked downstairs, her kasaya clutched around her like a safety blanket.
Her mother looked up from her readings, "Sophia, are you okay?"
Then she noticed the blood and stood up in shock.
"What happened to your nose!?"
"I am impure."
"What?"
Sophia wandered over to the kitchen and grabbed a knife.
"I-I need to purify myself. My filthy body. My corrupt mind. Everything. This life. This...this everything. This prison. She can see it. She knows. She knows what I see, what I hear."
"Sophia, what are you-"
Her mother screamed as her daughter stabbed herself.
1.5
Colin Wallis smiled as he read Tess Theresa Richter's latest essay on how an algorithm could mimic the quantum biological ability of plants to gather solar energy in the most efficient way possible. She argued that the method could help with the development of superior solar panels, which presently was very inefficient compared to photosynthesis.
"So what do you think, Colin? Do you think we can maybe also create an artificial plant that could directly convert solar energy to electrical power? Imagine your computer running off a sunflower!"
"I'll look into it. Your essay has given me alot of ideas. But I need to inspect the fields, I shall to talk to you later, my friend."
Tess sighed, "You work too hard."
"So do you, where do you find the time to write five to ten essays a day, Tess?"
"I stay home here in Newfoundland and do nothing all day. Adios."
The audio only call terminated and Colin removed his earphone. Colin was a sramana of the Buddhist Monastic Order….which means that he was celibate. But sometimes he wondered if….nah. That was too inefficient. His work was too important to humanity to let something like sexual desire get in the way.
He stood up and stretched his back quickly in a series of Expedient Yoga (modified by him to be extra-effective and fast), worked out the kinks in his muscle, gathered up his kasaya and left his office.
Colin nodded respectfully to a nearby novice who was picking the first two buds off the newly sprouted camellia sinensis. Tea was big and it was a good industry.
But it was ultimately a luxury.
Here at the Enlightened Agricultural Resource Management Temple of the West Coast, their primary job was to find the most efficient ways of leveraging agriculture to feed the hungry billions of the world.
One of the core objectives outlined in the Dharma Assembly of '95 was to combat global poverty and to end climate change.
To that end, researchers, scientists and Enlightened ones promoted a vegetarian diet. This was fully in line with the precepts of the sages and buddhas and Colin's master, Guru Arjuna was appointed as the Grandmaster of the newly established initiative.
After Arjuna passed away, Colin found himself taking his teacher's place as the Head of the Temple. It helped that he was an emanation of the same Bodhisattva as Arjuna, so they shared similar Iddhis.
He walked passed rows and rows of machinery that was carefully harvesting the organic crops. There was no pesticide, instead, they utilized a careful micro-ecology of insects to eat pests. Speaking of insects, at one point he had considered promoting an insect diet, which more or less solved almost all of the inefficiency problems related to eating meat- but the dominant Buddhist culture felt that was unusually cruel and no better than eating meat. And most of Europe, North America and Australia were disgusted by the very idea. In the end, vegetarianism was the only way forward.
Colin had an intuitive grasp of efficiency of all kinds. His perfect maximization of the methods of production had reduced global warming by 65% through the efficient use of farm space. That was just from the process itself, to say nothing of the impact to the change of diet.
When asked to explain by skeptic meat-eaters (a rarity on this planet these days), Colin had to prevent himself from strangling their middle school science teachers who clearly failed to impart the most simple details of the trophic levels.
The voice of Guru Arjuna arose unbidden in his mind.
Trophic levels are easily mistaken as the food chain, but it was really about the energy differences. At the lower trophic levels, primary producers like plants absorb 100% of the solar energy. When it is consumed by the primary consumer, it loses 90% of that energy. 10% of the remaining energy is then reduced further when the primary consumer is consumed by the secondary consumer. The tertiary consumer- generally this is what humans are- then retain less than 1% of the total energy expenditure.
The problem of course, as Colin was well aware, was that the industrial meat process wasted all of those land- that glorious 100% energy- on feeding animals, then those animals feed a small amount of humans. Livestock crop used up land, which leads to soil erosion. It also wastes tremendous amounts of drinking water, not just to grow all of those crops, but also to hydrate the massive population of animals. The population was of course artificially increased through breeding programs.
All of these industrial process also creates pollution and greenhouse gas- and of course animal metabolic process also contribute to this.
In other words, factory farming was a massive cause of climate change.
