Author's Introduction:

This will ideally be the first of a series of posts intended to show what
various mage groups believe, how they think, and why they think the
Sleepers ought to prefer their vision of reality.  It is not intended as a
complete picture of each group, or a 'fair' portrait.  It's written as
propaganda by each group, but honest propaganda.  They won't lie, but they
won't list their own flaws in detail either :)

Naturally, these posts represent my own idiosyncratic views which I
believe to be reasonably compatible with canon, but given my memory is at
times rather sieve like, I may forget stuff.  If you see a contradiction
between this or the appropriate Trad/Conv book, it may or may not be
deliberate.

If you have suggestions for more questions that should be covered, please
let me know.

Akashic Brotherhood and a bunch o' other stuff is all copyright of White
Wolf, of course.

You can find the ones done so far at:

http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/WW/index.html


Ascension 2000 Campaign Pamphlets:  Akashic Brotherhood

So, like you guys are the dudes who go to temples and meditate for a 
dozen years on riddles with no answer to learn how to break bricks 
with your heads, right?  I dunno about you, but trying to achieve 
Nirvana and being called 'grasshopper' isn't my thing.  

	Do not make the mistake of thinking we are merely bald men in 
saffron robes babbling about trees making no sound when they fall 
and calling their students 'grasshopper'.  Nor are we simply 
superpowered unarmed warriors who jump three hundred feet 
straight up from a prone position, break concrete with their pinkie 
finger, and seek revenge on the men who murdered our master.  That 
is how the Technocracy would like you to see us, how they have tried 
to trivialize the wisdom we possess and desire to share. 

	Rely on tools, and they will control you.  How many times have 
you leaped from the shower or abandoned your work to answer the 
phone?  How many times has your computer crashed, destroying 
hours of work?  How many times has your car broken down, stranding 
you somewhere?  Have you ever thought about how many fragile 
machines your safety depends on and how easily they malfunction?  
And even when they do not, they become chains binding you down.  
The car needs to have its oil changed.  You have to sit and wait for a 
phone call before you can go out for the evening.  If you work in a 
factory, you spend a quarter of your life or more  being the servant 
of an assembly line.  The way of the Technocracy is the way of being 
the servant of tools, not their master.

	Our way is the way of true liberation of the self.  The way of 
the Technocracy is the way of dependence upon tools, upon things 
external to the self.  Our way, the way of the Tao, is the way of 
self-mastery.  Control yourself and you can control all things.   We 
will teach you Do, the way of living in harmony with all things, the 
way in which humans are most truly human.  It is not an easy road, 
but it is the best one.

So what is Do?

	Do is the way of life practiced by the Akashic Brotherhood, 
different for every member, but united by ideas and practices held in 
common.  It combines physical and mental exercise which enable its 
practicioners to perfect their Self in order to overcome that very 
same self, to change the world in order to overcome it as well, in 
pursuit of the goal of Ascension, in which the illusions that hold us 
back are finally dissolved.

	It is not simply a martial art.  It is the mother and father of 
all martial arts, containing them all but transcending them.  It can 
be used in combat, and a skilled practicioner of Do is invincible 
against limited lesser martial arts.  Yet, it is far more than a way to 
bust heads, for it also teaches the perfection of the Mind, as well as 
the Body.  Only by perfecting both can we come to Ascension.

	Also part of Do is the reliance on the Self rather than tools.  
This is not to say that we desire mankind to abandon all tools and 
live in caves like wild animals.  The human Body and the human Mind 
are the greatest of all tools.  To rely on external tools instead of 
your Self is to become the slave of the tool.  To rely on your Self is 
to be your own master.  And who wouldn't rather be free than a 
slave?

	We do teach the use of various tools, or as some others would 
call them 'foci' in the way of Do.  One must learn to walk before one 
learns to run.  They are 'training wheels' to use a Western metaphor.  
At first, the student of Do may need them as crutches.  As you 
progress, you no longer need them, though you may at times find 
them useful regardless.  This is especially true in a world where 
reality has been tilted against us and is especially cruel to those 
who produce results without readily apparent effort.  I could 
rearrange my rock garden with a thought if I desired, yet I still find 
combing it by hand to be soothing.  Nor will I be punished by Paradox 
if I choose the latter road.

	We shall speak of Paradox later, however.  Now that you have a 
truer understanding of what Do is, we shall turn to some deeper 
philosophical matters.

