Sakadagami

Children of the Naga

Vampire the Requiem - Ancient Bloodlines

Not all Kindred relish the endless hunger and violence the Embrace leaves in its wake. Many seek loopholes in the undead condition, whether through divine intervention or infernal bargaining. Before the teachings of Dracula and The Ordo Dracul, no group of Kindred worked together to seek an end to their suffering from within, through thought and experience, or so Western undead culture would have it. In this belief, though, Western Kindred are wrong. Within the insular sect of Thai Kindred lays a somewhat older philosophical practice that, an aspirant would hope, is able to free them from the toils of Kindred desire. Deep in the sect’s stories and practices may even be the deepest roots of the much younger Ordo Dracul.

History

Wisdom of a Dead Kingdom

Thailand was not always free for the Kindred of the land. Before the Sakadagami, under the reign of the terrible Naga King, tyranny was the norm and a suffering of unending hell awaited any who displeased him.
In those nights, the Kindred observed a rigid caste system based on the Status and standing of one’s sire. Once Embraced low, there was no way to rise above your station. If Embraced high, no mistake could remove your standing and importance within society.
Then came the Naga King’s conversion to Buddhism. Depending on the part of Thailand, the stories vary slightly in the details. Rarely, it is suggested that the Naga King was visited by the Buddha himself in a vision that cleared the Yaksha’s eyes and relieved him of suffering. An even less common myth implies that Asira was a sort of self-enlightened devotee of Buddha, as there were no teachings that worked exactly for the Kindred condition. Most stories however, including the tales of monks who remember these times, say that true self-enlightenment came to a lowly temple servant called only the Mae Ji. It is said she came to the Naga’s court in order to free a few mortal monks the King was set to eat. Showing him her ability to withstand the normal failings of the Kindred condition with grace and ease, the Naga King converted on the spot and encouraged the whole of his court to take up the mantle of this Kindred-specific Buddhist tradition.
While not all the undead of Sukhothai joined the growing monastic movement, many did. The young and disenfranchised found that the teachings of the Mae Ji and the Naga Monk liberated them from their previous shackles. So too did the lower castes find refuge in what would soon be called the Sakadagami Order. Those whose desires and interests were less philosophical and spiritual became laity and went on about their unlives.
Shortly after his conversion, Asira founded the first temple to Buddha — specifically for Kindred worshippers — with an underground sanctuary for any in need of protection from the sun. He called it Wat Ning, or roughly, the Temple of Stillness. The Sukhothai dynasty at the time had a capitol of the same name, and the Naga believed a temple should be in that central city.
Of course, not all were so pleased to watch their empire crumble, nor their ancient religious practices be tossed aside in favor of this new Kindred movement. Within a hundred years of the conversion of the Naga Monk, the practitioners of the old faiths, Acolytes to the western view, waged a cold war against the Sakadagami. The blood shed over ceremonial dances and seasonal holidays grew increasingly abhorrent until the Naga Monk met in secret with the masked leader of the opposing force. They struck a deal at that time that has put the conflict to rest.
By 1782, several mortal kingdoms had come and gone. The Sakadagami remained much the same, though they had codified and formalized much of their structure. The Mae Ji was largely a memory by now and had withdrawn from Kindred existence in Thailand (then called Siam). The Naga Monk, 50 years in a torpor-like meditative state, woke to instruct the Sakadagami to transport the Wat Ning to Bangkok, the new capitol. Since then, as Thailand remained uncolonized by European empires, the Sakadagami were able to exist and practice in relative obscurity.

Demography and Population

Enlightenment Outside of the Free Land

It is easy to assume that the Sakadagami have remained in their insular kingdom untouched by outside Kindred and never leave that place to interact with the rest of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since travel for Kindred has gotten slightly less perilous, and immigration for mortals is such a regular occurrence, some small number of the Ordained and the laity have left the place of their training for new fertile ground. Indeed, pilgrimage for certain members of a temple is a long standing tradition (see the Mae Ji above).
So why, then, have western Kindred not interacted with members of this order? Some have, but they may simply not have realized there was anything worth noting about the foreign Kindred. On occasion, immigrant communities can be even more insular than their original nation may have been. In resistance to the culture shock, it is not surprising that a people would fight change initially, and Kindred are typically even less able to change and adapt. It is unlikely that, on meeting a western Kindred, a Sakadagami would announce what he was, spill all his secrets and invite the stranger to start training with him. More likely, he gives a polite greeting, speaks softly and observes until he is able to return to his work and studies without being rude.
But things change, whether Kindred wish it or not, and with new Embraces in a cross-cultural era inevitable, more western Kindred are having deeper brushes with Thai Kindred and their paths to peace. Some ideas:

• A Mae Ji, having left her temple a hundred years ago, exists in quiet contemplation among the Thai population of Los Angles. She has spent the last 20 years observing the western Kindred and has finally decided to step into their Requiem and offer them a better path. Of course, that means that the more worldly Kindred of The Carthian Movement might immediately seize on her as a symbol of revolution.
• An old Acolyte from Thailand, surviving off her Thai cult in Philadelphia, hears a young Carthian spouting ideals similar to the Children of the Naga. Amused, she persuades the neonate (and his coterie) to go to Thailand and look for the truth behind his philosophies.
• In Providence, Rhode Island, an Ordo Dracul coterie and a Sakadagami temple have accidentally uncovered one another. At first their similar goals opens the door to discourse between the two on technique and philosophy. However, when the Ordo discovers the Sakadagami aren’t scientists, and the Sakadagami discover the Ordo are not philosophers, but both are somewhat successful, a war of ideologies might not be far behind and bloodshed seems likely.[\li]

Tenets of Faith

Sotapanna: Entering the Stream

Like their mortal counterparts, the philosophers of the Sakadagami Order accept the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism… but what from there? Clearly, the practices and wisdoms of a mortal religion could not work for a stagnant, monstrous race. This is why the Mae Ji brought teachings to the Kindred of Thailand, say the Sakadagami. What follows are the lessons the monks and laity alike use in their death, in hopes of escaping their endless suffering.
Historically, the Mae Ji bent the Naga King and converted him by proving that she had freed herself of the three lower fetters and started on a path to Nibbana, or enlightenment. The first of these fetters is recognized as a false view of self. To the Order, this first step is to fully accept what you are and not to deny it. A vampire is dead, a vampire needs the blood of life to survive, a vampire is a territorial monster in an endless struggle between the need for like monsters and the need to be left alone to hunt. For the laity of Thailand, knowing this is enough and acts of respect to this truth are considered blessings or “making merit” along the path to Nibbana. For the ordained monks and nuns, an additional step must be realized: that a vampire is not human, and while the Kindred may perform the most rudimentary charades in order to keep peace between themselves and mortals (wearing robes, speaking in Thai, following human social taboos when in public), any attempt to actually live as a human is to turn ones back completely from the path of peace.
Second, the Mae Ji demonstrated that she had freed herself of doubt. She did not question her beliefs when the Naga King used magic and trickery to disprove her understanding. To the Sakadagami, being free of doubt comes first from acknowledging the true self — the practitioner is the hungry dead — and that once she steps into the stream, Enlightenment is possible through dedication and perseverance. There is no room to question these truths, as there is walking, talking, blood-drinking evidence that the philosophy works. This is enough for the laity, but as with the first fetter, the ordained take this a step further. Doubt is a sneaking shadow even in the nights when the moon is most full and bright, and as such, the monks and nuns of the Order regularly test themselves and each other. It is not uncommon for elaborate and dramatic morality plays to be preformed on an unwitting novice to test his doubtlessness, without him realizing it is all only a test.
The third fetter the Mae Ji rid herself of is the need to cling to ritual and rites. Simply put, when a Kindred accepts her nature, and becomes doubtless of the fact that she can awaken past that state and into Nibbana, she must also accept that all of her old rituals and traditions were merely distractions from the true way to be free of suffering. For laity, seasonal and national celebrations are acceptable both because they build community and peace, and because they are such marvelous opportunities to feed. However, even laity should remember that the ritual practices within these holidays can and do cause one to stumble along the way. The ordained are forbidden from taking part in any ceremony, outside of temple rituals, until they have proved that they have reached a certain level of understanding. This can take anywhere from a month from ordination to a hundred years, depending on the student. After that, if an ordained has proven he or she is past such road blocks, that individual is welcome to visit the festivities as is polite, but must not feed there or be heard laughing loudly.
In order to consider an ordained truly Sakadagami, two more hurdles must be overcome. Laity rarely reaches these levels of dedication because a quiet unlife of stillness and contemplation is required.
First is resistance to lust. Of course, acknowledging the truthful state of self, a Sakadagami knows that he must feed. What he must do in order to free himself of the suffering of hunger is to learn though rigorous Meditation and self denial that blood brings no real satisfaction and there is no need to desire it. The Beast, of course, rails against these ideals, and as such is often the first obstacle to be overcome. Many elders of the order can feed off of animals or vessels of fresh blood just as easily as a fresh Embrace, regardless of how potent their blood might be.
Finally, the philosophy at its most advanced stage requires the practitioner to uproot hate from her thoughts, deeds and spirit. In part, this state is reached by suppression of the Beast, just as it is with freedom from lust. The true difficulty comes in resisting the very aspects of the predator that desire conquest and destruction of any other Kindred in one’s way. Truth be told, it is a state that few if any are actually recognized to have reached. From there, the rare and precious Anagami is given a choice to continue on his unlife in order to teach the path, or take part in a ritual death by fire in order to reach Nibbana in dramatically appropriate fashion.
The exact traditions surrounding a seeker coming into the Ordained varies from temple to temple. Nearly universal and strangely significant is to shave the seeker’s head. Due to the unique characteristics of the Embrace, however, this is the first small test of her dedication, as it requires the Kindred to devote a small part of herself to keeping her hair shaved. That is, she must sacrifice a Willpower dot in order to prevent her hair from returning to its state at the time of Embrace (as described on p. 175 of Vampire: The Requiem).
The questions asked are to further assure that the seeker is of stable enough mind to join the temple. While the abbot asks the questions, a monk with great skill with Auspex observes and testifies to the seeker’s honesty. In theory, this is to assure that only the willing and devoted can enter, but it is possible to manipulate this system somewhat, and rumors that some monks can be bought off persist. One of the most important questions is “are you human.” In mortal traditions, this question is also asked and the expected answer is of course “yes.” In the Sakadagami, the expected answer is “no” as part of the understanding of self. Announcing “no” in public to such a question can be a very dramatic moment for young Kindred.