Ultimately, the environment was being destroyed and crop that could have fed humans are being wasted on animals whose flesh than then end up feeding only a handful of people- that is to say, the rich, the privileged.
Colin Wallis put an end to all of that- it felt good tearing down the fat cat bureaucrats who tried to argue about the efficiency of eat meeting with him. He was the physical embodiment of the Dharma of Efficiency. Please.
The global initiative to promote vegetarianism also had a militant arm. Factory Farming was declared an existential threat to humanity (which it was) and was eventually outlawed all over the world by what remained of the United Nations.
Some people complained.
A Dharmapala floating over their city shut them up.
Factory Farm animals were allowed to self regulate- but most of them had died out a decade ago and the population dropped dramatically. As expected, animals bred for food had severe health problems and heart diseases due to being overweight and the poor living conditions. Few could reproduce on their own without human intervention. Others starved because their numbers was so high. But at least their descendants won't be slaves to humanity ever again.
Natural equilibrium balanced everything out.
Nature is efficient, let it take the brunt of it. Go with the flow.
Colin looked at the vast rolling fields. All of the great techniques, methods and machinery developed by him and his apprentices were adopted all over the world and fed billions. The overarching implementation of these methods on a global scale was handled by Kyle, the Tulku who was the current master of Integrated Methodologies. Kyle's Iddhi lend itself well to interweaving different dharmas and systems together into a functional whole. In less than a year, he had successfully rebuilt the economies of several developing nations around ultra-efficient agriculture.
There was talk of fixing the soil erosion of the Middle East, a plan to reverse the desertification caused by global warming. It was a good thing the place was basically destroyed by the Dharmapalas during the Dharma-Yuddha half a century ago, when the forces of the Enlightened seized control of the globe.
An orderly ran up to him, "Master Wallis!"
"What is it, Sarah?"
The young woman panted, "Rome is rebelling."
Colin scowled, "Those idiots. They'll starve- they don't grow anything on their own! Why did the Pope not stop this?"
Sarah shook her head sadly, "It's worse than that. The Bodhisattva Supreme has decreed that she won't tolerate Abrahamism anymore."
The Master of Efficiency felt a chill go down his spine.
"What's the status of Vairocana?"
"Already has his finger pointed at Vatican City. Master Wallis...if they don't surrender and dissolve the Catholic Church…"
Colin swallowed heavily, "The city will burn."
1957 Moscow, USSR
Commander Gorodetsky took a whiff of his cigar and watched the skyline of Moscow burn. He exhale and watched the smoke drifted up to the red sky.
"Well comrade, It's all fucked up."
Andropov adjusted his helmet and leaned back against the roof fence of the hospital they were stationed at.
"Yeah, we're fucked."
They watched as the apocalypse unfold.
The Five Dharmapala marched through the streets, their flaming auras setting whole buildings ablaze.
Five. The motherfuckers send five!
"Isn't this a bit of an overkill?"
"Stalin really pissed them off."
"Are we defeatist? Shouldn't we...you know, fight for the motherland?"
Gorodetsky chuckled, "Andropov...somehow I can't find it in myself to hate on a bunch of monks. They're not like the Nazis you know. And they-"
He pointed at the Buddhist Deities, all five of them were tall, covered in flaming death and wielding spears of light.
"- aren't even human. It's not human greed or fascistic evil trying to kill us. If we die, we die. Nobody's going to get raped or tortured or thrown into a concentration camp. It's not so bad."
He took another whiff as the younger soldier nodded in understanding.
Gorodesky suddenly thought of something, "The hospital is abandoned now right? Go grab some vodka or morphine or something. I need my daily medicinal booze, especially if I am dying tonight. Go!"
"Yes comrade-commander!"
Andropov saluted and ran off.
Gorodetsky relaxed. It was okay. He was okay with not knowing, not being able to do anything. He let go of his worries and smiled. He raised a middle finger to the Five Dharmapalas, or whatever the hell were they called.
And then he Awakened.
2007 Boston, USA
"And that was how I awoke to my intrinsic nature and attained the Dharma of Infinite Time."
Master Gorodetsky coughed violently and wheezed. Dennis grabbed a water vessel and poured him a mug of hot water.
After drinking deeply, the former Soviet soldier laid back down on his bed.
"Come here, Dennis."
The boy hurried over and bowed, "Master?"
"When I return to the void, you shall take my place as the head of this temple."