What is the philosophy of the Akashic Brotherhood?

	The Akashic Brotherhood, like all of the Traditions, does not 
possess a single monolithic philosophy.  Each of the four major 
camps takes a different view of various issues, emphasizing or 
downplaying various ideas.  Still, there are certain ideas which form 
the shared body of our Tradition, the ideas which unite us.

	One of the most central concepts of the Akashic Brotherhood is 
the idea of duality, most often expressed through the idea of Yin and 
Yang.  Every greater whole is composed of contradictory parts.  Their 
conflict drives the wheel of time forward.  This leads to one of the 
paradoxical concepts of the Brotherhood.  True opposites cannot be 
reconciled or they would not be opposites.  Yet, they must be 
reconciled in order to become a whole.  Our goal is the oneness found 
when opposites are reconciled.  Yet, when one reconciles one set of 
opposites, the wholeness that results can often be found to be in 
opposition to a new thing not previously percieved.  The ultimate 
Ascension would be the reconciliation of ALL opposites.  Now you 
see why this has not yet been achieved.

	To give a more concrete example, let us take the Body and the 
Mind.  Many people find their body and minds in conflict.  For 
example, they may know that smoking is bad for them, but their body 
craves nicotine, so they smoke anyway.  Or your body may tell you 
you need to sleep, but you decide to stay up and study anyway.  
Exhausted, you fail your test in the morning anyway.  So long as your 
mind and body are in conflict, you will be crippled in your ability to 
achieve anything.  Once reconciled through the practice of Do, they 
fuse into the Self.  Yet, the Self finds itself in conflict with other 
selves, who have different goals, hopes, and dreams.  Perhaps those 
selves learn to reconcile themselves with each other by forming an 
association of some kind.  That association will find itself in 
conflict with other associations.  This can lead to another 
reconcilliation, fusion into a greater whole, and yet more conflict 
with still larger groups.

	One must master both Body and Mind, fusing them into Self, in 
order to then change the world.  This is the crucial first step, and 
one of the first places where even we Akashics come into conflict 
with one another.  Some emphasize physical exercises, to bring 
about reconciliation by forcing the Mind to submit to the Body.  
Others seek to dominate the Body with their Mind through meditative 
exercises and self-mortification.  A third group seeks to unify the 
two by proving to themselves that the division between them is 
simply an illusion and that the Body and Mind were merged into Self 
all along.  And some, like myself, seek to bring about the perfect 
balance between the two by elevating both to the same degree of 
excellence.    

	Whatever the means by which it is done, achieving mastery of 
the Self is the first step of englightenment.  You cannot change the 
world until you change yourself.  There is much disagreement, 
however, on how one knows the Self is sufficiently mastered, and 
how the Self changes the world.  The very process of Self-mastery 
grants talents not available to those who have yet to walk the road 
called Do, and creates the temptation to rush out and try to change 
things right away.  At what point has one found enough control of 
one's Self to be ready to act beyond the Self?  There is no single 
answer to this either.

	Some argue that once a sufficient level of mastery has been 
achieved that the student no longer needs the constant attention of 
one's Master, the student is ready to act in the world.  Others argue 
that far more preparation is needed, for the world can sometimes 
destroy the mastery of Self which is most easily achieved in 
isolation from the world.  Only those who have achieved enough 
mastery to be immune to the temptations to abandon Do in search of 
easy pleasures should go forth.  A third group argues that there is no 
need to enter the world, for the division between world and self is 
merely an illusion.  One is always in the world, and the world is in 
you.  One need but will the world to change with a sufficiently 
enlightened Self (bearing in mind that Self is itself an illusion), and 
the world will change.  I myself prefer the path of alternation 
between withdrawal and activity.  Periodically, one must retreat to 
refresh one's Self-mastery and advance in the following of Do, but 
then one must return to the outside world in order to apply it.  This 
debate also continues.

	There are many other dualities I might discuss, but if I go into 
all of them, I could easily spend the next few weeks rambling on.  
Just to give a few examples of opposites and their reconcilliation:  
Past and Future merge in the creation of the Present to become the 
tapestry of Time, which is both fixed and mutable.  Male and Female 
are joined in the act of procreation, which creates new Life.    
Memory and Aspirations join in the act of thought to become Mind.  
Fixed qualities and mutable forms combine in infinite ways to form 
Matter.  And so on.

