> Thus I have heard: there are a million streams into the near shores to the Ocean of Enlightenment. Some are tributaries, others are rivers. Some are false, some lead into lakes. Joining the proper stream is important, disciples. That is the necessity of a master.

>

> Kindred Sayings Scripture

Raxri couldn't remember much of emptiness. Other than, of course, Utter Bliss.

When Raxri opened their eyes, they still sat in a lotus position. The abbot and Yiwaritala sat too,, meditating with half-lidded eyes.

When they saw Raxri had roused, the Abbot smiled. "Good. With a reason so noble... It was to be expected from Raxri Uttara. A shadow yet resides within you."

Raxri's throat was parched. It was as if they drank fire. "B-But... w-what was that?"

The abbot smiled kindly. "A glimpse into the truth of reality."

Raxri blinked again. "I-I..."

"The less you think about it, the better," interjected Yiwaritala. "Understanding of these things come as you progress on Enlightenment's rungs."

The abbot nodded. "For now, you have attained a very unique kind of meditation. The visualization. You must climb with us. Until transcension is imminent, and Extinction is close."

The abbot reached into their pocket and pulled out a red stringed necklace with three stones upon it. The stones were uniform in shape and smooth. They looked like teeth in a way. Fangs. Round at the top and then sharp and pointed at the bottom. Each one was colored differently: one was colored a deep blue, another was colored a bright scarlet, and another was colored a pure white.

The abbot gave it to Raxri. They took it with both hands, bowing at the same time.

"These are the Tristones," said the abbot. "Wear it if you wish to step into the Lightning Path and follow the Infinite Law."

"O-oh." Had I not been following the Infinite Law all this time? they thought. But Raxri had a penchant for ritual all the same, so they said: "Yes. I... wish to step into the Lightning Path."

"Good. Then wear the Tristones and repeat after me." Raxri did so. The abbot took their own tristone necklace and held up the deep blue stone. "I take refuge in the Wisdom of the Awoken, whose teachings grant Extinction."

Raxri repeated it, staring at the Azure Stone of Wisdom..

The abbot then held up the scarlet stone. "I take refuge in the Strength of the Law, the teachings of which grant final release from suffering."

Raxri repeated it as well, staring now at the Scarlet Stone of Strength.

The abbot finally held up the white stone. "I take refuge in the Compassion of the Community, through whom I practice the Law and glean greater skill."

Raxri repeated that as well, holding up the White Stone of Compassion.

Then the abbot chanted: "AHOM MURAT. AHOM DAMLAH. AHOM WUHLANGHAI."

Raxri repeated after the abbot those three words. Then repeated it again. Then repeated it again.

After the third, a silence. All the gods that watched them seemed to wait with bated breath. This was all part of the ritual, Raxri knew. And as the silence dragged on, the gravity of their actions weighed upon them, pulling them down, grounding them to the earth.

Then, after a long moment, the abbot spoke: "Those three words make up the Refuge Mantra. Ahom Murat means 'Praise the Awoken'. Ahom Damlah means 'Praise the Law.' Ahom Wuhlanghai means 'Praise the Community.' If you are ever lost, chant that mantra to reaffirm and realign your thoughts, to pull you back into eternal meditation."

"Thank you, abbot Wairojashra. A weight has been placed upon my shoulders." Raxri bowed the crown reverence at the Abbot. The abbot stopped them.

"I am but a teacher. The Crown Reverence is for the Saints and the Awoken. I am a sentient being, just like you. The mouth reverence is all you need."

"I-I see. Forgive me, and thank you for the illumination." Raxri performed the mouth reverence is instead.

"That weight you now carry you have always carried," said the abbot. "You simply remember it now, again. That burden to save all beings and to lessen suffering... That is a duty worth an Awoken."

Raxri tilted their head to the side. "Do you not believe it is too grand? Too ambitious? Too haughty?"

