Re: Draenic Discourses on the Inner Light (Updated 25-7-2013 with: "The Army of Light Marches On")

by **Lexgrad** Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:19 pm

I wrote a good post here but it didnt save! QQ

Will find you in game later tho, but I love this latest post. Gives the faith a long term goal, everything is for bettering our chances in the final battle.

Can give you advise for training warriors to fight with an empty mind too.

by **Thelos** Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:56 am

Lexgrad wrote:
Can give you advise for training warriors to fight with an empty mind too.

I dont think Thelos is going to be training any warriors. In case you haven't noticed, he's the more peaceful type, fighting the war against the Legion on the spiritual front. Steeling his allies' hearts to their corrupt influences, that is his front, his battlefield. I wrote the last post chiefly because I felt like I needed to write something about possible motivation and justification for Draenei military type roleplayers and Vindicators. I just did not want to give off the impression that Draenei are somehow pacifcist wimps that have no business being warriors and paladins.

by **Morgaan** Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:29 pm

Well just give me enough time to level and you will have a Veteran Vindicator Smile

by **Thelos** Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:35 pm

I'm looking forward to it Smile

by **erwtenpeller** Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:49 pm

Thelos wrote:I dont think Thelos is going to be training any warriors.

Vrachos might. Wink

by **Seranita** Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:32 pm

ohh some interesting story lines and plots on the horison i see..

by **Lexgrad** Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:58 pm

Thelos wrote:
Lexgrad wrote:
Can give you advise for training warriors to fight with an empty mind too.

I just did not want to give off the impression that Draenei are somehow pacifcist wimps that have no business being warriors and paladins.

No need, Blizz do that quite well.

by **Thelos** Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:56 am

[OOC] Hymns

I have been doubting whether it would be a good idea to share some of the hymns I adapted to be suitable for usage in World of Warcraft roleplay, since I really have precious little insightful to say about them. They’re simply here to be beautiful and mysterious and invoke a certain religious awe in the hearers. I have very purposefully chosen to make the tone of these hymns very submissive in nature. As an Anethonian would say, the essence of Faith is to subdue oneself to a higher, sublime authority. I have always figured that these hymns would have been written in the earlier stages of Draenei religious developments, when the Draenei were very much still more Eredun than Draenei. and very aware of the sins of their brethren. Having been freshly redeemed by the Naaru, it would make sense for the Draenei to express their religious awe trough strong language of submission to their saviors.

These two hymns are here to offer a voice quite distinct from the usual overly rational dialogue our characters have over the nature of the Light. Too often, I feel, we talk as theologians, rather than priests. These hymns praise the Light unconditionally in a highly irrational and humbling fashion. That might seem off putting, but I find great beauty in this sort of religious submission. Just try to enjoy these and take as they are.

I am a mass of sin;
Thou art all purity;
Yet thou must take me as I am
And bear my load for me.

No deeds I've done nor thoughts I've thought;
Save as thy servant, I am nought.

Guard me, O Light, and O, control
The tumult of my restless soul.

Ah, do not, do not cast upon me
The guilt of mine iniquity.

My countless sins, I say
Upon thy loving heart I lay.

Thy greatness none can comprehend;
All dumb us Eredari are.
Forspent the powers of mortal mind;
They cannot climb so far.
How can I compass the brilliant Light;
that illumes both sun and star?

A thousand servant's tongues
Cannot tell all they praise;
Then how, poor I? Thy children, we
Guardians of loving ways!
Within the shadow of thy grace
Ah, hide me, the mortal says.

by **Thelos** Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:02 am

[OOC] An in depth look at the different named Naaru.

I was requested to compile a list of all the relevant Naaru and their traits. Sadly, this is not an easy task. In the first case this is because the Naaru do not really have many discernible traits that make them unique from other Naaru. That might be why most of the time during dialogue Draenei will simply remark “By the Naaru!” or “The Naaru have not forgotten us”, rather than to name a specific Naaru. There are several examples to the otherwise homogeneity of the Naaru I feel I need to address, though, and I shall do so here. I will treat who I consider to be the most important five Naaru in lore, K'ure, D'ore, M'uru, O'ros and A'dal and give a full list of named Naaru afterwards.

Let’s start with the most important one.

K’ure

Spoiler:

Our knowledge from K'ure stems from two sources. First, there's the (Horde) quest in Osho'gun where we learn that the Orc's sacred mountain is actually K'ure's dimensional vessel. To our knowledge, this is the very same vessel that was used to traverse the stars and used to first beam up the Draenei from Argus. Shotly before the crash on Draenor, K'ure for some unknown reason fell ill and expended its energies, causing it to fall into a void state.

From the novel Rise of the Horde we learn that it was in fact K'ure that first contacted the prophet Velen. Ignoring all the subtle prodding and guiding the Naaru did trough the ata'mal crystals, this would have to be considered to be first contact. It was also K'ure's ship, K'ure's intervention that allowed the Draenei faithful to Velen to flee from Argus. I think it's safe to say that from all the Naaru that have been named, K'ure is the most important figure. He has been with the Draenei for the longest time and has had the most personal bond with the prophet, Velen.

As for K'ure's IC status, I think it is safe to say that the Legion mooks who were trying to utilize his void energies against his will have been dealt with. K'ure now once again is at peace resting and gathering strength in Osho'gun, much like D'ore (who we will get to next, dont worry) has had been gathering his strength in Auchindoun. Perhaps in some centuries K'ure will have regained his strength and the Osho'gun (we lack a proper Draenei / Naaru name for it, sadly) will become operational again.