	So what do we believe to be the nature of reality?  Many 
Akashics are too busy trying to master themselves or change the 
world to worry about its true nature, I must admit.  Some Akashics 
argue that the very existence of the world is a subjective illusion 
which must be overcome.  This is the road of Nirvana.  Others argue 
that it is only our division from the world which is the illusion, that 
all things were one, are now divided, and should be made one once 
again--but all the divided parts of the world are Real.  Yet a third 
group seeks to reconcile the two contradictory positions--our goal 
is the reconciliation of opposites after all.  

	Whatever our position on the 'reality' of the world, we all 
recognize the current world is flawed, torn between 'Spirit' and 
'Matter', the 'Mind' and 'Body' that united would make the world into 
its 'Self'.  Divided, they lead only to conflict and prevent the World 
from achieving Self-Mastery. This division must be ended and healed 
if Ascension is ever to take place.  

	The Technocracy will never achieve Ascension and can only 
aggravate the world's problems because it fails to recognize that 
Spirit and Matter must be reunited if the world is ever to move on 
from its current state of division and conflict between the two.  
They do not seek to reconcile these opposites but simply to destroy 
Spirit.  They see it as a source of unpredictable, uncontrollable 
danger, and so they drive a deeper and deeper wedge between the 
two, regardless of the cost, in the name of 'protecting the masses'.  
They forget that humans are creatures of Spirit and Matter, joined in 
a dynamic union.  Cut us off from Spirit, and we wither and die, and 
the world dies with us.  

	One does not cure a head cold by cutting off one's head, but the 
Technocracy thinks this is the way to solve the dangers that can 
come from Spirit, instead of curing the Spirit.  

	Do not think we are blind to the danger that the Spirit World 
and Spirits can pose to humanity.  Many an Akashic has fallen from 
Do due to the temptation or assault of Spirits, and many a Sleeper 
has suffered from them as well.  We believe the risk, however, is 
worth the benefits.  After all, if you never take any risks, you can 
never grow, never do anything, for there is always the chance 
something will go wrong.  Do you let the risk that you might get sick 
keep you from interacting with other human beings?  Anyone you 
meet might infect you with something deadly.  Similarly, some 
Spirits are malicious, and some mythic creatures are evil.  But the 
Technocracy's tactics are like saying 'Some Whites commit crimes, 
therefore, kill all White people'.  Like us, Spirits span the whole 
range from utter purity to total corruption and all the shades 
inbetween.  

	And more important, we need them.  Spirit and Matter must be 
rejoined, or both will die.  The Technocracy seeks to destroy one to 
save the other, but that is impossible.  By destroying one, the other 
will be destroyed as well.  Would you destroy your mind to save your 
body?  A body without a mind ceases to be Self.  The physical world 
without Spirit ceases to be World, and Ascension becomes 
impossible.  One does not climb a staircase by destroying the steps.

So how does this translate into actually DOING something?  How 
would an Akashic cure my lung cancer, let's say?

	Ideally, we would teach you to cure your own lung cancer.  It is 
easier for you to change your body, for it is part of your Self, than it 
would be for me to do it, if you possessed enough Self-Mastery to do 
so.  Once you had mastered yourself, you could bring yourself back to 
internal balance, thus ending your Body's unbalanced rampage.  For 
that is what cancer is, an imbalance in your Body between the 
energies and matter which make up your flesh.  By reconciling them 
into a proper balance, a correct unity, you would heal yourself 
through your Do.  All disease is the result of an imbalance within the 
Self, and can be healed by rebalancing, reintegrating the Body and 
Mind into the whole Self.

	However, if you were that advanced, you wouldn't be suffering 
from lung cancer, unless you'd fallen off the path of Do.  So, let's 
assume you come to my Dojo and ask me to heal you because you will 
die in six months if it is not cured.  First, I would have to learn more 
of you.  By having you run through simple exercises, both physical 
and mental, I could ascertain how your Self had become imbalanced 
between Body and Mind, concluding you possessed an excess of 
Yang(the active principle, part of the duality of Yin and Yang, which 
united make up all things),  which was driving your flesh into a 
frenzied production of flawed tissue in your lungs.  

	Having made that diagnosis, I would then try to bring your Yang 
and Yin back into balance within your Body.  I might do this by 
prescribing substances which increased your Yin or which would 
consume and remove your excess Yang.  I might also, or instead 
prescribe activities and exercises which would have the same 
effect.  I'd also tell you to quit smoking, and teach you ways in 
which you could learn to control the cravings which got you into the 
problem in the first place.  

