Mystics of the Flame

The Mystic of the flame is a monistic (all are one) branch from the Ashes of Valreash Worldview that emphasizes the unity among all in the world. Through practice, the mystic of this religion realizes that there is a deeper reality of omnipresent forces (sometimes called to flow of the universe) where all are connected. This realization of unity is synonymous with enlightenment. Enlightenment can either be achieved by oneself or with the help of a teacher or a community

History
Throughout most of the Mystics of the Flame’s life, its development was tied to the Cult of the Flame

The Period of Conflict and Shamanism
The mystic tradition started as a shamanistic practice. The common practice at the time was for a shaman to do a massive display or a theatrical performance, usually with fire, to cure a person of their illness or suffering. The way that these practices functioned as healing would be to make the watchers gain the ability to heal their own illness and suffering. It was not the performances that caused the healing but rather, the performances that made the participants want to heal themselves (or at least that is the common outsider belief)

These performances gain the shamans' much notoriety. However, the practices seemed like a threat to the political leaders that controlled the land where the religion was practiced due to fears of commoners not relying on the political leaders and thinking for themselves. As a result, shamanistic practices were persecuted, but ascetic practices started to rise in their place. The reason for the change was that shaman practices showed that there was something in each person that is connected to each other that caused the healing. So shamans started to look inside themselves for answers and go beyond the constructed dualism in reality.

Asceticism in the period of fragmentation and reconstruction
Ascetic practices first started to prop up in the fragmentation period of the Cult of the Flame. However, it was not until the era of reconstruction that ascetic practices flourished due to the religion not being persecuted. Unlike shamanism, which focused on healing another individual or people, asceticism looked for that internal connection among the individual.

Philosophy
Just like how shaman could give people the power to heal themselves. Ascetics looked within themselves to study that connection. These connections proved to be subtle, which made observing these connections done only by “quitting” the mind. The way this was done was by meditation, chanting, and or dancing. In order to fully quite the mind, one had to do away with thought altogether. In essence, go beyond thought. '''This gave way to the realization to see reality for how it truly is. One needs to go beyond their own biases and conceptions'''. The true reality is the forces/powers as described in the Ashes of Valreash Worldview. All of the reality is just forces. All forces come in different shapes and sizes but they are all the same in essence. However, treating a force as separate from other forces is false. The way forces interact, by popping out of nowhere, collapsing in on themselves, dividing themselves, etc, shows that even a singular force’s nature is completely intertwined with other forces, so forces cant be separated from other forces. This phenomenon can be described as the flow of the universe.

From these realizations was that all material reality was an illusion. The forces interacting is the true reality that is beyond limiting connotations. Everything is one, under this deeper reality. A key philosophical development from these realizations was that the self (ego) does not exist because it is made up of these ever-changing forces. Rather consciousness can exist outside the body and material world in the realm of forces. Since the mind(self/ego) is really just a force, this means that the self and others are the same. Realizing yourself as part of this spiritual plane is sometimes referred to as seeing the fire that is always in you.

Summing up the philosophy, what seeing the world in unity does is kill the ego in one's own self as it is the self that discriminates and traps one in the material realm. When one kills their ego and sees the non-duality of subject and object as one, they realize reality. That all connotations and premises on the material plane don't actually matter. Because fear and desire both exist in the material plane those qualities become non-sensical in the spiritual realm. '''To conclude, by seeing these as they truly are, as forces and hence non-dual, one sees the absurdity of fear and desire and becomes fearless and desireless. This state of fearlessness and desirelessness is the highest state and the ultimate goal for the mystic.'''

Mystics of the Flame and Politics
The mystics of the flame are notorious for acting in non-engagement to all coercive leaders, both political and religious. Only treating leaders as a commoner. The reason for this dislikeness is two-fold. The first reason is due to the Ashes of Valreash Worldview. In the worldview, the power one accumulates, the more destruction one can cause. So, one of the main tenants of the religions stemming from this worldview is to prevent and or depose coercive powers.

The second reason for being suspect to power is that power thrives on fear. To control people, one has to make the people fear. However, the world is illusory and there is nothing to fear. In fact, one of the tenants of the mystics is to be fearless. Politicians and leaders live for the material world with its biases and conceptions and three negative actions. This is wrong in the eyes of the mystics and wants to break that cycle by civil disobedience.

Practices
The main practices of the Mystics of the Flame are meditation, chanting, dancing with the key aspect of is being in a state of being

Meditation
The main idea of meditation is to be in a state of non-cognition, to go beyond thoughts. This is usually done by bringing oneself to a state of one-pointedness usually either by “looking” inside or by meditating on the movement of a fire. The state of non-cognition is to be in a state of being, as opposed to being in a state of thought and strife. In a state of being, one can have a “pure” experience due to the lack of biases and perception that hinders one’s own view of reality. Seeing reality as a “pure” experience allows one to see how the way of the universe is and see the deeper form of the way of the universe.

Chanting
The most common chant is the non-sensical word “MAR”. The “M” represents the reflected light of the moon. The “A” represents the firelight that comes from the sun. Lastly, the “R” is to show the fire/light that burns within all. This is to show that all are united as one.

The reason why the chant is non-sensical is to prevent the chanter to stay within the realm of thought. A non-sensical word promotes one to enter the realms of non-cognition; hence a state of being.

Dancing
Dancing as a mystical practice came out of the Cult of the Flame. Communal dances around the fire were taken up by the mystics of the tradition because when one is fully engaged in an activity, they lose themselves and enter a state of being. The dances by the mystics are to encourage a state of non-cognition to further spiritual practice.

Practice in a community or not
Mystics recognize the process of the individual to reach enlightenment by is by their own practice. However, a teacher and or community is generally highly valued but not by all. The mystics sister religion, The Cult of the Flame, main tenets is that fire brings people together to build a community. This idea stays true for mystics but for spiritual practice. Mystics would commonly meditate around a fire.

However, some mystics, in order to fully clear their mind, need to get outside the realm of civilization.

Philosophical differences between the Mystics and the Cult of the Flame
The two main divergences the mystics developed from the Cult of the Flame are a lack of moral dogma or sin and a different engagement regarding authority

Morality
The mystics see the subtle reality of forces to be “above” morality. The practice of the mystics wants to go beyond the realms of connotations and morals. The way of the universe is ethicless. Good and bad do not exist in the realm of forces

Authority
The Cult of the Flame view regarding power is that it is meant to be distrusted and deposed, in the hope that as little damage can be done from that powerful person. The mystics don't act in hostility to a higher power, they act in non-engagement. Again, this is because the mystics see the unity in all, including people of higher power so the mystics treat powerful people as if it was anyone else.