Worship

Early in their training, most of a novice’s concerns revolve around staying fed and staving off frenzy. Unlife is very hash and Final Death is not uncommon at this point. If the vampire survives, the Sakadagami’s mediation practices and training around the Three Treasures of the Mae Ji will eventually develop and curb some of the struggle. Of course, that’s the point.
Though the rewards are great, many lay Kindred have to wonder who would suffer the hardships of monastic unlife for the ultimate goal of being burned. So who would take up the robes and seek refuge? In the times of the founding of the Sakadagami Order many came to the temples as unwanted childer, incompetent hunters, humanists who couldn’t cope with their new existence or monsters dangerously close to losing themselves to the Beast. In the past few hundred years, very little has changed. Sires in Thailand just like anywhere else still Embrace on impulse, and regret their choices later. There are still incompetents and pacifists, and still serial killers turned undead. Beyond that, some Kindred go to the order to continue their practices from life, some to bring merit to their families. Occasionally, a Kindred takes on the robes for social or political gain. It is a hard road to power, and one that may ultimately collapse on itself, but one the arrogant or confident monster might follow.
For the mortals in Thailand, it is not uncommon for a young man to become ordained for a short period of time, living at a temple before taking off the robes and returning to the secular life. At one time any able boy would do so at the age of 20 and could not marry before he had spent his time as a monk. For the Kindred of the Sakadagami, taking off the robes is a much more serious and difficult matter. Rejoining the laity can be a painful experience because without the strict temple structure, many do not survive long — their Beasts run loose. Some, usually due to outside influence (such as political pressure) leave the temple and retain many of the techniques without the ethical obligations.