	In a world governed by our ways, a world in which all followed 
Do, every man could be his own doctor.  Wouldn't you like to be free 
of disease?  To enjoy a longer, healthier life?  To have the body 
you've always wanted?  

Are you saying we can control EVERYTHING by controlling the Self?  
That eventually, a sufficiently practiced Akashic becomes all 
powerful?

	That would be to say too much.  Everything has limits.  Our 
powers work best on our Selves, rather than the world around us.  
This is one reason why some Akashics withdraw from the world--
they cannot master it so thoroughly as themselves.  Other Selves, 
the world itself, must be brought into unity with us in order to 
accomplish anything.  Our powers work best when what we wish to 
effect freely cooperate with us in achieving that unity.  I could cure 
lung cancer by simply forcing the patient's chi into balance, but that 
might create unforseen side effects.  Better to help you learn to 
balance it yourself.  The union of our Selves, even briefly, strengths 
us both as we form a greater whole.

	Secondly, each of us is only so strong.  The mightiest Akashic 
Brother could not knock Saturn from the sky if he spent a century at 
the task.  Imagine trying to become one with the entire Gauntlet in 
order to destroy it.  It makes my head hurt just to contemplate 
contemplating that.  Some tasks seem beyond any one's power, even 
if Paradox does not intervene.  We know no way to travel into the 
past and change it.  We cannot create Incarna and Celestines.  And so 
on.  There are rumors that Archmagi can surpass some of these 
limits, but they are few and usually either Ascend or Descend 
rapidly.  Most of us work best on a small scale, personal level.  Until 
we grow as large as what we seek to join with, we cannot join it 
and change it.

	Thirdly, even if we were omnipotent, the conflicts between 
Selves would limit us.  One cannot have two omnipotent beings in the 
same universe.  Both for moral reasons (we revile the enslavement 
of the wills of others) and for simple practical reasons, the 
existence of contradictory wills, of Selves in battle with each 
other, limits our power.  We must bring about reconcilliation and 
agreement in order to overcome this limitation.

	Fourthly, our road requires the hardest kind of discipline:  
self-discipline.  One must forgo many things believed pleasureable 
by the world in order to achieve Self-mastery.  One cannot simply 
practice Do when one feels like it or when one needs to solve a 
problem with it.  If it is to be of any use, it must be practiced 
constantly; one must integrate one's every action into one's Do.  At 
the present, this lies beyond the capacity of most people, and even 
of many within our Brotherhood, at times.   We can all fall prey to 
temptation, even the greatest of us.  The struggle to master one's 
Self never completely ends.  Only an Ascended one is free of that 
struggle. 

	Finally, Paradox limits us.  The Technocracy has turned the 
world against our ways, and it strikes at us when we seek to heal it.  
That is one of their greatest sins.  They have not only raped the 
world but made it reject those who could end its pain.  If we stray 
too far from the ways of 'science', we are punished for rejecting the 
status quo.  

I dunno, it sounds like a lot of working one's ass off all the time.  
Where's the fun in it?  I just can't see myself eating rice all the 
time and meditating eight hours a day.  Don't you ever get bored?

	Work and fun are another dichotomy that one must reconcile 
and overcome on the road to Ascension.  If doing something makes 
one miserable, one must question whether the rewards that activity 
offers are worth it.  Is spending half your waking hours in an office 
reading boring reports and writing memos that will be waste paper 
in a few days really fulfilling?  If not, why do you do it?

	Once one sets oneself upon the way of Do, one comes to enjoy 
it.  Do you think I could spend four hours a day doing my sword forms 
if it bored me?  We learn to do what we enjoy and enjoy what we do.  
Many of the things you formerly thought of as 'fun' come to be seen 
as what they truly were:  a desperate attempt to escape the boredom 
of your existence.  You will no longer need to drug yourself or induce 
adrenalin rushes in order to make up for the time wasted on a job 
you hate.

	Do encompasses exercise and meditation, but it is not 
restricted to them.  When I rake my garden, when I paint a sunset, 
when I climb a mountainside in order to see the flower that grows 
atop it, all those things are part of my Do.  Do is a way of life, not 
simply a matter of working out and meditating sixteen hours a day.

