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====== Shepherds of Being ======

The collected writings of Judge Talkon.

=== Notes on this modern transcription ===

//Judge Talkon worked and wrote some nine centuries before our time. It appears that he wrote a number of works during his tenure, and that these were recorded and distributed among many worlds as he travelled, but that they received only modest acclaim during his lifetime. We can assume this was, in part, a result of the largely uncontroversial nature of his writing. However in recent years there has been an upsurge in interest in his writings, giving as they do an insight into a more uncomplicated and perhaps purer time in Elysian culture, and as a result I have been encouraged to collect the most noteworthy of his reflections into a single edition. I present it here in the knowledge that we have much to learn from the uncomplicated yet philosophical perspective of our forebears.// 

===== On history, and the Origin =====

[{{ :image:space:cosmic_microwave_background.png?200|The cosmic microwave background, a relic of Origin}}]The past is a foreign land, one to which we can never return. We live each moment in the here-and-now, and then it is gone forever into the past. To know what occurred we have only our  memories, the memories of others, and what we chose to record and perpetuate to guide us. But recordings can be easily altered, lost, erased, and as Elysians our Will is of such strength that we are capable of changing our very memories. 

What value then has history to us? All the small, inconsequential events of lives are lost, ultimate, to the passage of time. The records survive, our memories and stories survive, but they can be only as myths to us. They can carry truth, but it is the truth of a mutable mind, buried in image and symbol. The passage of time renders them mutable in their outward appearance, but their essential nature survives.

At the beginning there was the Origin. This infinitely complex point contained all that would become space and time, all matter and consciousness, and was the essential and undivided Being. Such things are beyond history or the recall of any one individual, but the legacy of Being in the world can be seen in the very fact that we as Elysians exist. Our ability to touch the minds of others, to touch through meditation and mental conditioning the very nature of Being in the vast Universe, is living proof of Origin, even if the echoes of its collapse into parts could not be heard and recorded in all the vast emptinesses between matter. 

===== On psionic contact with an Other =====

To create psionic contact with an Other we must reach back to the Origin – where instead of thinking of subject and object, we know ourselves to be whole. We do not impose our will on a subject – we simply awaken ourselves to the understanding that there is no difference between I and the Other. The distance between us collapses and is no more, and I and the Other are essentially one. At this point it is natural that the strongest mind is the one which speaks to Being, so our experiencing becomes the experiencing of all that we recognise as ourselves. That is to say, my experiencing becomes the experiencing of the Other. So my fear becomes their fear. 

That is not to say that I must experience fear in that moment in order for the Other to feel it. I must simply know what it is to feel fear, to have studied its essential nature, to have sat in meditation and truly focussed on the pure essence of it until I can recall its every moment in clarity. When I know it this well, it no longer has any hold on me. I can draw on it at any time, hold it safely within my mind, cocooned. When the moment of connection comes, I with the Other, it is then effortless to release the fear into the mind of the Other. Typically, the Other has little ability to resist this fear.

Thus it is by dissolving the subject-object dichotomy within our own minds that forms the core of coming into psionic contact with Others. This is of course why the pressed-hands exercise is commonly one of the first training exercises introduced to Elysian children. Typically they are instructed to close their eyes and bring their hands together, palm to palm. The question is then posed, is the right hand touching the left, or is the left touching the right? The answer is of course that both are touching each other; the right is not the subject of the left, nor is the left the subject of the right. From here, children are typically instructed to draw their felt senses into their body, to feel first the sensations of the right hand only, focussing specifically on this part of the body and experiencing the left hand only as an object against which the right is pressed. Then they are instructed to draw the felt sense across to the left hand, and to feel the sensations within the left hand only, experiencing the right hand only as something against which the left is pressed. Then to switch again, and again, and to continue doing so, until one can fluidly move ones felt sense and one’s awareness between hands. 

The apparent simplicity of this exercise belies the underlying complexity of the task, which builds interoception and hence self-regulation, as well as concentration, and provides a physical model of the subject-object dichotomy; we can learn to experience two hands pressed together as a subject doing the sensing and an object being sensed, but in reality they are one essential whole. Similarly I and the Other are in reality not subject reaching out to control object, but one whole. Once we are able to understand that, we can collapse the apparent subject-object relationship and become one. 

This exercise is also interesting for its ethnographic roots. We have seen many cultures have the practice of praying, with hands brought together like this. They do not realise what they are doing, but their Being is calling them to recognise the inter-subjectivity of their existence. The pressing of hands is a physical reminder that we all came from the Origin, where all was one, and there was no subject and no object.
 
