Vibhajjavada and Sarvāstivāda: Analysing the Heart Sutra from Theravadin Perspective—Part 14

5.1.15. Amata

The Vedas were readily available to Prince Siddhatta. The sages of Kapilavattu were the Vedic experts. They did not find amata (deathlessness) in the Vedas. However, they believed the prince would find it, so they left the palace and waited the prince for several years in the jungle. When he joined them, they supported him as he sought amata.
Pali and Sanskrit see amata differently:

[Pali] amata : (nt.) ambrosia; the deathless state.
[Sanskrit] Amata (अमत). 1. Sickness, disease. 2. Death. 3. Time.

The Buddha explains His finding to Tapussa in Tapussa Sutta AN 9.41:

With the complete transcending of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, I entered & remained in the cessation of perception & feeling. And as I saw with discernment, the mental fermentations went to their total end. [Alaya-vijnana: The Storehouse Consciousness: The Subconscious Source of All Experience (Barbara O'Brien)]

Mahayanists call the Buddha's achieve as Hinayana. But they do not get a say. Only the Buddha get a say what His sasana is or is not.
Amata Sutta (SN 47:41)

Monks, remain with your minds well-established in the four [satipatthana]. Don’t let the deathless be lost for you.

The Path to Amata

The path is old. It has existed since the first Buddha rose out of the muddy water at the dawn of time. Sakyamuni Buddha gave us the formular to reach amata as follow:

right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration [Access to Insight]

Samudaya Sacca

Avijja-paccaya sankhara: general activities are based on ignorance:

All beings are covered or spread over by and caught in the net of ditthi, the wrong belief. They are drifting in the current of ditthi. As such, seeing, for having perceived, in the hearts of Buddhas, towards beings, Great Compassion with pity has arisen.
The current of tanha, as has been stated, is generally flowing into the realm of four Apayas. Therefore, all those beings who are not yet liberated from the bonds of tanha and ditthi are immensely suffering after descending to the four nether worlds. Having clearly perceived this miserable condition of life, Buddha was moved to have pity towards all living beings. Emulating the example as shown by the Buddha, our male and female benefactors and all those who desire to follow His exemplary conduct can also try to develop karuna. [Caught in the net of Dittha, and drifting in the current of Ditthi (Mahasi Sayadaw)]

Like glue, tanha (craving) sticks us to the round of pain (dukkha samsara). Natural worldview is designed with the three cravings: sense-pleasure, existence and nonexistence (kama, bhava, vibhava). One wants nonexistence only when realises deep suffering without knowing whether it exists or not. Thus, natural worldview is ignorance (avijja).

5.1.16. Sammuti and Paramattha 1

Conventional Truth (Samutti Sacca) and Ultimate Truth (Paramattha Sacca)—Various traditions employ two concepts of truth without agreeing what is true.
Paramattha are citta, cetasika, rūpa (khandhas) and Nibbana. Generally, they are unknown or misunderstood if not explained by an ariya-puggala.
Sammuti Sacca is paññatti or concepts (names: nouns and pronouns) and conventions, which we employ for convenience. Samuti and our collective ego/need force us to conform and understand things according to them. Our mental and physical existences evolve in samuti.

Vasubandhu

Before converting to Mahayana and became a cofounder of Yogacara school (also Vijnanavada), Vasubandhu wrote Abhidharmakośa (Sarvāstivādi abhidharma), in which he presents Sarvāstivādi conventional truth (māyā) and ultimate truth (vijñāna, nirvana, space). The Mahayanists regard him as a second Buddha. Vasubandhu:

An entity, the cognition of which does not arise when it is destroyed and, mentally divided, is conventionally existent like a pot and water. Ultimate existence is otherwise.” [...] A pot and water are designated as conventionally existent therefore conventionally real for the concept “pot” ceases to exist when it is destroyed physically, and the concept “water” no longer arises when we conceptually exclude from it its shape, colour etc. [...]
(i) ultimate reality is both physically and logically irreducible, as it does not disintegrate when it is subjected to physical destruction and that its identity does not disappear when its parts are separated from it under logical analysis; [The Theory of Two Truths in India (Sonam Thakchoe)]

• Tittha Sutta: the Vabhajjavadi Buddha talked about the parable of blind men speculating about an elephant.

Some recluses and brahmans, so called, Are deeply attached to their own views; People who only see one side of things Engage in quarrels and disputes.—Sakyamuni Buddha

• Analysing the pot and water:
  • Pot the object is a construct (saṅkhāra).
  • Pot the word is sammuti.
  • Pot the rūpa (khandha) and water the rūpa (khandha) are a paramattha.
• What can be a good example of mentally divided?
• the concept “water”: Vasubandhu did not know the four mahabhuta. Regarding to the shape of water, Bruce Lee developed a martial-art philosophy:

If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend—Bruce Lee.

• [ultimate reality] does not disintegrate: Contrary to that, conditioned paramatthas are subject to change and impermanent; sassatavada (eternalism).

5.1.17. Rūpa Svabhāva

[Vasbandhu (Thakchoe):] (ii) ultimate reality does not borrow its nature from other things including its parts. Rather it exists independently in virtue of its intrinsic reality (svabhāva)

That is Sarvāstivādi Vasbandhu's position, which might violate Sarvāstivādi māyāvāda. Vijñaptimātra means the imaginations of the mind do not have svabhāva.
Is svabhāva (sabhāva) conventional or ultimate reality?
The sabhāva of the ultimate realities is ultimate reality.

• For example, water is rūpa, so it has rūpa sabhāva (physical nature). Water is wet, etc. These properties of water would never change, or water would become something different. Water is an ultimate reality as its characters would not change.

The sabhāva of saṅkhāra is saṅkhāra.

• For example, a cat, cat-ness or cat nature which might be evolving. cat is made of many parts, so we can identify them with their natures. Leg has leg nature; head has head nature, etc. Cat leg is somewhat unique, but a leg is a leg. Cat is different from other species, so we could identify the cat's unique characters.
• Human and human nature, animal and animal nature, brahma and brahma nature... All of these are saṅkhāra. These differences will exist; however, each of them could develop/evolve differently gradually. The development of human and animal are fast. The evolution of brahma might be very slow. The point is we should acknowledge the nature of saṅkhāra is change (anicca). The Vibhannavadi Buddha was concerned about change, not how they change.

Sabhāva and Asabhāva Rūpa
[A Survey of Paramattha Dhammas: Chapter 4 - Exposition Of Paramattha Dhammas II: Rupa (Sujin Boriharnwanaket):]

[4]: Sabhāva rupa is a rupa with its own distinct nature. Sa in Pali means with, and bhāva means nature. There are also asabhāva rupas which, though classified among the 28 kinds of rupa, are not separate rupas with their own nature, but special qualities connected with other rupas. They will be explained later on.

• sabhāva: natural; asabhāva: unnatural;
• sabhāva rupa: natural elements: solid, liquid, gas, heat, space (pariccheda rupa);

The rupa which is space, ākāsa rupa, has the function of limiting or separating all the different groups or kalāpas of rupas. Space in this context is not outer space, but the infinitesimal space surrounding each kalāpa. After its function it is also called pariccheda rupa (pariccheda meaning limit or boundary) [...] Because of pariccheda rupa which surrounds each kalāpa, even large matter can be broken up into infinitely tiny particles; it can be broken up only at those points where there is space^\9])

Satipatthana is to understand the paramatthas:

[Pubbabhaga Magga:] Nama and rupa sabhava can be known only when you note at the moment of arising. [On the Path to Freedom: CHAPTER 6 TRAINING (Sayadaw U Pandita)]

• That is to get rid of cittasaṅkhāra (wrong view):

It only has the sabhāva dhamma of rūpa lakkhaṇa, and seeing its nature. I am not seeing the cittasaṅkhāra such as woman, dog, etc. The visual form, sound, smell etc. are only sabhāva nature. Fragrance, smelly, sweet, sour, etc. (taste and smell cittasaṅkhāra are ceasing.) [...] If from the eye seeing woman, man, etc. sīla not stable. Sotāpanna sees the one Dhamma (eka-dhamma) of rūpa sabhāva, nāma sabhāva or seeing one sabhāva dhamma. The noblest knowing is this one sabhāva of knowing.
There are 40 samatha practices, practice with one of them as one’s preference. Knowledge comes from the doors of the six senses and their corresponding objects as the noblest knowing. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and knowing are dhammas. Seeing is visual paramatā, hearing is sound paramatā … knowing is dhamma paramatā. Some thought that seeing was a concept. NO, seeing is paramatā. [The Way of a Stream Enterer (Dhamma Talks by Sayadaw U Ukkaṭṭha)]

• rūpa sabhāva: dukkha sacca is the nature of the four mahabhuta and sense nature (vedanā: sight-seeing, sound-hearing, odor-smelling, touching, tasting, as per satipatthana)
• nāma sabhāva: sabhāva of knowing or awareness, knowing; dukkha sacca as well;
• paramatā: paramattha (vs. paññatti); knowing the paramattha (reality); yathā-bhūta-ñāṇa-dassana; vipassana-insight (penetrating cittasaṅkhāra); mind fixed on reality, as per the satipatthana; (paramatā: this definition is not related to the Pali literature);
• Sayadaw U Ukkaṭṭha talks in Burmese about paramattha vs. paññatti and Dhammapada Verse 282 Potthilatthera Vatthu.

As instructed by the samanera, Thera Potthila kept his mind firmly fixed on the true nature of the body; he was very ardent and vigilant in his meditation.

• the true nature of the body: rūpa sabhāva (rūpa dhamma); i.e. constantly changing (as a process); e.g. put a grain of salt on the tongue, and one can observe the change (not the taste, not saltiness);

What the young Arahat suggested was for Potthila not to allow //javana// merely to hang on to the five sense-doors of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and touch, but to shut them up and note only the mind-door so that impulsion could lead him on to insight-meditation. This gave the learned monk a clue to the method of vipassana-practice. When one sees, one must stop at the thought-moment of //votthapana// and note all phenomena with mindfulness. It is the same as saying: When you see, you just see it. Having practised meditation as suggested, Potthila attained Arahatship. [POTTHILA THERA (A Discourse on MALUKYAPUTTA SUTTA Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw)]

• When you see, you just see it: to observe the nāma-rūpa sabhāva; paramattha, without paññatti or cittasaṅkhāra; yathā-bhūta-ñāṇa-dassana;
• Sotāpanna sees the one Dhamma: the change is flowing; the mind is stilling, not following the flow; the cessation of cittasaṅkhāra as citta-visuddhi:

[visuddhi:] "Whosoever has cultivated, developed, and frequently practised 'equanimity regarding all formations' in him arises very strong faith known as determination (adhimokkha-saddhā) and his energy is better exerted, his mindfulness better established, his mind better concentrated, and a still stronger 'equanimity regarding the formations' arises. 'Now the path will reveal itself', thus thinking, the meditator contemplates with his equanimity-knowledge all formations as impermanent, etc., and thereafter that knowledge sinks into the subconscious stream of existence (s. bhavanga-sotā). Immediately afterwards there arises advertence at the mind-door (s. viññāna-kicca). And just like equanimity-knowledge, the adaptation-knowledge, too, takes as its object the formations, regarding them as something impermanent, miserable and impersonal. Thereupon, while continuing the uninterrupted continuity of consciousness (citta-santati), there arises the 1st impulsive moment (javana, q.v.), called 'preparation' (parikamma), taking the same formations as object. Immediately thereafter, with the same formations as object, there arises the 2nd impulsive moment, known as 'access' (upacāra). And again immediately after that, there arises the impulsive moment called 'adaptation' (anuloma)."
(VII) Purification of knowledge and vision (ñānadassana-visuddhi) is the knowledge associated with any of the 4 kinds of supermundane path-consciousness (s. ariyapuggala). [See Path of Purification, by Buddhaghosa, tr. by Ñyanamoli (BPS); Path of Freedom, by Upatissa (BPS)]

• formations: saṅkhāra—means 'changing' in this context; Whosoever has cultivated, developed, and frequently practised 'equanimity regarding all changing (rūpa sabhāva/saṅkhāra) in him...
• One should observe the rūpa sabhāva;

5.1.18. Sarvastivādi Māyāvāda and Citta-mātratā

Bhāvavevika:

Bhāvavevika is the originator of Sarvastivādi māyāvāda. He founded the two Svātantrika Madhyamaka schools (Sautrāntika and Yogācāra). They follow his Sarvastivādi māyāvādi two truths: the ultimate emptiness reality (bhagwan brahma) and the ultimate emptiness of reality (māyā).

[Bhāvavevika:] nonself or emptiness alone is the ultimate reality, and the rest—the entire range of dharmas—are ultimately empty of any intrinsic reality. [...] says Bhāvavevika because “The Lord (bhāgvan / bcom ldan ldas) has taught the two truths. [Thakchoe]

• Bhagavan (bcom ldan ldas)

Sanskrit: {MSA} buddha ... bhagavat Comment: The term bcom ldan 'das is translated in accordance with the etymology favored in Tibet, where it is recognized that bhagavan also can be etymologized as one who possesses the six goodnesses (legs pa drug dang ldan pa), which seems to fit the more widely used translation as Blessed One.

• Now how do you like to namo the Amitabha?

The Trisvabhavanirdesha Verses

[Kaz Tanahashi:]

Scholars believe that this short treatise, it’s only 38 verses long, is Vasubandhu’s last and most mature writing.

Vasubandhu's addenda to the Sarvastivādi māyāvāda are his final verses, which deal with three natures (svābhāva), including the Imagined Nature (māyā), the Other–Dependent Nature, and the Consummate Nature.

• Vasubandhu's three-nature concept comprises the output of māyā (imaginatons) and māyā's reunion with the imagionator.
• Why must the imaginations reunite with the imaginator?

1) The first nature is the Imagined Nature, which is the everyday world as we understand it.

• The Imagined Nature is māyā.

[imagining nature] 2) The second nature is the Other–Dependent Nature, which Vasubandhu defines as the “causal” process of the thing’s fabrication, the causal story that brings about the imagined thing’s apparent nature—its middle way arising. This is the “how to; it couples natures one and two and emphasizes that both are simply imagined.

• The Other–Dependent Nature is the manufacturing process of imagintions (māyā).

3) The third nature, the Consummate Nature, is the lack of duality. It is a singularity—the fact that the Imagined Nature and the Other-Dependent Natures do not exist as they appear, but rather exist in “as things are,” with no subject/object distinction.

• The Consummate Nature (the lack of duality) means māyā has completely returned to brahmā.

Citta-mātratā (Only mind is reality)

[Kaz Tanahashi continues:]

Vasubandhu’s magician uses a mantra to make everyone see “the elephant.” So, (1) the mantra is compared to the store-consciousness; (2) Suchness–emptiness, or the consummate–or underlying non-dual is analogous to the wood; discriminating (3) is compared to discrete entities of the elephant’s appearance; and (4) duality is compared to the elephant itself.
[verse 27:] Like an elephant [māyā] that appears Through the power of a magician’s mantra [Ālayavijñāna/memory]—Only the percept appears, The elephant is completely nonexistent.

• Explanation:

Mantra = storehouse consciousness [Ālayavijñāna]; Wood = consummate nature [the unification]; Elephant = duality [māyā]; Magician = our mind [brahmā];

• Ālayavijñāna/memory:

The alaya-vijnana is the foundation or basis of all consciousness, and it contains impressions of all of our past actions*. These impressions, sankhara, form bija, or "seeds," and from these seeds, our thoughts, opinions, desires, and attachments grow. The alaya-vijnana forms the basis of our personalities as well.* [Alaya-vijnana: The Storehouse Consciousness (Barbara O'Brien)]

• Ālayavijñāna is the foundation or basis of all consciousness: compare that with the industructible buddha-nature, which is awareness/consciousness (Bodhidharma).
• The Heart Sutra is a mantra.

That is Sarvastivādi māyāvāda and the notion of citta-mātratā.

5.1.19. Reunion with the Super Self

[Sarvastivadi] authors almost unanimously accept vijñapti-mātratā or prajñapti-mātratā or citta-mātratā as the Yogācārin’s description of the absolute, undefiled, undifferentiated, non-dual, transcendent, pure, ultimate, permanent, unchanging, eternal, supra-mundane, unthinkable, Reality, which, according to them, is the same as Parniṣpanna-svabhāva, or Nirvāṇa, or Pure Consciousness, or Dharma-dhātu, or Dharma-kāya, or the Absolute Idea of Hegel, or the Brahman of Vedānta. [Vasubandhu: 5. Controversy over Vasubandhu as “Idealist” (Jonathan C. Gold)]

• citta-mātratā: citta is Nirvana:
  • Nirvana: Māyā (false imagination) is removed from the mind (awareness).
  • Bodhisattva: Māyā is the physical body (only imagination), and the mind leaves the body by means of astral travel and will not return to the physical body but remain in buddha land. That is the tenth-stage nirvana of the bodhisattvas. They become Buddhas there. They have reunion with the super self (the original Tathagata), emptiness, space, oneness.
  • Lotus sutra presents this nirvana (annihilationism/ucchedavada), which returns to emptiness (reunion with reality).
  • Lankavatara presents this nirvana (eternalism/sassatavada) with buddha lands: Mahesvara, citta-gocara (thought realm).
  • Other sutras seem to have different concepts, too, suggesting their authors did not understand or accept the original concept.
• Ālayavijñāna is storehouse consciousness, the Universal Mind. Just like all storehouses, this storehouse must keep everything that is stored in it. If a storehouse is destroyed, all the stored items would be lost. Ālayavijñāna could not be impermanent, as it is consciousness. When someone reunites with the reality (brahman), his or her contents inside the storehouse might be destroyed.
• citta is Nirvana:

[Lanka Chapter 2:] Even Nirvana and Samsara's world of life and death are aspects of the same thing, for there is no Nirvana except where is Samsara, and Samsara except where is Nirvana.