Granted Divine Powers

The Cessation of Suffering:
Coils in the Sakadagami

Most Kindred in Thailand do not doubt the veracity in the Sakadagami claim that they have found a way out and past the trials of the Requiem. Most have seen, in one form or another, the Ordained of their society resist even the most powerful traps and temptations the Kindred condition knows. But how? It is possible that the Sakadagami of Thailand are the ancient roots of The Ordo Dracul, so ancient that they now do not know one another. A Storyteller can reflect the Sakadagami’s path of denial and conquest of defilement with use of The Coils of the Dragon (see p. 149 of Vampire: The Requiem). The Order refers to these giftsas the Three Treasures of the Mae Ji. Simply change the names as suggested below:
Coil (Ordo) | Treasure (Sakadagami)
Blood | Tahna (Blood Thirst)
Banes | Anicca (Setting Back Impermanence)
Beast | Dukkha (Suffering the Beast)
The Sakadagami refer to their Treasures differently than the Ordo does its Coils. To say that a vampire has a first tier of a Coil, he would be described as having a “mind like an open sore.” To say he had mastered a second tier of a Coil, it would be said he had a “mind like a flash of lightening.” Mastery of that Coil would be described as having a “mind like a diamond.” Thus, a Master of Banes would instead be called “Anicca with a diamond mind,” while someone with the first levels of Blood and Beast but nothing else might be described as “having a mind like an open sore, suffering under the beast and a blood thirst.” This may seem long and cumbersome, but the titles are reverential and used in many meditations.
Of course, the similarities between the Treasures and the Coils begin and end with how they function. The Sakadagami recognize neither maddening Research nor pseudoscience behind the Kindred condition. Researching Wyrm’s Nests would sound as absurd to a member of the ordained as it might to a human hearing it for the first time. To the Sakadagami, there is no mystery in the Kindred state. It is merely a physical expression of the metaphorical descriptions of suffering in Buddhist teaching. It is not that freedom from these weaknesses are unobtainable by the uneducated, but that most Kindred are simply too weak to let go of their attachments.
Of course, collecting the Treasures is hardly a matter of listening to some stories and agreeing to let go. A devoted member of the order must test herself against temptation and desire constantly. Desire is a very personal thing, of course, and attachments cling to a Kindred in many different ways. While one young Venture might play at games of domination and intrigue only to force himself to lose and be free of the longing to win, an elder lustful Daeva might fill his cell with plump blushing maidens in order to bring his weakness to the fore.
Not all ordained understand their attachments, though, and many are too weak to admit them to themselves. Sometimes the eldest of a temple assist. Kindness and mercy are important to mortals, of course, but in the path to peace, many of the eldest monks have let go of such human concepts. To an outside observer, the ritual abuse and torture of young Kindred within the order might seem gratuitous, but rarely does the Temple see it that way.
The truth is, though, Treasures may free a Kindred of some of her weaknesses, but they do not make her human, and some of the most centered and meditative Ordained are little more than introverted monsters who simply do not realize they are capable of selfish evil.

Related Ethnicities

• Mayarap

Related Texts
Sakadagam Saranam Gacchami: Taking Refuge

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The Mae Ji

In mortal Thailand women are still unable to become nuns. This gender bias does not exist among the dead. However, for the sake of tradition, many Sakadagami Temples still have the ceremonial role of a Mae Ji in deference to the first. She is revered and respected for taking on a nearly sacrificial mantle. The Mae Ji in any given temple is expected to clean and perform manual duties for the monks. She is treated as little more than a servant and is not allowed instruction in Meditation or the Three Treasures. What’s more, she is expected to train and learn to meditate on her own, as the original Mae Ji did. Given time, it is rumored that some actually do achieve the same inner strength as their forerunner, and when they do they leave as unliving saints and pilgrims who travel the world spreading the wisdom they have garnered.

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What About Outsiders
and the Unenlightened?

Of course, besides the secret worshipers of Vedic and Brahman demons, Thailand has Lancea Sanctum dwelling and worshiping in and among its small Muslim and even smaller Christian populations. The widening world has room in it for atheists, foreigners, and any number of different faiths in large cites like Bangkok. Officially, most temples follow the lead of Wat Ning and accept all kinds in their open social discussions with political decisions made by a loose sort of democracy. Of course, official doctrine and reality are rarely one and the same and not all Ordained or laity are open and welcoming to Kindred not on the “right path.”

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