The Way, A Journey To Enlightenment

[Ithric 70]

The wet sound of quill meeting ink resounds throughout the compact, stone room as the scholar prepares his plume. The wordsmith is of your average breed, a white beard hanging from his chin and dusky, blue and gray robes cling to his quivering form. As his hand approaches the book, his bones quiver from the deep chill that flows throughout the hold, his eyes shutting tightly. When the chill passes, his hand grips the cover of the ruddy, leather book cover; it reads The Way in deep blue letters, a golden trim caressing the sides of the elegant handwriting. His slightly wrinkled sets the cover aside, blank parchment greeting his dry eyes. The philosopher’s quill approaches the parchment,

a deep breath is taken, and black, creative lifeblood is spilled on the canvas of the mind.

The Way

Foreword:

Within the confines of this book lie Enlightenment, and the ways of obtaining such as revealed to Ithric, first Inquisitor of The Way through Cithric the Enlightened. But before these bountiful gifts are given, we must analyze what The Way truly is. You may ask yourself, what is Enlightenment? Do I need it? Do I want it? Do I even deserve it? And the simple answer to these questions is the fact there is no simple answer. The notion of Enlightenment is far from a simple one, it is the most complex and most troublesome question since “What is life?” But do not fret, young follower of The Way. You are not alone in your question-riddled mind, and you will certainly not be the last to lack understanding. The Way shall help you learn of what Enlightenment truly is, and perhaps even this book will shed some light on the subject for what is a goal if you do not at least have some idea of what it is? Enlightenment is the destination of The Way, the goal of life, and the purpose of man. It is why intelligent life was given reason and intellect. Enlightenment is achieved when one’s soul reaches a state of purity, and becomes one with the universe. It is the perfect peace.

Chapter 1: The Five Tenets of the Soul

The Five Tenets of the Soul, or the Pillars of Piety as some have called them, are hallmarks of The Way that all followers must obey if they are to remain on the path of righteousness and not stray into routes of chaos and corruption. The Five Tenets are Justice, Charity, Humility, Trust, and Retribution. Know these well for they shall be your moral compass for the remainder of your journey to Enlightenment. But perhaps we getting ahead of ourselves, we must first analyze what these tenets truly mean before we can use them to guide us in our deliberation.

Justice:

Justice does not have to be carried out through courts and laws, but can be done through your everyday actions and your desire to do good. Let us inspect a simple scenario and see how Justice applies to us all, even those who do not enforce the law. A ragged man steals several apples from a cart of dozens. He appears sickly and emaciated, the outlines of his bones clearly visible and his teeth yellowed from rot. The man obviously does not have much in terms of wealth, nor does he appear well fed. Now you may think that the apple farmer will not miss those apples, and this man is clearly starving so you should let him go without a word. This is quite wrong, and a strict violation of justice for taking what does not belong to you is not how intelligent beings act, it is how animals act. But should you call for the lawmakers and their prisons? The answer again, is no. You must take this matter in your own hands and make the man give the apples back. Although seemingly cruel, this scenario easily leads us into the next Hallmark, Charity but before we finish discussing Justice remember that nobody, not the law makers, not the poor, and the not the clergy are above the Laws of Intelligent Beings. Those shall be revealed later on.

Charity:

Charity is a fascinating pillar of the Way in the fact that it is often easy and highly neglected by those that it is easiest for. Let us return to your scenario with the apple thief and say that the tenet of Justice has been fulfilled and he has been forced to return the apples, but the authorities were not notified. Now this man will surely starve and this is partially due to the fact the tenet of Justice was carried out. The Tenet of Charity is what will prolong this man’s life, for to live a life dedicated to Enlightenment, you must be charitable with your good fortune and aid others in their journey as well. A moral being, a being whom follows the tenets, a being whom seeks Enlightenment must give this man a small sum of money, some food, and some drink so that he may continue to live. This similar treatment must be given to all of your fellow intelligent beings, even if you have very little for if one’s needs are satisfied, they will not violate the law in attempted to satisfy them. You preserve one’s soul when you practice charity, remember this.

Humility:

Humility is a unique pillar for it deals strictly with one’s self. The question often arises, “Why must I be humble to seek Enlightenment? Surely I should be proud of my achievements and abilities!” and at times you should be proud of the work you have accomplished, but a mind consumed by pride is one that has strayed from The Way. The answer to this question is that you cannot learn anything unless you admit you know nothing, and that fact is quite evident in The Way. To seek Enlightenment, you cannot believe that you are Enlightened, for if you were then you would not be seeking it and if you do not admit you know nothing, then how can you learn? The answer is you cannot. This is why those dedicated to The Way must make a Confession of Ignorance to admit to their lack of knowledge. Only then can one’s journey truly begin.

Trust:

Trust is by far one of the most difficult pillars to practice, for it requires the cooperation of two, or more, souls to fully achieve. Living a life of paranoia and hatred of your fellow beings is not one that will lead you to Enlightenment, in fact it will stray you from the path, turn your soul wicked, and cause you to stray others away from their journey. This is clearly an unacceptable outcome, and therefore you must trust your brothers and sisters. This is obviously a difficult concept for many, trusting strangers is often far from wise but the correct application of trust will earn the trust of others. With this trust doors shall open for other moral deeds, and vices such as animosity will disperse.

Retribution:

The final Tenet of The Soul, and perhaps one of the greatest, is Retribution. One may think this to be getting revenge or forcing others to atone for their crimes but that is not what this tenet is about. This tenet fits into the life of a follower of The Way through his or her drive to make penance for their mistakes and imperfections. Retribution is giving back what you, yourself took from the world through your vices and immoral deeds. For every transgression you carry out, you must atone for this with more than simply asking for forgiveness, for actions often do speak louder than words. Now let us return to the apple thief scenario. After the tenets of Justice and Charity are carried out accordingly with this thief, Retribution must also be carried out. A follower of the Way should ask that he repay his villainous apple thieving through a moral deed, whatever that may be. Of course if he refuses, then one must be convincing. Never forget about your fellow man, orc, dwarf, or elf for they too must be stopped from straying away from The Way and not only yourself.

[Knox213 10]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.