J�rg & Nick Hughes:
>
>>So this makes a good mystic a failed one?
>>
>
>
> Only if you insist that by not becoming fully enlightened they are a
> failure. By which measure almost all RL followers of 'mystic'
> philosophies would be failures - a harsh judgement that largely
> misses the point.
Indeed, one could say that "failed" mystics could very well
be successful non-mystics, i.e. practicing a perfectly valid
and true Gloranthan religion that just isn't mystic.
>>Basically, this makes me wonder whether a mystic may experience
>>failures to refute distractions or seductions, or whether this
>
> means
>
>>once failed, never transcendent? Is mysticism forgiving?
>>
>
>
> Most followers of mystic paths in Glorantha also appear to believe
> in reincarnation in one way or another. Although I do not think we
> have seen canon confirmation for every such philosophy I think we
> can work on the assumption that being good (i.e. following the
> moral/ethical code to the best of your ability) will usually result
> in a favourable rebirth that will help on the path to enlightenment.
>
> In the context of which a do-or-die dash for instant enlightenment
> in this lifetime would be regarded as doomed to failure by many (if
> not most) philosophies as at the least it indicates a harmful
> attachment to enlightenment itself. .
I think it also a question of how far along the mystic path
you have come and how big the fall is. A moderately advanced
practitioner who fails once to stay on his prescribed diet
might be able to restart from zero in this (or the next) life,
whereas the almost Liberated mystic who uses a forbidden
power may fail utterly and irrevocably and end up in some
hell that cannot be escaped from.
Nils Weinander
We sail on a ship made of dreams