fandomhigh | Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

When the students arrived in the Danger Shop today, they would find the desks abandoned in favor of large meditation garden, Ghanima already sitting in an ānāpānasati stance with her eyes closed, a stack of handouts beside her.

"Good morning, class," she said, blue-on-blue eyes flickering open as the last person took a seat. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Today we study Buddhism."

"Buddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, who lived in and around the Indian sub-continent. Adherents recognize the Buddha as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. However, Buddhist schools disagree over the historical teachings of the Buddha, and on the importance and canonicity of various scriptures," she said, standing to pass out the handouts.

"Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada, "The School of the Elders", and Mahayana, "The Great Vehicle". Theravada, the oldest surviving, has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, whilst Mahayana, which is found throughout East Asia, includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tendai and Shinnyo-en . In some classifications, a third branch, Vajrayana, is recognized, although many see this as an offshoot of the Mahayana. Other movements have appeared in recent times, sometimes classified as Buddhist modernism."

"While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world at between 230 million and 500 million. As the foundation of all Buddhist practice is ethical conduct and altruism, the appeal is not limited to the countries where it started," she explained. "Further practices can vary widely, but may include renunciation, meditation, the cultivation of mindfulness and wisdom, the study of scriptures, physical exercises, devotion and ceremonies, or the invocation of bodhisattvas."

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"It can," Elena said, frowning slightly at how sad the other girl seemed. "But it's human. We want, we feel, we need. Pretending you can turn that off ... just leads to denial. I think the rules take it too far. Getting out of bed, you might step on your roommate's laptop, and crack the screen. That would suck. But the answer isn't to never get out of bed. It's to check the floor first."

"Where I come from, the people have turned off all desire," Raven said. "When I came here, I resented that, but now I am learning to understand better."

"My roommate says the same thing," she said, offering a wry smile. "That his people don't believe in emotions, and so on. I know someone else like that. I ... can't really speak for my roommate, but the other person ... I'm not sure he even knows how unhappy he is. He might be resigned to it."

Which was downright heartbreaking, when she thought about it. Which was, sadly, a fairly frequent occurrence.

"I thought perhaps I could learn emotions here," Raven said softly. "But I have done more harm than good. I have hurt others because of my own desires."

"How badly?" Elena asked, her voice gentle. "Is anyone dead? Is there anything that can't be undone?"

"No one has died, thank Azar," Raven said. "And...they are no longer affected. But it was not without damage."

"There always is," Elena said. "It sounds really trite to go, 'people make mistakes,' but ... it's also true. Sometimes really horrible ones, that have fucked up consequences for people you care about. That doesn't make it okay, that never makes it right, it just means it happens. You forgive yourself, you learn, you move on."

Okay, she was still working on that last point.

... a lot.

Raven nodded slowly. "I think it will take me some time to forgive myself," she said. "I did not mean to cause any harm, but I did, and I cannot undo it."

Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths

Re: Discussion Two: The Four Noble Truths