	We abstain in order to master and transcend our desires.  This 
does not always mean the things are bad in themselves.  Akashics 
fall in love, we have sex, we get married and have children, we enjoy 
good food and wine in moderation, we participate in sports.  
Sometimes you may feel the need to avoid one of those things in 
order to remind yourself that it cannot control you.  Some Akashics 
may avoid something like wine or sex or soccer for their entire life 
because it is just too much of a temptation to lose the self-
discipline which is at the core of Do.  But others of us do not; once 
one has mastered one's desires, one does not necessarily have to 
forsake all pleasant things to stay on the road of Do.  They simply 
must not become more important than the road, or Ascension will 
never come.

Is it really possible for everyone to achieve this?  Don't you need a 
'knack'?

	Some people do have a knack.  It's important to realize that 
this life is probably not your first one.  Some souls will achieve 
Enlightenment and Awaken in their first life, but many must 
struggle for many lifetimes, or fall asleep repeatedly, only to 
Awaken again.  But surely you already know that the best things in 
life require effort and constant discipline to achieve?  While the 
Technocracy has many flaws, even they realize that to accomplish 
anything requires long term work.  Do is not a magic pill or an 
instant cure, any more than you can simply clean your room once and 
it will never get dirty again.

	Those who do not Awaken in this lifetime will have many more 
to achieve it, and those who Awaken without Ascending will have 
many in which to move closer to Ascension.  Life is a test, but one 
you can take over and over until finally you pass.  Yet passing that 
test simply sends you to a harder, but also more rewarding class.  
This is Dharma, the interweaving of Destiny and Free Choice to 
create the Future.  By your actions, which you control and the 
structure of the universe, the Fate you cannot control, you create 
your own future.

	The important thing is to continue to strive.  If you fail, you 
can keep going until finally you succeed, for as long as we do not 
Descend, we possess as much time as we will ever need to achieve 
Awakening and then Ascension.  Assuming the Technocracy doesn't 
cause all of Creation to unravel first.

So what's this Ascension thing again?

	Ascension is the the healing of all oppositions back into the 
primal unity from which they emerged.  Some among us argue this 
has happened before, and that the primal unity always eventually 
divides itself, but I and the majority of my brethren see the divided 
state of the universe as unhealthy.  

	We remain divided as to how this can be brought about.  Some 
believe  the Ascension of a single perfected soul will raise all 
things with it.  Others believe we must go forth and perfect every 
soul.  Yet others believe the universe has always been one, and that 
we must simply shatter the universal illusion of its division.  In the 
meantime, we seek to spread our beliefs, enabling all to know the 
harmony that comes from the practice of Do, and to perfect 
ourselves.  

	We act to promote Ascension in a variety of ways.  Some go 
forth to smite the Technocracy and Nephandi and to protect humanity 
from other malevolent supernaturals.  Others seek to spread our 
ideas through modern culture, turning the media created by the 
Technocracy against it.  There are those who live among the masses, 
helping them as best they can in their ordinary lives, especially in 
the regions where more traditional beliefs hold sway.  Many of us 
retreat to monasteries permanently or for a time, and seek to change 
the world by changing ourselves first.  

	Whether the world comes to Ascension by external action or 
internal contemplation, it must Ascend.  Divided we fall and Descend 
into darkness.

So what would life in a world ruled by the Akashic Brotherhood be like?

	To ask such a question mistakes our purpose.  We do not seek to
rule the world; political power easily becomes a temptation from the path
of Do.  Lao Tzu recognized this long ago.  It is for this reason that we
have rarely sought to control the governments of the world.

	But I'm sure what you want to know is how would people live, what
would life be like?  It would be a simpler lifestyle, without the rush,
hustle, and bustle, one which would allow time for the exercises and peace
and quiet necessary to the practice of Do.  

	It would be a world of much fewer machines, for excessive
dependence on them saps your own capabilities; however, much of what is
now down with machines would be able to be done by people themselves with
their own inner power.  What need have you for phones if you can join
minds with a friend from thousands of miles away?  Why do you need a car
that spews life-threatening smoke if you can run faster than a car can go,
and more safely?  Simple medicines would take the place of expensive
drugs, and even they would be rarely needed, for people would know how to
maintain their health.

	The barrier between spirit and flesh would be weakened, or ideally
torn down entirely.  In a world Awakened by the Brotherhood, all would
possess the lore to deal with spirits themselves, or be able to call upon
the aid of one wiser in the ways of such beings, and we would be able to
reap the benefits of the wisdom and healing the best of them possess.  

