The Church of The Wheel

Beliefs
The Church of The Wheel is a religious/philosophical organization and belief system which has the self described aim of "improving happiness in the world". The philosophical teachings of the church are often boiled down to a single paragraph, known as the most holy statement by its followers. The paragraph is as follows:

"Life is unsatisfactory to us either because we wish for what it doesn't give us, or because we do not wish for what it is giving us. Thus, we can remedy this by understanding life for what it is, and accepting it. If we harbor love towards all things that are and will be, and we see that we are always to be found in them, we will transcend our sadness and find peace."

The Church of The Wheel has several practices linked together that they recommend, but do not require anyone to take up. They are as follows:


 * 1) Examine deeply the essence of all things
 * 2) Wish well upon all that is
 * 3) Acknowledge, but do not act upon negativity
 * 4) Acknowledge and act upon positivity.

The Church also holds controversial political opinions due to its system of ethics. For example, the church staunchly opposes the use of violence, even for the use of governance. Thus, official members of the church are anarchists. The church claims land in Eldham, yet is not a centralized organization, and lacks a military. The claims to these lands are not backed up by military might or economy.

The ancient Iringani peoples held the belief that spirits inhabited the lands in which they lived. This belief prevails to date, though the church officially is agnostic on the matter so as to be more accepting of its members whom do not hold these beliefs. It is believed that these land spirits can help or harm others depending on how one interacts with them. Native Irilani members integrate their animistic practices with the rest of their spiritual life.

History
The history of the church began with a monk from Eldham, Ananda II, when they renovated a desert temple lost in the sands and turned it into a monastery. Ananda II then traveled to Halge in Rathnir, and established a church there. Ananda II navigated through Uldaresh, Huitca, and several others, using only the sun and moon for guidance. Thus, for followers of the church, the sun an moon are paid equally as much homage and respect as any spiritual teacher.

Structure
The structure of the Church is unique amongst the religions of Rathnir and Eldham. It is a decentralized organization. There are those in the Church who are held delegated positions of authority and decision making, but they do not receive their power from a centralized bureaucracy or a despotic leader. Power flows from the bottom up in the Church. Regular members decide who they listen to, and who manages what. However, the teachings of the current Phikhuyngaw ("head monk" in the Iringani language) are almost never seriously contested by members of the church, due to the fact that members of the church are required to attend a full two months worth of meetings before they are officially ordained as a lay or monastic member.

The Church is broken down into various levels of administration (and governance, in their claimed territory in Eldham). The first, technically lowest level are the wards. Wards consist of the number of congregants that attend services at the Churches meetinghouses. There is an exception to this in Eldham, where the Church functions also as the governing body of the land. Elsewise, members will be deciding local church policy, for the most part. Wards, however, come together in order to deliberate on broader issues. These groups of wards are known as diocese. Above that, there are regional councils, known simply as regions. Beyond this level of organization, there are only unions of regions.

Where the Church takes on the role of a government, people are not required to be members in order to partake the said government. They must simply prove to the church that they wish to settle permanently in land which it claims, and from there they can either choose or be assigned to a ward council, and henceforth have equal say in matters which affect them.

Politics
The church is staunchly anarchistic and pacifistic. The church has so far not done much to affect the political landscape of either Rathnir or Eldham. The Church currently has trade relations with the U.S.S.E., and a non-aggression pact with the nation of Snow Stone.