Church of The One
The Priests of The One are shaman scholars, showing the way of The Spirit, The One to the people. They do not like being called a church, as history has shown that all churches eventually become organizations and dominant ones.
The Priests of The One are shaman scholars, showing the way of The Spirit, The One to the people. They do not like being called a church, as history has shown that all churches eventually become organizations and dominant ones.
The Priests and followers of The One - The Speakers - do not congregate in churches and temples. They meet where ever the Priest lives, usually in their garden or a barn (in inclement weather). Some Speakers live in places away from the clutter of daily existence. There they cultivate a peaceful and aesthetic atmosphere. Every speaker holds gatherings at convenient times for their neighbors (early in the morning before they go to work, at noon after their central meal, after work... or once a week at a specific time). They ring a bell to call the followers. No one has to show up, but most do. Those that don't show up, the local speaker checks on them sometime later... just to make sure nothing is wrong.
Speakers live a very simple life, with a minimum of distraction. They wear simple clothes and pull their hair back into a single braided tail. They are often supported by their community, but if that is the case, they do some work around the village to earn their keep.
Many priests wander, trying to divorce themselves of the material. These priests live off the charity of others or the occasional itinerate work.
No matter the priest, they then try to pass the mysteries of the spirit on to others, in the forms of stories and riddles. They also provide advice on how best to achieve ones purpose, to work with the flow of cosmic forces/ spiritual energies, and to achieve happiness.
There is no one central school of thought. In fact one of the tenets of the The One is that there IS NO ONE WAY. Those who have the calling are those who feel the duty to relearn the spirit. Priests are taught by other peer priests the fundamentals of the One's message. They are taught paths for achieving oneness. (There is no one path for any journey.) They are also taught meditation, some oratory skills, and several classic passages and riddles to serve as the foundation of their understanding.
There are no central authorities, just priests with more reputation and knowledge are revered and their wisdom listened to. Many of these priests live in communities of other priests in out of the way areas where the aesthetic lifestyle can be maintained.
There is some structure for the priests. There are five circles. To become a priest requires one to study under five different priests of the fifth circle (or greater) and be accepted by all of them. To be admitted to each circle requires the acceptance of five members of that circle. To become a member of the fourth circle, a member of the fifth circle must study under and be accepted by five members of the fourth. There are currently 23 members of the 1th circle through out the land. The names of the circles are simply fifth through first, to avoid any flowery distractions from the truth.
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? Responses (4)
Okay, this church saves a pretty boring religion post. This is good and interesting.
Updated: spell correction
Hm. I'm having a hard time putting into words down precisely what I take issue with here. I think it's the implausability of such a "church". I think it's because it's not so much a "church" as a philosophical get-together. If I get your gist, the theological-metaphysical theory here is that all things are a part of the Truth and are all equally legitimate, so the goal of the priests is to gather as much knowledge about "other" religions as they can (if "other" is the right word here, since the implication is they're all part of the same metaphysical idea).
That in itself is a nice idea, and I'd like to see that run. What I'm kind of bogged down with is why these priest-philosophers would bother pretending they're organized together. You pretty well state there's no central authority, or really any central tenet aside from "there is no one way". If that is so, then why are they going around Speaking/preaching these different ways? And even if they are, why come up with the circles and ranks? Given their ultimate goal (Oneness), the ranks and organization, scant as it is, seem to be ancillary at best and a stumbling block at worst.
If I'm missing the gist of it, please say so. But I have a hard time finding the need for the organization. The "these Are Our Churches" codex seems mostly just a freetext for religious ideas. That's fine and well if that's the case, but it seems a merely a meager justification for the Church of The One to exist. In terms of a unifying church for all faiths, I just don't buy it.
All that said, the idea of The One philosophy as a theologically underpinning is interesting, and I'd like to see more of it fleshed out. I'm counting myself as "not getting it" and will spare you my vote. I'd like to read more about it, however, just with a more engaging explanation for it.
Dozus, if you want to understand this, please study some Buddhist Philosophy and Religious History. If you can find some simple text, you can do the same with The Shinto Religion. In both cases, they have a "church" structured in much the same way. There is no "central authority" and western church structure for them. While there are "sect leaders" or tradition leaders, these are more ceremonial and social constructs (following of a charismatic and seemingly knowledable figure), than a ritualistic or organzational one.
If you are having definitional issues with it, admittedly these are the loosest usages of the terms.church. To be honest, this is the more modern version of the usage, which implies "the building" itself (or collection of buildings) is the religion - rather than the people. .
The religion itself is a combination of Buddhist thought with a chunk of Shinto and a dash of Santaria. It combines core ideas and some ancillary ones of these faiths. Perhaps these labels will give you a better handle on it.
They are organized together because while they do not feel the need for labels or overarching groups, those around them - especially in a political heirarchy - feudal and noble system - require such so they can relate to it. This was the situation for Shinto for the early centuries before it became the state religion of Japan.
Let me know if this gives you a direction and handle
