Imagine:  The most evolved/wisest prophets/saints from every religion and path gathered in one room.  Do they clash and bicker, persecute and abuse, like the extremists among us?  Or do they act similar to the more moderate and accepting?  Those among us who intuit there is a common thread between all walks of spirituality, that all paths exist only to point to a greater underlying power/truth?  I vote for the latter.  I’d like to think that they all know what their aesthetic-their religion or style-points to beyond the ritual, beyond the tradition, beyond the ceremony.  I’d like to think that they’d compare their differences like kids with trading cards, something along the lines of:  “Oh is that how you’re showing your guys the greater meaning behind reality?  I’m doing it this way because my guys have such and such lifestyles and/or restrictions.”  I’d like to think they would all be amiable with each other and shake their heads in baffled amusement at how humanity as a collective manages to misinterpret the meaning of their teachings time and time again.

This is a central theme in Echo, the scifi novel I’m currently working on.  As much as I’d like to wallow in gritty beatdowns and special-ops war-porn, the main progression is that of Atriya experiencing a spiritual awakening, one that keys him into the existence of something beyond.  I start addressing this in Chapter 6, the first real scene with Verus.

Accordingly, I’ve introduced some new set pieces tied to this theme in the Glossary of Concepts.  Mandala City is neither Dissident nor Regime, an underground center of mystical learning that draws energy through crystal lattice networks that line its ceiling and base.  These crystals channel light/energy from above ground as well as from the planet’s core, signifying the versatile nature of spirituality; how truth can be found in any situation, any direction.  Everything happens for a purpose, right?

Kaia is a device I’ve thrown in as the name for vital energy on Echo.  We call it chi, prana, fluidium, any number of names.  However, I’ve also included the distinction that kaia is limited.  Anybody who knows a little about the structure of Chinese medicine knows that it is extremely complex and subject to countless restrictions (food, seasons, sleep, sex) I’ve purposefully depicted kaia as a limited energy system to contrast it with the idea that there is another force that exists that is greater, that is without limit.  Anyways, check out my Glossary of Concepts and read the entries marked (New!).  I know I haven’t updated it in a while, sorry about that!  To all you writers, I wish you inspired drafting and insightful editing!

Click here to read about Mandala City and kaia