Twilight and the Doctor talk about religon
Twilights views on religion and politics in equestria.
So you had some questions, doctor was it? Twilight asked
Yes The doctor answered I was wondering what your political and religious Ideas were in this land.
Well as far politics we are an egalitarian society. Everypony is equal and as far as religion I am not familiar with this term can you explain it please. Twilight said
Well before we get to religion don’t you vote in leaders and such. Doctor said
Well we have princess celestia and princess luna as the high princess and princess respectfully and ponyville has a mayor but they are each born into the role and will do that role to the best of there ability till they die. As there cutie mark indicates. Twilight then explained that a cutie mark is a mark a pony gets where they find the special talent they have that other ponies don’t.
Ahh I see, where I come from people pick there jobs and Your idea of cutie marks And the one job you are designed for reminds me of a great philosopher from where I come from. His name was confusious and he said “pick a job you love and you never have to work a day in your life” doctor stated
The doctor then explained a few different religions. Twilight said that if she had to pick one it would have to be Zen.
In equestria we don’t have gods unless you count princess celestia and luna but they still belong to our world and aren’t in some “heavenly place”. And every pony strives to live in accordance with nature. For us nature is just that nature there is no death only transcendence from a body of being to non-being. No "heaven" no "hell". When we do die we disappear according to our race, earth ponies turn to earth, pegusi disperse as wind and unicorns become magic.
Well thank you for that Twilight, by the way wan to come for a ride in my space ship? The doctor asked
How Bagua attained enlightenment?
How bagua attained enlightenment. (basically I took the story of Siddhartha Gautama and ponified it)
A pony dreamed she dreamed of an elephant giving her a white lotus flower. When she awoke she found herself pregnant with a pony. As her caravan was far from her palace she would have to endure being pregnant for the trip. Some time later The pony found herself having labor pains. Her caravan still being away from the palace she was forced to give birth in the woods. Out of recognition of who her child would become a tree branch bent down to support the mother as she was giving birth. One born the pony walked seven steps and lotus blossoms bloomed at his feet. He said
“noblest am I in the world” “I shall not be reborn again”
Then went silent. Once the caravan made it back to the palace the pony told her husband the king that she had given birth to a son. They had a soothsayer come over.
There are two possibilities for your son.
One he will be a great and powerful warrior or he will be a religious leader. The soothsayer said
Wanting his son to be a great and powerful warrior his father as the kind only gave his son the best things in the world, the finest drink, the most beautiful mares. This went on for 20 years. One day the pony named bagua asked his father about life and that he wished to see more of this world. So his father being the king he was asked his subjects to line up so bagua could see them as he went by in the caravan. He made sure to exclude the sick and old and the dead.
Seeing this Bagua still wanted more so unknown to his father he asked his charioteer xingyi to take him outside the palace walls. As they did on the side of the road was a pony that was sick, Bagua asked what that pony was.
That is a sick pony every pony gets sick bagua. Said xingyi
Bagua thought on this. A few days later he asked xingyi to take him out of the palace again. This time on the side of the road was an old pony. Again bagua asked what that was and xingyi explained old age to bagua.
This troubled bagua so he asked xingyi to take him out of the palace again. This time on the side of the road he saw a corpse. Bagua asked what that was and xingyi told him about death. This really troubled bagua so once more they went outside the palace and Bagua saw an ascetic meditating. Bagua asked about this and xingyi told him that he is an ascetic trying to find a cure to old age sickness and death.
Seeing this bagua went to his father and told him about what he had seen and that he wanted to find a cure for old age sickness and death. His father was outraged he locked his son in his room. That night a fog rolled over the palace. All the guards fell asleep due to the fog. The only ones that weren’t asleep were Bagua and xingyi. Xingyi escorted bagua outside the palace bagua gave Xingyi his clothes and jewelry and left to become an ascetic.
Bagua went from meditation teacher to meditation teacher astounding them with how well he could meditate but none of them had the answers he sought. He finally was with a group of ascetics trying to master suffering. They would contort themselves into advances yogic poses for days on end. To eat they had a few grains of rice a day or the droppings of a bird. To drink the had a broth of mud. While mediating bagua heard a musician on a passing barge. “if the string is to tight it will snap, If it is to slack it will not play. The sting has to be just right” Hearing this Bagua got up from meditating and walked down to the river. “if I am to achieve enlightenment may this bowl travel up stream” The bowl he placed in the river went up stream. Seeing this he accepted a bowl of rice from a passing woman. The other ascetics saw this and told bagua they could no longer be with him he had forsaken his vows. “No no don’t you see it is the middle way the path between both polar opposites we must use”
After he had been nursed back to health Bagua sat under a tree and meditated. “may my sinews snap may my bones break may I become dust I will not leave this place till I have found a cure for suffering” He meditated it was then that a being called discord showed up for he was worried that Bagua would find what he was looking for. So discord sent his three beautiful daughters To try and seduce Bagua. But bagua was looking beyond form he saw the mares as bones and dust. This only sought to enrage Discord even further. Discord sent his cotton candy clouds and it rained chocolate milk on Bagua. Bagua just sat there in meditation. Discord got an army and they fired chocolate milk bombs at Bagua, but Bagua was so peaceful that they just turned into lotus flowers and fell harmlessly to the ground. It seemed as if discord had been defeated But in fact he had not yet given up the battle. Bagua noticed his reflection in a puddle of chocolate milk. He reached down to touch it and his reflection reached up and grabbed his hoof. He pulled up a mirror image of himself.
“You who go where no one else will dare will you be my god” discord
“Architect finally I have met you, you will not rebuild your house again” Bagua
“But I am your house and you live in me” discord
“Oh lord of my own ego you are pure illusion you do not exist The earth is my witness” bagua reached down and touched the earth with his hoof Discord disappeared defeated.
Bagua taught that there was suffering in sickness old age and death and that these could be over come through the use of the eight fold path.
