Re: Digest Number 1551

From: nichughes2001 <nick.hughes_at_...>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 22:35:28 -0000

wrote:
> Friends,
>
>
> >My current plan to square this circle is inspired
> >by the strong
> >emphasis on the Sangha in Buddhism. In Glorantha
> >communities have
> >real (magical) power which would aid their members.
> >My intention is
> >to have guardian entities for
> >schools/monastaries/ashrams through
> >which ordinary followers of the mystic path have
> >access to at least
> >some powers suitable for aiding them on the path.
> >As the communities
> >may be both large and steeped in history some of
> >these guardian
> >entities could be pretty potent. At a higher level
> >of progress
> >members would be able to establish a relationship
> >with higher
> >guardians of entire philosophies rather than just
> >individual schools.
>
> Not bad. But the powers learned are not Mystical. They are Feats,
spells and so on.
> Oh yea, the powers you learn resist your Mystical learning,t oo.
>

Agreed, the powers 'learned' are those of the guardian. Borrowing liberally from some RL practices I was planning to have some of those guardians be otherworld entities that had themselves decided to follow the mystic path in question and so were acting as patrons to their fellow seekers of Truth. These powers at least I was not viewing as actively harmful to progress on the path to enlightenment, not unless the practitioner became overly attached to them anyway.

As a practitioner progressed they would naturally leave the lesser teachers/patrons behind and associate themselves with those that represented deeper understanding - the bodhisattvas or equivalent entities. Of course even these could be a hindrance eventually but as beings on the treshold of full enlightenment themselves this hindrance would only apply right at the end.

--
Nic (throwing ideas around to see how many stick)