Cid Arthur

One of the major religions of the universe. Officially forbidden by the Holy Terran Chantry and the Sollan Empire, to the extent that the fordgrons (temples) of the Order were burned or desanctified wherever they were found. However, many members of the Sollan Legions are openly devotees to the Path of the Order. The religion is a syncretic blend of Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Earth's ancient mythology surrounding King Arthur of Camelot. Although Cid-Arthurianism represents the dominant sect of Buddhism by Hadrian Marlowe's time, conventional Buddhism is still practiced, albeit by a small minority.

They say that when he was a boy, the prince Cid Arthur was kept in a pleasure palace by his father’s faithful archon, isolated from death, disease, and poverty, for a vate had prophesied that if he should see the ugliness of the world, Cid Arthur would renounce his father’s throne and become a preacher himself. I had always wondered at this, for I had grown up in a palace myself, and I knew of poverty and sickness and had had my own brushes with death—first with my grandmother, then later when Uncle Lucian had died in his shuttle crash. I could not understand how Arthur had been so blind.

I understood it now.

Just as there is a difference between the news of a distant planet’s destruction and the bloody death of a coliseum slave, it is one thing to know there is poverty and illness and another to walk among the poor and suffering.

...

Like Cid Arthur on his quest for the Merlin Tree, I did what I had to do to survive. I ate fish raw from the canals, raided compost bins. I depended upon the kindness of street vendors—a class of men not much noted for their charity—and I learned to beg. I will not say I was good at it, but desperation eventually broke down the dregs of my palatine dignity.

Empire of Silence, Chapter 24: Those Mindless Days

Notable Devotees of the Cid-Arthurian Order:

LORIAN ARISTEDES

Cid Arthurian Mantra:

I invoke the universal sound and the One Pure. Grant me courage and clarity, that I might know right conduct. Unite my deeds with Wisdom. I offer this prayer to the Knight Galahad...

The Dregs of Empire, Chapter 5: The Way of Things

Cid-Arthurian Key Terms:

Arthur-Buddha

Atman - the permanent, unchanging soul

Dinadan Vima - a great sage of the Order

Eightfold Path (The "Path") - a practical guide to achieve enlightenment and liberation from suffering: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration

Enlightenment (The "Holy Grail") - a state of profound understanding and liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth (samsara). It signifies a complete cessation of desire, ignorance, and the illusion of a separate self.

Fordgron - the temples of the knight-priests of the Arthur-Buddha

Gurram - knight-priest of the Cid-Arthurian Order

Karma - the basic idea that nothing can come into being without a cause and that certain causes bring about certain effects

Khandasattva - A sword-saint of the Order. Capable of munshin no shin, the mind without mind. So near to Enlightment while remaining in this universe.

Knight Galahad - icon of the Cid-Arthurian religion

Last Hell

Malaros - prayer beads used as a tool to aid meditation and mantra recitation

Munshin no shin - a state of mind where one is free from distractions, thoughts, and emotions, allowing for spontaneous and effortless action. Often described as being "in the zone" or in a "flow state."

The One Pure

The Order - devotees of the Eightfold Path of the Arthur-Buddha

Reincarnation - the continuation of consciousness after death. This process is linked to karma, where actions in one life influence the conditions of the next. It occurs within the cycle of samsara until Enlightenment is achieved.

Samsara - the cyclical process of birth, death, and rebirth, often described as a state of suffering and dissatisfaction. An endless cycle of wandering through various realms of existence, driven by karma.

Soho - a great sage of the Order

The Universal Sound - the primordial, transcendent sound of the universe that connects all things.

Wisdom - a profound understanding of the true nature of reality. A direct realization of the Three Marks of Existence (impermanence, suffering, and non-self) and the Four Noble Truths (suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering).