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Grim_Aeonian

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  1. Congratulations Wow! Thank you so much. Feels kind of weird. I've had numerous people ask me if I was just being crazy, or maybe reading too much into these books because of how obsessed I was. Also, I realize now that I didn't enter stuff from my notes, as I said I would. Been dealing with kind of a big thing at work and haven't had time, but definitely still will do this. Thank you again for the wonderful post, Kandra.
  2. Wow, great rundown! I really appreciate the thought put into this. I was working for a LOOONNNGG time with just me, myself, and the core books, so it's still really amazing to me, being able to have learned interactions with other people on this topic. I'll definitely add more after work tonight but my thoughts on this subject are that although many of the details, magic systems, and other aspects are, of course, going to be drawn from all different aspects of Brandon's interests and areas of knowledge, I believe that each world is still going to be at its core focused on the exploration of one particular form or branch of ideology. Scadrial: I agree with you completely here on Judeo-Christianity being the core ideology. I realize that this is perhaps the most obvious of them. From the brutal, often seemingly intentionally cruel or malicious god of the Old Testament/Torah that the Final Empire itself presents itself to us as. To the very clear resurrection/messianism perpetrated by Kelsier. To the direct allegory of the Survivor's actual resurrection and previously unknown journey to the New World where he preaches to the natives of that land, which so blatantly mirrors LDS teachings. Sel: I read this one more as being focused on the concept of Nationalism/Patriotism as the core ideology. This may not actually be a religion, but for many people there is little difference between their feelings for their nation and a religious ideology. Elantris is literally depicted as a "Shining city on a hill" of sorts, that anyone can become a citizen of as long as they think of themselves as belonging there and that is being made dysfunctional by failure to address a chasm (political strife allegory?) and is in danger from religion being too deeply involved in politics. The other magic systems on Sel, I expect will demonstrate differences in line with the political ideologies they themselves represent. Roshar: While it may seem that this one gets a bit fuzzier than most of the others, something that is essentially inevitable, given its scope and volume of pages, I still feel that it has a consistent and singular core. This is perhaps most clearly represented by the fact that the entire series is centered around an endless cycle of death and rebirth, but there are many, many more reasons to arrive at this conclusion. I will add more tonight when I have my notes in front of me (and am not at work) but I just wanted to jot these thoughts down while they were fresh. Yup, my CEO just walked in while I was finishing this up, so... time to go. I just want to say though, I am so excited to be discussing this with learned and interested people. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed.
  3. I really need to reread Warbreaker. I feel like that is the Cosmere series I have the least solid grasp on exactly what ideology is at the core there.
  4. I am not familiar with that particular storyline, but thank you for the reference. I will have to look it up.
  5. From the same source material: "Buddha has many forms of transfiguration and incarnation, and can manifest Himself in manifold ways according to the ability of each person. He manifests his body in immense size to cover all the sky and stretches away into the boundless stellar spaces. He also manifests Himself in the infinitesimals of nature, sometimes in forms, sometimes in energy, sometimes in aspects of mind, and sometimes in personality." Now if that isn't a description of the Stormfather and spren, I'm not sure what would be. There are MANY other notes, and sometimes practically direct quotes that I found, but I don't want to overwhelm this thread with them all at once.
  6. I also am pretty firmly atheist (I would willingly change my mind based upon actual evidence, though that is NOT AT ALL the same thing as saying I would sign up to worship a god, even if I knew it existed. There are many gods I would never worship, whether they had proven themselves or not.) and have always been fascinated by religions and religious ideologies.
