[themerchant]

Some good stuff in here.

Now i must wait while it cycles through my avian intellect.

[MSJ]

Excellent thoughts, Monkhound!

 

To be born is to be born upon a path. To be born upon a path is to follow that path - for what man could step over mountains? And to follow a path is to follow a rule...

I know man who can jump over mountains and follows  no rules, either of mankind or the Outside, Kellhus. We like to think because Koringhus died how he did and the chapter is like poetry, he has to be further ahead than Kellhus. I think that quote there validates the opposite. I have no doubt, that Kellhus has deduced Zero. It's just not part of the thought. He doesn't want to join Zero, he wants to be the One.

Otherwise, I think you've hit the nail on the head with the emotions and it was a really great post.

[Francis Buck]

So, I actually noticed this almost immediately when reading TGO the first time, but didn't know what it meant/symbolized until now, having finally remembered to look it up.

As described in the text, the Boy/Survivor, son of Koringhus, has lost three fingers leaving only his index and thumb. Knowing the author's fondness for apophasis, I was reminded of (and just now learned the name of) Hindu and yoga gesture you've likely seen before. It is called the chin mudra.

The thumb and forefinger on each of the hands are joined, forming a zero. The rest of the fingers are extended. The hands are placed palms-up on the thighs or knees while sitting in vajrasana. This mudrā supposedly activates the diaphragm, making for deep "stomach-breathing" as the diaphragm pushes out the internal organs when it descends towards the pelvis on inhalation. Slow breathing in a 5-2-4-2 mentally counted rhythm (counting to 5 during the exhalation, to 2 while holding the breath, and to 4 on the inhalation) causes prana flow in the pelvis and in the legs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudra

Also...

Chin means consciousness in Sanskrit, and the purpose of this mudra is to remind the practitioner of the goal of yoga, the union of the individual soul with the supreme soul. Mudra means seal, and it is essentially an energetic and spiritual gesture that controls the flow of energy within the body. The fingers each have representations:

Thumb: Supreme Soul
Pointer: Individual Soul
Middle: Ego
Ring: Illusion
Pinky: Karma

Ego, illusion and karma are the 3 impurities that the yogi is trying to remove from his life in order to unite their Individual Soul with the Supreme Soul and experience that divine, blissful state of union they strive for. Doing chin mudra is a physical representation and reminder of this goal and serves to refocus and re-energize the practitioner.

http://thechalkboardmag.com/mantra-monday-chin-mudra

I think that the "Supreme Soul" and "Individual Soul" are directly relatable to what Kellhus references with Greater Proyas and Lesser Proyas.

This opens a lot of doors. Karma, in fact, may be what Mimara sees as "Judgement" -- an otherwise invisible accumulation of "weight" incurred by a souls mere existence and movement (life) throughout the world.

Also, even though the distinction has yet to be made in-text, I think that Souls may be the lesser/individual souls, while a Spirit is the greater/supreme soul -- Gods, Ciphrang, and so forth.

Perhaps Seswatha himself (or itself) is one of these Supreme Souls, distributed through many Individual Souls via the Heart...

[mrganondorf]

Hello everyone!

I just finished my first read of TGO (there will certainly be more reads) and I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding exactly what was going on with Koringhus ('The Survivor'). What was his significance? What exactly were his insights and what do they portend, if anything? And why did he commit suicide?

I really didn't understand much of this in the book though admittedly I finished the book in 2 days because I need to concentrate on my master thesis (the allure of a new Bakker is pretty much equivalent to 'soft earth deeply ploughed' so I had to 'get on with it' haha). Anyhow, it just seems weird to me that Koringhus would surrender rather than seek to dominate the circumstances he is faced with (Sorcery, The Eye)

MEOW!