The Way of Heaven and Earth and Path of Gods and Men

[AryezturMejorkhor]

Anrela, also known as the Way of Heaven and Earth and the Path of Gods and Men, was founded by Master Aura (later deified as LORD GOLD) some years ago in the city of Aina. He placed a great emphasis on following the cultural way established and evolved in Goldshire both in the past and the present. Following the way, one must take in the essence of Goldshire within oneself and become the embodiment of the spirit of Goldshire. Thus, the way is an ethical way of self-cultivation and is mostly a social philosophy. Some metaphysical speculation is allowed, but that is secondary. Numerous gods from a variety of places and times are all accepted as aids in life, but all moves according to the impersonal and unseen force of Destiny. The way of Goldshire, though evolved in Goldshire, is in fact universal and may apply to all peoples.

Metaphysics:

Ontology: All things can be divided into two main categories: spirit and non-spirit. There are an infinite amount of spirits in the Universe corresponding to living and non-living objects. However, every spirit is distinct and related in size and complexity to the objects they inhabit. There is no universal spirit that connects all the individual spirits. Likewise, non-spirit is derived from many sources and cannot be attributed to any universal principle of matter or energy. Non-spirit is composed of dimension (space, time), energy, and matter, which can be broken down into atoms.

Cosmology: Time and Space are uncreated, eternal, and infinite. Matter and spiritual beings are also uncreated and eternal but are finite. When a new material thing comes into being, existing matter coalesces into it. When a new spiritual being comes into being, new spiritual matter forms the new being; material things may disintegrate but spiritual beings last forever and outlive their material objects. Within the never ending space and time countless universes (matter and energy) exist and come into being or cease to exist now and then. Our current universe did begin but the totality of all universes never began. This entire process operates by itself and is not caused by any powerful being. The time and distances responsible for the process are so great that this process is of no real concern to anyone.

Theology: The universe is filled with countless spirits and beings, some of which may be considered gods as their power is greater than those of humans. These numerous gods help people and shape events in the world and may be from any place and time. They inhabit heaven (the sphere outside the world). There is no strict difference between gods and humans. They are both made of souls; the greater and more powerful ones without bodies are gods, while everything else is a human. Animals have collections of spiritual existence but cannot said to have souls. There is no personal god or universal spirit, however. However the entire Universe operates according to a hidden and impersonal law, known as Destiny. This is mostly a physical law that accounts for the fixed properties of gravity, etc. However it can be said to be responsible for all that happens. it is really the personification of what humans do not know or do not have control over.

Epistemology:
1. Empirical Evidence (experience, experiment) [invalid until proven right]
2. Logic (logical derivation)
3. Intuition [valid until proven wrong]
4. Inference
5. Trustworthy authority, revelation (if revelation does not contradict empirical evidence, logic, etc.)


Afterlife: Human beings are inhabited by souls which form as spiritual matter coalesces in the human. This soul matches the body in which it inhabits. The soul is the mind of the body, which uses the brain as its instrument. Whatever the person does while alive impacts the soul and its state and ideas. After death, the souls leave the body and float around the world and in some cases, ascend to heaven and become gods. Those that float around in the world are by no means bad. They continue to help people and shape events in the world.

LORD GOLD placed a great emphasis on ethical conduct. If ethical conduct is followed, society and individuals as well as the nation will be prosperous and happy. He laid out the (EIGHT) GREAT CONCEPTS, which are described here:

The Ancient Way: acting in accord with the ancient rituals and traditions, innovating but not overthrowing, using etiquette and politness, following norms, being respectful, acting in according with one's status.

The Path: aligning one self with the ancient way as well as physical reality, nature, proper conduct, and authority.

Duty: Everyone has a duty appropriate to their job. The solider has the duty to serve and defend. The Duke to rule wisely. The peasant to do the will of his lord and produce food. Everyone also has a duty in relation to another. Husband and wife, Lord and servant all have appropriate duties towards each other. Those duties must be followed.

Loyalty: one should do one's duty and lack treacherous ideas. One should not be cowardly and flee or desert the state or the army. One is expected to try one's hardest to fulfill one's duties. However, one should not blindly serve the evil, and should instead balance one's duty to one's Lord with true ethical propriety.

Righteousness: standing up for what is right, in the fact of threats and even facing troubles for this. This requires one to challenge injustice even if it violates duty and loyalty. However, while one should speak up, one should do it for the sake of righteousness and not as an excuse to gain some advantage.

Truthfulness: one should be truthful and avoid lies and exaggerations.

Cultivation: one should cultivate himself and become wise and worthy of others. One ought to study the arts, history, and science. Knowledge and study are very important.

Humanity: one should care for their fellow humans and look after their wellbeing. This comes become material gain or intellectual gain, although both those are permitted if acquired correctly.