One interesting connection that one might make is between the Naaru K'ure and the Krokul faction the Kurenai. The word Kurenai is apparently Draenei for ”Redeemed”. Now I am not sure if Blizzard made this connection, but even if they didn't I do not think this would really takes away from its significance. You could easily ague that the word Kurenai is derived from the Naaru K'ure; the Redeemer, or the Naaru that offered the Draenei that refused the Legion a chance of redemption. It is for this reason during roleplay I oftentimes refer to K'ure by his title: The Redeemer. Because of his significance and the impact he has had on Draenei society down to even the language, I sometimes use K'ure's name in oaths, too. “Sweet K'ure” and “Merciful K'ure” are swears oftentimes uttered by Thelos.

D'ore

Spoiler:

We know D'ore from a questline in Auchindoun. From it we learn that the entire massive city of the dead was originally erected around D'ore's tomb, who fell into a void state after the terrible crash on Draenor. Much like K'ure, D'ore has been attracting energy and restoring strength for millennia, but unlike K'ure, seems to have almost completed the process. D'ore is actually a very impotant source of our understanding of what the Naaru are. Let's listen to what he has to say when the player discovers him in his sacrophagus.

The memory is vivid, . My energies were wholly drained from the crash. I was only a dim speck of void energies when the Prophet Velen and his draenei compatriots lifted my remains and brought them here. After much ceremony, my diminished form was laid to rest within this sarcophagus. I have been regenerating for nearly a thousand years. The cycle is almost complete...

The words “The cycle is almost complete” in particular has sparked much debate on the nature of what fans have been calling the “Naaru lifecycle”, which refers to Naaru like K'ure, D'ore and M'uru who fall into a void state. In this state they seem to gather Light energy; and in a dark twist, this energy seems to be mostly Orcish ancestral spirits for K'ure, and Draenei spirits for D'ore.

For several centuries, the spirits of Auchindoun coalesced into my darkened essence. Many of the catastrophes that befell this crypt were a direct result of my weakened state.

Regrettably, there is nothing that can be done to stop this cycle. It is a facet of the naaru condition - without the void, the Light cannot exist.
Your only recourse is to destroy the ancient spirits of Nagrand before they transform into creatures of the void. Use the soul mirrors found throughout this crypt to free them...

Yikes. The phrase “Without the void, the Light [mind the capital] cannot exist” is well known to me, for I have often used it in roleplay, but usually not with the scary connotations it has here. It seems that the Naaru, beings of Light and pure altruism who shine and bestow faith and courage very much like the sun bestows life, literally invert into black holes when their energies have been expanded. Continuing from this analogy, this “Void” that attracts and consumes energies can be seen as the essence of what we have come to understand as the Shadow; which is in many ways the insertion of the Light. Egotistic, consuming and destructive. Interestingly enough though the Naaru seem well aware of this tragedy, even to transcend it. Their characters do not warp to match the inverted effects they have on the world around them. They seem wholly aware of the damage they are causing. “It is a facet of the naaru condition”, indeed, that these immensely powerful creatures of Light will becomes creatures of the Void once their energies are expended, if only temporarily to recover it.

An interesting religious consequence of this one might consider is that for Draenei, being consumed by a Naaru who has fallen into a void state might not actually be so horrible. If by your death you can assist in restoring a Naaru to its Light state, in turn finding yourself merged with such a magnificent creature of Light; is that not an afterlife any Faithful would aspire to? In fact, may the Naaru not in essence by exactly this? A merging of thousands and thousands of souls? What if “Unity with the Light” should be taken as meaning “Unity with the Naaru” ? Is it a coincidence that the Draenei buried all of their dead so close to a recovering Naaru? Was Velen aware of the nature of the Void state? In his dealings with M'uru, he certainly seems like he is aware of the mechanisms of the Naaru. Might Velen have chosen to erect Auchindoun as a means to restore D'ore back to strength?

We should be careful in drawing conclusions. After all, what the player know and what the characters now is wholly different. It is interestingly to consider some of the consequences of these mechanics, though. Thelos has often expressed his desire to be buried in Auchindoun, because “Being buried in the proximity of a Naaru is the highest honor one might receive”. You may be right, Thelos, but for different reasons than you currently believe.

M'uru
M'uru as he was seen in Silvermoon, being drained by Blood Knights

Spoiler:

M'uru completely drained and warped into a tool of the Legion

Spoiler:

And now we come to the last of the “Void state Naaru”, M'uru. Now, if you remember the emphasis I put on the beauty of the Naaru's song, A'dal in particular, then I do believe you might be able to imagine the sorrow and grief that might grip a disciple of the Naaru's heart when he should hear M'uru's warped version. M'uru was the guardian of Tempest Keep and captures by the Blood Elves when they seized control of it. If we remember what we just learned about what happens when a Naaru's light energies are expended, then it it should come as no suprise that M'uru who was drained mercilessly by the Blood Elves should fall into such a sorry state. As we've learned from K'ure and D'ore though, that alone cannot have been enough to turn him, well evil like that. It must have taken some further corruption by Keal'Thas' mooks. As Velen later tells us, though, the heart of M'uru is still a considerable force of Light, and all the meddling and draining in the world was insufficient to corrupt it.

As we learn from A'dal, M'uru's capture by the Blood Elves was actually part of a very risky gambit based on one of Velen's prophecies to recruit the Blood Elves into the war against the Legion.