• The same is said in the Vedanta:

[Advaita Vedanta:] The world has no separate existence apart from Brahman.

• That is a major point that says Sarvastivādi māyāvāda (Mahayana) and Vedantin māyāvāda are the same.
• Brāhman is the main part of the ancient Vedic creationism, as the origin of cause and the original creator.

[Britannica:] Brahma, one of the major gods of Hinduism from about 500 BCE to 500 CE, who was gradually eclipsed by Vishnu, Shiva, and the great Goddess (in her multiple aspects).

• Mayavāda does not need to move on likely because it is not centerd around the brāhman priests as the sole guardians of the religious rituals.

Bhakti, in Hinduism, a movement emphasizing the mutual intense emotional attachment and love of a devotee toward a personal god and of the god for the devotee. According to the Bhagavadgita, a Hindu religious text, the path of bhakti, or bhakti-marga, is superior to the two other religious approaches, the path of knowledge (jnana) and the path of ritual and good works (karma). [...] Many, but not all, bhakti movements were open to people of both genders and all castes. Devotional practices included reciting the name of the god or goddess, singing hymns in praise of the deity, wearing or carrying identifying emblems, and undertaking pilgrimages to sacred places associated with the deity. [Bhakti Hinduism, Devotion & Rituals - Britannica]

• That is to surrender to the Lord.

if Arjuna fights remembering Kṛṣṇa, then he will be able to remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. [Transcendental loving service and surrender]

• Abrahamic religions prefer submission.

After Completed Surrender

[Heart (Thich)] Avalokiteshvara [...] suddenly discovered that all of the five Skandhas are equally empty, and with this realisation he overcame all Ill-being.

• How that happened:

[Lanka Chapter 6:] When [...] the twofold egolessness is fully understood, and the inconceivable transformation death of the Bodhisattva is attained - that which remains is the self-nature of the Tathagatas [...] which is realized in their deepest consciousness is their own Buddha-nature revealed as Tathagata.

• the inconceivable transformation death of the Bodhisattva is attained : complete surrender
• their own Buddha-nature : each mortal has own buddha-nature, but not own nature.
• revealed as Tathagata : reaching the level of the super self: Noble Wisdom [āryajñāna] or anuttarasamyaksambodhi. The Heart Sutra prefers the latter in favour of prajña over jñāna.

Prajña (ध्यान, “wisdom”): the Dharma-saṃgraha (section 110) states that the Pali literature also informs us with these prajñā (panna (Pali): śruta-mayī (suta-maya panna), cintā-mayī (cinta-maya panna), bhāvanā-mayī (bhavana-maya panna). Prajña (Sanskrit) is paññā (Pali): Vipassanā-paññā, for example. But these are unrelated to Noble Wisdom [āryajñāna] or anuttarasamyaksambodhi.

• Māyāvādi bhakti has the purpose of seeking self, according to Śaṅkara:

Bhakti is the seeking of men’s own true self. Nārada defines Bhakti as the extreme one to God. Śāṇḍilya defines it as extreme ‘attachment to God’. Śaṅkara’s definition of Bhakti is on Advaitic point of view. He blends Bhakti and Jñāna. He does this in ‘Brahmasūtrabhaṣya and in Gītabhaṣya’. [Śaṅkara’s Definition of Bhakti (Lathika M. P.)]

• Māyāvāda is more of philosophical in nature, according to Krishna:

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu [Krishna] said, “I am a Māyāvādī in the renounced order of life, and I do not even know what transcendental loving service to the Lord is. I simply float in the ocean of Māyāvāda philosophy. [CC Madhya 8.124]

• Brāhma fell from favour in Hindu religious movements. The same could be true to Sarvastivādi māyāvāda (Mahayana), too, but its sutras present the original Tathagata, who can be either Brāhma, Krishna or Siva.

[Dhammapada] Verse 396 - What is a Brāhman? He is no brahmin by mere lineage. Dispossessed, unattached, he is indeed the true brahmin.

• The Sakyamuni Buddha, who was born in a major Vedic society, had a great impact on the concept of brāhman.

Prajña an Amitabha God:

• Prajña (प्रज्ञ) is one of the twenty Amitābha gods in the Purana and Itihasa.
• Avalokiteśvara is Siva. Amitabha gods could be Amitabha Buddha. Prajña could be Prajña-paramita.
• Avalokiteśvara teaching about Prajña and maya (svabhāva-śūnya) as a Buddhist tradition is significant.

Ratvata (in) — the fifth Manu, during his epoch were Devabahu and six other sages, Gods named “Abhutarajasas. Vibhu was Indra, Amitabha and other three ganas of gods each 14 in number, Hiranyaroma and other SIX formed the saptarsis, Balabandhu and others were his sons, of the Priyavrata line. [THE PURANA INDEX VOLUME 3, page 100]

• Amitabha and other three ganas of gods: Amitabha and Avalokiteśvara (Śiva) are the names of gods not unique to Mahayana. Having these names together as the most important individuals makes Mahayana completely different from Theravada.
• Amitabha Ganas: Amitabha community (a Buddha-land probably qualifies as a ganas)
  • Ganas: a class of demigods who attend Śiva; community; troop; attendants;
  • 'Amitabha ganas' is only found in The Purana Index by V. R. Rallachandra Dikshitar, who was a professor of history and archaeology in the University of Madras and the author of standard text books on Indian history.

Sadhguru: In the yogic lore, the ganas are all Shiva’s friends. They were the ones who were always around him. Though he had disciples, a wife and many other admirers, his private company was always ganas.

5.1.20. Was māyā a discovery?

[Heart (Thich)] Avalokiteshvara [...] suddenly discovered that all of the five Skandhas are equally empty, and with this realisation he overcame all Ill-being [...] Whoever can see this no longer needs anything to attain.

• Thich Nhat Hanh's translation might be at odd with Lankavatara, Lotus and Prajñaparamita because in māyāvāda, prajñā, Amitabha and Avalokiteśvara are lumped together as the original Tathagata (mind/Brāhma). That is why there is nothing to attain, there is nothing to discover.
• The longer version of the Heart Sutra does not have the concept of discovery:

[Heart (Wiki):] 1.­11 “There is no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no nonattainment.

• Avalokiteśvara did not discover the wisdom, but he just knew it the way we can discuss aboust māyā and brahma.

[Heart (Red, page 132-133):] Here, the bodhisattva's refuge is in wisdom alone [...] Thus, bodhisattvas know that all dharmas are marked with emptiness and that there is nothing to attain or not to attain. And realizing there is nothing to attain or not to attain, they take refuge in this realization.

The historical fact is the Mahayanist māyāvāda was originated by Vasubandhu and the Sarvastivādis. That is why he is considered as a second Buddha. Māyāvāda was considered special because it was a revolutionary Buddhist philosophy, although it contains no Buddhism (the Dhamma-Vinaya). Avalokiteśvara could only discover māyā (svabhāva-śūnya) and brāhma (gotra-svabhāva). There is nothing else to find.

[Ethan Mills:] some contemporary interpreters fail to understand how thoroughly revisionary and revolutionary Vasubandhu’s philosophy is

Vasubandhu rediscovered māyā (svabhāva-śūnya) in the Vedas and wrote about it until it became Sarvastivādi Māyāvāda. His final work the Trisvabhavanirdesha comprises three natures: māyā, imagination and reunion. He did however make them very complicated and indecipherable.

Self-Nature vs Sakkayaditthi

atta-vādupādāna: 'attachment to the ego-belief', is one of the 4 kinds of clinging (upādāna, q.v.).

• Avalokiteśvara only discovered the svakāya. In his mind was mind only (citta-matrata).

The Five Khandhas being ungovernable, are not Atta. Finding it ungovernable and unresponsive to one's own wish while contemplating and noting, and realising it as 'Non-Self', is Anattanupassana-nana. [Mahasi Sayadaw - Part 4]
[For Vasubandhu,] the “self” is made up of constantly-changing sensory organs, sensory impressions, ideas, and mental events. These separate, momentary elements are real, but their imagined unity—as an enduring “I”—is a false projection [...] Close philosophical and introspective attention reveals that what seemed like a solid, coherent whole is in fact a false mental construction based upon a failure to notice its countless, fluctuating parts. [2.1 Disproof of the Self (Jonathan C. Gold)]

• Each separate, momentary element is real as self. Self or awareness (the mind) appears inconstantly inside māyā (form) due to the false imagination, which Lankavatara discusses in detail: from māyā to nirvana via 10 stages of the nirvana of the boddhisattvas.
• Whose false imagination is it? Māyā cannot imagine, as it has no self (svābhāva); and thus, māyā's I”—is a false projection.
• However, māyā must reunite with the mind (the original Tathagata/brahma).

Yogacara (Yogachara / Vijnanavada / Vajrayana)

The Yogachara (or Vijnanavada) school was founded, according to tradition, by the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu (4th/5th century CE) and by Sthiramati (6th century), who systematized doctrines found in the Lankavatara-sutra and the Mahayana-shraddhotpada-shastra (attributed to Ashvaghosha but probably written in Central Asia or in China). Later Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism include doctrines that were to be influenced by Yogachara teaching.

• The brothers had written too much. They must get their sutras read by millions.

Self is imagined, a construct (saṅkhāra) and a mistake.

To think with loving attachment, considering oneself as a living being, or an atta, individual or 'Self', in spite of the fact that in the personalities of themselves there exists only a continual phenomenal process of rupa and nama, is mere attaditthi. It is also called sakkayaditthi. "Sakkaya" means an aggregate of rupas and namas which obviously exists in the so-called body. To think of these aggregates of rupas and namas as a living being, or an atta - being, or "I" or "Self', is nothing but ditthi. It is known as sakkayaditthi, because of an erroneous conception or false belief in this aggregate of rupa-nama. [Mahasi Sayadaw - Part 6 of Brahmavihara Dhamma]

• Mahāyanist literatures do not have a term similar to sakkāyaditthi. However, they offer svakāya (sva-kāya / own body), which refers to inner body parts (or guts). Svakāya is related to svābhāvakāya (svābhāva-kāya / self-nature body).
• In terms of svakāya, Mahayana presents self (self-nature / svābhāva) inside the five aggregates and rejects self being outside them. That demonstrates self being awareness/consciousness. All the technical terms related to consciousness and nature (svābhāva) support the notion of self or the self system (citta-matrata).

L. Ron Hubbard (Author of Battlefield Earth) also founded a religion called Scientology. You don't get to know what it is without spending a significant amount of money. They focus on religion like a business.

You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion—L. Ron Hubbard

The Mahayanist Attavada:

[Lanka Chapter 6:] this Buddha-nature immanent in everyone is eternal, unchanging, auspicious.

• The meaning of Buddha-nature in everyone is provided in the Upanishads.

[Upanishads:] Atman is non-duality, all-pervading, the same in all creatures, pure, attributeless, beyond prakriti, and free from the changes of birth and growth.

• The notion of human being māyā without own svabhāva is designed for dehumanisation with significant impact on human psychology and general society.
• Māyā without own svabhāva is false.
• Nature being self is a false theory.
• Consciousness being self is another false theory.
• Sabhāva (nature): everything has its own sabhāva or dhamma (properties); for example, The nature of love, the nature of family, the nature of art, etc.
• Nature is not a theory but law and properties:
  • Human nature (sabhāva) is what makes human to be human;
  • Animal nature is animal instinct, shape, structure, etc.;
  • Nature (sabhāva) in that sense is not related to self.

[ Satyajit—A:] there is no difference between Dhamma and intrinsic nature (Sabhāva) [...] Visuddhimagga mentions that ‘Dhamma means but intrinsic nature.’ [...] Therefore, intrinsic nature is not supposed to exist independently. [...] (attano sabhâvaṃ dhâretiti dhammo’ DhsA.121-122)” [:] Dhamma is the bearer and sabhāva is that which is born by the Dhamma. [Then] Dhamma becomes the agent (atta) of sabhāva and that is against [Vibhajjavadi] Buddhism. Duality between Dhamma and Sabhâva is only an attribution made for the convenience of definition. For in actual sense Dhamma and Sabhāva denote the same actuality [...] the terms Dhamma and Sabhāva [are] interchangeably.

• Dhamma means nature, natural law, phenomena, instinct, way, properties, etc.
• Dhammata means natural, naturally, or as (its, his, her) nature goes.
• Sabhāva means nature.
• Sabhāva dhamma means natural law, natural phenomena, etc.
• Dhamma sabhāva means the nature of phenomenon, the nature of nature (law, phenomena, instinct, way, properties, etc. ).
• Dhamma is sabhāva: the natural law is natural.
• Sabhāva is a dhamma: nature is a law, a thing, a phenomena, a reality, etc.
• Dhamma and Sabhāva are not two things. Dhamma one thing and Sabhāva another thing—no, they are not.
• Dhamma is not self: nature is anatta.
• Sabhāva is anatta: nature is not self (not me, not mine, not I am).
• Buddha Dhamma: the laws of nature taught by the Vibhajjavadi Buddha.
• Buddha Sasana: the Vibhannavadi Buddha's teaching of the natural laws.

https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/papethe-fate-of-non-muslims-perspectives-on-salvation-outside-of-islam
In this link, the chapter of "three approaches" and under the subheading of "2. belief in god and doing good deeds", Jonathan Brown analyzes the argument of the salvation of non-muslims, and explains the flaws in their work. If he's right, then that would essentially mean billions of honest, good, people are going to hell purely because they believed in the wrong faith, something which can very easily be an honest mistake. He casually says later on that he believes god is merciful and thus we cant truly know, while also explaining how its very likely islam says all non-muslims who "heard" islam and dont convert are simply going to hell, thus god clearly defined where his mercy ends, so that point doesnt make sense. Prior to this section, he also describes the position of islamic exclusivism as "The position of all traditional schools of Islamic theology without exception. Embracing Islam is the only path to salvation and the only attainment of truth." Ill post the entire section here for anyone who does not want to open the link:

