Zih'ra
The Zahiran tradtition of the Search of Truth, Enlightenment and Peace, adapted from the Ejianese tradition of Jianghi. The goal is to reach H'ra through achievement of perfect balance. In order to achieve perfect balance, one must learn to detach one's self from base desires and instincts, let go of the urge to control one's fate and seek to learn the ways of the Cosmic and Universal Life Force, referred to as Deph'ra, the Will of Truth, and Ranh'ra, the Blood of Truth. Deph'ra, the Cosmic Life Force, is considered to be an unconscious, impartial identity which concerns itself with the balance of all things. Knowledge of Deph'ra is a goal to work towards, but never to achieve for simple mortal souls. Ranh'ra, the Universal Life Force, is what binds everything animate and inanimate in the Universe together and connects everything through space and time. Knowledge of Ranh'ra comes through the understanding of the cosmic order of things, and is used for explanations of effects such as the Butterfly effect. Someone reaches enlightenment and true peace when they submit themselve fully to the Will of the universe and let go of the urge to control things. The Four Virtues promoted by the Zih'ra way are, compassion, humility, frugality, and acceptance.
The Zih'ra tradition branches off into many different "paths" in order to allow individuals to achieve Enlightenment in different ways. The four main ways are the Way of Dawn, where the practitioner seeks ennlightenment through meditation; the Way of the High Sun, in which the practitioner seeks enlightenment through art and appreciation of beauty in simplicity; the Way of Dusk, in which the practitioner seeks enlightenment through perfect mastery of their bodies (through martial art and the Way of Night, in which the practitioner forsakes part of the Zih'ra philosophy to defend the others from outside attack through agressive martial art.
History
Zih'ra first came to Zahyr during the First Invasion as Jianghi-practicing Ejii'aari explorers found their way to the Whispering Desert of the serenity-loving Tesz'jat. The Tesz'jat at the time already practiced a religion which searched for understanding of Ranh'ra, the Universal Life Force, but they lacked the knowledge of its complimentary part, the Deph'ra, and as such were able to garner a faint understanding of the Cosmic Order without any ability to describe how that order came to be. Furthermore, the Tesz'jat religion also sought to eliminate all conflict and shunned the violence that characterized most Tesz'tskaa nations, making them easy prey to Tesz'ran raids.
The appearance of Jianghi in the Desert of Whispering Winds lead to the two religions fusing into one doctrine, Zih'ra. The original Tez'jat religion contributed the specialized vocabulary, as well as the art-oriented and meditation-oriented Dawn and High Sun Paths, the purification rituals, and the Four Virtues, worshipped and represented by the cardinal points and various desert creatures. Jianghi contributed the Paths of Dusk and Night (named partly due to the fact that Ejii'aari cannot come out during the Zahiran day), the concept of dualities, Deph'ra, and other things.
Execution
Each individual follows their own path in the search of H'ra, but there are some traditions which all observe. The first is the daily three-fold cleansing, first with oil, then with sand, and, finally, with water from the sacred baths. This is thought to wash impurities away and allow one's soul to be fully clean and devoted to contemplation. There is also the Celebrations of Mystery, which occur in the first week of the wet season, in which parades and music fills the streets of Zih'rakan in celebraton and also to observe the water fill the ceremonial carvings of the canyon walls as a way to symbolize The Oneness. The different paths also have their own rituals.
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