User:Servant of Kali
Servant[edit]
- Shackles of Maya
- Servant of Kali
- Servant of Shakti
- Shuffling PvP names
- Fort Aspenwood remains the most fun arena as of late (despite leechers), I guess the rest got boring a long time ago with so few skill changes.
- Trifles put aside, I love cool stuff. Whether from books, movies, music or any other sources.
[edit]
"You are said to be wise in these matters, Yama," said the one who had
been called Rild and Sugata. "You are said to be a god, whose kingdom
is death and whose knowledge extends beyond the ken of mortals. I
would question you, therefore, while we are standing idle."
Yama did not smile his mocking smile, as he had to all his opponent's
previous statements. This one had a touch of ritual about it.
"What is it that you wish to know? I grant you the death-boon of a question."
Then, in the ancient words of the Katha Upanishad, the one who had
been called Rild and Sugata chanted:
"'There is doubt concerning a man when he is dead. Some say he still
exists. Others say he does not. This thing I should like to know,
taught by you.' "
Yama replied with the ancient words, "'On this subject even the gods
have their doubts. It is not easy to understand, for the nature of the
atman is a subtle thing. Ask me another question. Release me from this
boon!'"
"'Forgive me if it is foremost in my mind, oh Death, but another
teacher such as yourself cannot be found, and surely there is no other
boon which I crave more at this moment.'"
"'Keep your life and go your way,'" said Yama, plunging his blade
again into his sash. "'I release you from your doom. Choose sons and
grandsons; choose elephants, horses, herds of cattle and gold. Choose
any other boon - fair maidens, chariots, musical instruments. I shall
give them unto you and they shall wait upon you. But ask me not of
death.'"
"'Oh Death,' " sang the other, "'these endure only till tomorrow. Keep
your maidens, horses, dances and songs for yourself. No boon will I
accept but the one which I have asked - tell me, oh Death, of that
which lies beyond life, of which men and the gods have their doubts.'"
- Zelazny - Lord of Light
Whenever there is a great fighting and the doing of mighty deeds
and bloody deeds and flaming deeds - he comes, Taraka knew - the
One in Red comes from somewhere, always, for his Aspect draws him
to the realm that is his.
- Zelazny - Lord of Light
"A fitting abode, I suppose, for those who call themselves gods."
"Call themselves?" asked Yama. "You are wrong, Sam. Godhood is more
than a name. It is a condition of being. One does not achieve it merely
by being immortal, for even the lowliest of laborer in the fields may
achieve continuity of existence. Is it then the conditioning of an
Aspect? No. Any competent hypnotist can play games with the self-image.
Is it the raising up of an Attribute? Of course not. I can design
machines more powerful and more accurate than any faculty a man may
cultivate. Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself
to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the
universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing
your name spoken. Some ancient poet said that the world is full of
echoes and correspondences. Another wrote a long poem of an inferno,
wherein each man suffered a torture which coincided in nature with
those forces which had ruled his life. Being a god is being able to
recognize within one's self these things that are important, and then
to strike the single note that brings them into alignment with
everything that exists. Then, beyond morals or logic or esthetics,
one is wind or fire, the sea, the mountains, rain, the sun, or the
stars, the flight of an arrow, the end of a day, the clasp of love.
One rules through one's rulling passions. Those who look upon gods
then say, without even knowing their names, 'He is Fire. She is
Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love.' So, to reply to your
statement, they do not call themselves gods. Everyone else does,
though, everyone who beholds them."
- Zelazny - Lord of Light