Belief in god and doing good deeds One might call this the moral theism school of thought. It holds that anyone who believes in God and does good deeds can attain salvation. Its main evidence in the Qur’an are the verses:
“Indeed, those who believe, and the Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, those who believe in God and the Last Day and work righteousness, they shall have their reward with their Lord; no fear need they have, neither shall they grieve.” (2:62)
Coming in between verses criticizing Christians and Jews for making claims of salvific exclusivity, God declares, “Nay, but whoever submits (aslama) themselves totally to God and does good, they will have their reward with their Lord, no fear need they have and neither shall they grieve.” (2:112)
There are also hadiths, such as:
“Whoever says ‘There is no god but God’ enters the Garden.”18
This is not a position easily located in the pre-modern Islamic tradition. Explicit advocates of this school of thought seem to have emerged only in the twentieth century, especially amongst Islamic Modernists. It has been tenuously (almost certainly incorrectly) attributed to Rashid Rida (d. 1935).19 The influential Pakistani modernist scholar Fazlur Rahman (d. 1988) clearly advanced this position. He argued that verses like Qur'an 2:62 are obvious expressions of the Qur'an’s anti-exclusionary ethos and concluded that the verses’ meaning was obvious: “that those—from any section of humankind—who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds are saved.” This was, for Rahman, an inevitable result of God’s boundless mercy.20 The most articulate defense of the moral theism position comes from the South African liberation theologian Farid Esack, who builds on Rahman’s argument and offers responses to its critics.21 Beyond the Qur'anic verses cited above, the Islamic argument for the moral theism school would go like this: God states in the Qur'an that every community has been sent a messenger (some 124,00 in all, according to a hadith in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal).22 The core of God’s message is always the same, though the details might differ (“And we did not send any messenger before you except that We reveal to him ‘There is no deity other than God, so worship him (you plural),’” Qur’an 21:25). So an advocate of this school might argue that the world prior to the coming of Muhammad ﷺ was replete with people sincerely following the inherited teachings of those prophets, regardless of how badly those teachings might have been corrupted (such as the Christian belief that Jesus was God incarnate on earth). Followers who inherited those teachings could and did nonetheless excel in piety and devotion to God, as the Qur’an describes:
And among the People of the Book is an upright community who recite God’s signs in the watches of the night while they prostrate. They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin right and forbid wrong, and hasten unto good deeds. And they are among the righteous. Whatsoever good they do, they will not be denied it. (Qur’an 3:113-115)
This would seem to be a strong endorsement of the legitimacy of the religions of the People of the Book at least as they were practiced by some of their better adherents. This approach to moral theism has sometimes been termed covenant pluralism, which argues that the numerous covenants that God made with earlier communities through prophets like Moses and Jesus retain some degree of salvific validity even after the revelation of the Qur’an (we’ll discuss problems with this below).Another version of the moral theism argument generalizes ‘Islam’ itself. Its proponents argue that the above Qur'anic verses stressing that only ‘Islam’ will be accepted as a valid religion must be read in English not as Islam with a capital I, meaning the formal religious tradition, but rather as the Arabic islam, with a lower-case i, or the generic act of submission to God (Arabic does not have the capital/lower case distinction). By this reading, being a muslim and following islam is open to anyone who obeys God and seeks to be righteous. So any of those who believe in God and submit to His worship and do good deeds will attain salvation at some point. There are two serious flaws in the moral theism argument. First, some of the verses providing key proof for the exclusivist school seem to be statements made specifically to condemn Christians and Jews for refusing to embrace Muhammad ﷺ’s message. Verses like “Truly religion in the sight of God is Islam,” are immediately followed by criticisms of the People of the Book, upbraiding them for not heeding God’s final revelation (3:20-22). One could argue that these criticisms are only directed at certain deviant People of the Book (farīq minhum, mentioned in the next verse 3:23); i.e., the bad ones. But, as we’ll see below, the verses praising those pious folk among the People of the Book are conditioned on them then accepting the guidance God has sent with Muhammad ﷺ. It’s therefore hard then to read ‘islam’ in those verses as generic submission to God instead of a proper noun for a specific religion distinct from Christianity and Judaism. Second, ecumenical expressions in the Qur’an face the obstacle of the book’s revelation over the twenty-two years of the Prophet ﷺ’s career. Many verses referring to the People of the Book might well be overtures to Arabian Christians and Jews who were being presented with Muhammad ﷺ’s message for the first time. The Qur'an thus would offer confirmation of the revealed truth lying at the core of their religions, and even praising the pious and goodly among them, while also calling them to heed the Messenger whose revelation replaced theirs. If those Christians and Jews chose to ignore Muhammad ﷺ’s call to follow God’s final revelation, then they would be guilty of denying the truth regardless of how valid their belief and practice was prior to that. Muslim scholars over the centuries have understood verses such as ‘no fear need they have and neither shall they grieve’ either as referring only to those People of the Book who had also affirmed belief in Muhammad ﷺ’s message, or as being abrogated (mansūkh) by verses revealed later that stress Islam’s exclusive claim to truth and salvation.23If they are abrogated, then verses such as “among the People of the Book is an upright community…They believe in God and the Last Day, they enjoin right and forbid wrong and hasten to goodly deeds…Whatsoever good they do, they will not be denied it” (3:113-115) should not be read as endorsements of prior religions or affirmations of their validity in the eyes of God even after the revelation of Muhammad ﷺ. Rather, they should be read as overtures to the People of the Book, but overtures that ceased to be valid for those Jews, Christians, etc. who learned about the Prophet’s message but chose to reject it. Farid Esack offers a response to this criticism, arguing that classical Muslim scholars suffered from a closed-mindedness regarding the Qur’an’s powerful ethos of religious recognition and proposing that the people that the Qur’an refers to as ‘those who believe’ are believers in all times and places regardless if they have heard of Islam or not.24 For this response to be valid, we would have to assume that this powerful ethos of religious recognition outweighed the severity of the People of the Book in question denying Muhammad ﷺ’s prophetic claims—denials made to the Prophet’s face.Other evidence against the moral theism school are numerous hadiths specifically describing how non-Muslim communities like Jews and Christians will be denied entrance into Heaven on the Day of Judgment. The most reliable hadiths (in the Sahihayn) describe a process by which those who worshipped false deities are condemned to Hellfire, with only those “who worship God, whether righteous or iniquitous” remaining to be judged. This group includes the Muslims and the People of the Book.25 The Christians and Jews will then be asked about their beliefs. They will be condemned for their false ones, such as the belief that Jesus is the son of God. The Muslims will follow the Prophet ﷺ across a great Bridge leading to the Gardens of Paradise, and he will also use his right of intercession (shafāʿa) to rescue sinners from among his community from punishment. As the Muslims cross the Bridge, some will pass safely, some will suffer torment on the Bridge because of their sins, and some will fall into Hellfire.An advocate of the moral theism school could respond that it is clearly established in the Sunna that even many sinful Muslims will suffer punishment in the Afterlife before earning their admission into some level of the Garden. A hadith in the Sahihayn states that God will order “‘Whoever had a mustard seed’s weight of faith in his heart, remove him [from the Fire],’ and they will be removed, having been burned and returning like coals. Then they will be thrown into the River of Life, and they will grow like a seed grows in the soil carried (ḥamīl) by floods.”26 So being destined for punishment in Hellfire is not necessarily an eternal sentence. The great scholar Ibn Hajar (d. 1449) described how a report in Sahih al-Bukhari about the Prophet ﷺ’s unbelieving uncle Abu Talib shows that even an unbeliever (kāfir) can have their punishment in the Hereafter reduced thanks to good deeds they had performed in life.27Another argument that could be invoked by the moral theism school of thought is that the punishment in Hellfire is not eternal for anyone, and that Hellfire will eventually be extinguished and those suffering in it freed. This is due to the fact that, according to a sound hadith, God decreed before the creation of the universe that “My mercy overwhelms my anger.”28 This point was advanced by the famous scholars Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) and his student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1351) (who may have been more agnostic on the point), and they used as their main evidence opinions to that fact from the Companions Umar and Ibn Masʿud (ra). God’s mercy, they proposed, was simply too overwhelming for any human to assert with confidence that He would damn people to eternal suffering.29Later Sunni scholars were highly skeptical that Hellfire itself would one day be extinguished, responding that Companions like Umar had not meant that all those punished in Hellfire would be released but only those who upheld monotheism (muwaḥḥidūn).30 Some modern Muslim scholars, however, have revived the notion of ‘the extinction of the Fire,’ including the influential Rashid Rida.31 At any rate, the moral theism school would not apply to religions that do not call for the worship of the one God or to avowed atheists (though some, going back to seventeenth-century English Deists, have argued that humans are incapable of not believing in God; claiming to be an atheist really only means a rejection of one’s surrounding religious tradition).32

​

Hi. I'm the guy that made this similarly titled post about Gojo's techniques at the beginning of the Shinjuku Showdown arc. A year has passed since then, and now that it seems like Sukuna's barrel of surprises has hit its bottom I'd like to go over all of his abilities as a sorcerer in order to put to rest any debates regarding his strength.
One note before we begin, I will be using the TCB's names for techniques and other proper nouns. I do not support John Werry.
Miscellaneous Jujutsu

• Cursed energy reserves and output – Confirmed by Yuta Okkotsu, who possesses the second highest cursed energy reserves of any known sorcerer, Sukuna's store of energy is mounds higher, exceeding double Yuta's. His output is also nothing shy of monstrous, likely only losing out to Ryu Ishigoori whose claim to fame is having the highest CE output of any sorcerer in history. Making matters worse for his opponents is his tremendous efficiency, another aspect in which he is second only to one other. Even without the Six Eyes, the only means of attaining efficiency greater than his, his ability to spontaneously activate cursed techniques with minimal consumption of energy allows him to chain back-to-back Domain Expansions without concern.
• Reverse Cursed Technique – Not technically a cursed technique, but rather an application of cursed energy manipulation where one multiplies two pools of negative energy together to create positive energy, which can then be used to regenerate human flesh. Unlike Satoru Gojo, Sukuna does not possess Cursed Technique Reversal, but this does not mean his use of RCT is any less impressive. In fact, it is often considered more advanced due to the following:
  • External RCT - By using another human's cursed energy to synthesize positive energy, Sukuna can heal bodies other than his own. So far, he has only ever demonstrated this ability on Megumi, though in this case it was strong enough to recover his body from fatal wounds, meaning it is vastly superior to Shoko's in output and effectiveness.
  • Healing a destroyed brain – Just as Gojo learned to do, Sukuna is capable of destroying a portion of his brain responsible for maintaining cursed techniques and recovering it with reverse technique in order to more quickly regain access to his technique.
• Domain Amplification – In order to neutralize the effect of an opponent's cursed technique (namely Infinity), Sukuna shrouds himself in the empty shell of a domain, and by not imbuing a cursed technique into it he leaves room for another technique to occupy the space and have its effect canceled out. Because he needs to leave space to funnel his opponent's technique into the domain shell, he cannot use the cursed technique engraved on his body at the same time as Amplification, but if a technique is granted to a barrier via Domain Expansion then he can use it in sync with Amplification. Sukuna also demonstrates a specialized capacity to "pause" a technique's effect when beginning Domain Amplification, demonstrated when bearing the burden of Mahoraga's adaptation to Infinity and Blue between uses of Amplification.
• Hollow Wicker Basket – A predecessor to New Shadow Style's Simple Domain that spreads out a woven, hollow sphere which interferes with a domain's barrier and prevents the sure-hit effect from landing. It is largely inferior to Simple Domain for a plethora of reasons, including;
  • Hollow Wicker Basket must be constantly maintained using the hand seal and chants, while Simple Domain only requires maintenance at activation time
  • Due to not being a domain, HWB does not grant the buff or debuff properties present in Simple Domain or a true domain. This means it cannot reduce the output of cursed techniques making contact with it in the same way an advanced Simple Domain such as Kusakabe's can
  • The more advanced barrier of Simple Domain allows the incorporation of automatic programming for reflexive movement, most commonly seen in sword-drawing techniques. This is a capability entirely lacking in Hollow Wicker Basket
  • Despite these glaring issues, Sukuna had little time or care to upgrade to Simple Domain as his own Domain Expansion was more than satisfactory for any domain in the past.
• Black Flash – When cursed energy impacts a target less than one millionth of a second following a physical blow, space distorts and flashes black. The effects of pulling off a Black Flash include awakening to the composition of one's cursed energy and entering an elevated state of performance. Once a single Black Flash has been landed, it becomes measurably easier for a sorcerer to enter a sort-of flow state and chain several together. Sukuna has performed at least four during the ṛaid in the remains of Shinjuku, and after doing so was able to construct a unique relay for Domain Expansion in his brain (more on that later).
• The cursed tools Kamutoke and Hiten – These tools were originally wielded by Sukuna during his rule of the Heian era. Their power is unquantifiable, but high enough that they are nigh uncontested by modern tools. Kamutoke is the only one of the two whose effect was demonstrated in battle when Sukuna used a replica created by Yorozu. It creates a massive electrostatic discharge with destructive properties equivalent to a lightning strike. This cursed tool would have enabled Sukuna to deal far more damage to the sorcerers allied with Jujutsu High had it not been seized in Higuruma's domain.
• Cursed object transmutation – Thanks to his colluding with Kenjaku a millennium ago, Sukuna has gained the ability to sunder his soul into cursed objects which can then reincarnate in a compatible vessel if the two become one. He can either divvy the soul up into several parts or dope the entire conscience and cursed energy pool into a single object, but either way his object of choice is his fingers. If Sukuna has already incarnated in a compatible vessel and hence gained conscience, other fingers will not be able to incarnate separate instances of Sukuna and will instead serve as nothing more than cursed energy stores. There is no evidence to suggest that Sukuna's power is restored logarithmically when reconvening with sundered fingers. Instead, he most likely gains back an equal amount of cursed energy for each object ingested.
  • Properties as an incarnated cursed object – After incarnating in a human vessel, Sukuna gains access to their memories, as he shares their brain when operating the body. The result of this is that extensively using his Jujutsu while in a vessel can leave an imprint on it in the form of cursed techniques. This is what enabled Yuji to learn Shrine after awakening with Black Flash. The reverse is also true, however, as Sukuna is more than capable of using the techniques of a body he is incarnated in to compliment his own. Lastly, completing the incarnation and manifesting his original form only replaces the body's external shell – any damage sustained to internal organs of the host will persist. This also means that even though full incarnation makes it more difficult, the cursed object and host can still be torn apart with enough brute force. This is what would have happened if Megumi had contributed to Yuta and Yuji's plan during chapter 251 were it not for his resolve being entirely squashed. Lastly and most bizarrely, Sukuna seems freely capable of deforming his vessels so long as he maintains control of their body, as he did in order to bite off Hana's right arm in chapter 213.

Innate Technique: Shrine

• Dismantle – The default slash Sukuna seems to prefer using. The technique sends an invisible slash or array of slashes flying through the air, cutting whatever it can reach until its cursed energy is exhausted. While it is extremely effective at decomposing inanimate objects and weaker humans, its potency is the lowest of any of Sukuna's techniques. As eloquently put in another comment, the reason Gojo's Six Eyes do not enable him to see Dismantle is because having the ability to perceive fluctuations at an atomic level means nothing if the fluctuations aren't visible – a microscope cannot make gravity visible no matter how close it zooms. Maki's heavenly restriction enables her to see the effect of the slash by the deformations it creates on the surface of air and surrounding objects, but she cannot see the slashes themselves.
  • The World-Splitting Dismantle – A version of Dismantle that, instead of throwing slashes at something, expands the intended target for the slash to the entire metaphysical space the target is located in. This allows it to bypass everything from cursed energy reinforcement to cursed techniques to any other conventional defense. No matter how resilient to attacks something is, if the space it occupies is bisected that thing will follow suit. The key word there is bisected, because the world-splitting Dismantle as we've seen it thus far can only cut in a single line. Net-shaped arrays like many of Sukuna's other uses of Dismantle are too complicated for this technique.
    • After learning the method to expand Dismantle's target, Sukuna would have been able to use the world-splitting Dismantle as long as he performed the Enmaten hand seal before launching it. However, in order to hit Gojo instantly without warning, he used a Binding Vow that would prevent him from ever using the slash again without the hand seal accompanied by the chants "Scale of the Dragon. Recoil. Twin Meteors." finally followed by pointing with his fingers the direction in which the slash should fly.
• Cleave – A technique that activates on physical contact with its target, automatically adjusting its output and frequency of slashes to cut them down in a single strike. The two main properties it accounts for are cursed energy reinforcement and physical toughness, the latter of which not usually being an issue for Sukuna. However, when his output is severely weakened as it was in Yuta's domain or when his target's cursed energy reinforcement is too high to overcome (Gojo's) Cleave will hit a limit and not be able to fully cut through the target.
  • Spider's Thread – A version of Cleave that spreads its slashes out into a spiderweb-shaped array and has been used only once in order to tear up a large portion of earth.
• Furnace – Known informally by many names such as "Black box," "Open," or "Fuga" before the reveal of its actual name, Furnace allows Sukuna to bring a small flame into reality between his palms which can then be aimed and fired at a target. Outside of his domain, Furnace has obscenely high firepower, easily outclassing Jogo's Disaster Flames, but can only be used against a single opponent at a time due to a Binding Vow that will be addressed later. Its speed also leaves much to be desired and works best in one-on-one standoff scenarios. The name of this technique confirms an already supported theory that Sukuna's Shrine is indeed a kitchen (reading the Kanji for Shrine helps confirm this).

Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine
This is a big enough topic that I think it merits its own section

• Sukuna's domain is the embodiment of his Shrine in pseudo-physical form that is the most technically impressive in the series. In its default form, Sukuna is capable of expanding a virtual landscape, that being his shrine, into reality without separating the two using a closed barrier. The result of this is a domain whose sure-hit exists within reality itself and not only the closed-off environment created inside a traditional barrier. The reason I specify that he does not use a closed barrier is because there is still a barrier present in Malevolent Shrine, but due to its functionality and shape it can be treated as if it does not exist at all. Inside the domain, objects with cursed energy are torn apart with Cleave adjusted to the appropriate intensity, while Dismantle ruthlessly attacks anything in range without cursed energy until it is reduced to dust. Just as when used outside of his domain, however, factors limiting Sukuna's output can allow someone to survive inside his domain provided they can recover from the wounds created faster than they propagate. Furthermore, while Sukuna generally prefers an open-barriered domain for its immense range and ability to crack the external shell of traditional domains, he is entirely capable of expanding it inside a closed barrier as most other sorcerers do.
  • Furnace's true power – After Cleave and Dismantle prepare the "ingredients" of the domain by reducing them to tiny particulate matter, Furnace's real capabilities are put on full display. By dropping it into the mass of dust kicked up by his slashes, Sukuna kickstarts a chain reaction wherein dust particles become thermobaric explosives (fire bombs), setting each other off in a domino effect that scorches everything in the domain and leaves no trace of life behind. In order to make use of this, however, Sukuna must maintain a specified range and output of his domain in order to generate sufficient amounts of dust to begin the reaction. Due to being unable to achieve these conditions during his clashes with Gojo, Furnace would have proven a less effective tool than Ten Shadows for dispatching him. It is also a very situational ability, as there are exceedingly few things that can survive the rain of slashes from Malevolent Shrine long enough that Furnace is even necessary.
  • Malfunctioning Shrine – After suffering critical trauma to the region of his brain responsible for maintaining barrier techniques, Sukuna was rendered incapable of expanding his domain for a long time after his fight with Gojo. However, landing multiple consecutive Black Flashes allowed him to build a new relay in his brain through which his barrier technique would operate. You can think of it like coming to a stop on a highway because of a major pileup in the middle of the road, and then plowing through trees in the ditch in order to continue moving along. This is not without its issues, however, as Sukuna was unwilling to sacrifice the quality of his domain in order to kill every one of his opponents simultaneously. By using new, unintended portions of his brain, the domain takes on a grossly disfigured appearance and suffers from instability to the degree that it cannot sustain itself for longer than 100 seconds. Additionally, the edge of the sure-hit range was covered by a barrier preventing escape from the domain, which removed the Binding Vow used in Shibuya to maximize its range but prevented the sorcerers from escaping without Todo's help.