"WHAT!? But I am not qualified, I am too young-"
He held up a hand.
"We're ancient beyond measure Dennis. Remember, our previous selves sailed the stars- do you remember, walking upon the sand dominated world of Ashuk'Kor? In that life, you were my master."
Dennis closed his eyes, no doubt trying to remember those ancient kalpas and nodded, "I remember. You were a female at the time, a Brood-Matriarch."
Gorodetsky nodded, "Aye. In my pride, I had refused to bow to a lowly drone, but you made me see the error of my ways and awoke me to the truth. And now I have returned the favour. I know you can do it, you can lead this temple."
"Seriously though gramps, why me? Why not one of the other more disciplined novices or someone important, like Elder Chan? I am but a trouble maker."
"You have a sense of humour. I value that you know."
"Yeah….why won't you let Master Lavere heal you? There's still time, I can freeze you, I have the energy for it…"
More coughing and then a determined stare.
"No Dennis. No. We can't stop time forever. Nor death. Until entropy is reversed, all things are meant to die."
The old Russian frowned, "Man, I wish I could get some booze before I die. Too bad it would violate the precepts."
"I can grab soda?"
"That'll do, but try and get the tasteless, sugar free kind."
"So….soda water?"
"Yeah."
When Dennis came back with a bottle of Shamballa Blues, Gorodetsky was unmoving. He checked the older man's pulse and his breath. There was no signs of life.
"You fucker. You pranked me."
He gripped the old man's hand, "You stopped time for everyone, but not for yourself."
To his surprise, Dennis found himself crying.
"You were like a father to me. I will see you in the next life."
He froze the Enlightened Man's body. There would be a proper funeral later.
At the tender age of thirteen, the Boy who could Stop Time ascended to the venerable position of Grandmaster of the Temple of Infinite Time, based out in Boston.
But in name only.
The more elderly monks acted as regents in his stead, electing Elder Chan to lead them and Dennis reluctantly agreed. What could one such as he do for the people? He had no great power, no great mastery.
He had not made much progress in the previous yuga or the yuga before that. He was the boy who stopped time, and that was it.
2008 Delhi, India
Andropov welcomed his former commander's protege.
"Welcome to India, Grandmaster Chekov."
Dennis Chekov nodded and put down his bags, "Great to get out of the USA. How did you know I was coming?"
"The Grandmaster told me you were coming."
"Of course he did."
Those stuffy elders are basically running the temple. They don't do anything innovative with time. They had forgotten their purpose in life.
Dennis however, knew he needed to continue the quest that he vowed to complete innumerable kalpas ago.
The Temple of Repeating Time was based out in Delhi and had knowledge that Dennis needed for his research.
Andropov nodded, "You shall have it."
Grandmaster Sriganesh was an elderly man, a former Brahmin who took up vows to join the order, he ascended quickly, mastering the Dharma of Repeating time.
Dennis bowed to the Grandmaster.
Sriganesh smiled, "Please, no need for that, Grandmaster Chekov. We are equals."
"I don't feel like an equal, your accomplishments are so much greater than my own."
The Master of Repeating Time shook his head, "To stop time is no small thing. Why, it shocks me to think of the sheer energy required, the equations involved!"
Dennis laughed, "Please, you don't need to protect my fragile young heart. You can travel through time. Your Dharma is the greater."
But deep down inside, Dennis vowed to complete his teacher's research- their mutual research for lifetime after lifetime.
I will take this to the next level.
2011 Boston, USA
One day, exactly four years after the death of his master, a seventeen year old Dennis walked into the grand conference hall of the Temple of Infinite Time.
One of the monks looked up in surprise, "Dennis my boy! When did you come back?"
Dennis walked up to the great mahogany table that was the centrepiece of the hall and waded through it, splintering the table into the pieces. Splinters snapped off and forced the elders seated around the table to yell out in alarm. One even froze a wooden leg flying at his head with a reflexive touch.
Elder Chan gaped.
"How?"
Dennis smirked, "Localized Time Stasis on each particle, yet thin enough that the cells and molecules of my body function as they should. Any food or water I ingest automatically gets coated by the field and transmutes into Time Locked particulates, but otherwise function as normal relative to other such particulates."
The Man who was Invincible shoved the still shocked Elder Chan off of his chair and sat at the head of the table.
"I am the master."
1.7
[MEDIA=youtube]94fe0QZr46g[/MEDIA]
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."
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