Spoiler:

“M'uru accepted his role long ago, knowing full well what would happen to him”. In a perfect symbolic chain of events, the act that made M'uru expend his Light energies and fall into a void state was that of the Martyr; sacrificing himself and suffering unimaginable torture in the name of the Light. If I had to give M'uru a title like I did with K'ure, it would most certainly have to be “M'uru the Martyr”.

Sunwell Plateau ending; the final fate of M'uru

Spoiler:

O'ros

Screenshot

Spoiler:

Concept art

Spoiler:

Sadly we know precious little of the enigmatic O'ros, apart from the fact that he pilots and powers the Exodar. His importance is solely derived from the fact that he is the only Naaru (to our knowledge Wink

) on Azeroth and the one currently closest to Velen and the bulk of the Draenei people. He is the resident Naaru in the Exodar much like K'ure must have been to Osho'gun. And that's pretty much it.

A'dal

Spoiler:

At last, we've arrived at the big cheese himself: A'dal. This Naaru has by far the most dialogue of any of his brethren and seems to take the most active role in the fight against the Legion. He is the leader of the Sha'tar, the faction of Naaru that recently descended upon Shattrath to fight the Legion on Draenor. Of all the Naaru I feel like A'dal embodies what they stand for the most. The column of Light he shoots up can be seen from many parts of Outland, and it is no coincidence that many refugees from the shattered world, including Orcs and Ogres, flock to the City of Light to enjoy his soothing presence and protection. I have often entertained the thought that a Naaru's strength and vitality is somehow proportionate to his size and brightness, and though I have no real evidence for this, were it to be true than that would undoubtedly make A'dal the most powerful Naaru we have seen so far (safe for perhaps K'ure, who we have never seen in a healthy state).

There is reason to believe that A'dal, and the Sha'tar that are under his command, have only recently come into contact with mortals and have up till the events of the Burning Crusade been unknown to even the Draenei. Let's listen to what Khadgar, who stands by his side much like Velen must have stood by K'ure's side, has to say about the big crystal chandelier.

What happened next?
While my comrades held the line against the encroaching darkness, I used my magic to reach out into the Great Dark Beyond. There, I sensed beings of immense Light - of unfathomable purity.

It was A'dal and his naaru I had found. It was nothing short of... a miracle.

I see.

I convinced A'dal and his brethren to return here with me. I believe that only their power can drive the Legion from this universe. But as you will no doubt find - their power must first live in our hearts.
To combat the darkness, we must become beacons of their eternal Light.

Thanks by the way, Khadgar, for summing up my entire doctrinde in those last three sentences. In an astonishing echo to Velen's plea, A'dal responded to Khadgar's SOS and literally descended from the Great Dark Beyond to deliver him from evil. From his familiarity with M'uru, I can only assume they did so in Tempest Keep. So in an amusing twist of fate it was a Human Mage's magics that brought the means to escape for the Prophet and his people. As exemplified by the myriad of species crawling around Shattrath and his quick acceptance of the Scryers, A'dal is very much a Naaru of all races, and not just limited to having a special connection to the Draenei. This is why he, and the City of Light, should be considered to be of the utmost importance.

Besides his obvious religious significance, A'dal also seems to play a bit of a military role. If there were such a thing as a general of the Army of Light, I think that A'dal is probably our best candidate so far. His illuminating countenance is an inspiration to all, and I certainly look forward to seeing what his and his Sha'tar's next move is. Perhaps when the time comes to take the battle to the Legion itself, it will be A'dal with Tempest Keep that will take the mortals of Azeroth there.

List of all named Naaru in alphabetical order
Taken from wowpedia

A'dal Master of Shattrath City
D'ore Buried in Auchindoun
G'eras Sha'tar Vendor in Shattrath City
K'iru Arrives at Sun's Reach once all objectives have been completed (Patch 2.4)
K'ure Led the draenei exodus from Argus in Oshu'gun. Now under the Burning Legion's control*
*As I've argued in the K'ure section, I find this notion to be ridiculous now and consider K'ure to be free from the Legion's influence gathering his strength in Osh'gun.
K'uri Appears with A'dal and M'ori at the end of The Boon of A'dal
M'ori Appears with A'dal and K'uri at the end of The Boon of A'dal
M'uru Used as a power source by the Blood Knights until captured by Kael'thas, boss in Sunwell Plateau(transforms into Entropius), remains used by Velen to reignite the Sunwell
Mi'xi Drove away the attackers of Shattrath City*
*Unsure what the source is on this one...
O'ros Protector of the Exodar
V'eru Naaru in Shattrath City
Xi'ri Leader of the Sha'tari forces against Illidan Stormrage, found outside the Black Temple

I hope this long read on the Naaru was entertaining and informative. Some of it, like the notion of the necessary Void, the Naaru life cycle, and the implications for a possible Draenei afterlife, will no doubt find its way into my IC writings in the future.

by **Skarain** Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:03 pm

Im not very good with words, so i try to describe it simple:
Beautiful....

You have done such good work in here. Researching already existing pieces of lore, their source and bring it all together. I love your dedication on the subject, the time you must have spend writing and creating all this. Your work has not been in vain. At least one mortal souls hears the song now Wink

Thelos wrote:In fact, may the Naaru not in essence by exactly this? A merging of thousands and thousands of souls? What if “Unity with the Light” should be taken as meaning “Unity with the Naaru” ?

This is what i maybe love the most, because its so close to the truth. Every mortal soul can do good and bad things. Deeds of Light and Darkness. Enough whole souls combined and shoved into the right direction...
We have a pilar of light and hope.