	Education would be more personal, for the road of Do is different
for every student, and in many ways, a continuing experience throughout
life, for the learning of Do is a process that never ends.  For those
seeking knowledge of the past, the Akashic Record would be available,
containing every scrap of lore we have ever gathered, though I admit it
can be hard to find what you are looking for.

	The price of all this would be discipline, for only through
self-discipline can one walk the road of Do and achieve its benefits.  And
some things possible now would be far harder; those who enjoy television
would be out of luck.  Still, one would not need the pablum that passes
for entertainment in the West, for the need to escape one's life would no
longer exist.

	This is not to say that entertainment or fiction or games would
cease to exist, but merely that they would cease to be created simply to
make money or to push the Technocracy's agenda.  We appreciate beauty and
the way of the artist and the storyteller would be an honored one.  


Wait..one more thing.  What's this 'Descend' thing you keep 
mentioning?

	The universe contains within it both creation and destruction.  
Do can be reversed, to form the road of Descent, the road the 
Nephandi walk.  It is the path of evil and destruction, the utter 
abandonment of discipline, of wallowing in one's worst instincts.  
There is power in it, I must admit, but it is a dark, destructive, and 
evil power, the power of Destruction.  It's culmination is the 
cessation of one's existence.  Not unity, but Oblivion.  Inviting the 
Void into one's self eventually makes one become one with it, but 
the Void does not exist, for it is the antithesis of all that does 
exist.  The 'Left Hand Path' is but an illusion, though one that calls to 
the worst in our natures.

But isn't your philosophy about the reconciliation of opposites?  
Shouldn't you then try to bring the two ways together into a greater 
whole?

	The combination of something with nothing is simply 
something.  When Ascension comes, the Nephandi will cease to exist.

But how can you be sure 'Descent' isn't something instead of 
nothing?  Why would anyone really obliterate themselves like that?

	The mind of the Nephandi remains a great mystery to all of us.  
Why would any sane being sell themselves to Darkness?  To enslave 
oneself to others is the antithesis of Do.  And in the end, no matter 
how much power they may have, every Nephandi is a slave.  

What about the Marauders?

	Do you want to live in a reality forged by a million madmen at 
war with each other?  They too have fallen from balance, possessed 
by chaos.

What can you offer us that everyone else can't?  Everyone else makes 
big promises too.  

	Technomancers seek to enslave you to tools, instead of you 
ruling your Self.  In a technological world, you become dependent on 
machines and reach the point where you can't live without them.  We 
teach you how to be self-sufficient, to be the master of your own 
life.  Even the Sons of Ether and the Virtual Adepts, our friends 
among the Technomancers, fail to understand how their tools rule 
over them.

	The Celestial Chorus and the Dreamspeakers both see only part 
of the picture.  The Spirit World must be respected and made one 
with the Matter World, but we do not exist to serve it, whatever the 
Dreamspeakers may say.  The Celestial Chorus communes with 
Angels, but forgets to commune with themselves.  They both neglect 
the Body in pursuit of the Spirit.

	The Verbena and Cult of Ecstasy go to the other extreme, 
exalting the Body over the Mind, not just losing, but rejecting the 
discipline crucial to Self-Mastery.  The Body is holy and must be 
respected, but they wallow in the temptations of the flesh which 
lead one off the road of Do, the road to true Ascension.

	And finally, the Euthanatos and Order of Hermes have both 
fallen to hubris.  Rather than seeking unity with other Selves, they 
seek dominance over others.  The Euthanatos in their pride believe 
they have the right to decide who lives and who dies, and to hurry 
the latter along their way.  We did not fight an ancient war with 
them for nothing.  The Order of Hermes seeks to dominate and rule 
others, without even bothering to master their own base desires 
first.  Both groups revel in power over others without the 
reciprocity inherent when we seek to bring Selves together into a 
greater whole.  

	I will not speak of the many Orphans and Crafts, for I could 
stay here all night if I was to do such.  Together, the grains of sand 
on a beach make a beautiful picture, a picture one might examine in 
the whole, but were one to examine every grain, the task would tire 
one quickly and smash one's pleasure in the whole to bits.

	We offer you the way of true freedom through Self-Mastery.  
The way is hard, but the rewards are infinite.  Will you join us and 
thus break down another of the barriers that stands in the way of 
Ascension?