Abbot Kacan Moraphis's page

The duality of light and darkness is not limited to the concept of good and evil. It is also applicable to the duality of order and chaos. Order is not a constant. Sometimes one can not stand at the fulcrum to maintain balance. Sometimes one must move toward one thing to counteract an existing imbalance with another.

I was a young H'gar at the time our monastery in Cheliax was destroyed. As I traveled and followed my abbot's teachings I began looking for other H'gar who escaped the monastery's destruction. Along the way I have found that my own inner peace, my inner balance, is aided by also venerating Sarenrae. This is what I teach my own monks now that I am abbot of the new 36th Order monastery we built in in Katapesh.

Abbot Sul taught me that repeated action develops a momentum, a predisposition to continue in the path that actions create. He taught that first the momentum must be brought to rest before new actions can create a course that will hold true under its own momentum. As followers of both Irori and Sarenrae we offer mercy to the darkness, but we first must stop it long enough for it to have a chance to listen and make a choice for change.

I do not believe that we, or any other walker in light, will ever be able to bring an end to darkness. All we can do is see that light and darkness have a chance to remain in balance. Therefore I do not believe that we will make an end of ourselves. But discourse and new opinions are always welcome in our order. May I suggest that you may better see our beliefs in action by traveling with Harad Navar, my newest H'gar. He left for the River Kingdoms a few months ago but intended to stop in Qadira by way of Jalmeray. You may still be able to catch up with him in Katheer. He is our newest light.

Light and darkness are inseparable; one cannot exist without the other. We sometimes find ourselves defining one as the absence of the other. By this circular logic alone we can see their interconnection. If you cannot define one without the other, are they not one?

For the 36th Order we have chosen to see life as an example of the connectedness of darkness and light. If the darkness and the light are two sides of one thing, then we can say that each life is divided between two things, the internal and the external. Our external life is the interaction between ourselves and the world and beings around us. Our internal life is our interaction between our souls and the life of the gods.

Irori teaches us about the Life external. Discipline and training make our physical selves better, brings us closer to wholeness. We believe that the rule of law within society does the same thing for society. The climbing rose is only at its full glory when it has a trellis to support it. The trellis does not strangle the rose or choke its beauty. The trellis gives the rose the strength it does not have naturally to become the best it can be. For the rose great freedom exists within the trellis to be many things. We do not say it is wrong for the society to grow without boundaries. We believe that the boundary of law makes society stronger, gives it the strength to grow and prosper.

Sarenrae teaches us about the Life Internal. She fought the great darkness Rovagug for the good of all beings. She has shown us that mercy and might are not incompatible. She shows us that sometimes we deny ourselves so we can help others; that the feelings and welfare of others are as important to us as our own well being. We train to fight by mastering the impact of our bodies and the weapons we wield. We must also train to be merciful and give our opponents the change to choose a different path. Everyone is responsible for their choices and the consequences of those choices. If those who stand against us and those we protect choose not to change, then the consequences of their actions are their own. But we must always remember that if we cannot show mercy to others, we will soon find it impossible to show mercy to ourselves.

“A bonfire keeps back the darkness in only one place; a thousand candles can keep back the darkness anywhere.”
This is the founding principle of the 36th Order. Many years ago in the Mwangi Expanse I met a Gray Traveler who taught me an important lesson about people. He said, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” It is from this that our founding principle is made.

Every day, every moment, we make choices. Rarely do single choices have lasting impact on the Life Internal or the Life External. It is the small choices, made over and over again, that alter who we are. Occasionally great heroes take down great evil, but the common people must confront evil every day. How we make those small choices has a greater impact on evil then the defeat of a single great evil. Great evil must be fought and great heroes do that. But we of the 36th Order fight on a different battlefield. We fight for the heart, one heart at a time. Through example we show people how to stand against those small acts of evil, of darkness. Through being with the people and not simply being in our cloistered monasteries we can bring light to confront the darkness wherever it may be.

There are those of us who teach and keep the source of light burning; these are the H’chani. There are those who must take their candles out into the darkness; these are the H’gar. The goal of our order is to send out candle after candle into the darkness, among the people, to teach them how to light their own lives as a light against darkness.

“Reason can explain the darkness, but it is not a light.”
How many times have you found that you know what you should do, but do not do it? We can teach the principles of Sarenrae, extol the rightness of good, and people will still do evil acts. We may fully understand why dark actions are taken, but it is only when we act as light will those acts of darkness be checked.

It is not enough for you to teach against the darkness. You must be a light. Let who you are be reflected in the actions that you do. Your words are worthless; your actions are not. Talking about the light is of less value than being a light.

“When you wield light to fight darkness you cast darkness behind you.”
Light and darkness are one; you cannot have one without the other. Every time you light a candle to dispel the darkness in front of you, you always create darkness behind you. Whenever you use light in the Life External to fight evil, you will have blindness behind you where darkness can renew itself. Many times we ignore the darkness we bring with ourselves for the sake of fighting the darkness that confronts us.

However, when you make your light from the Life Internal, there is no “you” to cast a shadow. It is not enough to use light against the darkness. You must be the light. There is no shadow within a candle flame. Be a light in everything you undertake so you do not become the source of more darkness.

“If you want to defeat an enemy, become them, and be defeated.”
Some people have thought that this is similar to the teaching of other ways which tell you that to defeat an enemy you must know your enemy. While that is true, that is not what is being said. Fighting evil can be frustrating. There seems to be so much darkness that your small light seems hopeless. Evil can sometimes seem to have all the advantages. Evil does not have to behave with your rules or code of honor. At times it seems that its tactics cannot be overcome with our own. It can be so tempting to convince ourselves that there must be some way we can use their ways to fight them without giving up our principles. This is the surest way to fail.