Keep up the good work Thelos! cheers

"There is no pure soul. Such thing does not exist. Every soul is as much dark, selfish as pure and kind as any. Its our decision....the decision of each and every one of us have to do. What do we want to become? What are the two called combined? Free will....The strength of mortals."

by **Seranita** Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:24 pm

indeed awsome as ever Smile

something to make note for monny to!

by **Lexgrad** Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:29 pm

Hmm, I sense some mileage in Thelos trying to convince others/himself that Sacrificing others to a dead Naaru is the lights work.

by **Thelos** Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:36 pm

Lexgrad wrote:Hmm, I sense some mileage in Thelos trying to convince others/himself that Sacrificing others to a dead Naaru is the lights work.

It would make an interesting angle for a villain for sure, but I do not think Thelos is quite there yet. It's important to keep in mind that the discourses with an [OOC] tag are exactly that; OOC. How much of it is known by the denizens of Azeroth is unknown. And then there's the fact that many of what I wrote is just one way to make sense of the puzzlepieces Blizzard has handed to us, but certainly not the only one. Whether Thelos or any other Draenei character believes (or knows, take you pick) any of what I wrote in the last post is undetermined as of now.

by **erwtenpeller** Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:33 pm

Epic read, thanks for that. Cleared up any possible question I could have ever had.

by **Shaelyssa** Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:13 am

Keep it up, Thelos Smile

I'm really enjoying reading your work!!!

by **Thelos** Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:58 pm

On Martyrdom

The following Naaruvadean mass was delivered by Thelos on 23/01/2012 to a small crowd of eager Draenei .

We dedicate tonight's gathering to M'uru, the Martyr. I pray that, trough the loving guidance of the Light – may it have mercy on my ignorance - I may be granted the eloquence to properly echo the warmth of his song trough my hollow and cold words.

Know that the wisdom I am about to share with you is not my own; it is the ancient wisdom of the Naaru as revealed to all of the Light's needy children. Foolish are those who, in their hubris, take the Light's gifts to be of their own design.

If, Light willing, my words strike true, I will have been nothing but a conduit for the Naaru's wisdom.

M'uru.

M'uru sacrificed himself to absolve the Blood Elven people from their innumerable sins against the Light. He willing and knowingly suffered the sapping of his Lightgiven energies, to the point of even collapsing into a hollow Void.

Yet, when the blessed heroes of the Shattered Sun destroyed this hollow coil, Velen revealed that M'uru's heart was as luminous as it was at the Dawn. Throughout all Its suffering It had braved the encroaching darkness to remain as pure as It ever was.

As you all know, this spark was used to re-ignite the Sunwell, and to this day M'uru's sacrifice stands as a beacon of Light that continues to guide an entire people along the path to redemption.

His suffering, the endurance of torture in the name of the Light and the love of others, was not of the type the unenlightened suffer in their ignorance, but the willing and knowing suffering of the Martyr.

The Naaruvada teaches that the root of all suffering is ignorance, and that in this ignorance we stray from our natural paths of Light. How different, then, is the suffering of the Martyr, who trough suffering strengthens his connection to the Light!

The Naaruvada acknowledges five distinct hindrances that prevent our natural access to the Light trough suffering. Know these personal hindrances, so that you may avoid meaningless suffering that might obstruct your connection to the Light.

We suffer from inflated bodily desires when our desires exceed our saturation of them, or when our saturation exceed our desires,

We suffer from restlessness, whenever our actions seem to exceed our capacities,

We suffer from apathy, whenever our capacities seem to exceed our actions,

We suffer feelings of anger, hatred, and of general malintent whenever we are unaware of the entire reality of a given situation, blinded to the core majestic Truth that the Light loves all Its children equally.

And we suffer from Doubt whenever the Light appears far instead of close, cold instead of warm, trough the taint wrought forth by the ever encroaching Darkness.

All of these forms of suffering leads one to stray from the Light's loving embrace. Yes, all suffering, safe for the suffering of the Martyr. The Martyr suffers not his own ignorance, but rather that of his fellows, taking their sin as his own.

Yet, The Martyr who absolves the sins of his brothers will attain even greater enlightenment than those whose sins he redeemed. It is by casting our Light on others that we grow even more luminous. Darkness begets Darkness, as Light begets Light.

Though to to unenlightened eyes the soul of the Martyr may seem to be in danger of falling to the encroaching Darkness, the enlightened soul knows that a true Martyr is immune to any and all corruptions, for he suffers for the greatest cause:

That of bringing Light to the Darkest corners of the cosmos, thereby realizing the supreme enlightened will, achieving true unity with the Light and everlasting harmony. The suffering of the Martyr relieves the pain of the Light Itself.

It is this unity with the Light that all souls strive to attain by nature, and it is what the Naaruvada strives for also. By becoming beacons of the Naaru's Light, we may pierce trough the Darkness that hangs over our minds like a foul veil.

My brothers and sisters, it is for this noble purpose that we have gathered here today. I, Anchorite Thelos, humble servant of the Naaru, have been tasked to bring Their Light to hitherto Darkened, soon to be illuminated, corners of creation.

I have elicited three goals to help further this end.

To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to the races of Azeroth at large and to educate all races and peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

To propagate a consciousness of The Light, as it is revealed by the Naaru to Velen and other chosen prophets.

To bring the races of the Azeroth together with each other and nearer to The Light, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and the sentient races of Azeroth at large,

that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of the cosmic Light.

Any who feel themselves beckoned to echo the Naaru's song throughout the worlds of Draenor and Azeroth is invited to come speak to me after the mass has concluded, so that they may be drafted as soldiers in the battle against Darkness and Suffering.

