From:	Jah Elf jah_elf@*****.com
Subject:	Wujen
Date:	Tue, 10 Oct 2000 14:12:30 -0700 (PDT)

>Yesterday I was playing a rare-as-hen's-teeth Shadowrun game, and I
>found
>out about Wujen. The character I was using was a Chinese magic person
>so it
>was natural that he should be Wujen. All fine, except that the book
>does not
>have a whole lot about them. I'd like to get some more info on Wujen,
>both
>within the game and in real life, if someone can point out a site or
>two
>that a layman with a short attention span can use. Within the game,
>the main
>problem is the summoning of spirits. Exactly how does a Seattle-born
>troll
>get his hands on an ancestor's burial goods? How long do the spirits
>hang
>around? Exactly how does your great grandfather feel about being
>summoned
>and bound?

The Wujen and Eastern magic traditions presented in MitS only scrape
the surface, but they do provide a much needed addition beyond
Shamanism and Hermetic Magic.

The way of Wu is intimately linked with Buddhism, Taoism, and Japanese
Shinto. For the most effectively systematized synthesis of these
tradition, I'd suggest doing a search on "Shingon Mikkyo Buddhism." Of
the three traditions, that one is probably the most esoteric AND
documented in the way of ritual, iconography, and myth.

Regarding one's grandfather being summoned, I disagree with the prior
commentators. The Hitchhiker's Guide is hilarious, but it is also very
Western. The view of life and death is quite different in Eastern
Mystical ontologies, in that it is generally more cyclical and
connected.

One of the pre-eminent Japanese mystics/magicians (whom one of my
favorite characters is based on), was Kukai, the founder of the Shingon
Mikkyo. It was written that, "When Kukai died at the age of sixty-two
his followers declared that he had entered a state of eternal samadhi,
profound meditation. His body was interred into Mount Koya where today,
among the folk spirits of the mountain, he is said to reside awaiting
Maitreya, the next Buddha to come in the future." (R. Green,
UW-Madison) In game play, your character may be the one that he, or
others like him, is waiting for.

As a monk, he did not have children, but is a universal ancestor to any
follower of that tradition. Thus, being awakened to help the "cause"
would likely delight him. However, one best not summon such ancestors
for purposes that are counter to their own missions, or things could
get a bit sketchy....

-Jah Elf

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