All inhabitants of Goldshire are expected to aspire towards these noble values. That is why these values were described by LORD GOLD as "GOLDEN." These values were further expounded by him in a book known as the "BOOK OF GOLDEN VIRTUE."

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Hyperborean scholars researching the origins of Anrela notice it shares certain similarities with Arya. For example, the two are word for word exactly the same on ontology, cosmology, theology, and epistomology. Results will be presented in a conference entitled "Ancient Antican Roots of Goldshirerithian Religion?" at Boreal University on Ifniday.

[Malliki Tosha]

Yeah, Goldshire isn't keen on originality at the moment.

[Harvey Steffke]

Yeah, Goldshire isn't keen on originality at the moment.

[AryezturMejorkhor]

Some things must be clarified. The gods of Goldshire and Shireroth are indeed part of this faith. They, in fact, are the dominant gods of the Pantheon worshiped in this system. Secondly, the metaphysical aspects of the system are secondary as stated many times. They are merely included for the sake of completeness and for providing some explanation by which phenomenon can be explained.

Thirdly, the religion of Arya, being quite widespread in Khorze is an influence on this system, but not the only or dominant influence. Shirerithian feudal traditions exert a stronger rule; the ideas of chivalry lend themselves to the ethical system. The idea of following the way of nature is derived from Lunaris' culture. There are marked differences between Arya and Anrela; Anrela is most definitely different in that the gods are defined as being unique and separate from each other and not part of some universal spiritual force that is everything; thus in Arya, gods are manifestations or possibly even unreal, but in Anrela, as in the mythology of Shireroth, the gods exist.

Fourthly, as metaphysics are secondary to ethics, the ethical portion is the backbone of this philosophy. Metaphysical alternatives can be formulated that are equally valid. The follower of the path is invited to frame his gods and soul with whatever explanation he wants and the merits of such things can be debated by the scholars. One might almost think that instead of narrowly focusing on petty things, one ought to appreciate the moral implications of the philosophy in general regardless of its origin. In fact, this is a uniquely Goldshirerithian philosophy, as I will now explain:

Fifth, to answer Scott. I framed the metaphysics of Arya and Anrela in the same order but they are indeed different and not similar word to word. I hope you read the posts I make in detail before jumping to conclusions:

Ontology: Arya recognizes 3 metaphysical categories, Anrela, 2. When it comes to metaphysical categories, there aren't that many, so most philosophies recognize 1, 2, or sometimes 3 or 4. The ontology then differs on the nature of spiritual being. While Arya claims that all spiritual being is one and is found in everything in the universe (as in Hinduism), Anrela claims there are a multitude of spirits, unconnected, within a variety of material things, which is much more similar to Western/Christian/Islamic notions. There you have a big fundamental difference. Scott also failed to see a major difference in Theology, namely that there is an ultimate God who drives things in Arya whereas Anrela is non-theistic (no god). I would call this a major difference as well. Arya and Aryezi culture have a strong tradition of theism and anti-atheism. Clearly, such a view does not originate in Arya. I'll also get into the differences in cosmology. For example, in Arya cosmology, every bit of matter has a corresponding bit of spirit. Conglomerations of matter equal the same amount of spirit and accounts for souls. All things have souls. In Anrela, spirit and matter do not correspond so, the spirit enters into the matter and is FIXED. In Arya, the spirit is not fixed but grows/contracts with the matter.

To sum up:
Theology: Arya = theist, lesser gods are illusions Anrela = atheist, lesser gods are real
Cosmology Arya = soul and matter go together, Anrela= soul and matter are two separate objects
Ontology: Arya= oneness, Anrela = mind/matter duality

Gentlemen, I hope this helped clarify some of the differences. At least, I thought there were major differences. Perhaps because dabbling in philosophy makes some seemingly minor things seem big.

[AryezturMejorkhor]

By way of comparrision, here are the first bits of Anrela and Arya. The difference can be clearly seen, and I have made bold some major differences:

Anrela:

All things can be divided into two main categories: spirit and non-spirit. There are an infinite amount of spirits in the Universe corresponding to living and non-living objects. However, every spirit is distinct and related in size and complexity to the objects they inhabit.

Arya:

All things can be divided into three categories: matter-being, being, and spiritual being. Being represents time and space which are found everywhere and are eternal and uncreated. Matter being is everything found in the Universes, primarily matter but also anti-matter and so on. Spiritual being is non-material and permeates the Universe.

[AryezturMejorkhor]

In conclusion, with the UNIQUE metaphysics and NATIVE ethics, I would like to say that The Way of Heaven and Earth is unique to Goldshire.

[AryezturMejorkhor]

Besides, this is just the high society cult. The popular religion is a spiritual, shamanistic, polytheistic, colorful affair.