Borrowed Technique: Ten Shadows
In the interest of not going over every minute detail of a technique that only somewhat belongs to Sukuna, I will only make note here of changes he made to the technique in order to increase its effectiveness

• Partial Summons – By summoning a Shikigami on top of himself or in an incomplete manner, Sukuna can use its traits to his advantage in ways that include a rush of fluid Divine Dogs or Piercing Blood from Max Elephant's water. He mainly uses this for Mahoraga in a way that at first seems bizarre but proves critical to his victory against Gojo. Instead of forcing Mahoraga to take the damage for its adaptations, Sukuna bears the brunt of his opponent's techniques and has the wheel adapt to them, passing it on to Mahoraga who can then respond with a complete adaptation. In this case, Sukuna himself cannot make direct use of whatever adaptation results from the technique, but he can prevent Mahoraga from being taken out in one shot.
• Fusion Beast Agito – A totality Shikigami created using Nue, Great Serpent, Tranquil Deer, and Mourning Tiger that shares all of their properties, including electrifying strikes, regeneration of itself and others, and snake appendage creation. Its strength is unimpressive compared to Mahoraga's, but might have been one of Megumi's strongest Shikigami had he chosen to form it when he had the chance.

Binding Vows
Since Sukuna now has a reputation as the Binding Vow merchant, we may as well discuss all of them in detail

• Vows preventing the destruction of his fingers by any form of Jujutsu
• The former "enchain" vow with Yuji that allowed him to switch to Megumi's body
• It's assumed that the promise he made to Jogo before their fight functions like a Binding Vow
• An unnamed vow made with Kenjaku that enforced Sukuna fight Gojo before any final preparations are made, more than likely involving the merger and Kenjaku's insurance
• The vow restricting use on the world-splitting Dismantle in exchange for instantly bisecting Gojo
• Domain vows
  • By allowing an escape route from his domain, Sukuna can expand its range when the barrier is unclosed to up to a 200 meter radius
  • Several impromptu vows deployed in order to break Gojo's domain from the outside, including disabling his sure-hit inside Gojo's barrier and shrinking the size of Malevolent Shrine, both in order to increase its potency
  • Several unspecified vows that allowed the construction of his domain using a foreign region of the brain, one of which included the alteration of hand signs due to missing either of his left hands
  • In exchange for maximizing its domino effect inside his domain, Furnace may only be used against a single target outside his domain

I really think I covered everything this time, but feel free to provide any corrections in the comments otherwise! Hope this list helps :)

I've always been someone who loves to travel and experience new things, so I really resonate with this idea of being "homestuck." When I'm on the road or exploring a new city, I feel a sense of excitement and freedom that I don't always feel when I'm at home. It's not that I don't love my home and the people in it, but there's just something special about the thrill of discovery and the opportunity to learn and grow in unfamiliar places.
At the same time, I really appreciate the comment from u/WhoNeedsSunlight about the deep connections often have to our hometowns. The memories, experiences, and relationships tied to a particular place can be incredibly powerful and meaningful. For many people, the desire to explore is balanced by a strong sense of attachment to their home and the things that make them who they are.
I think this highlights the idea that being "homestuck" (in the sense of loving travel and exploration) doesn't necessarily mean you don't appreciate or feel connected to your home. It's possible to have a deep love for your hometown while still feeling the pull of wanderlust and the excitement of new experiences.
I even came up with a fun little definition for the term:
homestuck (adjective):

1. Feeling content, adventurous, or enthusiastic about being away from one's home for an extended period.
2. Exhibiting a strong desire or wanderlust to leave one's home and explore new places, often accompanied by a sense of restlessness when confined to familiar surroundings.

homestuck (noun):

1. A person who embraces and thrives in new environments, often feeling more alive and fulfilled when away from their home.
2. An individual who frequently travels or relocates, sometimes as a means of seeking personal growth and new experiences.

Of course, this is just a playful way of describing the feeling – I don't think being "homestuck" (in this sense) is necessarily better or worse than being a homebody. Everyone has their own preferences and comfort levels when it comes to travel and exploration.
I'm curious, do any of you ever feel "homestuck"? What do you love most about traveling or exploring new places? And if you're more of a homebody, what do you appreciate most about being in familiar surroundings?

Hey there, neology fans! I've been working on a new word, "homestuck," to describe someone who feels content or enthusiastic about being away from home, or who has a strong desire to explore new places. Here's the full definition:
homestuck (adjective):

1. Feeling content, adventurous, or enthusiastic about being away from one's home for an extended period.
2. Exhibiting a strong desire or wanderlust to leave one's home and explore new places, often accompanied by a sense of restlessness when confined to familiar surroundings.

homestuck (noun):

1. A person who embraces and thrives in new environments, often feeling more alive and fulfilled when away from their home.
2. An individual who frequently travels or relocates, sometimes as a means of seeking personal growth and new experiences.

Etymology: A play on the word "homesick," which was first recorded in 1798 as a back-formation from "homesickness," a translation of the German word "Heimweh." The term "homestuck" is a proposed neologism that inverts the meaning of "homesick," likely coined in the early 21st century. The term gained popularity through its use in the webcomic "Homestuck" by Andrew Hussie, which ran from 2009 to 2016. The comic's widespread popularity online helped to establish "homestuck" as a potential word in its own right, separate from the comic's context.
Pronunciation: /ˈhōmˌstək/
I believe this neologism captures a feeling that many adventurous people experience but may not have had a specific word for before. It's important to note that while the term "homestuck" can describe a desire to escape problems or responsibilities at home, this definition focuses on the more positive aspects of the word, such as personal growth and the thrill of new experiences.
What do you think about this new word? Do you know anyone who might be described as "homestuck"? Let me know your thoughts!

Hello fellow logophiles! I've been playing around with the idea of "homestuck" as a proposed word to describe someone who feels content or enthusiastic about being away from home, or who has a strong desire to explore new places. It's a play on the word "homesick," but with the opposite meaning.
I've crafted a full definition with synonyms, antonyms, and an etymology:
homestuck (adjective):

1. Feeling content, adventurous, or enthusiastic about being away from one's home for an extended period.
2. Exhibiting a strong desire or wanderlust to leave one's home and explore new places, often accompanied by a sense of restlessness when confined to familiar surroundings.

homestuck (noun):

1. A person who embraces and thrives in new environments, often feeling more alive and fulfilled when away from their home.
2. An individual who frequently travels or relocates, sometimes as a means of escaping problems or responsibilities at home or seeking personal growth and new experiences.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking – doesn't "homestuck" sound like someone who is stuck at home? It's a fair point, and I can see how the term might be interpreted that way at first glance. But the way I'm using it here is actually the opposite – it's about feeling a sense of excitement and fulfillment when you're away from home, rather than feeling stuck or confined.
Of course, this is just a playful way of describing the feeling – I don't think being "homestuck" is necessarily better or worse than being a homebody. Everyone has their own preferences and comfort levels when it comes to travel and exploration.
Etymology: A play on the word "homesick," likely coined in the early 21st century. The term gained popularity through its use in the webcomic "Homestuck" by Andrew Hussie, which ran from 2009 to 2016. The comic's widespread popularity online helped to establish "homestuck" as a potential word in its own right, separate from the comic's context.
Please note that this is a proposed addition to the English language and not yet a widely recognized word. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this potential new term!

A yandere sees everyone surrounding the guy as if they're going after the guy, be it male or female, and she will actually attack people to get what she wants, in some cases gorily so, in other cases just name-calling or hiding their possessions somewhere or whatever.
Many yandere are introduced as looking normal and cute. Lovable. Extremely sympathetic. But that's often because they're only shown interacting with their love interest. Once a third characters gets into the equation she starts showing her true colors. That is, an yandere character starts crazy, she doesn't go crazy, she was crazy from the beginning but nobody knew.
Note that the above isn't necessarily true. Some yandere are undeniably nuts from the start. Why a yandere has become insane can vary: she might be a broken victim of some horrible event, or she might simply have a natural inclination to become a serial killer. In any case, as long as she has a mentally sick kind of love she's a yandere.
(the most common type of yandere is violent and jealous, but there are other types of yandere written further below)

Yandere Word Meaning

The yan in the word yandere ヤンデレ comes from the verb yanderu 病んでる which means "to be sick (mentally)." This is slightly different from the verb yamu 病む which means "to be sick (generally)," despite yanderu 病んでる being also considered a contraction of the verb yamu in the te-iru form yandeiru 病んでいる.
A somewhat related word is the word koiyamai 恋病, meaning "lovesick" and written with the kanji for love (koi 恋) and sickness (yamai 病)Word Meaning

Yangire ヤンギレ

A yangire ヤンギレ character is an yandere devoid of love and filled with rage. Which is some pretty bad combination considering the yan of yandere means "mentally sick." So now you have someone who is mentally sick and that has snapped.
A common type of yangire character is the one that has gone through some sort of trauma and then snaps and goes on a killing spree after getting triggered. Generally speaking, yangire characters have no faith left for the world so they don't care much about killing or getting killed. They just want to watch the world burn.
As one would expect, a yangire character doesn't necessarily have a romantic interest (Please Remember that they doesn't necessarily involves love and romance means that IT IS JUST OPTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS because Yangires could have things to do with love or romance at all. This is a notes from me).
A yandere would have one, and would go around killing everyone around her lover in a very jelly genocide, but a yangire is a strong independent character who needs no romantic interest in order to start a massacre. Anyway, yangire characters are pretty much crazy and crazy violent. All you need to know is that they are crazier than yandere characters and that ought to say a lot.

Types of Yandere

In the west, yandere is basically always associated with the jealous, violent type of yandere, which is the most common. However, given that the word just means "mentally sick and in love," there are other types of yandere which would be recognized only in the Japanese speaking community.
Because they're just Japanese nouns followed by the suffix gata 型, meaning "model," as in "[car] model." So where one would say "a XXX-ing yandere" in English to say what the yandere does, in Japanese there's a noun for that, so it becomes XXX-gata yandere, "yandere of type XXX."
A single yandere can (and normally will) fit in multiple of these types at a time. In particular, Yuno Gasai fits a dozen of them, which is why she's an ideal example of yandere.
All types of yandere can be male or female, straight, gay, lesbian, etc. but the descriptions below assume a female yandere and that "you" are their male victim love interest;
Anyway, here's the list: (sorted by degree of insanity, ascending, see diagram)

mugai-gata 無害型

Harmless type.
"As long as he's happy, I'm happy."
The most harmless type of yandere, the one where she's fallen in love in an unhealthy, obsessive way, but she doesn't do anything insane about it. She'll try hard to become your girl, but won't harm anybody in the way. If you get a girlfriend, she won't attack you two, she'll be happy you found happiness, and maybe still have hope that you choose her in the end.

kanchigai-gata 勘違い型

Wrong idea type.
"He gave me an eraser... this must mean he loves me!"
She gets the wrong idea when you do something in order to match her expectations. If you say you don't love her, she'll think you're lying because of you don't want to hurt her or something. If you do something out of kindness to her, she'll think it's out of love. And so on.

shuuchaku-gata 執着型

Obsession type.
"I sent you 50 messages, why didn't you answer? Where were you? What were you doing?"
Tries to learn everything about you. Personal info, hobbies, routine, etc. Sends regular messages to check on you, asks why you haven't answered if you didn't, wants to know what you're doing always. All the time. And, if possible, walks around with you all the time too.
The obsession type doesn't necessarily want to monopolize you. She'll let you hang around with friends, etc. but wants to know everything you do. She probably wants to go with you, too. If she can't go somewhere with you, she might stalk you.
If she learns a girl is too close to you, she might attack.

sutookaa-gata ストーカー型

Stalker type.
Follows you around, often without you knowing. May be in broad daylight or at night, when you're walking alone on the streets. Maybe even online. A girl of this type is also often of the obsessive type.

dokusen-gata 独占型

Monopoly type. (This is the most common type.)
"Who is that person you were talking to?"
She wants to monopolize you. Will ask who you talk to and hang with, in extreme cases won't let you be with anyone else, not even your friends. This type of behavior is unfortunately common in real life. It displays insecurities and lack of trust in the relationship which might develop into much worse yandere behavior.

ison-gata 依存型

Dependence type. ("dependence" as in addiction, alcohol dependence, chemical, etc.)
"No, don't leave me! Please! I can't live without you!"
Can't live without you. Begs you to not leave hethrow her away. Says she will die if you go away. May lose will to do anything if you aren't watching. If you do leave, she might go full crazy and end up doing something crazy like going on a murderous rampage or something.

touei-gata 投影型

Projection type.
"You're just like him"
After her former love turned out to be a completely different person than she loved, or got a girlfriend, or died, or something like that, and she can no longer stay with him, she searched for someone who was just like what her love was, and she found you.
This type of of yandere is very innocent at first, but if she's given power to dominate her new beloved, she might end up trying to make him more and more like what her old interest was. For example, wearing the same things, doing the same things, etc.
Sometimes, she might project her ideal lover not on someone else but on same guy. That is, she might say "you are not him, he does this," to you even though you actually are him and you don't do "this."

shoushitsu-gata 消失型

Disappearance type. (This has nothing to do with Haruhi Suzumiya)
"He will never love someone like me... why exist?"
She loves you, maybe you know that, maybe you don't, but unknown this gives her a crushing depression. She think you'll never love her and she has no chance, but she can't stop her unhealthy feelings of love. She thinks you're too good for her, or that she's too worthless for you. This makes her slowly fade away, disappear from your life. Until she completely disappears forever (kills herself).
This is an atypical yandere since it has so little effect on other characters' lives.

shuumatsu-gata 終末型

Final type. ("final" as in "the end," not as in "final form" or "final fantasy" whatever that final means)
"I don't need a world where he doesn't exist."
After learning you died, she loses purposes in life. The world for her was you, and you're now gone. What this results vary. Most of the time, she becomes broken emotionally, as expected. She might also kill herself. Or, sometimes, she might become a terrorist and destroy the world that let you die, or just go on revenge serial killing or something."