  7. Here are the specific Vows mentioned in the book "The Teachings of the Buddha" that I had as a reference source: 1) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until everyone in my land is certain of entering Buddhahood and gaining Enlightenment." 2) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until my affirming light reaches all over the world." 3) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until my life endures through the ages and saves innumerable numbers of people." 4) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until all the Buddhas in the ten directions unite in praising my name." 5) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until people with sincere faith endeavor to be reborn in my land by repeating my name in sincere faith ten times and actually do succeed in this rebirth." 6) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until people everywhere determine to attain Enlightenment, practice virtues, sincerely wish to be born in my land; thus, I shall appear at the moment of their death with a great company of Bodhisattvas to welcome them into my Pure Land." 7) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until people everywhere, hearing my name, think of my land and wish to be born there and, to that end, sincerely plant seeds of virtue, and are thus able to accomplish all to their hearts' desire." 8) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until all those who are born in my Pure Land attain the rank in which they become Buddha in the next life. Exception to this are those who, based on their personal vow, wear the armor of great vow for the sake of the people, strive for the benefit and peace of the world, lead innumerable people to enlightenment, and cultivate the merit of great compassion." 9) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until people all over the world are influenced by my spirit of loving compassion that will purify their minds and bodies and lift them above the things of the world." 10) "Though I attain Buddhahood, I shall never be complete until people everywhere, hearing my name, learn right ideas about life and death, and gain that perfect wisdom that will keep their minds pure and tranquil in the midst of the world's greed and suffering." "Thus I make these vows; may I not attain Buddhahood until they are fulfilled. May I become the source of unlimited Light, freeing and radiating the treasures of my wisdom and virtue, enlightening all lands and emancipating all suffering people." I had to change the letters in front of each vow to numbers in order to avoid emojis but otherwise this is an accurate quote from The Teachings of the Buddha. https://smile.amazon.com/Teaching-Buddha-Bukkyo-Dendo-Kyokai-ebook/dp/B00ARH5DZI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+teachings+of+the+buddha&qid=1571815271&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
  8. Yes, absolutely, I feel this lends more strength to my position, rather than less, as to what he is doing with the Cosmere in general and its basis upon philosophical and ideological explorations. I had noticed the the Kabbalah similarities on the covers for TWOK but hadn't gotten to that part yet, simply because I didn't think it was particularly germain to the actual philosophy of Roshar as a whole of the underlying plot of the SA. I was not aware of his inspirations for Vorinism, though, that is nice to know. With the Dharma Wheel/Knights Radiant symbol (Is that the Knights Radiant symbol? I've always thought so, but am unaware of confirmation.) I was more specifically referring to both the similarity of design in the radiant lines intersecting the circle and the similarity of the paths of the Knights Radiant and the meaning of the Dharma Wheel, that being the representation of the Noble Eightfold Path. I will post in a bit with more quotes from the Teachings of the Buddha to back up my Buddhism claim.
  9. You speak the truth. The books and their focus on moral philosophy, ethics, redemption, and personal growth were not only influential to me, but I had extra copies of the books sent in to me just so I could loan some out (without endangering or losing my own, of course) for others to read. I watched as these books literally changed people for the better and made them actively want to be better people. I believe that by setting these lessons in a fantasy world, Brandon stripped them from the, let's say complicated, settings in which these philosophies might otherwise be found and put them in places where they could have more effect. And he did so by telling stories with characters in such a way that when the lessons hit, they're not preachy, they're just a part of that character's growth, and because they are, they get past intellectual barriers and make emotional sense, not just logical sense. I truly love what the author has been able to accomplish with these books. I spread that love wherever I can.
  10. Hi everyone, I'm new here but I asked around a bit and found that my ideas on this are somewhat unique, so I thought I'd start this thread. There will be a lot of discussions I'm hoping to be a part of, but the one that interests me first and foremost is my interpretation of what he is trying to do with the Cosmere books. Specifically, it is my belief that each Cosmere world is Brandon's exploration of a specific ideological framework (perhaps not to be taken too literally, but definitely with a broad brush), its benefits as well as its pitfalls. For example, Scadrial would obviously be his exploration of Judeo-Christian ideology and its various denominations. Sel, I believe is an exploration of nationalism, patriotism, and various aspects of cultural identity and mythlore (the 'Shining City on a Hill', myth for example). The one I am most certain of, however, and have the most research to back up my theories with, is Roshar as an exploration of Buddhism and its philosophies. I am fairly certain that each of the orders of the Knights Radiant is centered on a keyword in each of the 10 Vows of the Amida Buddha. It also seems to me that the symbol for the Knights Radiant (or perhaps that is just the symbol for Roshar in general, I am unsure if he's ever given a clear answer on that) with the 5 swords effectively creating 10 points of intersection on a circle bears a striking resemblance to the Dharma Wheel (see attached image) and even the continent of Roshar seems suggestive of the Yin/Yang symbol to me. I have much, much more but I have to dig my notes out, something I absolutely will do, but in the meantime, any thoughts?