The abbot smiled to his eyes, and shook his head. "A grand determination as that is the determination of all Saviors. To have that as your duty is aligned with the Law. You accumulate great karma following this."

"I see."

"If you have any more questions," said Yiwaritala. "Now would be the best time for them, while you have the abbot alone."

"O-oh! Okay. If it be all right with the Thunderbolt Master... why do you speak of Extinction?"

The abbot bowed and said: "Extinction is the ultimate goal of all beings. Extinction of attachments, of unwholesome desire, of disastrous passions, aversion, ignorance. Extinction of the very things that binds the mindstream to suffering. The very things that deludes one, and causes arising, which causes suffering."

"It is not Liberation?"

"Extinction, Cessation, Dissolution, Liberation, Enlightenment... as with everything in this world, they are but different words and different means to the Ultime Reality. They are the answer all the same."

"Ultimate reality?"

"Emptiness. That is, the state of being Awoken, touching finally your own Awoken-Nature. In so doing, you turn the world from suffering into flourishing."

"Is this what the witch Akazha meant when she said that Extinction and Suffering are in truth one and the same?"

The abbot smiled. Yiwaritala's eyebrows furrowed. The abbot made sure to sneak a glance at Yiwaritala. Then, he said: "That is truth, but stating that without the proper context, initiation, and understanding will lead to horribly wrong views. Do not meditate upon that truth just yet. We will get there."

"I see."

The abbot continued: "The core of the Infinite Law is as follows: "

"Everything is temporary.

"Clinging to temporary things is suffering.

"This suffering can be severed from you by letting go of clinging.

"The blade that can cut this is Enlightenment.

"Enlightenment is understanding the Emptiness of the world.

"In understanding the world one attains Extinction. There are a million paths to this enlightenment, for in the understanding of Emptiness one realizes the truth of all things. They are all threads spun upon the same loom."

Raxri ruminated on this for a moment. They thought long and hard if they had any questions. "By removing clinging, one is severed from suffering?"

The abbot nodded. "And one then becomes a liberated being... though there are many varieties of liberated beings. None of them are greater than the other, they are all states of Extinction all the same."

Yiwaritala shook his head. "You would do well not to worry yourself about the metaphysics of Extinction. At least, not yet. Start small, start from the beginning."

"Tell me, o Thunderbolt Master," pleaded Raxri. "What are the rungs of the Thunderbolt Ladder, that I may learn how to climb them?"

The abbot smiled. "Visualize the thunderbolt." They chanted a mantra, and lightning crashed beside the abbot.

Raxri jumped, scared, screaming.

Abbot Wairojashra, however, caught the lightning before it struck the ground. The lightning writhed white hot in the abbot's grasp. A fulgurous serpent. The lightning snake extended all the way to the clouds.

"Now the lesson begins. This sermon shall teach you the 108 Stages of Enlightenment."

The abbot pointed at the earth where the lightning almost touched, but never did.

"The basal level is there. The earth, so close to the fulgurs of the Thunderbolt Path, but never yet.

"The Adamantine Path--it is important to know that the other name for the Adamantine Path is the Thunderbolt Path--calls this stage the Dirt Stage. The Dirt Stage is the realm everyone is born into, especially those pakta hungry ghosts and the hell-beings. Both commoner and king are of the Dirt Stage, if they've never cultivated themselves. Their control of Will is basal. That is to say, they only have rudimentary control of it. In other words, they know how to move and breathe and live. Even those in the Dirt Stage can find enlightenment, but it will take them multiple lifetimes.

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"Now it must be said: traveling up the Thunderbolt Path is not a requisite for enlightenment. It is but one path among many. It is but one cultivation method over many. The lands speak of Soul Refinement Cultivation, All-Love Poetry Cultivation, Uncreated Light Suffusion Cultivation, Chakra Nondualism Cultivation, Ancestral Wisdom Cultivation, and there are yet a thousand more... Why is this so? Why is there so many? Because this world is a world of suffering and delusions, a world of beauty marred by the false consciousnesses of the living beings within it. A thousand thousand sects understand this truth, coming to it from vastly different places.