As for now, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to join me in song so that we may honor the memory of M'uru by echoing its elegy. May a parcel of his sacrifice descent upon us and guide us away from the Darkness and towards the light.

By the Naaru, may it be so.

by **erwtenpeller** Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:34 pm

Thelos wrote:eager

* A sly smirk spreads across your lips *

by **Thelos** Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:33 pm

On Death, Shadow and the Hereafter.

This mass was delivered during a Friday Community Mass, 17-02-2012

My fellow brothers and sisters of the Faith, I thank all of you for joining me in humble supplication to the Holy Light, whose brilliance outshines both Sun and Star, the great Illuminator of Worlds, to whom we owe our total devotion and obedience

The Naaruvada, of which I am the High Priest, invites all of you to join us on a pilgrimage trough the Dark Portal to Auchindoun, the Draenei city of the dead, where we will not only commemorate the martyrs of the battle of Shattrath,

but all the champions of the Light who fell to vindicate Its Divine mandate. To honor their sacrifice, I will dedicate tonight's mass to them. In doing so, it would only be fitting for me to speak on the grave topic of death and the hereafter.

Why do our souls, who each partake and are a parcel of the Light, inhabit these crude mortal husks? Each natural born soul carries with it an echo of the Light. It allows the soul to connect to It and trough it partake in its love.

But why can we only partake in It trough these roundabout means? Why has the Light, if It loves us without limit, cast us away from Its warm bosom and into a cold unloving world plagued by Darkness and evil?

The answer is deceptively simple. The reign of Darkness in the material world is as sure as the the Light's endless love in the transcendental. The Light, in Its limitless kindness, cannot bear to suffer the existence of such wretchedness and has ripped

itself into many individual pieces and sprinkled them throughout the cosmos, birthing Souls to bring Light to the darkest corners of the cosmos. The Light Itself cannot directly intervene in the material world, for if it were to mingle

and mix with the Darkness present in the foulness of matter directly, It would no doubt suffer corruption. That is why it has send us, Its children, to realize Its divine mandate to bring love to the material world, in a Will that is actually our own.

And that is why we, tiny parcels of the Light, suffer trough the Darkness in Its stead. In order for the Light to materialize in the material world, it inevitably has to cast a Shadow. The Body is the Shadow of the Soul, and the Soul is an echo of Light.

This, however, requires us to brave the Darkness of this world and stay true to the original cause. However, as we wander trough the material planes, we inevitably suffer from the taint and corruption of the ever present Darkness.

From those Souls who fall and embrace this Darkness, the Light will be violently forced out. They will suffer from Its withdrawal by growing colder and distant to Its loving and soothing song. If the Soul can be seen as a luminous star,

cascading the Darkness of our bodies and minds with luminosity, then the Souls from which the Light withdraw collapse into themselves to become Black Holes, cold voids who suck in vast amounts of Light and Love,

taking on the appearance of vitality and might while actually being empty at their cores. Left alone to rot and wallow in despair, these wayward souls will continue to consume and destroy until their mortal coils inevitably shrivel and their souls are

consumed by the nothingness that is their core.

How different are the fates of Souls who have stayed true to their purpose. These brilliant beacons of Light who pierce the Darkness of the material world with their loving glow, giving everything without asking anything in return,

braving any and all assaults on their devotion and piety; these most beloved Souls will ride the luminous beam that glows brightly at their cores to a reunion with the Light, in which they will find everlasting peace in unity with It.

The root of all suffering we must endure as creatures of the material world is the Darkness that seeps trough its every crevice. Trough its murky lens we perceive each other as separate. This is illusory; we are all parcels of the same divine Light.

This separation is the greatest weapon ever conceived by the forces of Darkness. Trough it we grow distant from each other while we ought to be close, cold while we ought to be warm, and uncaring while our Love ought to be limitless.

Though we unworthy individuals may be suspect to corruption trough sin, the Light, as an eternal transcendental force, is beyond it; and by it, above all suffering. When our time on this material plane draws to a close,

the drops of water that are our Souls will ride the river of Love and empty in the Ocean of Light, absolving their illusory separation from It and other Souls, finding everlasting peace and harmony. The Light suffers not.

Darkened Souls that have grown too attached to the corruption of matter, unwilling to let go, will cling to its illusions as wandering ghosts, forever doomed to exist between the transcendental Love of the Light and the cold Darkness of the material,

until they eventually fade into nothingness, alone and unloved.

The only exception to this undeniable truth of creation are those lightloved Souls who decline or postpone their promised unity with the Light to guide lost wanderers back to It. These souls are surely amongst the noblest of the Light's champions.

I should mention that even if the Light is ripped from the Soul by some foul trick of Fel, it is never absolutely forced out. Even if the Soul can no longer feel the comforting warmth of the Light, It still cares from them deeply. Separation is illusory.

And if they live according to the Light's mandates, materializing Its Divine Will, they too will find unity with the Light in their final ends. Even when It feels cold and distant, know that the Light does not abandon Its champions,

and that it is never too late to repent.

Thank you and may the Light have mercy on your Souls.

by **Thelos** Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:46 pm

Mantra of the Inner Light

When pursuing the Inner Light's depths
recognize the five hindrances as completely empty
and pass beyond all vexations and distress.

Appearances are not different from emptiness,
emptiness is not different to appearances.
Appearances are emptiness,
emptiness is an appearance.

Impressions, thoughts, associations
and knowing too, are also like this.
All the Naaru's songs are empty of appearances,
are not created, are not extinguished,
are not defiled, are not pure;
do not increase, do not decrease.