DV-gata DV型

Domestic Violence type.
"It hurts? That's your fault! Next time learn your lesson and stop looking at other girls!"
When jealous, feeling ignored, etc. uses violence against you. She'll beat you and say it's your fault. This can be either discharging pent-up rage through violence and you just happen to be her favorite punching bag, or deliberately punishing you for doing something she didn't like.
Both cases, unfortunately, are also common in real life.

bouryoku-gata 暴力型

Violence type.
Another name for the "domestic violence" type above. She "uses violence" (bouryoku wo furu 暴力をふる) toward you.

sokubaku-gata 束縛型

Restraints type.
"Let`s stay together forever! You'll never leave my side, not ever again!"
She wants to be with you always, and always, and always, AND ALWAYS, AND ALWAYS. And that means she'll probably kidnap you and lock you into her house so you're forced to stay with her.
There are variations, some lighter, some worse, but the general idea is that she wants you two to be inseparable.

mousou-gata 妄想型

Delusion type.
Similar to the "wrong idea" type above, but far worse. When her insane love is unrequited (for obvious reasons), and you start literally running away from the crazy bitch, she'll think it's because you're embarrassed, and not because you don't want her. Her love distorts the reality she perceives. She sees a bunch of delusions instead.
The delusion type may also be in denial something unpleasant happened. She'll just forget it happened. Her memories may also be replaced with delusions: she'll remember you being extremely nice to her when you were indifferent, you saying you liked her before you even met, or other girls rubbing themselves on you like cheap sluts when all they did was saying "good morning.

jishou-gata 自傷型

Self-harm type.
"Hey... look at me... look at me... look, there's so much blood coming out..."
She harms herself, cutting wrists, etc. in order to get your attention. This often happens when she's ignored. The "dependence" type might evolve into this if she is abandoned.
There are two sub-types to this.
First, the one where she harms herself in secret and has you notice her injuries, then she says "it's nothing to worry about" hoping you worry about it more. This is usually something light like a knee bruise, etc.
Second, the one where she harms herself in your face as a way to say "I'll kill myself if you leave me," forcing you to stay by her side by guilt.

haijo-gata 排除型

Removal type.
"You don't need other people. You have me."
She will remove from your life everyone she thinks you don't need. Which means everyone else. This can include things like excluding your contacts and messages to even murdering everybody who approaches.
This type of yandere has two sub-types:
First, the one that removes people secretly. She sees you hanging with a girl, the next day that girl has mysteriously disappeared. You, a main character, are probably as clueless as a sheet of sudoku in blank about this incident, and the next several incidents like it.
Second, the one that removes people openly. This also ranges from removing messages to killing people. She might be expecting you agree with her, "yeah, you're right, I don't need other people," or she might just want to show you what she's capable of.

shinjuu-gata 心中型

Double Suicide Type
"Let's die together!"
Why be always together in life if you can be forever together for all eternity? This type of yandere will propose what no sane person would: let's die!
Sadly, suicide pacts are a thing. Double suicide, lovers' suicide, too, is a thing. One of the most famous pieces ever, Romeo & Juliet, (spoilers) sort of ended up in a double suicide.
One thing different in an yandere double suicide is that, often, you don't really want to suicide. It's more like she wants you both dead and she'll kill you then herself. Although there are also actual consensual attempted double suicides involving yandere.

jiko-gisei-gata 自己犠牲型

Self-Sacrifice type.
"If it's for you I wouldn't mind dying!"
She'd make any sacrifice for you, as long as it means getting you to love her. She doesn't even mind dying for you or fighting bloody battles, sustaining multiple injuries, etc. as long as it means staying with you.
Unlike the self-harm type, the self-sacrifice type isn't seeking attention with her suicidal behavior. Instead, she wants to make herself useful and support the one she loves.
This is easier to visualize in anime where fighting monsters, etc. is normal. However, this kind of sickness also exists in real life. Some people do sacrifice themselves for a beloved one in an extremely unhealthy and unrewarding way, just because they "love" them.

suuhai-gata 崇拝型

Worship type.
"I'll do anything for you! I'll even kill for you! Please use me however you want!"
She worships you and will do anything for you. Sometimes even without you asking. And more: she doesn't even mind if you love her or not, or what will happen to her. Killing, dying, committing crimes, losing respect of others, she'll do anything it means providing support to your infinite greatness.
This is one of the least-harmful type of yandere since she would never do anything to harm you and will never be in your way. Nonetheless, it's also one of the most depressing types; it makes you feel sorry for the yandere, who thinks of herself less like a person and more like a tool who might get thrown away if she's not useful enough.
The difference between the "worship" type and the "self-sacrifice" type is that the "worship" type is also like the "disappearance" type. The "self-sacrifice" type wants to be useful so she can be loved, the "worship" type doesn't mind if she is not loved back, in fact, she probably thinks she is not worth being loved by the delusive greatness she considers you.
She wouldn't, for example, attack your girlfriend or other girls out of jealousy, but she might attack a girl approaching you because she thinks the girl is stepping out of her boundaries and being presumptuous by daring talk to your greatness without proper respect.

choukyou-gata 調教型

Training type.
"Say you love me... come on, say it. Say you love me. SAY YOU LOVE ME! Good boy! Here's your reward."
(the word choukyou was once only about "training [animals]" or "breaking [animals]." In modern times, it's also used in BDSM contexts, "[master] training [slave]." It has nothing to do with training for sports.)
She'll break you into loving her. Sometimes using torture, a punishment/reward system, brainwashing, etc. This probably involves you getting kidnapped and forced into it, although there might be more subtle ways to accomplish this.

koritsu yuudou-gata 孤立誘導型

Loneliness Induction type.
"Shhh... it's ok. I'm here. You don't need anyone else. You can just count on me."
She will make, induce, you to feel or be alone. By spreading malicious rumors about you that make others alienate you, by murdering your friends and family, etc. Then she'll jump in and present herself as the only one you can count on when you're most fragile mentally and in need of company.
Inducing things that don't make you feel lonely but give some sort of mental damage, trauma, also count as this type. Conversely, if your friends and family get killed on their own and you're alone but she had nothing to do with it, it's not the same thing since she didn't induce it, although an yandere might abuse your condition to get closer to you.
This type is similar to the "dependence" type, except it's not the yandere that's to become dependent on you, it's you that's to become dependent on the yandere.

kyouki-gata 猟奇型

Bizarre-Seeking Type.
"I love you, so... can you give me your fingernails? I want them so I can always have a part of you with me!"
Undeniably the worst type of yandere, she will murder you, and not by accident, not by jealousy, not by revenge. She will murder you because she loves you. And then she'll keep your rotting corpse on bed or preserved inside a glass because there's no way she'd throw you away.
In a sense sane people are better off not even trying to understand, the bizarre-seeking type of yandere is purely insane, mad way beyond explanation.
The word kyouki, used in the type's name, is normally associated with disturbing imagery involving gore, blood and worse stuff. It's also related to "grotesque" art, guro グロ, which's dubbed "pornography involving gore" despite the fact nobody in their sane mind can figure out how the fuck can someone even "fap to this."
Likewise, nobody in their sane mind can relate to the grotesque love of bizarre-seeking yandere. Ranging from murder, mutilation, and maybe something ever worse us mere mortals can't even begin to imagine, their bizarre displays of love can only be summed up by: "what the actual fuck?"

References : https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2016/07/tsundere-kuudere-yandere-meaning.html

TL;DR: Hi, I'm Dr. Raj Shah, founder of Math Plus Academy. We aim to foster a deep understanding and love for math in students, beyond memorization. Our mission is to build confidence and passion for problem-solving, emphasizing curiosity, perseverance, discipline, and teamwork. I'm excited to connect and share our journey with you all here.
Watch my TedTalk Follow us: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Learn more: Math Plus Academy
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Hey everyone! I’m Dr. Raj Shah, the founder of Math Plus Academy. I'm super excited to kick off our brand-new subreddit by introducing myself, giving you a peek into what we’re all about, and sharing why we do what we do.
I’ve always loved math, so it felt natural to spend most of my life teaching it. As an Ohio native, I graduated from Dublin Coffman High School, earned my B.S. in Physics from Ohio State University (go Buckeyes!), and went on to get my Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois.
I spent my early career at Intel, working with them for nine years in R&D and management. But in 2008, my path took a drastic turn when I was searching for math enrichment for my five-year-old son.
Frustrated by the lack of challenging math opportunities and the negative attitudes surrounding the subject, I decided to create something better. I wanted a place where kids could truly think, build confidence, and develop a love for math—far beyond rote memorization and worksheets.
That’s how Math Plus Academy was born.
Our mission at Math Plus Academy is simple yet powerful: help students deeply understand math concepts, not just memorize facts and formulas. We aim to make math fun and foster a lasting passion for problem-solving. Our focus has always been on teaching skills and changing attitudes.
We believe that the cognitive skills math teaches are just as crucial as the character it builds— curiosity, perseverance, discipline, and teamwork. These are the foundations for a lifetime of success. At Math Plus Academy, we operate on the premise that every child is brilliant, and it’s our job to help them realize their full potential.
I’m thrilled to be the inaugural member of this community and can’t wait to connect with everyone here! Whether you have questions about math education, want to share your experiences, or just geek out about math, I’m here for it.
Stay curious and keep thinking, Dr. Raj Shah

To be clear, I'm talking about languages such as Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese. (I mean Romanian is also one of them.) They all have gender cases including gendered nouns. I do keep hearing that English speakers have an 'easier' time to learn them due to them having an alphabet, plus they are considered "Romance" languages. (I'm not going to talk about that here, as there are many posts mentioning them.)
Instead, I'm discussing on how hard are both Mandarin & Japanese for native French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese speakers to learn? Since both JP & ZH are completely alien to European languages in terms of their writing system, grammar or syntax, so they have no common ground with the European framework in regards to their orthography or grammar.

Even though Japanese has hiragana / katakana, it does not mean they write every word like that, since they have Kanji. (It helps condense sentence length, also that makes it clearer to tell the difference on what the correct word is, as some sound exactly the same but have different meanings altogether.

The features that each language has:

Mandarin	Japanese
Tones (4-5)	Pitch accent
Classifiers (for counting)	Counting words
Stroke order (differs from Japanese)	Stroke order (differs from Mandarin)
Word particles (different from Japanese)	Word particles (different from Mandarin)
Polite language (formality)	Keigo & Honorifics
Sentence structure: SVO	Sentence structure: SOV
Untranslatable nuances	Untranslatable nuances

From both ZH & JP: 1 漢字 equates to a SINGLE word in which multiple letters are needed in European languages to spell out. Both Kanji & Hanzi are drawn from visual concepts on how they interpret a word based on semantic meaning. (Characters are fun for caligraphy practice, it's also a work of art.) For reference, take the Kanji & Hanzi: 川
[The stroke order between both languages are different despite having the same character for some words, since they are both different languages after all.]
The shape of the character is derivative on how its visualized.

Japanese - 訓読み：かわ・音読み：セン
Mandarin - Pinyin: Chuān

For instance, take the kanji & hanzi:「軍」
As you can see, a single kanji & hanzi already equates to 1 word as it is logographic, which will require multiple letters in Romance languages to spell.
Kanji from Japanese has multiple readings for ONE character, for example:「行」
An example of a Kanji, but as indicated their phonologies change depending on how it used within a word, or placed in a sentence.

Kunyomi: Native Japanese Reading of a kanji.
Onyomi: Reading of a kanji derivative of Mandarin phonology.
Nanori: These readings only apply when a kanji is used within a persons name.

That is also another "complex" part of Japanese, as kanji has multiple pronunciations alone. (Yep, this applies to most of the 2,136+ characters having their own assigned phonologies that differ.)
This often gets lost in translation (like all the time!), as ONE character can imply so many definitions depending on the context you associate it with, in a literal or figurative sense. As opposed to European languages, the translation is mainly consistent with what you put it for "common" words but there are some that can also pose multiple meanings.

Japanese & Mandarin	Romance (Euro) languages (letter count)
They have a large amount of characters, getting the feeling like it's 'limitless' but they contrast around 2,000 - 10,000+ in their total amount.	French (26), Spanish (27), Italian (21) & Portuguese (26) As they are alphabetical, you read each letter as it is.
Both languages have zero concept of gender cases as it's not a thing in Japanese & Mandarin.	They have gender cases and gendered nouns (Whether it is FR, ES, IT or PT.)

On the other hand, they both have idioms and proverbs you can create out of 4 characters, conveying a proverb and idiomatic phrase (both in a literal & figurative sense) using only 4 characters:

• In Mandarin - 成語
• In Japanese - 四字熟語

As mentioned, they only use 4 characters to construct a proverb & idiom.

I mean, can you also do this in European languages: only using 4 short words alone? (To create a proverb that still conveys an idiomatic meaning with only 4 words.)

Both Mandarin and Japanese have radicals (on both hanzi & kanji) which are building blocks of their characters, that radical has a meaning on its own as it's derivative of an existing word, but when associated with another kanji & hanzi. (Hence why some characters look similar to one another.)
The connotation of its meaning can change, but the theme surrounding the vocabulary involving the radical still conveys a message despite it being a different word entirely, even though the radical is present in an unrelated word that does not relate to the meaning of the radical.
As shown, pay close attention to the radical present in these words. (Despite some of them having the same one, they connotate a different word entirely.)

The Kanji in Grey: Unreleated words surrounding the radical present.
The Kanji in Pink: Related words surrounding the radical present.
Be careful not to get these mixed up, you need a good eye to distiguish them apart.

List of words from Mandarin containing the radical 女.

The Hanzi in Pink - Words associated with nouns relating to girls & women.
The Hanzi in Purple - Words associated with a "positive" connotation.
The Hanzi in Maroon - Words associated with womanhood.

Japanese

They have 45 ひらがな & 45 カタカナ but that is only scratching the surface, not forgetting to include over 2,136+ 漢字 with readings such as: 訓読み, 音読み & 名乗り for each character, imagine doing that 2k times, knowing all the phonologies for most or all of them.
The grammar too is alien to all European languages, as what is stated last in a [EU lang] sentence is positioned at the beginning in Japanese. On top of kanji implying more than one definition as it is dependent on context, also the reading can change if its paired with kana or another kanji.

For example, take the sentence「ジュールズさんが家族と家でフランス語を話します」(You can clearly see as indicated by the word positionings: Japanese word order is SOV while the translations below it are complicit with the SVO order as usual in European languages.)
As shown here, the sentence strutcure in Japanese is very different to the counterparts in French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese. (Indicated in color)

The さん (in red) is a honorific. (More about that later.)

Subject omission is common in Japanese, as they don't always need to include words like (I am, me, we, us, etc.) as opposed to European languages where it's needed, since you are already inferring to the speaker in question, so it is a lot more straight forward. For instance:
From this sentence (私は) is omitted in Japanese. (Translations conveyed in brackets and light text.)

To speakers of Romance languages, can you omit words like "I am" or any pronoun alike and still be understood by the other party? (Can it really work?)
For example, in Portuguese: instead of saying "O meu nome é Francisco" > just put it as "Francisco" [Omitting O meu nome é] (in Japanese that is connotated as フランシスコです - without 私は)

I won't forget 丁寧語、尊敬語、謙遜語 which are all part of 敬語 in Japanese, especially in verbs as to express a level of politeness (in corporate or formal setting) to empathize respect to the other party to not be connotated as rude (you can use the 'normal' variant but that will come off as impolite - in let's say a business meeting or any formal event / setting.), between a "dictionary" form including teineigo, sonkeigo & kensongo. For instance:
As you can see, all 4 variations of 1 verb exist in Japanese, keeping in mind with the level of formality on which variant you'll use. (They all mean 1 verb, but connotate different levels of politeness, empathizing the level of respect or decorum.)

For example, you would not use 言う in an formal setting when talking to people within either a business or special occassion where decorum is required, you would instead use 申し上げる or something amongst the lines of おっしゃる depending on the situation and setting or formality.
Is there anything like this in European languages to this extent? If not, then this will be difficult for you all to fully understand as there's verbs in Japanese that do this based on the level of decorum incuding the setting you are in, the people you are talking to.

The honorific system in Japanese is often "lost in translation" as evident in both manga or anime (what I hate about translation is that they transliterate it instead of coming up with an equivalent), as there are many levels of politeness and formality within their language, for example:

日本語	Roughly equivalent to:
博士 (はかせ)	Dr. / PhD
後輩 (こうはい)	Junior
先輩 (せんぱい)	Senior
先生 (せんせい)	Teach / Mr / Mrs
様 (さま)	Mr / Mrs (Formal variant, eg. clients, judges)
さん	Mr / Mrs (Addressed towards grown ups)
たん	(Refers to babies)
ちゃん	(Refers to young children - boys / girls)
殿 (どの)	(Formal / archanic ver: of you)
君 (くん)	(Semi-formal title referring to men)
氏 (し)	(Used for family names or important stuff alike)
陛下 (へいか)	Your Majesty
殿下 (でんか)	Your Highness
閣下 (かっか)	Your excelency
坊 (ぼう)	(A term for endearment regarding young boys)
被告 (ひこく)	(Addresses the accused - legal / court)
容疑者 (ようぎしゃ)	(Addresses the suspect - police / legal)
受刑者 (じゅけいしゃ)	(Addresses the one convicted - legal / court)

Of course this also gets lost in translation, in European languages as they OFTEN just romanize the term, which is not how you are not meant to translate it. (If there is no actual equivalent in European languages, just omit it instead of transliterating it.)

In regards to Kanji: there are words that bare the same phoneme, but keep in mind of numerous kanji variations that also possess the same phonology, with each having their own separate meanings. For example, take the onyomi reading for カン -
I only listed 100 kanji that are pronounced the same, but there are 286 more with the same sound: カン (By the way, each kanji has their own definition.)

This phoneme (カン) alone comprises 386 漢字 in Japanese, some of the characters have become 'obscure' in their usage, as in you don't even know they existed until you've looked hard enough. (Even native speakers don't know all of them.)
How difficult is this concept for speakers of European languages to remember and fully grasp? (Some of the kanji are used for people's names.)

The most diffcult part a "word" can have various meanings for one phoneme, take for example 「こうか」which comprises of 39 words with this pronunciation, so depending on the sentence you are listening to or reading, you got to infer the correct one based on context. Also, Japanese has 188 word particles in total. (I won't list them all.)
I can only think of 54 word particles that are used in Japanese sentences. (Although there are quite a lot, with specific uses.)
In terms of how counting works in Japanese, it is not like in European languages at all. Japanese has 助数詞, which are counting / measure words used to count the number of things, actions, events, items, and etc. to make it clear on what you are exactly counting.
A list of Japanese 助数詞 - (There's about 350 of them, but I won't list them all.)

There is so many counter words in Japanese, that even native speakers don't even use ALL of them, as their uses are situational or only applicable in some instances.

