Balance
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Balance directs here. Balance may also refer to Tattoo of Balance.
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[edit] The Philosophy of Balance
The Middle Way avoids both extremes; giving vision, giving knowledge, it leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. Thus do the members of Balance attempt to live their lives in the centre ground of neutrality - allowing neither angelic or demonic influences on their souls, these warrior-scholars attempt to purify the Nexus of those that have been corrupted. Only by such actions can the stable existence of the next universe be assured.
This text chronicles the philosophies and revelations of Balancers who follow the path to Enlightenment.
Beware false dichotomies! From two comes three. We weigh and maintain the balance of the universe, both in our personal actions and our faction goals. The Nexus demands Balance.
WE are the natural state of things. Life combats entropy... and all things return to equilibrium.
From my experiences in the Nexus thus far, there is little to indicate that good or evil has taken firm footing in the souls of humanity; but the sheer scale of murder amongst the mortals threatens to sway the passive toward the light for protection, and the aggressive toward the destructive orgies of the demonic hordes.
This is where groups such as Balance are necessary; to preserve mankind from this chaos, shield it from the propaganda from above and below and—above all else—balance the Nexus. --Redwyvern
She can go on living—not by principle, not by deduction, not by knowledge of good and evil, but simply by a peculiar and shifting sense of balance which defies each of these things often. She no longer hopes to live by seeking truth...but continues henceforth under the guidance of a seventh sense. Balance was the sixth sense, which she won when she first learned to walk, and now she has a seventh one—knowledge of the world.
--T.H. White, The Once and Future King
The Middle Way avoids both extremes; giving vision, giving knowledge, it leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana [Nirvana]. --The Buddha
Bookreaders! Paragons of neutrality! Forces of the Middle Way! You are not without help! The reforming army is here! The forces of Balance are the pebble on the mountaintop, the feather on the pivot point, the one right word. Walk in shadow and light! --Justin Durcotte (overheard in Chafin Library by analemma)
So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else.
--Goethe
Fear not death! Fear only defeat and dishonor!
--from an Akira Kurosawa film
Virtue is a moderation or middle state, but viewed in its relation to what is best and right it is the extreme of perfection. --Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, 2.6
Angels are no better than demons. They're all the Man. They're all trying to tell us what to do and who to be. People must choose for themselves, and the only thing that needs regulation are attempts to remove the right to choose from others. Anarchy doesn't mean without order. It means without leaders. Without anyone telling you what to do. This is the goal. This is Balance.
--Justin Durcotte and Alan Moore
The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.
--Albert Einstein
In a recent discussion about the role of the Nexus Champion, ambergris spoke these words:
Good and Evil are illusions. You cannot have one without the other. They are mutually creating concepts that lead to delusions and suffering. Those who walk the Middle Path seek to free themselves from these constructs in order to achieve enlightenment and freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth. It is a philosophy that transcends the artificial, limiting categories of Good and Evil, hence they are not applicable to it.
To bring this back to the discussion of the Nexus Champion, I see them as warrior philosophers. This is why ambergris, Mistress of Balance, reads philosophy and poetry to her faction from time to time.
Further, in the Nexus, only humans can still find the peace of inner equilibrium as they have not wedded their souls to extremism. The demons neglect their selves and seek only to inflict pain. The angels deny themselves and seek to impose their morality on all. Thus, they must both be fought by the Nexus Champion.
I do not, however, see this as contradicting free will. The Middle Path is a difficult one to walk and cannot be forced upon anyone. It must be walked alone; the battle between good and evil plays itself out in the heart of those who follow this path and demands free will if one hopes to complete it. Without the choice represented by free will, none could correct their steps after they had strayed. None could recognize the suffering their wandering inflicts on themselves and others. Without free will, none could choose to seek enlightenment. All would remain trapped forever in the phantasms of morality.
[edit] The Chronicles of Balance
Sadly, in one of the many battles against Angels and Demons, the scribe of Balance fell, his quill broken on the ground. Until we find a replacement, the brave deeds of Balancers will go unpublished, recorded only in the faction's secret Scrolls of Honor.
The records that remain rest forever in the archives.
Currently, however, we are engaged in war with the Pirates of R'yleh for our very home. Thanks to the strength of Pax Marrakun and other good friends, we endure. Join our efforts.
[edit] More Words
Read notable speeches by Balancers or visit us on our forum.