  11. There will be a lot of discussions I'm hoping to be a part of, but the one that interests me first and foremost is my interpretation of what he is trying to do with the Cosmere books. Specifically, it is my belief that each Cosmere world is Brandon's exploration of a specific ideological framework (perhaps not to be taken too literally, but definitely with a broad brush), its benefits as well as its pitfalls. For example, Scadrial would obviously be his exploration of Judeo-Christian ideology and its various denominations. Sel, I believe is an exploration of nationalism, patriotism, and various aspects of cultural identity and mythlore (the 'Shining City on a Hill', myth for example). The one I am most certain of, however, and have the most research to back up my theories with, is Roshar as an exploration of Buddhism and its philosophies. I am fairly certain that each of the orders of the Knights Radiant is centered on a keyword in each of the 10 Vows of the Amida Buddha. It also seems to me that the symbol for the Knights Radiant (or perhaps that is just the symbol for Roshar in general, I am unsure if he's ever given a clear answer on that) with the 5 swords effectively creating 10 points of intersection on a circle bears a striking resemblance to the Dharma Wheel (see attached image) and even the continent of Roshar seems suggestive of the Yin/Yang symbol to me. Do you have any suggestions for me about which forum thread to start in first to talk about these things?
  12. Don't worry, it's virtually impossible to offend me when talking about me. I am not sensitive about it at all and don't really consider myself a bad person just because I've been to prison. I would say that roughly 45 seconds of criminal behavior (if you don't count the occasional driving violations that I've gotten away with) is not really a bad record when set within the context of a life otherwise spent being honest, kind, and helpful to people. My apologies are mostly because I know some people can find the mention of that to make them uncomfortable and it's not my intent to bother or upset people, but it has definitely been something that has affected my life and also impacts my view of Brandon Sanderson's books. I have been an avid reader my whole life (well, since the age of 4, at least) and I have never encountered anything quite like his books. I am amazed and humbled by what he has been able to accomplish.
  13. Thank you, I'm very happy to be on here. The only problem I have with keeping the read count at 10 is then I don't get to read it again. Perhaps I'll take a cue from Lift and just keep all my re-reads at 10 (once I get there) no matter how many extra times I read them. But, yes, I do need to get the others up there too.
  14. Uhh... yeah. Sorry about that. Thank you for the welcome, though.
  15. It's funny how many things began with my getting thrown into prison. I actually read that opening line from Warbreaker while in a jail cell. I have been a Brandon Sanderson fan for many, many years. It's true though, I spent the last 9 years in prison. I'm never quite sure if I should just tell people the story of my crime or not because that's a heavy thing to just drop on someone, so my policy is generally just to wait until someone asks. Still, as you can see, I don't try to run from it either. I try my best to be honest enough to attract an honorspren, and I'm not shy about answering questions so please don't feel like you have to be careful with your curiosity. If there's anything you want to know about me, please just ask. I'll usually answer, but I do answer with the truth, so be prepared for that. I love nearly all of Brandon's works (there are a few things I haven't had the chance to read yet) but it would be safe to say that I am obsessive when it comes to the Cosmere in general and Stormlight Archives in particular. I had very few opportunities to really get deep into theorizing with anyone but myself but I did a lot of things that I'm pretty proud of on that front (decrypt the writing from Navani's notebooks in a frenzied weekend of studying, figure out the Radiant design on the inside front cover of TWOK before book 3 came out, and others) and I am incredibly excited to begin conversing with people who share my love of Brandon's writings. I have read TWOK 10 times (torn between whether to read it again or keep it at that sacred number), WOR 7 times, and OB twice. I have a LOT of thoughts and theories about the Cosmere in general and I plan on definitely making some posts about that, but I thought I would introduce myself first. Well, I guess that's enough for my introduction. Hi everybody, sorry things got so heavy so quickly.
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