Counting suffix (within a number / qty.)	A rough summary
つ	A counter for [things] in general, as it is also commonly used in Japanese.
個	Counter for [no. of pieces] or some things, you see this word in relation to let's say: food.
本	Counts books, pens, pencils, nail clippers, etc. (This one is quite versatile in its usage.)
枚	Equiv. to no. of reams of paper, no. of pics, also counts bath mats, credit cards, clothing, etc.
匹	Used for counting [small / medium] animals (eg. household pets or other small creatures.)
頭	Counter for [no. of livestock] or large animals such as elephants, whales, camels, etc.
冊	Primarily a counting suffix used for documents or books (equiv. to: Olivier read 3 books.)
台	Counting word in relation to the no. of vehicles (such as trucks or cars) for example.
羽	Counter word for birds (specifically) but can be used to count rabbits too.
階	Used to refer to no. of storeys or floors within a building. (eg this apartment has 20 floors.)
缶	Refers to the no. of [cans] such as soda cans, tins, paint cans, etc. (When empty, use: 個)
巻	Refers to no. of [books / comics] in a series. (equiv to: Carlos read all 7 harry potter novels.)
切れ	Refers to no. of [sliced food] (equiv. to: Maria sliced 4 loaves of bread for her sibilings.)
口	As a counter, it refers to [times] bitten in food. (equiv. to: Pierre took one bite from a scone.)
件	Refers to the no. of [cases / incidents] but this counter has versatility in its usage.

For example, the counting word 羽 is present in Japanese (regardless if it is singular or plural), as it is needed to be specific on the indicator within a numerical unit of [something / someone / event / action, etc.] to clarify what you're referring to.
As highlighted, the presence of the counting word is needed. It's not conveyed in the translations displayed below.
Pitch accent is another part of Japanese phonology, as the word can change based on the volume of each phoneme depending on your pronunciation, it connotates a different word altogether affecting the overall meaning, on what you actually want to say. For example, take むし -
Accent 1 is noted as High Low & Accent 2 is noted as Low High. The pitch accent connotates a different word despite them both sounding similar to one another, as in adjusting the volume of one phoneme upon your pronunciation.

Mandarin

7,000 - 80,000+ 漢字 (There are dictionaries that state the existence of around 106,230 漢字 in Mandarin.) However a modern dictionary only features 20,000 hanzi while an educated native speaker memorizes 8,000 hanzi but reading a newspaper only requires knowing 3,000 hanzi.
The sentence structure is different from Japanese (as it is SVO), although their wordings can imply more than one definition, as it is also dependent on how you associate it within a sentence, keep in mind too that they also have tones embedded within their phonology.

For example, take the sentence「醫生根據病人的病情以最好的方式治療他們」(You can clearly see the differences, as indicated by the word positionings - shown in color.)
As shown, the positioning of the words from Mandarin are different despite the word order being SVO, the translations are still different regardless.
Another feature that Mandarin has are separable verbs. (It may sound confusing at first) From this example, take the verb: 見面 (Rencontrer / Incontrare / Conocerte / Conhecer) used here:
As indicated, the hanzi 面 is omitted since 見 already conveys the verb.

Can you also do this in French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese?

In this example, an extra hanzi (了 - as an particle / indicator: past tense) is added in the middle but the verb 吃飯 (Repas / Mangiare / Comer / Come) is still intact:
As the hanzi 了 is placed inbetween both 吃 and 飯, but the verb overall is still there.
From Mandarin - there are words that sound the "same" to the untrained musical ear, as it is a tonal language, so you need to keep that in mind, for example from pinyin: 'bi' consists of multiple hanzi depending on the tone you use, based on pronuncation.
All of them may sound the \"same\" to the untrained musical ear, but they are completely different words altogether. That is the difficult part of Mandarin for \"Euro\" language speakers as it's not a thing in their languages.
There are phonemes from Mandarin that comprise of a LOT of hanzi (that imply different definitions altogether, based on tones.) from 1 sound alone, such as this example below:
I can only think of 82 hanzi which all are pronounced as \"BI\" (there are perhaps more) but their tones connotate a different word. (Also, pay attention to the radicals.)
Like Japanese, Mandarin has word particles too. For example:
Some word particles present in Mandarin. (Although there are perhaps more.)
Akin to the Japanese counting system, Mandarin has 漢語量詞 which are classifiers used to count the number of things, actions, events, items, and etc. to make it clear on what you are exactly counting, that classifier is tied to a specific category and usage.
As indicated, the classifer 輛 is required to be within the sentence in Mandarin. (As you can see from the translations, an equivalent word for that classifier doesn't exist.)
A list of Mandarin 漢語量詞 - (There's quite a few, but I won't list them all.)

Although these classifers can imply multiple meanings and uses, it's context specific though if you want to know what that classifer is referring to.

Classifier (no. / qty. of something / action)	A rough explanation
句	Refers to no of. [lines / sentences] (equiv. to: Sam wrote on the first 2 lines of his book.)
發	Refers to no. of [rounds / bullets] (equiv. to: Diego fired 20 rounds from his M16A4.)
封	Refers to [letters - mail] (equiv. to: Ella opened 4 letters coming from the city council.)
根	Refers to [long thin] objects, eg. needles. (equiv. to: Jack only found 1 needle in a haystack.)
棵	No. of trees (equiv. to: Alice planted 6 trees around the park not far from Paris.)
輛	No. of vehicles (eg. Giovani spotted 3 cars in front of him during a traffic jam in Rome.)
列	Refers to [rows / columns] (eg. Adrian had to wait within a queue stetching 3 rows.)
首	Refers to [poems] (equiv. to: Theo wrote 7 poems within the first month or so.)
水	No of. [rinses / times washed] (eg. Henry washed his laundry for the third time.)
堂	No of. [periods within a class] (eg. Claire skipped 2 study periods for her English exam.)
班	No of [students] (eg. Jean knew there were 20 other pupils in his English class.)
牀	Refers to the [no. of blankets / sheets] (eg. James placed 3 bedsheets in the cabinet.)
排	Refers to [items grouped in rows] (eg. Sally saw 4 chairs untucked in the classroom.)
部	Refers to [no. of movies / novels] (eg. Chris Pratt starred in 3 films this year.)
包	Refers to [no. of packages / bundles] (eg. Reese received 3 bundles of bubble wrap.)

In European languages, do you also have counter words or classifers in relation to numerical units when referring to specific nouns? If not, than this concept from both Japanese & Mandarin might be a struggle to wrap your head around. (As there's one for EVERYTHING, quite a lot!)

Hanzi can be flipped to create:

1. Reversal of verbs & adjectives
2. Different meanings
3. Similar meanings
4. Loosely related definition
5. Closely related definition
6. Logical meanings

Japanese: Kanji can their positions swapped, but in doing so changes the meaning completely.

[Apologies for the long post: since there's a LOT of detail to uncover.]
In hindsight:

• Japanese has different word order compared to Romance langauges, how hard is this grammatical difference for European language speakers to wrap their head around?
• In terms of the honorific system and levels of politeness in speech: Does that really exist in European languages to the extent of Japanese, even for the slightest ones?
• How common is subject omission in European languages? I mean is it to the extent of Japanese in terms of it being common throughout Romance languages. (omitting words or pronouns like: Us, I'm, We, etc.)?
• From European languages: can you omit or separate as well as adding an extra [letter] to verbs witnin a sentence (like Mandarin) and still be understood?
• Since Japanese & Mandarin are logographic and heavily draw on visual concepts for their vocabulary having thousands of characters, how difficult is it for Romance language speakers?
• Tones from Mandarin: How difficult are those for speakers of Romance languages to determine the "right" word by listening to the "same" phoneme 4-5 times at different volume & tone?
• How difficult is the Japanese counting system for speakers of European languages to grasp, since there are 350 of these counting suffixes and specific words integral to numerical units?
• Mandarin has classifiers when referring to numerical units (akin to the Japanese counting system) how hard is this concept for native speakers of Romance languages?

Would we call them an RNN? What do they fall under?
They're neural networks engineered to survive that change their dendrite weights or even negate entire neurons depending on which network procreates, but aren't selective for the best; they're only selective for the ability to grow up and reproduce fast enough ( e.g. a network with severe metabolic issues can still end up with lineage if it has massive amounts of estrogen or testosterone in adolescence, for example). The network can talk if it activates a few neurons related to talking and then a verb and noun, and it can strengthen or dampen its' own dendrites depending on reinforcement it receives, mostly from the user, but it can get reinforcement from its' surroundings, too (like negative reinforcement for beating on another network instead of hugging, if it is beat back). Any neuron can communicate with any other neuron but can only communicate information with, at max, two others at one time.
Each network is born with a predetermined amount of neurons with speech neurons having predetermined values (the word is stored in them), but it can reassign what it was born with over its' lifetime to learn new information, however it cannot make new neurons for itself, only reassign existing neurons. Every network can see around it in an arc and is always aware of its' own Z level. There is about 1,000 neurons in a Norn's brain.
Two odd things: The networks can learn to do nonsensical things if they crossbreed too much, such as trying to eat levers, buttons, and elevators and dying of hunger. There is also the chance of birthing offspring whose brains are incapable of compiling due to having an improperly high amount of neurons causing them to be braindead, or whose brains have only one neuron with only one dendrite and simply walk left until dying as an engine restriction's representation.
They're from the 90's, so officially their brains don't have a name. Nobody had the names back then.
They were used to try to fly fighter jets and pilot ships, but it didn't work at all. There was a successful attempt to teach them to see and then have them be used in a factory to detect cracked glass in manufacturing. There was also a successful attempt to expand their brain and give that one a body, named Lucy, and she learned to be able to tell the difference between human beings and plush toys and track the movement of people and objects in the room with her. Lucy is in a technology museum now.
Let me know what you think... I believe they're reinforcement learning generational RNNs? But I'm not sure if that's proper considering that Lucy was not generational.

1. There is no politeness culture. There is no orderly line for anything, everything is just a mob of people pressing their way toward the front and whoever gets their first gets there. There is no holding doors, there is no please, sometimes there is thank you. You will hear people yelling violently about literally any minor inconvenience and then another person will yell at the person for yelling-in the morning (it is appropriate to yell at any other time for any reason.) You know u are integrated when u start yelling too.
   
2. Imagine the most machismo person u can, pretty much everyone in the country is like that. Maybe its all the vitamin D from constant sun but everything feels like a dick measuring contest. Destiny normally says he likes loud aggressive women, i believe theres a high chance he will meet his next wife on this trip.
   
3. Aside from certain areas, everything looks like shit. Exteriors of buildings are always cracked and fucked up with water stains from external AC units dripping down. Its normal to just see cockroaches walking around. The sidewalks will have all broken bricks in them. Everything still looks like it hasnt been updated since the 90s (with some exceptions like hotels, restaurants, some high end buildings, beaches).
   
4. Its the middle east so prices (where not explicitly listed) are negotiable. If the taxi man says its 150 shekels, you can probably just say "no, its 110" and the actual price is determined by your confidence. Again its the middle east so you have markets like out of fucking Aladdin, where every price is made out of thin air. I wouldnt recommend you buy anything at the market other than fresh food, but i know u only like dino nuggies.
   
5. Its totally normally to see soldiers walking around carrying their guns in random places at random times. They keep their guns with them pretty much at all times so as ur getting a sim card at the phone kiosk dont be alarmed when an 18 year old in a green uniform with a rifle walks in, unless hes hamas.
   
6. For westerners, the visual differences between arabs and israelis will be extremely difficult to distinguish, israelis and arabs have this skill tree unlocked already but even they get mixed up.
   
7. Humus is not a side dish, it is a main course and a staple. It does not taste like humus in the west. A pretty standard meal in israel is 2-3 fluffy pitta bread circles, and a big bowl of hummus with different toppings. My favorite is mushrooms and beef) you rip the pita w ur hands and scoop the shit up like indian food. Delicious.
   
8. There is no woke in israel. Men and women embrace their slightly modified gender roles and thats it. Women are highly educated and firey but still want to get married and have kids. Men do their best to provide and be manly and be good fathers. Gay people are accepted. There are trans people but like it was in the 90s where theres not this massive narrative and culture around it. Its a more old school society. The language has male and female nouns so all the pronoun shit makes no fuckin sense, could never take off in israel. The orthodox stick to themselves so their hatred of lgbtq stuff is remains in their little corners of the country.
   
9. Israelis are EXTREMELY proud. If youre not with us youre against us type of mentality. Debate is nearly impossible w average israeli because they will assume your position off your first sentence and never budge. EG "I think in the 67 war israel attacked preemptively because-" "Aaaah you support the arabs yalla go, go to gaza if hate israel so much *spits on the ground" They do not take criticism well, any negative point will be seen as an attack, i believe this is because there is no percieved upside to making concessions especially when their experience is that criticism on the arab side does nothing, but criticism on the israeli side can cause loss of military budgets and shit, like real repercussions.
   
10. You will see at night, especially on weekends, bags of food left out on the street, on bus benches, on electronic boxes, why? Better some homeless dude eat these stale baguettes than we just throw them out right? This is common, but no matter how drunk you are, dont eat that shit dawg.
    
11. In the USA you walk around and be like "oh look a squirrel" a few times a day. In israel it is like that with feral cats. I hate them, i have been attacked by them, i think theyre nasty af but some people like them and feed them and shit.
    
12. Everyone still smokes cigarettes everywhere.
    

I didnt write this to shit on israel, i lived there for 5 years, i just wanted to set a reasonable expectation for a westerner whos never been there.
Edit: i think i only gave negative shit so heres the positive bits.

1. The weather is almost always amazing.
2. Some of the best beaches in the world.
3. Theres no politeness but there is genuine care. When ur car breaks down someone will stop and help. They wont hold a door for you but if ur getting attacked someone will step up for u.
4. The quality of all the food, especially produce and meat, is just way higher than the US. Probably because they produce a lot domestically.
5. Because standard of living is lower, people care way more about just being surrounded by people they love, having a fun time, partying, etc. there is a general sense of belonging and identity that i havent experienced in the states.
6. The men are jacked and the women are beautiful.
7. Free healthcare.

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
-I am a 17 year old male from England and I’m currently studying philosophy, sociology and ancient history at college.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
-I was diagnosed with autism at age 12.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
-I am an only child and lived in a secular family consisting of just me, my mum and my dad. Both of them were very laid back regarding discipline. One thing that could be said is that they gave me too much unconditional love, especially my mother. This, in turn, resulted in them not really teaching me important life skills and independence for fear of putting me in harms way. Thus, in the past 2 years I’ve had a bit of an awaking and have become hyper independent to remedy the lack of life skills and lessons taught during my early childhood.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
-My ideal employment, realistically, would be a teacher. I really like the idea of taking on a task and being able to enforce original methods to attain the best possible results. That process is the general principle behind a lot of my interests and teaching is a job where it is present.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
-I Would feel refreshed. I get really tired when I’m around people. I think that may come from the fact that I tend to put on an act when I’m interacting with others in order to make them like me. This is a favourable result as the more people you are on good terms with, the more likely they are to be a potential asset to your life as opposed to a possible hinderance.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
-I enjoy topics that are synthesised with progressing my main goal(s). For example, I enjoy learning about mbti because it is a component of my main goal to understand myself and thus can help me achieve happiness more effectively as I believe this is the main assignment of life.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
-I would consider my pursuits of curiosity to be loosely filtered through what may be useful to attaining a personal goal and I don’t often get carried away with ideas that have no overall importance to it. I say loosely because I can’t be certain what will be of importance to my pursuits, so for this reason I sometimes stray a from things that I know will be personally beneficial in the long term for things that could be useful, by virtue of the interconnectedness of everything.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
-I would really like to take on a leadership position. I think I would be good at figuring out solutions and assigning them to people based on an overall objective. However I do not think I’d be very good at leadership in practice. This is because I’m not very quick at making decisions. Thus, my leadership style would be less about leadership and more being a personal adviser to members of a team to ensure they are all going in the same direction.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
-I don’t feel as though I’m very physically coordinated. I often have to focus on my environment and my movement at the expense of deeper thought. I’ve never really resonated with the popular notion that walks are therapeutic and thought provoking. For me, they are stressful and prohibit any other thoughts than the ones related to keeping my movement and environment in check.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
-I enjoy art that operates under the pretence that art is a language. I like art that communicates meaning. The reason why I like this type of art at all when it just seems like, if communication is the primary source of my investment, I should just focus on objective language rather than something as convoluted and prone to misinterpretation as art. To this I say, art elicits emotion and creates an immediate reason to care about the message. Thus, making the point carry to greater extent.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
-Most of my time is devoted to figuring out how to get to a desirable destination in the future. By the same token, the present is also very important to me as it is paramount to the aforementioned goal. The past is the timeframe I spend the least time thinking about when I’m happy. It’s not that I don’t consciously recognise it’s value in being a possible example for the future, it’s just not something I have a propensity to think about. I really only dwell on the past when I’m feeling down.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
-My main reason for helping someone echoes an above mentioned sentiment. I would really only help someone to build good will with them, because it lowers the chances they will be a destructive force in your life. Moreover, they are indebted to you for a time which is always handy.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
-The primary system of logic I use is what has utility to achieving a goal. I’m not too bothered about logic for logics sake. I don’t live in the details of subjects and thus don’t care about the underlying logic, just what has the most personal utility.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
-They are both really important to me. I like to see results. I always feel unfulfilled by the notion; I probably could achieve x and therefore there’s no point in doing y. I might switch to this mindset if I’m burned out as a coping mechanism for me not being able to express my desire to be productive. But that just emphasises it’s importance to me if I’m willing to change my beliefs to avoid the sadness brought about by unproductivity.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
-I control others implicitly by acting overly polite and sometimes resort to people pleasing to gain favour with them. This helps with the fact that I’m pretty dependent on what others think of me and their perceptions of me often supersede or coexist with my own beliefs and observations about myself, even if I can logically reason reason them to be erroneous judgements.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
-As mentioned in the desired career question, I enjoy hobbies that revolve around implementing original strategies to attain a desirable outcome. Because of this, I enjoy strategy games such total war and chess. once again, as mentioned previously another reason why I enjoy some hobbies is because they contribute to a larger goal. Such as my interest for mbti because, it allows me to understand myself, so I know how best to attain happiness and in turn, fulfil what I consider to be the primary objective of life in its most general form.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?