"They are paths to Extinction all the same," Raxri said. They breathed, speechless suddenly.

The Thunderbolt Master pointed now at the fulminating light emanated by the tamed lightning. In between the now-charring soil and the crackling tip of the thunderbolt serpent. "Here is the beginning of the Thunderbolt Path. This is where you are. The Shore of Lightning. You have chosen the path of indestructible and irreducible enlightenment, which can come to you suddenly and in a single lifetime. I commend you, for it will not be an easy road. You will shed many things before you might gain them back. Perhaps you already have."

The words lingered for a bit. Raxri looked nervous.

Then, Abbot Wairojashra continued: "This is the Heat Stage. In truth the first realm of the First Domain: the Desire Domain. Those in the Desire Domain are weaker than those in the Form Domain. And those in the Form Domain are weaker yet than those in the Formless Domain.

"In the Heat Stage you have access to certain realizations about the truth of the world, but it is not complete. You have knowledge, but you will need certain trainings and the Empowerments from Thunderbolt Masters to unlock the special way in which we Adamantines harness Will."

The Abbot shifted in his seat and said: "Let me tell you a bit about Will. No doubt, the witch Akazha has taught you about meditation and the Inner Powers?"

Raxri nodded. "The Will as the source of power and the dynamism of all sentient beings, and the Inner Winds as the pathways..."

The Abbot nodded approvingly. "The eight Inner Power paradigm is harmonious with the teachings of the Scarlet Awoken. This paradigm comes from the Peregrine Witch Art, which in itself is not a path to enlightenment, but rather a path to power, which is inherently weaker than a path to enlightenment. However, do not discount Paths to Power: they will grant you great access to techniques that can be used to smash all obstacles in your way, and can be a great boon and augment to your own journey to Extinction.

"There is a deeper understanding however, which is especially potent and important in the Paths to Enlightenment: all of the Inner Powers are manipulated through a distilled strength within all of us. This is known as Will. In truth, all sentient beings possess Will! It is the very thing required to keep us alive. It is the thing that causes movement in our blood, which in turn causes movement in every other part of our body. Will is the basic requirement for sentience. Cultivators such as us, then, refine our bodies and minds to be able to harness and manipulate our Will. More importantly, we accumulate and cultivate our Will. In so doing, we ascend the very rungs of reality. Many Celestines, gods that live above, are those that have attained certain immortality by cultivating vast amounts of Will. Through control of our Will, we can perform great feats that would seem to be straight out of a chanter's sagas."

"I see. Like a true hero," said Raxri.

The abbot nodded. "Finally, however, almost every Path harnesses Will to some extent. Will is fire, water, earth, air, ice, lightning, dark and light all at once, you see. However it is not our essence--nothing has essence, remember that. Paths of Enlightenment such as ours, however, have a cause for attaining such power. To many Paths of Enlightenment, this is for Liberation, Self-Extinction, Immortality, Grand Unity, Apotheosis, Sagehood, Wizardhood, and more. However, for us in the Adamantine Path--and also for our sisters and our brothers in the greater Giant Garden Path--our cause is compassion. Our cause is the Liberation of all sentient beings. Until all beings are free."

"Until... all beings are free..." echoed Raxri.

Yiwaritala chimed in then: "The Savior Vows, you must know." He turned to the Abbot. The Abbot nodded. Yiwaritala turned to Raxri and said: "It ringeth thus:

Though the sentient beings be innumerable, I will save them all.

Though the hatred be inexhaustible, I will break them all.

Though the wisdoms be unaittanable, I will claim them all.

Though Liberation is unsurpassable, I will accomplish it all the same."

Raxri blinked, and then looked in awe at the Abbot. Was this not the very same thing he asked me...?