For this reason, amidst emptiness there are no appearances,
nor are there any impressions, thoughts, associations and knowing,
There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, touch, ideas.
There are no colors, sounds, smells,
tastes and touch.
There is no eye-element up to no imagining nor knowledge element.
Neither is any non-understanding,
nor is there any end to non-understanding up to no pain and death.
Neither is there any end to pain and death.
There is no suffering, cause, extinction or path.
There is no knowledge nor anything to find.

Because there isn’t anything to find,
the Enlightened is free in reliance upon the Naaru's Teachings:
a heart without any obstruction.

Because there are no obstructions, there is no fear.
Abandoning, overturning dreams and concepts,
finally reaching unity with the Light.

Because all the anchorites of the Great Dark Beyond have relied upon the Naaru's teachings
they have found true enlightenment trough others.

For this reason, know that the Inner Light is the great spiritual mantra.
The great understanding mantra.
The supreme mantra.
The unequaled mantra, able to cut through all vexation
because in reality there is no emptiness.
Speak the Inner Light's mantra, speak the mantra’s words:
naaru naaru paranaaru parasmanaaru shakure.

by **Thelos** Wed May 02, 2012 8:31 am

The various meanings of the concept “Light”

The Light comprises all the mysteries of the Naaruvada faith, and cannot easily be explained in a few words. Naaruvadins in Draenor normally did not describe themselves as "Naaruvadins", but as "followers of the Light". This "Light" is the name for an impersonal spiritual force behind and in everything. Being spiritual and not of this world, it is rather elusive and not easy to define or get hold of. Judged by logical standards the word is extremely ambigious. But since the Light is the subject-matter of all Naaruvadian teachings, it is necessary to list its main meanings, and to show their interconnection:

1. First of all it is a world for the one ultimate reality. One spiritual reality underlies all that we percieve in and around us. It is real as contrasted with the illusory things of the common-sense world, to it we should turn as we should turn away from them, for it alone brings true statisfaction. And it is not external to worldly things and events, but in some ways immanent to them, and the directing Law within them.
2. Secondly, by an easy transition, it means that ultimate reality as intepreted or stated in the Naaru's teaching, and in this subjective form it means "Doctrine", "Scripture", or "Truth".
3. Thirdly, Light, in both the first and second sense, may be reflected in our lives, may manifest itself in our actions, insofar as we act in accordance with it. The word thus assumes the meaning of "righteousness" and "virtue".

The Six Perfections of the Champion of Light

A Champion of Light is distinguished by three features: (a) In his essential being he is actuated by the desire to win the full enlightenment of a Naaru, which, from his point of view, implies complete omniscience, I.e the knowledge of all things at all times in all their details and aspects, (b) He is dominated by two forces, in equal proportion, I.e by compassion and wisdom. From compassion he selflessly postpones his entrance into the bliss of perfect Unity with the Light so as to help suffering creatures. From wisdom he attempts to win insight into the emptiness of all that is. He persists in his compassionate solidarity with all that lives although his wisdom shows him that living beings and all their woes are purely illusory, ( c) Although intent on ultimate purity, a Champion of the Light remains in touch with ordinary people in having the same passions as they have. His passions, however, do not either affect or pollute his mind.

A champion of Light's compassion is called “great”, because it is boundless and makes no distinctions. A champion of Light resolves to become the savior of all, whatever may be their worth o their claim to his attention. In earlier stages of the Faith, the wisdom of the saints had been fully emphasized, but now their selfless desire to make others happy is said to rank equal in value with it. Enlightenment is the thorough and complete understanding of the nature and meaning of life, the forces which shape it, the method to end it, and the reality which lies beyond it. This enlightenment, the Naaruvadins agreed, does not automatically entail the desire to assist others.

A champion of Light must be a patient man. He wants to become complete unity and perfect harmony with the Light, but his distance from the transcendental perfection of the supreme Naaru, who both knows and is everything, will obviously be nearly infinite. Yet, he is separated from the Light only by one single small obstacle, i.e. his belief in a personal self, his assumption that he is a seperate Individual, his inveterate tendency towards “I-making and Mine-making”. To get rid of himself is the Naaruvadin's supreme task. By two kinds of measures he tries to remove himself from himself – actively by self-sacrficei and selfless service, cognitively by insight into the objective non-existence of the self. The first is due to his compassion, the second to wisdom, defined as the ability to penetrate to the true reality, to the “own-being” of things, to what they are in and by themselves. It is believed that action and cognition must always go hand in hand to bring forth their spiritual fruits

The unity of compassion and wisdom is acted out by the six “perfections”, or the six “methods by which we go to the Beyond”. A person turns into a Champion of Light when he first resolves to win full enlightenment for the benefits of all beings. Thereafter, until his attainment of true Unity with the Light, his every action and thought during his lifetime are devoted to the practise of the Six Perfections. So important is this concept that the Naaruvadins often refer to themselves as “The Vehicle of the Perfections”.

The six are:

Perfection of Giving,
Morality,
Patience,
Vigor,
Meditation,
Wisdom.