• I get along fine with the typical learning environment of a classroom lecture. So long as the teacher is charismatic I can let my mind put on a stage performance of what’s being said and I tend to remember those quite well as my it forces me to filter everything through my own perceptions which results in personal meaning being attached to them and thus increases the likelihood I’ll remember the content of the lesson. However, I dislike when you are made to do an abundance of preselected and linear worksheets. I just like making notes with loads of arrows connecting everything. This helps me remember stuff because it displays how it’s all relevant to a bigger concept and doesn’t allow for stuff that isn’t connected to be written down so it filters out unimportant stuff.

• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
-I prefer to have a plan before action. I like to feel as though most things have been decided beforehand and I’m just reading off a to do list written by past me.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
-My professional aspirations are a means to an end. I want to get a job that I enjoy, is stable and provides an income, in the hope that I can stop thinking so much about it and can focus on the more personal aspects of life. Like figuring out how best to achieve happiness after I’ve stabilised my external life.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
-I really fear upsetting people. Partly because I’m scared of how they will react. Especially in ways that could de-stabilise my life. Moreover, as I mentioned previously, I unfortunately have a propensity to need gratification from others and if I upset people I might begin to feel insecure in myself. A lot of what I do can be chalked up to an attempt to attain the admiration of others. I also fear not being able to make my plans and goals come into fruition.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
-The highs in my life often involve a dedication to a goal that gets me up every day. I’ll constantly be excited to get one step closer to achieving it. The goal when I’m happy revolves around a more thought out desire for the long term. Furthermore, this is accompanied by a disregard for the appearance of things. In these times I just focus on the character of things and perceive things through a lenses of principles and ideas. Moreover, the type of gratification I seek revolves around my capacity to think.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
-By contrast, my lows are aimless at best and destructive at worst. When Im considering the future in these moments I tend to forget about happiness and in turn have a bleak outlook on the future. This leads me to being generally quite unproductive. My gratification seeking becomes much more shallow aswell. It tends to revolve more around appearance and wanting others to view me as attractive. As a result of this I developed anorexia as a byproduct of trying to look more attractive in a period of stress. Moreover, it gave me something to control as I feel an excessive need to do this when I’m stressed.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
-I do daydream, Though not as much as I used to. When I daydream it’s usually to test how something I wish to do might go if I were to do it.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
-I would consider the main reason for my beliefs again and make updates to it that would eventually trickle down to actionable changes. If I didn’t manage to find any faults in my beliefs and principles of conduct I would keep my goal the same and think about things I could do to achieve it.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
-It usually takes me a little while to come to a decision, particularly if it has long term consequences, as I like to look at the external factors and see if they would suit me internally and/or if it would be beneficial to me in the future. Once I’ve come to a decision on a matter, ideologically I think it is best to stick to it because you can maximise the benefits that a particular path can provide. However, if the evidence changes and it contradicts the original reason for making the decision I will change my mind.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
-It usually takes me a while to figure out my emotions. They often appear feint and undefined even though I know there’s something there. When I felt really down for months I couldn’t seem to validate my own emotions. To remedy this I tried to keep a journal collecting statistics including whether I cried, how many times? For how long? Have you self harmed in any way? this created a picture from which I could derive a conclusion. However, I have recently begun to value emotions much more than I did. Previously, I would’ve consciously neglected them. However, ever since I developed anorexia and had a really long period of time where I felt negative emotions I realise how powerful they are and how they must be utilised in your favour otherwise life wouldn’t be worth living.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
-This is something I do quite often with people I’m not acquainted with, as I value the utility of a social connection more than convincing a few people of my beliefs. However, it happens less with people who I know well enough to comfortably make the assertion that an ideological disagreement wouldn’t jeopardise the relationship.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
-I avoid rule breaking that could lead to excessive repercussions. Since I purvey my conduct with the main intention of long term personal fulfilment some consequences that impede this mean that I generally obey rules. However if the consequences are avoidable and/or inconsequential I have no problem breaking those rules. Like cheating in exams for example.

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
-I am a 17 year old male from England and I’m currently studying philosophy, sociology and ancient history at college.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
-I was diagnosed with autism at age 12.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
-I am an only child and lived in a secular family consisting of just me, my mum and my dad. Both of them were very laid back regarding discipline. One thing that could be said is that they gave me too much unconditional love, especially my mother. This, in turn, resulted in them not really teaching me important life skills and independence for fear of putting me in harms way. Thus, in the past 2 years I’ve had a bit of an awaking and have become hyper independent to remedy the lack of life skills and lessons taught during my early childhood.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
-My ideal employment, realistically, would be a teacher. I really like the idea of taking on a task and being able to enforce original methods to attain the best possible results. That process is the general principle behind a lot of my interests and teaching is a job where it is present.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
-I Would feel refreshed. I get really tired when I’m around people. I think that may come from the fact that I tend to put on an act when I’m interacting with others in order to make them like me. This is a favourable result as the more people you are on good terms with, the more likely they are to be a potential asset to your life as opposed to a possible hinderance.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
-I enjoy topics that are synthesised with progressing my main goal(s). For example, I enjoy learning about mbti because it is a component of my main goal to understand myself and thus can help me achieve happiness more effectively as I believe this is the main assignment of life.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
-I would consider my pursuits of curiosity to be loosely filtered through what may be useful to attaining a personal goal and I don’t often get carried away with ideas that have no overall importance to it. I say loosely because I can’t be certain what will be of importance to my pursuits, so for this reason I sometimes stray a from things that I know will be personally beneficial in the long term for things that could be useful, by virtue of the interconnectedness of everything.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
-I would really like to take on a leadership position. I think I would be good at figuring out solutions and assigning them to people based on an overall objective. However I do not think I’d be very good at leadership in practice. This is because I’m not very quick at making decisions. Thus, my leadership style would be less about leadership and more being a personal adviser to members of a team to ensure they are all going in the same direction.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
-I don’t feel as though I’m very physically coordinated. I often have to focus on my environment and my movement at the expense of deeper thought. I’ve never really resonated with the popular notion that walks are therapeutic and thought provoking. For me, they are stressful and prohibit any other thoughts than the ones related to keeping my movement and environment in check.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
-I enjoy art that operates under the pretence that art is a language. I like art that communicates meaning. The reason why I like this type of art at all when it just seems like, if communication is the primary source of my investment, I should just focus on objective language rather than something as convoluted and prone to misinterpretation as art. To this I say, art elicits emotion and creates an immediate reason to care about the message. Thus, making the point carry to greater extent.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
-Most of my time is devoted to figuring out how to get to a desirable destination in the future. By the same token, the present is also very important to me as it is paramount to the aforementioned goal. The past is the timeframe I spend the least time thinking about when I’m happy. It’s not that I don’t consciously recognise it’s value in being a possible example for the future, it’s just not something I have a propensity to think about. I really only dwell on the past when I’m feeling down.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
-My main reason for helping someone echoes an above mentioned sentiment. I would really only help someone to build good will with them, because it lowers the chances they will be a destructive force in your life. Moreover, they are indebted to you for a time which is always handy.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
-The primary system of logic I use is what has utility to achieving a goal. I’m not too bothered about logic for logics sake. I don’t live in the details of subjects and thus don’t care about the underlying logic, just what has the most personal utility.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
-They are both really important to me. I like to see results. I always feel unfulfilled by the notion; I probably could achieve x and therefore there’s no point in doing y. I might switch to this mindset if I’m burned out as a coping mechanism for me not being able to express my desire to be productive. But that just emphasises it’s importance to me if I’m willing to change my beliefs to avoid the sadness brought about by unproductivity.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
-I control others implicitly by acting overly polite and sometimes resort to people pleasing to gain favour with them. This helps with the fact that I’m pretty dependent on what others think of me and their perceptions of me often supersede or coexist with my own beliefs and observations about myself, even if I can logically reason reason them to be erroneous judgements.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
-As mentioned in the desired career question, I enjoy hobbies that revolve around implementing original strategies to attain a desirable outcome. Because of this, I enjoy strategy games such total war and chess. once again, as mentioned previously another reason why I enjoy some hobbies is because they contribute to a larger goal. Such as my interest for mbti because, it allows me to understand myself, so I know how best to attain happiness and in turn, fulfil what I consider to be the primary objective of life in its most general form.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?

• I get along fine with the typical learning environment of a classroom lecture. So long as the teacher is charismatic I can let my mind put on a stage performance of what’s being said and I tend to remember those quite well as my it forces me to filter everything through my own perceptions which results in personal meaning being attached to them and thus increases the likelihood I’ll remember the content of the lesson. However, I dislike when you are made to do an abundance of preselected and linear worksheets. I just like making notes with loads of arrows connecting everything. This helps me remember stuff because it displays how it’s all relevant to a bigger concept and doesn’t allow for stuff that isn’t connected to be written down so it filters out unimportant stuff.

• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
-I prefer to have a plan before action. I like to feel as though most things have been decided beforehand and I’m just reading off a to do list written by past me.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
-My professional aspirations are a means to an end. I want to get a job that I enjoy, is stable and provides an income, in the hope that I can stop thinking so much about it and can focus on the more personal aspects of life. Like figuring out how best to achieve happiness after I’ve stabilised my external life.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
-I really fear upsetting people. Partly because I’m scared of how they will react. Especially in ways that could de-stabilise my life. Moreover, as I mentioned previously, I unfortunately have a propensity to need gratification from others and if I upset people I might begin to feel insecure in myself. A lot of what I do can be chalked up to an attempt to attain the admiration of others. I also fear not being able to make my plans and goals come into fruition.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
-The highs in my life often involve a dedication to a goal that gets me up every day. I’ll constantly be excited to get one step closer to achieving it. The goal when I’m happy revolves around a more thought out desire for the long term. Furthermore, this is accompanied by a disregard for the appearance of things. In these times I just focus on the character of things and perceive things through a lenses of principles and ideas. Moreover, the type of gratification I seek revolves around my capacity to think.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
-By contrast, my lows are aimless at best and destructive at worst. When Im considering the future in these moments I tend to forget about happiness and in turn have a bleak outlook on the future. This leads me to being generally quite unproductive. My gratification seeking becomes much more shallow aswell. It tends to revolve more around appearance and wanting others to view me as attractive. As a result of this I developed anorexia as a byproduct of trying to look more attractive in a period of stress. Moreover, it gave me something to control as I feel an excessive need to do this when I’m stressed.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
-I do daydream, Though not as much as I used to. When I daydream it’s usually to test how something I wish to do might go if I were to do it.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
-I would consider the main reason for my beliefs again and make updates to it that would eventually trickle down to actionable changes. If I didn’t manage to find any faults in my beliefs and principles of conduct I would keep my goal the same and think about things I could do to achieve it.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
-It usually takes me a little while to come to a decision, particularly if it has long term consequences, as I like to look at the external factors and see if they would suit me internally and/or if it would be beneficial to me in the future. Once I’ve come to a decision on a matter, ideologically I think it is best to stick to it because you can maximise the benefits that a particular path can provide. However, if the evidence changes and it contradicts the original reason for making the decision I will change my mind.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
-It usually takes me a while to figure out my emotions. They often appear feint and undefined even though I know there’s something there. When I felt really down for months I couldn’t seem to validate my own emotions. To remedy this I tried to keep a journal collecting statistics including whether I cried, how many times? For how long? Have you self harmed in any way? this created a picture from which I could derive a conclusion. However, I have recently begun to value emotions much more than I did. Previously, I would’ve consciously neglected them. However, ever since I developed anorexia and had a really long period of time where I felt negative emotions I realise how powerful they are and how they must be utilised in your favour otherwise life wouldn’t be worth living.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
-This is something I do quite often with people I’m not acquainted with, as I value the utility of a social connection more than convincing a few people of my beliefs. However, it happens less with people who I know well enough to comfortably make the assertion that an ideological disagreement wouldn’t jeopardise the relationship.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
-I avoid rule breaking that could lead to excessive repercussions. Since I purvey my conduct with the main intention of long term personal fulfilment some consequences that impede this mean that I generally obey rules. However if the consequences are avoidable and/or inconsequential I have no problem breaking those rules. Like cheating in exams for example.

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
-I am a 17 year old male from England and I’m currently studying philosophy, sociology and ancient history at college.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
-I was diagnosed with autism at age 12.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
-I am an only child and lived in a secular family consisting of just me, my mum and my dad. Both of them were very laid back regarding discipline. One thing that could be said is that they gave me too much unconditional love, especially my mother. This, in turn, resulted in them not really teaching me important life skills and independence for fear of putting me in harms way. Thus, in the past 2 years I’ve had a bit of an awaking and have become hyper independent to remedy the lack of life skills and lessons taught during my early childhood.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
-My ideal employment, realistically, would be a teacher. I really like the idea of taking on a task and being able to enforce original methods to attain the best possible results. That process is the general principle behind a lot of my interests and teaching is a job where it is present.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
-I Would feel refreshed. I get really tired when I’m around people. I think that may come from the fact that I tend to put on an act when I’m interacting with others in order to make them like me. This is a favourable result as the more people you are on good terms with, the more likely they are to be a potential asset to your life as opposed to a possible hinderance.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
-I enjoy topics that are synthesised with progressing my main goal(s). For example, I enjoy learning about mbti because it is a component of my main goal to understand myself and thus can help me achieve happiness more effectively as I believe this is the main assignment of life.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
-I would consider my pursuits of curiosity to be loosely filtered through what may be useful to attaining a personal goal and I don’t often get carried away with ideas that have no overall importance to it. I say loosely because I can’t be certain what will be of importance to my pursuits, so for this reason I sometimes stray a from things that I know will be personally beneficial in the long term for things that could be useful, by virtue of the interconnectedness of everything.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
-I would really like to take on a leadership position. I think I would be good at figuring out solutions and assigning them to people based on an overall objective. However I do not think I’d be very good at leadership in practice. This is because I’m not very quick at making decisions. Thus, my leadership style would be less about leadership and more being a personal adviser to members of a team to ensure they are all going in the same direction.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
-I don’t feel as though I’m very physically coordinated. I often have to focus on my environment and my movement at the expense of deeper thought. I’ve never really resonated with the popular notion that walks are therapeutic and thought provoking. For me, they are stressful and prohibit any other thoughts than the ones related to keeping my movement and environment in check.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
-I enjoy art that operates under the pretence that art is a language. I like art that communicates meaning. The reason why I like this type of art at all when it just seems like, if communication is the primary source of my investment, I should just focus on objective language rather than something as convoluted and prone to misinterpretation as art. To this I say, art elicits emotion and creates an immediate reason to care about the message. Thus, making the point carry to greater extent.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
-Most of my time is devoted to figuring out how to get to a desirable destination in the future. By the same token, the present is also very important to me as it is paramount to the aforementioned goal. The past is the timeframe I spend the least time thinking about when I’m happy. It’s not that I don’t consciously recognise it’s value in being a possible example for the future, it’s just not something I have a propensity to think about. I really only dwell on the past when I’m feeling down.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
-My main reason for helping someone echoes an above mentioned sentiment. I would really only help someone to build good will with them, because it lowers the chances they will be a destructive force in your life. Moreover, they are indebted to you for a time which is always handy.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
-The primary system of logic I use is what has utility to achieving a goal. I’m not too bothered about logic for logics sake. I don’t live in the details of subjects and thus don’t care about the underlying logic, just what has the most personal utility.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
-They are both really important to me. I like to see results. I always feel unfulfilled by the notion; I probably could achieve x and therefore there’s no point in doing y. I might switch to this mindset if I’m burned out as a coping mechanism for me not being able to express my desire to be productive. But that just emphasises it’s importance to me if I’m willing to change my beliefs to avoid the sadness brought about by unproductivity.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
-I control others implicitly by acting overly polite and sometimes resort to people pleasing to gain favour with them. This helps with the fact that I’m pretty dependent on what others think of me and their perceptions of me often supersede or coexist with my own beliefs and observations about myself, even if I can logically reason reason them to be erroneous judgements.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
-As mentioned in the desired career question, I enjoy hobbies that revolve around implementing original strategies to attain a desirable outcome. Because of this, I enjoy strategy games such total war and chess. once again, as mentioned previously another reason why I enjoy some hobbies is because they contribute to a larger goal. Such as my interest for mbti because, it allows me to understand myself, so I know how best to attain happiness and in turn, fulfil what I consider to be the primary objective of life in its most general form.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?

