The Santulan Movement

The symbol of Santulan, the movement and the Umelam monastery.

The Santulan Movement is a monastic order of disciplinary monks founded by Trung and several Lamas, settled in the Umelam Monastery. The movement's doctrine resolves around balance and the respect and 'rejuvenation' of the harmonious celestial Santulan and restoring their glory to bring balance to the world in a physical form.

## History

Amongst the highly religious monks of Tibet, they were isolated from the rising conflicts on Earth on a physical range, but they would listen out from the words of tourists to the radio. These monks would eventually be contacted by the spiritual voice of Trung, a Devata from the astral plane. He told the monks of Santulan, a Celestial that brought balance and wished to rejuvenate their dying form so that they could come down to Earth and bring balance physically. As shocked and awed as the monks were, they were compassionate enough to accept the request, even if so much raced through their heads.

With the assistance of Trung, several temple districts collaborated to found the Santulan Movement and construct the Umelam Monastery, fully established by Dolma, the voluntary director of the community. The monastery came out as a huge colourful complex in-between two granite cliffsides within the mountain subrange of Umelam. Several temples, meditation caves, residential shelters and even an infirmary and garden were built alongside, but the great prayer hall was regarded as the most important sector, as it exists with the purpose of housing the shrine of Santulan and holding ceremonies.

Upon the Monastery's eventual settlement and the passing of Santulan's celestial presence, Trung transcended through nirvana and permanently transformed into a sacred talisman that would store Santulan's power, secluded away in a sanctuary. This talisman would eventually be titled the "Celestial's Chariot". The gratitude towards Santulan would last for decades, as many paintings, scriptures, prayer flags and visual interpretations were crafted regarding the celestial, including Trung.

At this point in time, several mishaps had occurred, whether it be a disturbance in the terrain or the threat of a predatory animal, and they were all handled without violence. The most abnormal incident was the arrival of Anga Dhana, a foreign and fragile nun who, despite being accepted in, had gone mad over time. As much as she brought violence upon the movement, Dhana was eventually ceased from the monastery and ended up lost in a shadowy labyrinth of a tomb within a cavern, locked away by a landslide of boulders that naturally fell upon the entrance. This tomb would eventually be named, by the monks, the 'Tomb of Yama'.

After so much devoted and troubled time had passed, an elusive girl had just barely survived a tremor in the earth during a natural distortion within the local area. Despite falling unconscious, she had survived what would've been a fatal series of attacks and just so had happened to end up by the entrance of the monastery. After much contemplation and fruition, the monks came to the conclusion that the extraordinary events surrounding the girl lead them to conclude that she was worthy of being the incumbent of Santulan and their divine presence.

After the girl had reawakened, feeling amnesiac yet eventually calming down, she was willing to be indoctrinated, according to the Santulan Canon, into becoming a successor of Santulan's presence. Many years of spiritual training and journeying transformed her into a powerful guardian of balance and was deemed worthy of possessing the talisman that was the Celestial's Chariot. She was then granted the title of 'Yinyan', acting as the spiritual and warrior-like leader of the sect. From there, the monastery continued to welcome and aid her life as she was trained and wandered abroad.

Years later, Yinyan was challenged by an evil energy radiating from the tomb beneath. Embracing the presence, she encountered a withered and malicious Dhana, who revealed herself to be the actual physical reincarntion of Santulan, only with a damaged spirit. After a fateful battle, Dhana lost to Yinyan and gave up, allowing the guardian to pacify Santulan's spirit and become one with it, forming a harmonious reincarnation and reunion of Santulan's power and presence.

The tomb would eventually become an extension to the Umelam Monastery as a college, in which where Dhana resided as a commentarial scholar and Lama whilst Yinyan maintained harmony and the rest of the monks continued their spiritual purposes. As the movement popularised, the monastery had been accepting all shapes and sizes, even acting as a sanctuary to the mystical folk and species.

## Concepts

The Santulan Movement strongly believes in their values that balance between diversity and ideas will bring liberation and harmony. By reflecting upon fine qualities and the moral principles of right and wrong, one can find peace in their everyday lives. These said values were what Santulan lived on, hence the reason for their beliefs.

### Symbolism

Visualisations are prominent across Santulanist culture and art, recognised as a method to represent religious aspects such as values, emotions and individuals. Invocations began as early as the formation of the Santulan Movement.

* **Yin-Yang** - Originally a symbol and concept in Chinese philosophy, it is seen as an element of balance associated with Santulan and the Celestials. It symbolises stability and tranquillity within the universe, as well as representing the two associates of Santulan, Yinyan and Anga Dhana.
	+ Furthermore, 'yang' represents Yinyan, the spiritual successor of Santulan and the possessor of the Celestial's power, her fruition incomplete without the Celestial's soul. 'Yin' represents Anga Dhana, the physical reincarnation of Santulan and the holder of the Celestial's power, fragile to corruption without the Celestial's soul. In the events that lead up to Yinyan becoming one with both the power and soul of Santulan, the yin-yang symbolises harmonic unity and enlightenment.
* **Twins of Dhana** - A caricatured depiction of Anga Dhana, sculpted as a two-sided bust of the woman with a tranquil and human face on one side with a monstrous and terrifying face on the other. The two faces represent benevolence and malevolence respectively, symbolising the life of Anga Dhana.
* **Lotus Flower** - Otherwise depicted through the lotus position, this symbolises a state where one's body, mind and soul is cleansed and pacified, pure of malice.
* **Red** - The tones of the colour red symbolise life and one's natural state and pure form, free from materialism.
* **Dharmachakra** - Originally a representation of Dharma, this represents nirvana and is associated with the Devata Trung.
* **Buddha** - An important figure in Buddhism, he represents sagacity, discipline and the act of mentoring.

## Practices

The monks seriously devote themselves to profound meditation, understanding the spiritual state of the body, mind and speech. To do so, they bond with an energetic force known as 'chi'. They also promote a flowing form of martial arts, believing that physical fatigue will lead to an increase in wielding chi energy and becoming closer to understanding and accepting one's happenings in life. This is a physical form of meditative growth.

Other religious methods take inspiration from various branches of Buddhism such as Zen and Indian Buddhism, as well as Kundalini yoga. Acts of purification and metaphysical contact are common amongst rites, as well as the study of anecdotes and the internal workings of the body. Chanting and ascetic discipline are believed to awaken chi energy to realise extraordinary states of of awareness and bliss, as well as attaining mindfulness in which disturbance is a rarity.