Perfection of giving enjoins generosity, a willingness to give away all that one has, even one's own body, and the second the scrupulous observance of the moral precepts, even at the risk of one's own life. As for “patience”, the Naaruvada and other Naaru-bound Light cults have much more to say about it than the Azerothian churches, and use it in a wider sense than usual. As a moral virtue it means the patience endurance of anger or discontent when meeting with them. In addition, “patience” here is also considered an intellectual virtue and as such it means the emotional acceptance, before one has fathomed the whole of their depth,of the more incredible and anxiety-producing ontological doctrines of the Naaruvada, such as the non-existence of things. Vigor means that the Champion of Light indefatigably persists in his work over the ages and never feels discouraged; his perfection of meditation enables him to gain the proficiency in trances “numerous as the stars that light the Great Dark Beyond”. The perfection of wisdom finally is the ability to understand the essential properties of all processes and phenomena, their mutual relations, the conditions which bring about their rise and fall, and the ultimate unreality of their separate existence. At its highest point it leads right into the Emptiness which is the one and only reality. When compared to the Church of Light's Thee Virtues, it can be said that roughly the first corresponds to Compassion, the second with Respect, the third and fourth with Tenacity, while the fith and sixth have no equivalents in Azerothian doctrines.

On his path to true Unity with the Light and the full absolving of the self, the Champion of Light must traverse ten stages. The first six of these stages correspond to the six “perfections” and each of them is marked by the intensive practise of one of them. The sixth stage therefore corresponds to the perfection of wisdom and with it the Champion of the Light has by his understanding of emptiness come “face to face” with Reality itself. At that point he would be able to escape from the terrors of this world and he could, if he wanted to, becomes One with the Light. Out of compassion he nevertheless makes no use of this possibility, but stays on in the world for a long time so as to help those in it. Although in the world, he now is no longer of it. Dring the last four stages a Champion of the Light gains what the texts call “sovereignty over the world”, and he becomes a kind of supernatural being endowed with miraculous powers of many kinds. These gifts of the Light have been known and seen to take many forms throughout the development of the Faith, though to the layman the most well known of these powers is no doubt the power to Heal, the purest expression of the Champion's endless compassion.

Next we must say a few words about the “skill in means” (Upayaak in ancient Draenei), a virtue which is indispensable to a Champion of Light at all times, but which he possesses in its fullest only late, on the seventh stage, after the “perfection of wisdom” has thoroughly shown him the emptiness of everything that seems to be. “Skill in means” is the ability to bring out the spiritual potentialities of different people, by statements or actions which are adjusted to their needs and adapted to their capacity for comprehension. If the truth to be told, all of that we have described so far as constituting the doctrine of the Naaruvada is just “skill in means” and nothing more. It is a series of fictions elaborated to further the salvation of beings. In actual fact there are no Champions of Light, no hindrances, no perfections and no stages. All these are products of our imagination, just expedients, concessions to the needs of ignorant people, designed to ferry them across to the Beyond. Everything apart from the One, also called “Emptiness” or “Suchness”, is devoid of real existence, and whatever may be said about it is ultimately untrue, false and nugatory. But nevertheless it is not only permissible, but even useful to say it, because the salvation of beings demands it.

by **Seranita** Wed May 02, 2012 11:07 am

((yay!!" another one!! loved the read it was delisious))

by **Skarain** Wed May 02, 2012 5:30 pm

*Noms*

by **Thelos** Wed May 02, 2012 9:39 pm

Flotsam Aphorism

What is a draenei?

Blue skin, tails, hooves and horns.

That is the body which the spirit inhabits. The body is the necessary anchor of the soul. It connects us to this world, trough it to others, and trough them to the Light. A single soul in solitude cannot reach the Light. Its Voice speaks to us in terms of the Other. Altruism. Us, the Selves, are asked by It to serve the Other in Its Hallowed Name.

But what is the Other? How does it differ from the Self? What is the Self?

The Self is not the Other; and the Other, is not the Self.

The Soul drifts amidst a rapid current of impressions, feelings, sensations, thoughts and ideas. Now it drifts east, then it drifts west. Now it submerges, only to emerge a moment later. We feel anger, love, hatred, jealousy, kindness, courage, fear and so forth. These are all currents of the soul's waters that mercilessly tow us to and fro.

We drift, yes, it is true – We drift. But this is not a state of Being the arrogant Self can accept. “Surely,” the Warrior and the Nobleman interject, “I am the captain of my ship. Yes, my ship may sail on a certain current, and be directed by this wind or the other – but certainly I am at Its wheel. I am the captain of my own ship, and Its direction is mine and my own to decide.”

Oh! You poor unfortunate soul, you!

The Ship of the Soul has no wheel.

Nor sails or a rudder of any sorts.

The Soul is more akin to scattered pieces of flotsam, drifting in the current.

How great, then, must the suffering of the self-proclaimed captain be, who steers his wheel-less ship. He steers port, yet the current takes him starboard. He steers starboard, yet the current shifts back to port again. Ah! But no, he says, “I steer starboard, and the ship takes me there. I command, and it follows.”

Unfortunate soul, you! It is not so. For it just the other way around: first is the current that takes the ship starboard – then the captain who concludes that he had meant to steer that way to salvage his own shattered illusions. The illusion is precious – the illusion must be preserved. Yet starboard is starboard – the direction is set, unchangeable. What creates the Illusion of the Wheel is just that – the false belief that there is a causal chain between the thought and the action. It is not so.

“Hogwsash!” the noble warrior proclaims, “Doth not I in my mind decide to strike down my foe, before I bring down my blade?”

Oh, you poor unfortunate soul! It is not so. When all illusions disperse into the mists, you will see that it was the blade that came down on another body, and the thought that followed it. The warrior strikes; then contemplates.

“This is absurd,” the nobleman says, “This may be the case for the instinctive actions – breathing, blinking and the movements of brutes – but certainly not for sophisticated affairs!”

