This HTML5 document contains 6 embedded RDF statements represented using HTML+Microdata notation.

The embedded RDF content will be recognized by any processor of HTML5 Microdata.

Subject Item

n2:

n3:

n4:

Subject Item

n4:

rdfs:label

Path of a Thousand Whispers

rdfs:comment

The Hollow Reed (one of the most important sutras of Dharma) praises moderation; while the other paths describe themselves as storms or fires, the Reed speaks of emptiness given form. The sutra's title comes from the Dharmic ideal: To be like the reed, fed by water but filled with nothing, rooted in the ground but reaching to the sky. The Way's name comes from its practice of living multiple lives to gain multiple insights. To maintain balance, the so-called "Rootless Trees" walk a thousand roads, each under a different name. It's a long path to enlightenment, but then, they have nothing but time.

dcterms:subject

n10:

n7:wikiPageUsesTemplate

n8:

n6:abstract

The Hollow Reed (one of the most important sutras of Dharma) praises moderation; while the other paths describe themselves as storms or fires, the Reed speaks of emptiness given form. The sutra's title comes from the Dharmic ideal: To be like the reed, fed by water but filled with nothing, rooted in the ground but reaching to the sky. The Way's name comes from its practice of living multiple lives to gain multiple insights. To maintain balance, the so-called "Rootless Trees" walk a thousand roads, each under a different name. It's a long path to enlightenment, but then, they have nothing but time. The Whispers don't believe that the Sixth Age is the end of creation. To them, it's a ritual death, one of many. Like the reeds rising from a riverbed, the Rootless Ones trust that when the storm ends, their flexibility will carry them through. Other Dharmas won't survive. The cricket is drowned. The wasp is blown away. The centipede remains unharmed. The hollow reed still stands. This path's disciples love riddles and couch everything in symbolism. Some vampires claim that the Thousand Whispers write sutras for each blade of grass, and, while that's an overstatement, it captures the Way's perspective. These Kuei-jin love to look at old things through new eyes, and do so literally at every opportunity. Talented shape changers, the Rootless Trees shift gender, alliance, lifestyle, and temperament with bewildering speed. Each change, claim the sages, teaches a Whisper a little more. The Whispering Way is the rarest of Dharmas, and with good reason: It's the hardest to maintain. Kuei-jin are neither balanced nor temperate. To offset their destructive natures, Whispers cultivate the Broken Mask technique -- a multiple-personality path to enlightenment. While most people cling to their identities, the Rootless Trees take on different personas, then kill them off when all lessons appear to have been learned. Since most lives tend to be full-time affairs, many vampires take on one or two personas at once, then stage tragic deaths and enter new roles. Immortal as they are, the Whispers can experience the full range of human perspective and thus rise above any single view. Naturally, such insight takes time. In the early stages of the path, a Whisper is pretty much like any other Running Monkey. Her elders scold her and offer koans that demand a wider view. As she moves through many lives, the vampire's vision broadens. In time, she becomes like a fine jade carving -- precious in the rough, but smoothed into exquisite form by the sculptor's steady hands. The key to the path is to be both sculptor and jade, to craft yourself into a work of art. This Dharma does have a special affinity to the Yulan-jin, those Kuei-jin’s whose souls have been warped by Yomi. These beings cannot hold onto a body for very long and with every Little Death they encounter, they are hurled to another body where they are left without memories. The Yulan-jin find it easier to follow the Path of a Thousand Whispers, as you are supposed to leave the old behind holding only onto the lesson learned. However, they will often forget that lesson as well. Yulan-jin become Wise Centipedes more than any other Dharma.