The Fractal Brotherhood is a
Buddhistic
sect with its headquarters in the
Sophic
League, in deep space some 12 light-years from
Ararat.
The Fractal Brotherhood is part of the greater grouping of Buddhistic
sects sometimes called the sects of inconsequence.
The members of the Fractal Brotherhood seek to suppress the self and
achieve nirvana by concentrating on the search for Buddha Fractals.
Buddha Fractals are fractals which seem to depict important Buddhistic
symbolism.
The first, and the one on which the Fractal Brotherhood was
founded, is known simply as the Buddhabrot, and is said to have been
first discovered in Sol sometime before the nanoswarms . The proclaimed
ultimate goal of the brotherhood is the Final Fractal, a Buddha Fractal
which shows new symbols, signs, and truths as you zoom further in, no
matter where or how far you zoom. In its fifteen hundred year existence
the Fractal Brotherhoods have revealed forty three lesser fractals,
depicting amongst other things charts of chakra points, various Buddhas
(including Dipankara, Kassapa, Litasutra, and Johuma ), and symbolic
representations of the eight noble truths.
The deepest of these lesser fractals was the fractal of the eightfold
truths, which depicted first the three sections, and further in the
truths themselves, for a total of eleven components.
In true keeping with its status as a sect of inconsequence, all the
monks of the brotherhood fully believe that finding the True Fractal is
impossible*. The Final Fractal, and even the search for it, is
unimportant. What is important is devoting their lives, every hour,
minute and second of it, to searching for these fractals, looking
through thousands and millions of fractals, each with minute
differences in starting integers.
The oldest members of the Fractal Brotherhood, those looked upon
with reverence by less enlightened members, have been sitting for
decades, or centuries in their life support chairs, with their eyes
fixed on their displays as fractal after fractal sweeps past, hands
moving mechanically to punch in new integers, pausing only once in a
while to regard a fractal more firmly, perhaps making a zoom or two,
and then continuing on. According to the lore of the brotherhood, some
of them may already have achieved nirvana, and what is left is only
their earthly husks, carrying on a needless task.
Notes:
*The sophic artist Jorgen Grain Klarentsen is a
self-proclaimed
earlier member of the Fractal Brotherhood, and claims that he was
kicked out because he genuinely believed (and still believes) that the
Final Fractal may be found, and that the monks were neglecting actually
trying to find a method for finding the fractal in favor of simply
submersing themselves in lesser fractals. The Fractal Brotherhood has
neither confirmed, nor denied that Jorgen's allegations are true.
The original Buddhabrot can be found here,
in an image created by Melinda Green