The abbot nodded. He still grasped the lightning in his hand. The cloud overhead them stood still as though frozen, looking like a great storm god pointing indignation at them. He continued his sermon, "And so, our Will must be suffused with the Compassionate Mind, or the Awoken Consciousness. If it is not, then you will not truly understand or attain the Greater Mysteries of our Path. You must bear the determination of Unconquerable Compassion to attain the greater Liberation we find. It is the only way one will attain the 109th Stage, the sixth Domain."

"So the power I cultivate must be for all sentient beings, and not just for myself?"

The abbot nodded. "The drawback is this will take you longer. We cannot rely on selfish methods for refining our Will."

"I understand."

The abbot then pointed at the tip of the lightning. "Once you've both taken refuge in the Tristones and learned how to tap into your Will Furnace, only then shall you be considered as someone stepping upon the Thunderbolt Path. This is the Lightning-Enterer Stage, the second Stage of the Desire Domain. Here you have enough Will to understand and access the mystic martial arts and wizardries of our path."

Yiwaritala nodded, inhaling and then exhaling. Raxri looked at him, and then back at the Abbot. "Why is it called the Desire Domain?"

"Here? Because you are bound yet to this world of desires. You gain power because you desire for something, even if that desire is truly benign. It is desire all the same. In the Thunderbolt Path, we do not shirk away from the emotions and passions of the masses. Instead, we embrace it, temper it upon the furnace of enlightenment, and forge it into a tool for Liberation. We begin at the Desire Domain because we must. No ambition for greater compassion will not lead to greater compassion. However, desire must soon be shed, along with faith, and turned into Conviction. Only then will you enter into the Form Domain.

"The Form Domain and the Formless Domain will no doubt be still out of the grasp of your current mental capacities. In a shortened version however... the Form Domain is the Domain of fine materiality. The Form Domain is the domain of celestines, of supernatural martial artists, of wizards, of sages, of mystics, of gods. Their bodies are of light or of any fashion they wish it to be, and they are living in constant bliss and have no need for coarse foods. Many of them are the very gods that folk worship.

"The Formless Domain is even higher than that, further, atmost. Here even the Light Bodies are turned into nothing but just awareness. Formless Cultivators do not need to manifest bodily in the world to influence it, though if they do they are unbound by the laws of both the Earth of the Desire Stage and the Heaven of the Form Domain."

"Are the Awoken in the Formless Domain?" asked Raxri.

The Abbot shook their head. They pointed at the sky. Nowhere near the cloud. "The Awoken are beyond all of this, surpassing all to surpass and are unsurpassable. They commonly manifest bodies in the three realms, however. Once you are liberated, you will no longer be fettered by phenomenal reality. Phenomenal reality will be fettered by you."

"How do I become Awoken?"

"You follow the path." Abbot Wairojashra gestured to the great lightning. "You climb up the path that is not meant to be climbed. You will become Awoken yet, though depending on your method, practice, and determination, what kind of Awoken you will become depends. But remember that Awokenhood is transcension. It is far, far beyond the realm of even the Creator Gods: the gods that create new universes in the trichiliocosm to house more sentient beings."

"What are the three kinds of Awoken, master?" A fire was lit in Raxri's heart. The questions flowed out of them like a river undammed.

"Concisely, there are the Saint Awoken, or just Saints. There are the Conqueror Awoken, or just the Conquerors. And then there are the Savior Awoken, or just Saviors. Saints are those that awaken following the teachings of the Law. Conquerers are those that awaken without hearing the teachings of the Law, and they do not leave behind a community, only seeking truly personal Liberation. Saviors, the most difficult of the three Awokenhoods, are those that seek liberation for all beings, shirking the arrogance of those that seek liberation away from the masses.

"In truth, however, these are all Awoken all the same. Though the various sects and clans of our faiths will quarrel over what each of these mean--and truly some of them do not even believe this to be true!--they are all attainers of the same path with different goals. All of them are the Whorls all the same."

