Antargat

Antargat (Bhumi: अन्तर्गत), also called the Inner Truth, is one of the sects of Satyism influenced by Yanogu thought and folklore. It was developed principally by the 17th Prior of the Amamkronsissi Monastery, Alim of the Stones. Alim revealed to his followers that there is a cycle of violence which traps all beings in our level of reality, escape and ascension comes from avoiding the two great evils: shame (लज्जा, lajja), which is what causes individuals to accept and seek out violence upon themselves; and pride (अभिमान, abhimana), which is what drives individuals to commit violence on others. Between pride and shame is humility (विनय, vinay), which is the supreme virtue of Antargat Satyism and allows all beings to avoid violence as victim and perpetrator. Vinay can be achieved in one of two ways; through living a life completely free of violence, or by expelling violence in life with rituals and humble acts. The life completely free of violence is very rare and provides that spirit with a divine-like status, according to Antargat philosophy, only seven people have ever achieved this status. Most of Antargat thought is devoted to the rituals and behaviors that cleanse the spirit of violence.

Antargat is limited almost entirely to the monasteries of the Koh Valley and surrounding area, although it shares many elements with other Satyist schools of thought.

Antargat has historically been mistranslated as "Antherghast" and it is still occasionally called the Ghost Flower sect.

Beliefs

The central belief in Antargat is that all actions have lajja (shame), abhimana (pride), or rarely vinay (neutral). Because of this, most spirits also have an aspect that is primarily shameful or proud. Shameful actions are those that accept or invite violence--thieves and lawbreakers invite violence as do those who insult others or drink to excess--and also actions that permit violence to be done, Antargat promotes the duty to retreat. Prideful actions are the commission of violence on other beings, physically striking someone or hurting them, but pride also includes coercive actions such as threats. Vinay exists for all things, including spirits. Whenever someone reduces the vinay of a spirit by harming their shrine, for example, which is what holds them aloft in higher realms, the spirit is given the power to restore their vinay in the physical world, typically by harming the perpetrator of the original harm. Many spirits exist and there are rituals to protect people who accidentally violate a spirit's vinay. There are three principles that Antargat rituals follow:

1. Balance (तुलयति, tulayati) is the principle that two opposite actions weigh against each other to cancel one another out. The two things that are weighed against each other are pride and shame. Pride is balanced out by shame; therefore the prideful should be shamed. Likewise, shame is balanced out by pride; therefore the humiliated should be exalted. In practical terms, this means that the perpetrators of violence should have violence done to them and the victims of violence should do violence to others. Almost all Antargat rituals seek to fulfill the need to balance through symbolism and divine power.
2. Non-violence (अहिंसा, ahiṃsa) is the opposite of prideful violence. It is often what should be a shameful act, but instead of being bad and reducing the spirit's vinay, it increases it by balancing prideful violence. This can take the form of symbolic or real mortification of the flesh, acts of blind obedience, or rarely a violent act made under orders instead of selfish impulse.
3. Counter-violence (विरोधी, virodhi) is the opposite of shame. Virodhi is often a violent act, but it is not prideful because it cancels out shame and increases vinay. When a person is the victim of violence and they defend themselves, for example, their act of counter-violence cancels out their shame. Rituals associated with virodhi can take the form of mortification of others, service in the military or law enforcement, and plant or rarely animal sacrifice.

Uccatara

Uccatara are the seven semi-divine humans who have achieved a life of complete non-violence without relying on tulayati or balancing actions. Three of the Uccatara are figures of Yanogu mythology--Manas, Semetei, and Seitek--who ruled without ever personally being violent, they are considered models for leadership and good rulers. Three of the Uccatara lived their entire lives in complete isolation--their life stories were revealed to Alim through his contact with spirits. The last Uccatara was Alim's own student, Kasan, who was struck on the head as a middle aged man. Kasan went into a comma and was eventually revived, but never regained his memories or all of his faculties. He eventually died from the wound, but in the brief period in which he was "reborn" and died, his life was completely free of violence.

Practices

There are three primary types of rituals in Antargat based on their objective: rituals to increase vinay and decrease pride or shame; rituals to "hone" vinay, to perfect balance between pride and shame; and rituals to communicate with higher realms. The first type of ritual is also the most common and were originally established by Alim of the Stones in his poetry collection Taş Balansı. Many of them are small, daily activities to improve the spirit such as referring to others using an honorific (master or mistress) to reduce pride or using a diminutive to reduce shame. Other rituals in this category include leaving flowers or other gifts at a shrine, washing someone else's hair, striking a monk (ritually) with a "whip" made of colorful yarn, kneeling on someone's back, and serving someone else food (especially a social inferior).

Rituals of the second variety are only practiced by the very pious, such as monks, are should only be undertaken whenever one's spirit is already very clean. These are true neutral acts which are used only to perfect a spirit already very full of vinay. These rituals were not developed by Alim, but by his disciples. There is no compendium of such rituals, although meditation and fasting are both universally acknowledged as legitimate, and they are often prescribed by teachers for their students. Monks often seek actions that are neutral vinay as a kind of spiritual research, constantly evaluating their spirits to see what aspect their actions have. Some famous examples are digging a hole and then filling it back in, carrying water upstream and then dumping it back into the source (this is called saras, सरस), and giving away money collected from gifts (कनक, kanak). These rituals almost always have palindromic names when possible.

The final and third variety of rituals has to do with spirits in higher realms, since they are often unable to participate in normal rituals. There are rituals seeking aid from a higher spirit--typically giving gifts at a shrine or repeating prayers--and for seeking forgiveness from an irritated spirit. Many are combinations of both, first asking for forgiveness for offences, and then asking for aid. Forgiveness is sought by taking on the negative aspect that has offended the spirit or deity so that they do not have to act. The most common type is called rone (रोने) or "wailing" and is intended to trick a spirit into thinking that the offender has already been punished. For example, in times of sickness, the adults of a community would take to the streets wailing loudly so that the spirit that had brought the disease would think that all of the children had already died.

Organization

Like Most Satyst sects, Antargat exists principally as an association of monasteries and the laypeople who adhere to their published works and teachings. Antargat is one of the smallest sects of Satyism, having only the primary monastery in the Koh Vally in Kumuso and two secondary monasteries in Xiaodong and Tava. The spread of Antargat occurred chiefly under the Norzin Empire, during which Antargat was considered heterodoxy for a time.

The Priory of the Naryn Monastery, as the direct inheritor of Alim's status of supreme teacher, is the nominal head of the organization and presides over almost all inter-monastery functions. The Priory of Nayrn does not, however, have authority over liturgical matters, and his primary function is to redistribute funds gained through pilgrimages to Nayrn to the other two monasteries. Scholarly debate on liturgical and ritual matters takes place in the form of the official Antargat periodical Considerations which is published by a special committee which appoints its own members on the recommendation of the various priors. There are seldom any conclusions to the papers and debates published in Considerations, but best practices emerge over time that are slowly incorporated into the liturgy and ritual of the monasteries.

In a tradition that dates back to the Juqu Commandery, the Nayrn Monastery has received material support from the government of Kumuso in exchange for their services as civil servants and educators. In the 1940s, however, the services traditionally provided by the monastery were moved to a special civilian wing of the monastery. The Zhang Gui Wing of Nayrn monastery is still use as a government office and its workers provide "monastic" services to the government. Although the services provided by the monastery are now performed by laypeople, the monastery receives much more remuneration than is earned by the small office space it provides for "maintaining the cultural presence" of Kumuso.