• I get along fine with the typical learning environment of a classroom lecture. So long as the teacher is charismatic I can let my mind put on a stage performance of what’s being said and I tend to remember those quite well as my it forces me to filter everything through my own perceptions which results in personal meaning being attached to them and thus increases the likelihood I’ll remember the content of the lesson. However, I dislike when you are made to do an abundance of preselected and linear worksheets. I just like making notes with loads of arrows connecting everything. This helps me remember stuff because it displays how it’s all relevant to a bigger concept and doesn’t allow for stuff that isn’t connected to be written down so it filters out unimportant stuff.

• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
-I prefer to have a plan before action. I like to feel as though most things have been decided beforehand and I’m just reading off a to do list written by past me.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
-My professional aspirations are a means to an end. I want to get a job that I enjoy, is stable and provides an income, in the hope that I can stop thinking so much about it and can focus on the more personal aspects of life. Like figuring out how best to achieve happiness after I’ve stabilised my external life.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
-I really fear upsetting people. Partly because I’m scared of how they will react. Especially in ways that could de-stabilise my life. Moreover, as I mentioned previously, I unfortunately have a propensity to need gratification from others and if I upset people I might begin to feel insecure in myself. A lot of what I do can be chalked up to an attempt to attain the admiration of others. I also fear not being able to make my plans and goals come into fruition.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
-The highs in my life often involve a dedication to a goal that gets me up every day. I’ll constantly be excited to get one step closer to achieving it. The goal when I’m happy revolves around a more thought out desire for the long term. Furthermore, this is accompanied by a disregard for the appearance of things. In these times I just focus on the character of things and perceive things through a lenses of principles and ideas. Moreover, the type of gratification I seek revolves around my capacity to think.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
-By contrast, my lows are aimless at best and destructive at worst. When Im considering the future in these moments I tend to forget about happiness and in turn have a bleak outlook on the future. This leads me to being generally quite unproductive. My gratification seeking becomes much more shallow aswell. It tends to revolve more around appearance and wanting others to view me as attractive. As a result of this I developed anorexia as a byproduct of trying to look more attractive in a period of stress. Moreover, it gave me something to control as I feel an excessive need to do this when I’m stressed.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
-I do daydream, Though not as much as I used to. When I daydream it’s usually to test how something I wish to do might go if I were to do it.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
-I would consider the main reason for my beliefs again and make updates to it that would eventually trickle down to actionable changes. If I didn’t manage to find any faults in my beliefs and principles of conduct I would keep my goal the same and think about things I could do to achieve it.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
-It usually takes me a little while to come to a decision, particularly if it has long term consequences, as I like to look at the external factors and see if they would suit me internally and/or if it would be beneficial to me in the future. Once I’ve come to a decision on a matter, ideologically I think it is best to stick to it because you can maximise the benefits that a particular path can provide. However, if the evidence changes and it contradicts the original reason for making the decision I will change my mind.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
-It usually takes me a while to figure out my emotions. They often appear feint and undefined even though I know there’s something there. When I felt really down for months I couldn’t seem to validate my own emotions. To remedy this I tried to keep a journal collecting statistics including whether I cried, how many times? For how long? Have you self harmed in any way? this created a picture from which I could derive a conclusion. However, I have recently begun to value emotions much more than I did. Previously, I would’ve consciously neglected them. However, ever since I developed anorexia and had a really long period of time where I felt negative emotions I realise how powerful they are and how they must be utilised in your favour otherwise life wouldn’t be worth living.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
-This is something I do quite often with people I’m not acquainted with, as I value the utility of a social connection more than convincing a few people of my beliefs. However, it happens less with people who I know well enough to comfortably make the assertion that an ideological disagreement wouldn’t jeopardise the relationship.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
-I avoid rule breaking that could lead to excessive repercussions. Since I purvey my conduct with the main intention of long term personal fulfilment some consequences that impede this mean that I generally obey rules. However if the consequences are avoidable and/or inconsequential I have no problem breaking those rules. Like cheating in exams for example.

• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
-I am a 17 year old male from England and I’m currently studying philosophy, sociology and ancient history at college.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
-I was diagnosed with autism at age 12.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
-I am an only child and lived in a secular family consisting of just me, my mum and my dad. Both of them were very laid back regarding discipline. One thing that could be said is that they gave me too much unconditional love, especially my mother. This, in turn, resulted in them not really teaching me important life skills and independence for fear of putting me in harms way. Thus, in the past 2 years I’ve had a bit of an awaking and have become hyper independent to remedy the lack of life skills and lessons taught during my early childhood.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
-My ideal employment, realistically, would be a teacher. I really like the idea of taking on a task and being able to enforce original methods to attain the best possible results. That process is the general principle behind a lot of my interests and teaching is a job where it is present.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
-I Would feel refreshed. I get really tired when I’m around people. I think that may come from the fact that I tend to put on an act when I’m interacting with others in order to make them like me. This is a favourable result as the more people you are on good terms with, the more likely they are to be a potential asset to your life as opposed to a possible hinderance.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
-I enjoy topics that are synthesised with progressing my main goal(s). For example, I enjoy learning about mbti because it is a component of my main goal to understand myself and thus can help me achieve happiness more effectively as I believe this is the main assignment of life.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
-I would consider my pursuits of curiosity to be loosely filtered through what may be useful to attaining a personal goal and I don’t often get carried away with ideas that have no overall importance to it. I say loosely because I can’t be certain what will be of importance to my pursuits, so for this reason I sometimes stray a from things that I know will be personally beneficial in the long term for things that could be useful, by virtue of the interconnectedness of everything.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
-I would really like to take on a leadership position. I think I would be good at figuring out solutions and assigning them to people based on an overall objective. However I do not think I’d be very good at leadership in practice. This is because I’m not very quick at making decisions. Thus, my leadership style would be less about leadership and more being a personal adviser to members of a team to ensure they are all going in the same direction.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
-I don’t feel as though I’m very physically coordinated. I often have to focus on my environment and my movement at the expense of deeper thought. I’ve never really resonated with the popular notion that walks are therapeutic and thought provoking. For me, they are stressful and prohibit any other thoughts than the ones related to keeping my movement and environment in check.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
-I enjoy art that operates under the pretence that art is a language. I like art that communicates meaning. The reason why I like this type of art at all when it just seems like, if communication is the primary source of my investment, I should just focus on objective language rather than something as convoluted and prone to misinterpretation as art. To this I say, art elicits emotion and creates an immediate reason to care about the message. Thus, making the point carry to greater extent.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
-Most of my time is devoted to figuring out how to get to a desirable destination in the future. By the same token, the present is also very important to me as it is paramount to the aforementioned goal. The past is the timeframe I spend the least time thinking about when I’m happy. It’s not that I don’t consciously recognise it’s value in being a possible example for the future, it’s just not something I have a propensity to think about. I really only dwell on the past when I’m feeling down.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
-My main reason for helping someone echoes an above mentioned sentiment. I would really only help someone to build good will with them, because it lowers the chances they will be a destructive force in your life. Moreover, they are indebted to you for a time which is always handy.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
-The primary system of logic I use is what has utility to achieving a goal. I’m not too bothered about logic for logics sake. I don’t live in the details of subjects and thus don’t care about the underlying logic, just what has the most personal utility.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
-They are both really important to me. I like to see results. I always feel unfulfilled by the notion; I probably could achieve x and therefore there’s no point in doing y. I might switch to this mindset if I’m burned out as a coping mechanism for me not being able to express my desire to be productive. But that just emphasises its importance to me if I’m willing to change my beliefs to avoid the sadness brought about by unproductivity. However, I may procrastinate out of a fear of failure but the task tends to plays on my mind and I don’t find it easy to get distracted from it, even when I’m not doing it.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
-I control others implicitly by acting overly polite and sometimes resort to people pleasing to gain favour with them. This helps with the fact that I’m pretty dependent on what others think of me and their perceptions of me often supersede or coexist with my own beliefs and observations about myself, even if I can logically reason reason them to be erroneous judgements.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
-As mentioned in the desired career question, I enjoy hobbies that revolve around implementing original strategies to attain a desirable outcome. Because of this, I enjoy strategy games such total war and chess. once again, as mentioned previously another reason why I enjoy some hobbies is because they contribute to a larger goal. Such as my interest for mbti because, it allows me to understand myself, so I know how best to attain happiness and in turn, fulfil what I consider to be the primary objective of life in its most general form.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?

• I get along fine with the typical learning environment of a classroom lecture. So long as the teacher is charismatic I can let my mind put on a stage performance of what’s being said and I tend to remember those quite well as my it forces me to filter everything through my own perceptions which results in personal meaning being attached to them and thus increases the likelihood I’ll remember the content of the lesson. However, I dislike when you are made to do an abundance of preselected and linear worksheets. I just like making notes with loads of arrows connecting everything. This helps me remember stuff because it displays how it’s all relevant to a bigger concept and doesn’t allow for stuff that isn’t connected to be written down so it filters out unimportant stuff.

• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
-I prefer to have a plan before action. I like to feel as though most things have been decided beforehand and I’m just reading off a to do list written by past me.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
-My professional aspirations are a means to an end. I want to get a job that I enjoy, is stable and provides an income, in the hope that I can stop thinking so much about it and can focus on the more personal aspects of life. Like figuring out how best to achieve happiness after I’ve stabilised my external life.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
-I really fear upsetting people. Partly because I’m scared of how they will react. Especially in ways that could de-stabilise my life. Moreover, as I mentioned previously, I unfortunately have a propensity to need gratification from others and if I upset people I might begin to feel insecure in myself. A lot of what I do can be chalked up to an attempt to attain the admiration of others. I also fear not being able to make my plans and goals come into fruition.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
-The highs in my life often involve a dedication to a goal that gets me up every day. I’ll constantly be excited to get one step closer to achieving it. The goal when I’m happy revolves around a more thought out desire for the long term. Furthermore, this is accompanied by a disregard for the appearance of things. In these times I just focus on the character of things and perceive things through a lenses of principles and ideas. Moreover, the type of gratification I seek revolves around my capacity to think.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
-By contrast, my lows are aimless at best and destructive at worst. When Im considering the future in these moments I tend to forget about happiness and in turn have a bleak outlook on the future. This leads me to being generally quite unproductive. My gratification seeking becomes much more shallow aswell. It tends to revolve more around appearance and wanting others to view me as attractive. As a result of this I developed anorexia as a byproduct of trying to look more attractive in a period of stress. Moreover, it gave me something to control as I feel an excessive need to do this when I’m stressed.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
-I do daydream, Though not as much as I used to. When I daydream it’s usually to test how something I wish to do might go if I were to do it.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
-I would consider the main reason for my beliefs again and make updates to it that would eventually trickle down to actionable changes. If I didn’t manage to find any faults in my beliefs and principles of conduct I would keep my goal the same and think about things I could do to achieve it.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
-It usually takes me a little while to come to a decision, particularly if it has long term consequences, as I like to look at the external factors and see if they would suit me internally and/or if it would be beneficial to me in the future. Once I’ve come to a decision on a matter, ideologically I think it is best to stick to it because you can maximise the benefits that a particular path can provide. However, if the evidence changes and it contradicts the original reason for making the decision I will change my mind.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
-It usually takes me a while to figure out my emotions. They often appear feint and undefined even though I know there’s something there. When I felt really down for months I couldn’t seem to validate my own emotions. To remedy this I tried to keep a journal collecting statistics including whether I cried, how many times? For how long? Have you self harmed in any way? this created a picture from which I could derive a conclusion. However, I have recently begun to value emotions much more than I did. Previously, I would’ve consciously neglected them. However, ever since I developed anorexia and had a really long period of time where I felt negative emotions I realise how powerful they are and how they must be utilised in your favour otherwise life wouldn’t be worth living.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
-This is something I do quite often with people I’m not acquainted with, as I value the utility of a social connection more than convincing a few people of my beliefs. However, it happens less with people who I know well enough to comfortably make the assertion that an ideological disagreement wouldn’t jeopardise the relationship.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
-I avoid rule breaking that could lead to excessive repercussions. Since I purvey my conduct with the main intention of long term personal fulfilment some consequences that impede this mean that I generally obey rules. However if the consequences are avoidable and/or inconsequential I have no problem breaking those rules. Like cheating in exams for example.

I created a list of some awesome websites that I would like to share with you guys. If you have any other website not listed here, feel free to share with us!

• Cliché Finder (https://www.clichefinder.net/) - A tool that helps writers find and highlight cliches in their writing, giving them replacement options for weaker words
• Describing Words (https://describingwords.io/) - A tool that helps writers find the right adjectives to describe a noun
• Descriptionari (https://www.descriptionari.com/) - A place where writers can discover and share inspirational writing and amazing descriptions based on a keyword
• Fiction University (http://blog.janicehardy.com/) - A place full of blogs to help develop writing skills and ways to build a solid foundation for writing
• Helping Writers Become Authors (https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/) - A site full of writing references ranging from outlining and structuring to characterization and dialogue
• Insecure Writers Support Group (https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/) - A place where insecure writers can find guidance and motivation on writing, publishing, and marketing
• One Stop for Writers (https://onestopforwriters.com/) - A site full of worksheets, templates, generators, and the largest show-don't-tell descriptive database
• OneLook Thesaurus (https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/) - A brainstorming tool that helps writers find words and phrases such as synonyms, related words, adjectives, rhymes, along with an advanced reverse dictionary search function
• QueryTracker (https://querytracker.net/) - A tool that helps writers find literary agents and publishers ideal for their book
• Related Words (https://relatedwords.io/) - A tool that helps writers find words that are related to a specific topic
• RhymeZone (https://www.rhymezone.com/) - An advanced tool that helps writers find rhymes, near rhymes, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and more
• Tip of My Tongue (https://chir.ag/projects/tip-of-my-tongue/ or https://tipofmytongue.io/) - A lifesaving word-finder tool that helps writers find the word that they have forgotten the name
• Word Counter (https://wordcounter.net/) - A tool that helps writers count the number of words they've used and which ones are used the most often
• Writers Write (https://www.writerswrite.com/research/resources/) - A collection of references and resources that help writers in researching a topic
• Writing Realistic Injuries (http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/\~leiafee/ramblings/realistic\_injuries.htm) - A page dedicated on helping writers write realistic injuries with post-traumatic symptoms

Version #1
A big thank you to TheLastKanamit and corr-morrant for your feedback on the first attempt. And also a thanks to the mods that told me to kick rocks when it was still too damn long. You're right, this is better now.
I tried to keep the overarching narrative at the forefront by de-emphasizing one of the POVs and hopefully parsed down the amount of proper nouns to keep it accessible. It's still long though and I'm torn between accepting that and struggling to find the kernel for a more succinct re-write. Appreciate any and all thoughts on it.
CW: Suicide & Violence Against Children
Dear [AGENT]
I’m looking for representation for SAUDADE, my adult dark fantasy novel that is complete at 130,000 words. SAUDADE is a dual-POV novel rooted in the legends and folk magic of the Lusophone diaspora set in a secondary world inspired by the Azores islands. It blends the culturally situated magic and action of John Gwynne’s THE HUNGER OF THE GODS and an ensemble navigating the complexities of family found and fought for in S.A. Chakraborty’s THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI.
When the Helltides, the ocean surrounding the island of Costa de Carvao, spit up a child’s body onto the shore, Zeca’s first worry was how much of his shift he’ll have to spend cleaning up after the autopsy. He knows how greedy those waters can be. They took his father. His sister handed the ocean her soul and left him to raise his nephew Tero and navigate their mother’s deteriorating health. It would be easier if there were still whales to hunt off the shore, the New Empire’s pushed them into the deeper water. He could pocket better pay and guarantee his family a pension if he lasted a year fighting for the Empire in its colonies. But he doesn’t have the heart for a harpoon or the selfishness to survive war. So Zeca keeps his head down and mops up messes in the town morgue. The thick basalt-encrusted horns curling off his brow, vestiges of Tidekin ancestors like most islanders, make that easier.
But when the Empire and its church move quickly to hide the child’s brined corpse Zeca has to decide if he’s willing to stick his neck out and help the town’s pathologist perform a clandestine autopsy.
Zeca realizes the corpse is a vault meant to lock away the sins of the island's past and with it the history of the Empire’s founding. Cracking it open could reign in the Helltides and bring the whales back to the shores. But the dead, like the water, are greedy and their secrets come at a cost. Zeca has to decide how much he’s willing to risk the ire of the island’s imperial powers to save the waters that have robbed him of so much already.
As the son of Azorean immigrants to New England, I stayed up too late watching Tales From the Crypt waiting for my dad to come home from a twelve hour shifts and reading Oliver Twist with enough cynicism to not trust Mr. Sowerberry to do the right thing. I’ve been an educator for twelve years, as an ethnic studies teacher, administrator, and now as an equity and leadership coach. SAUDADE would be my debut novel. My parent’s will hate it.
Thank you for taking your time to read this far.