===== The role of psionic ritual =====

One of the dangers of recognising the inter-subjectivity of all Being is that it comes with an urge to Community, which pulls us away from our own unique calling. Being in psionic contact with others can be intoxicating. There is a subtle pull to give into the strength of other Beings, as well as the call to dominate others. To give into either of these would be a mistake, for they are a false collectivisation of Being. Whilst we strive for the communality of all, it is towards Origin, the perfect beginning, not towards unthinking, unitary mindlessness that we reach. Being should not be tranquillised by Community. This would limit the possibility of each individual, whereas true communality in Origin will be the opening of all possibility.

In Community every Being is the other, and none are truly the self, belonging to their own possibilities. Within collective action, uniqueness is unexpressed and unexperienced, and this holds true though to a lesser extent even when taking lead in psionic ritual. But because of our common Origin, all those of us who possess a spark of Being have an innate desire to join together. This presents us with dichotomy, which we must learn to live with. To practice Community is necessary, but we cannot give ourselves wholly to it.

With that word of caution, let us consider working together in shared psionic contact. This is important not just for the facility it grants us to approach Origin, or for the experience of Community which is necessary to our Being, but for the practical repercussions. It facilitates the co-creation of our society, our understanding of what we will build together, and without these things we fall into chaos and entropy. It is a cornerstone of Elysian society, as it allows all people to partake of Community. Thus it is common for rituals to encompass as many people as possible, even where only a few are strictly necessary to share the psionic load.

One thing that psionic ritual also offers, is a chance to reduce the burden of Being. For all the reasons that Community represents a risk to Being, it also offers relief from the inherent anxiety of Being. To be alive to our Being in the world, surrounded by but separate from other Beings, is inherently difficult. To be aware of our own lives, our coming deaths, and our inherent aloneness cannot be sustained indefinitely. Psionic ritual when practiced safely brings us some measure of relief from the angst, anxiety, and loneliness of Being. By being in psionic contact with not just one Other, but a group, we can touch perhaps for a moment the unconditional sense of deep connection that is the echo of Origin in the universe. 

===== On children and their maturation =====

The first step in maturation is the development of what we have come to recognise as Mind, which occurs typically around the age of seven. It is understood by scholars of development that this marks the point at which it is possible to begin teaching children those meditations and techniques which mark their first steps in disciplining and training the mental faculties. 

It would not be exaggeration to say that the emergence of psionic abilities within a child marks that child’s entrance to Elysian society, and that it is one of the most joyful moments within Elysian society. The point when a child can, under their own Will, reach out to the mind of an Other marks the point when they are truly recognised as Elysian. Typically this is celebrated by the performance, after suitable preparation and consideration, of one of the great rituals, in which the newly recognised Elysian takes their place formally within society. There are few points in life which are marked by greater joy and anticipated so wildly as this moment.

The exact point when a child reaches psionic maturity varies from child to child, but typically this occurs around the age of twelve as part of the first shifts of puberty. Rarely a child may show brief bouts of psionic ability at an earlier age, but these are never sustained, and have been seen only in moments of great trauma or need. When the moment has past, these abilities typically recede and are not seen again until the appropriate stage of development. Even more rarely, psionic maturation may be delayed, but never more than a few years following puberty. 

Elysian tradition holds that children prior to the point of psionic maturity play little part in society, but this is upheld most strongly amongst Elysians living in traditional manner within the more densely populated planets and their cities. Here it is a possibility, and indeed a requirement for their own safety, that we insulate our children from the intense psionic energies that are a natural part of Elysian life. However as the call to explore the wider and more distant parts of the Universe grows ever stronger, those of us who travel in smaller groups and further away from the great nexuses of Elysia have by necessity and desire created lives of greater intimacy with our children. It is interesting that in my own travels I have come into contact with Elysian groups that engage in psionic ritual with children present, apparently without any detriment to them. 

===== On death and dying =====

As we have come to live in a more peaceful and organised time, the passing of Elysians has come to be a time of great sorrow, as those left behind mourn the passing of the unique individual and all their diverse potentiality. For those with substantial Will, death is also the final great challenge. The moment of death is the dissolution of all barriers and boundaries we have drawn around our senses of selves and the unleashing of all inward power. It is said that the stronger the Will, the greater the risk that others of weaker strength will be drawn into the Mind of the one who passes, particularly if great distress or fear is present. I need not explain the risks inherent in psionic contact with a mind at the point of death.

It is said that in times past, when Elysian society was not so close nor our people so numerous, members with powerful Will would separate themselves from their companions when death was near. Thus, by physical separation they would prevent psionic contact and any concomitant damage to those of lesser Will. However in our recent history our people are too numerous and in too close contact for such a method to be feasible, and our society no longer accepts such a lonely vigil. In its place, where there is concern over the oncoming death of an individual with exceptional Will, certain rites can be conducted which encapsulate and enclose that individual within the resonant nexus of all Beings and so boundary the departing Mind within the psionic energies of the participants. Those rites which I have witnesses have contained both great sorrow and great joy; like our great nation, diversity is held within all we do.

{{tag>psionics elysian commonality lore}}
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