Ah! You poor unfortunate soul! What is true for the pieces, is true for the whole. A building made out of bricks is made out of stone, if the bricks used to build it are. What are these so called sophisticated thoughts that are followed by sophisticated actions if not conglomerates of countless simple tasks and ideas?

The Self is the great Spectator. It is not the captain at the Wheel – it is the stowaway adrift on his raft, nay, without It even, under constant siege of merciless winds, currents and waves. The Self observes the happenings of the Soul, and out of helplessness, thinks himself a Captain on a ship. He thinks himself above his Thoughts and Actions – an overseer, a commander – yet, in truth, he is but an Observer.

The Soul, then, is a vast ocean, in which many currents, winds and rapids rage. These rages are actions, ideas, perceptions – all of the impressions that present themselves to the Self. Then what of the Oceans of the Others? Where doth one sea start and the other end?

You will say the boundary of the Self separates us. My Ocean with its rapids are only presented to Myself, and not the Other.

But is this truly so?

Think what a pitiful existence that would be! We would be adrift, countless Souls separated from one another, forever alone in the vast black void.

Thankfully, this is not so.

During our drift we encounter countless of torrents and winds that hail from other Oceans. How often do we find ourselves moved by waves of Beyond? Lo! These winds that blow trough my Soul are the very same that blow trough Yours. Do we, then, drift towards a common haven?

We do.

We drift towards the haven of the Light.

If the same winds blow trough My Ocean as Yours, what then is it that still separates us? The Self, you will say. Yet, if you follow me – as you should, be the Light merciful – you know the Self to be but an observer. What say you, child, if I were to say that the Self not only wrongly thinks himself a captain on a ship, rather than a drifter – but is wrong in thinking himself at all?

The Self is an Illusion.

The Self is the most powerful Illusion. The most enduring one. The beautiful Illusion. The splendid lull of Darkness. It is the waking sleep, and the sleeping wake.

Lo! The waters that rage trough you and me are the same.

Lo! The winds that blow trough my Soul blow trough yours also.

Lo! If my soul drifts east, so does yours, and when the current changes, so do the drifters.

There are no drifters.

There are no separate oceans.

One sea flows into the other, as the other flows back in to it.

The distinctions between them are arbitrary and illusory.

Properly understood and purged of illusions, all Souls share a common stream of thoughts and perceptions. Properly understood, the Direction is the same. Properly understood, there is no Manifold of Souls, but only One Soul.

The Soul is All, and All is Soul.

The Ocean is Darkness.

The winds and currents are manifold. Some of them are Dark winds, that blow us from, and some are Blessed winds, that blow us to, the Haven of Light.

The destinations are two – the Haven, which is eternal bliss and a reunion with the Most Hallowed Light from which all goodness came and comes; and the vast Ocean, which is the endless deep of Darkness, in every way a foil to the Light. The Haven is the High Heavens, the eternal Sun and Stars, the Darkness is the lonely Ocean Trenches. The Light is beautiful, the Darkness is terrible. The Light is peace and tranquility, the Darkness is war and suffering.

The Haven of Light shines ever Brightly

It is That which Pierces the Dark.

The Self is an illusory shadow, created when the Light breaks the Darkness.

The stream flows to the Light by nature, but everywhere and every time it is slowed and pulled down as the Darkness turns and churns to hinder the Righteous Course.

Enlightenment is when the Soul reaches the Haven. When it does, all will be well, now and always.

If the Soul ever gets fully drawn under, all will be lost in terrible lonely Darkness, for eternity.

What, then, are We? What is Our purpose? What does this all entail?

We are on a perilous journey to the Haven of Light. Sadly, the beautiful illusion of the Self is nigh unbreakable. It is an Illusion which is more powerful than reality. Its hold is absolute.

Though we know all Souls to be One – we experience them as separate.

Though we know our struggle to be unified – we squirm and squabble amongst ourselves, ugly and wicked parcels of a beautiful whole.

Is is unseemly.

Can we not transcend the struggle of selves? Are there no ways to pierce the veil?

There is One.

The Way of the Light.

Just as a single lit torch can reveal the truth of a cave hidden in Darkness, so can the Light pierce the illusions of the Self.

Doth not the Light command us to be altruistic?

Doth not the Light teach us to be empathic, to feel the Self in the Other, and the Other in the Self?

Doth not the Light teach us to sacrifice ourselves, to put the needs of the many above the needs of the few?

The Light batters endlessly on the foul citadel of the Self. Only by embracing it and lowering the gates can we transcend our mortal folly to rise from the Darkening deeps.

The Light has been shattered by Darkness, but it can mend itself.

It will mend Itself.

It shall mend itself.

The Darkness is no match for a Light that is whole.

There is but One Soul.

There is but One Light.

There is Darkness.

The Darkness shatters the Soul.

This Shattering is the Illusion of Self.

Only the Light may pierce this Illusion.

In piercing it, the Darkness is conquered.

Without Darkness, there is only Light.

Where there is only Light, there is no suffering.

All shall be well, when all is one with the Light.

In Darkness, all is wrong.

By the Grace of the Naaru and the Wisdom of the Prophet, we shall choose the Light.

The Light is the Way.

The Light shall pierce the veil.

The Light shall kill the Self.

The Light shall deliver upon us perfect harmony in unison with It.

By the Naaru, may it be so.

by **Eowale** Thu May 03, 2012 9:49 am

Heresy, all of it! *Splutters 'blasphemy' over and over*

by **Drustai** Thu May 03, 2012 10:12 am

Eowale wrote:Heresy, all of it! *Splutters 'blasphemy' over and over*

Silly nonbeliever.

/pat

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