Raxri nodded again, in understanding. Their eyes flickered back to the lightning still in the Abbot's grasp. They did not seem to be in any way phased by the thousand-suns hot streak that they held in their hands. For a moment, Raxri wondered what realm the great Abbot was in. "Abbot, how does one ascend the realms? I wish to wield my Will and ascend it. I wish the strength to save all others. I wish for the strength to save the ones I love."

The abbot smiled and nodded. They pointed at the lightning bolt and said: "Good. Then know this: Each Domain is split into three Strata. Each Stratum has 12 Stages. The first Stratum of the Desire Domain is known as the Mortal Stratum. These are the 12 Stages:

"First, Soil.

"Second, Heat.

"Third, Lightning-Enterer.

"Fourth, Accumulation.

"Fifth, Emergence.

"Sixth, Refinement.

"Seventh, Fury.

"Eighth, Fulmination.

"Ninth, Signification.

"Tenth, Noble Soul.

"Eleventh, Clarification,

"Twelfth, Calcification.

"These make up the first 12 Realms of the Desire Domain. Many warriors and fighters dance here. The final realm, Calcification, is so called because many of those that attain that stage almost never revert or fall back below that stage... unless their strength and determination is found wanting."

"I am in the Heat Stage right now," said Raxri, thinking. "Is that right Abbot?"

The Abbot nodded.

"What must I do to ascend, and become greater? I desire to harness my Will! To save all those that can be yet saved!"

"And you have great stores of it," replied the abbot, nodding. The abbot bowed and said, "This is the point where Yiwaritala can show you it much better than I. Yiwaritala? I must perform the obeisance rituals to the mountain gods."

Yiwaritala bowed, performing the mouth reverence to the abbot. The abbot rose, turned, and walked over to the shrine. They began chanting and placing various sacrifices upon the porcelain plate of the altar. Some of them looked like betel nut, others cakes of rice.

Yiwaritala, on the other hand, offered Raxri his hand. "I bid you, dear one. Rise."

"A-ah. Okay." Raxri took Yiwaritala's hand gingerly. The two of them rose.

"You've mentioned that you wanted to train the Thunderbolt Staff, yes?"

Raxri nodded.

"Have you any knowledge of any previous martial arts?"

"The witch Akazha taught me in the fundamentals of the Whorl Hand," replied Raxri.

"So she is your master? She is not exactly the best martial arts master. Her skill in sorceries, however..."

"Yes she is my master.," said Raxr, raising a devious eyebrow. "Would that be a problem?"

"In the Belligerent World," said Yiwaritala. "That is to say, the interconnected world culture of martial artists and magicians here in the Utter Islands, it is disrespectful to look for another martial art before your own master has told you to do so. In your case, however, you have been expressly told by the witch Akazha to find us and learn from us. And so we shall take that as her honorable word. You stand at a crossroad, now." Yiwaritala's already intense eyes intensified only more. "Will you take the ascetic path and become a monk, or will you stay of the laity, and only take what you can?"

Raxri gulped. They didn't want to be a monk! But that might mean I might learn less, and won't it be a waste to not learn all I can after having traveled here?! "I'm not sure about the path of the ascetic. I... still need to find out about who I was. Becoming a monk might impede this goal of mine... and I might not be able to help those about me without traveling. I might waste precious years in the monastery!"

There was a hint of offense in Yiwaritala's eyes. He looked to the abbot, who was still too busy working on the ritual to really offer any advice. Yiwaritala sighed. "Your determination shines through. It is true that taking on the robes will chain you to the monastery until your training is done, and this might take a good few years or so. But your cultivation will be great. Unsurpassable."

Raxri said nothing.

"However, the abbot figured as such. I do not remember what history the Abbot has with the past Raxri Uttara, but they seem to be particularly inclined to help you. And so, I will teach you how to harness your Will, how to use it alongside Meditation, how to gather Will from the resonances of those all about you, and how to wield it like a blade through the vector of Martial Arts."

"Does this mean I will be learning the Thunderbolt Staff?"

Yiwaritala turned to the abbot again.