Yuma

Yuma, more commonly referred to as “The Dream”, is a belief system which first appeared around 300 years ago, and presumes that the world was dreamed into existence by a supreme being known as Yume-o-Miru, Chenshui, Kurayami, It that Dreams or simply The Dreamer. Yuma is the official state religion of The Yuyan Dominion, though practiced mainly by the higher ranking members of society.
Yuma primarily concerns itself with helping people to find their place in life, emphasizing the strength of family, community and dedication to a greater whole, even in the absence of divine guidance. Spiritual revelations also play a big part. The faithful sometimes engage in psychedelic substances, sleep deprivation or forced starvation to purposefully bring their body into a state of delirium, as they believe their minds to be more open to receive the truth of the world in such a state.

Quick Summary:

“And as time began, Yume-o-Miru entered the slumber from which existence itself arose.”

The world as we know it is a Dream. Everything, from the smallest grain of sand to the largest mountain, the ecosystem, life and death, you and everyone you know, all are part of The Dream, a greater whole, a greater order, and perhaps a greater purpose. What that purpose is though, and what the implications are for us mortals is somewhat unclear and a matter of much debate among religious scholars.

Core Beliefs:

Schools of Thought:

The Shanjing or “Scholars of the Greater Self” believe that The Dreamer, who they refer to as Chenshui, is not some entity, but the dream itself. As a consequence all that are part of the dream, are also part of the dreamer, and as such a fragment of greater divinity and purpose. They believe that The Dreamer is much like a newborn or egg waiting to hatch, not simply dreaming, but learning, the world meant to facilitate The Dreamers growth into a perfect being. The Dreamer is within all of us, experiences all our joys and hardships, happiness and sadness, love and loss.
Only once Chenshui has experienced all there ever was, is and will be to experience, will The Dream end, and we all will become one within the perfect being. No life is meaningless, as no matter how tortured, dreadful, boring or tragic an existence one might lead, they still make an irreplaceable contribution to The Greater Self. Shanjing as a school of thought originated among the learned elite of The Yuyan Dominion and is popular within its heartlands, particularly among members of the imperial court.
The Gakukyo or “Scholars of Purpose” on the other hand believe that there is no purpose at all to The Dream. It is merely a state of being, the result of The Dreamers slumber, which they refer to as Yume-o-Miru, and like any dream it will one day end. Perhaps Yume-o-Miru will remember fragments of what transpired, but even those will soon fade away. So then, is existence ultimately meaningless, is there any greater purpose at all to our fleeting lifes?
The Scholars of Purpose think there isn’t, but they also ultimately consider the question itself meaningless. Why must there be some greater purpose that will outlast everything, when everything else about our existence is transient? We live, we die, and we are forgotten, but does that diminish the joys and hardships we feel, the love and camaraderie we share, the ideals we live by? In the absence of divine purpose, we must find within ourselves what drives us forward, we must find that which we can do to contribute in our small ways, to a world as we wish to leave it behind. Scholars of purpose are particularly prevalent in the lands of Shizumi, where Yuma has become the predominant religion among the populace.
The Gakushin or “Scholars of Truth” are a fringe group of believers which are deemed pariahs by most other followers of Yuma. Considered a sort of Doomsday cult, the Scholars of Truth believe that The Dreamer, which they refer to as Kurayami or simply The Darkness, is a malicious entity which has trapped all living beings in an eternal state of Hallucination to feed on them.
They believe that it is the duty of true believers to end the dream, “Awakening” the world in the truest sense of the word, by whatever means necessary. In the absence of an awakened world, The Scholars of Truth seek to exist in a permanent state of delirium, compulsively consuming hallucinogenic substances, starving and depriving themselves of sleep in search of glimpses of true reality, not this “dream-like prison”.

Waking Nightmares:

While The Dream is steadfast in its existence, it is not unshakeable, for waking nightmares exist. Waking nightmares appear in places of great evil and suffering, where negative thoughts and emotions coalesce. They can take the shape of terrible monsters and indescribable horrors, and their appearance usually lines up with times of strife, suffering and unrest, such as famines, devastating plagues or natural disasters. Some also claim that waking nightmares can take root in the minds of mortals, feeding on the darkness within their heart, until they eventually consume their host and manifest a physical form.
Waking nightmares are dark and violent creatures which seek to further spread the darkness that has allowed them entry into the dream. Their very existence threatens The Dream, since suffering on a great enough scale could cause The Dreamer to wake from its slumber.
While there is some debate among the Shanjing and the Gakukyo about what exactly causes the appearance of waking nightmares, which they refer to as Demons, Akuma or Shizhen, they absolutely agree that they are bad and that to stop their proliferation is not just a matter of faith, but of preserving the existence of life itself. The faithful must maintain a healthy and pure state of mind, and lessen the suffering in the world wherever they can. Some do this through asceticism or charity work, others go out in the world to slay evildoers and hunt down waking nightmares. No matter what though, to lessen the amount of evil and suffering in the world is deemed the most effective way to combat this threat.
The Gakushin on the other hand not only welcome the waking nightmares, but seek to invite them into The Dream in an effort to hasten the coming of the Awakening. They refer to them as Shinrei or “Spirits of Deliverance”, and view them as allies in their ultimate goal of ending The Dream.

Divine Delirium:

Spiritual revelations, and the wisdom gained from them is a big part of the practice of Yuma. The faithful believe that, by untethering their mind for a short time from the dream, they can catch glimpses at the truth of the world, gaining great insights and wisdom. The way they do this varies greatly from sect to sect and even community to community. Some engage in psychedelic substances, sleep deprivation or forced starvation, some even intentionally poison, bleed or flagellate themselves, since the closer one comes to death's door, the clearer the visions supposedly are.
This is usually done in a ritualistic fashion under the supervision of other faithful to ensure that people don’t accidentally kill themselves, though every now and again it does happen. The clear exception here are the Gakushin, who recklessly seek a permanent state of delirium in pursuit of true enlightenment, even at the cost of their own life.

Pluralism:

Yuma makes no statements to the existence or lack of any gods, spirits or souls, nor death, rebirth or reincarnation. It makes no value judgments towards such things, though if they did exist they would be part of the dream like anything else. This openness makes Yuma a religion that rarely if ever clashes with others, making syncretism with other faiths very common.
The best example for this is right in The Yuyan Dominion itself, where many people follow Yuma, but still worship local Idanasha, the two systems of belief perfectly congruent with one another.