The Eight Virtues (of Ultima)

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Nefastos
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Joined: Mon May 24, 2010 10:05 am
Location: Helsinki

The Eight Virtues (of Ultima)

Post by Nefastos »

Has anyone come across the Eight Virtues system of the old Ultima video roleplaying games? I haven't played those as much I'd like, but whenever I see this system, I am in awe by its brilliance. Is it based on a real life model? If so, that escapes me.

Since I am a lover of schematic systems that help and not hinder creativity, this multidimensional system of virtues really electrifies me. It presents the three basic virtues of Truth (compare to manas and truthfulness), Love (compare to buddhi) and Courage (compare to âtma and personal effort), and from their unions deduces three combined virtues of Justice (Truth & Love), Sacrifice (Love & Courage), and Honour (Courage & Truth). The three virtues together stand for Spirituality, whose seeming opposite but actual composite virtue is (tantric) Humility.

From Truth comes Honesty.
From Love comes Compassion.
From Courage comes Valour.
Truth and Love combined create Justice.
Love and Courage combined create Sacrifice.
Courage and Truth combined create Honour.
From Truth, Love, and Courage comes Spirituality.
Pride is caused by the absence of the Three Principles, the opposite of Pride is Humility.


A diagram
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Faust: "Lo contempla. / Ei muove in tortuosa spire / e s'avvicina lento alla nostra volta. / Oh! se non erro, / orme di foco imprime al suol!"
obnoxion
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Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 7:59 pm

Re: The Eight Virtues (of Ultima)

Post by obnoxion »

Very appealing schema. I think this is an enlightening context to assess the virtuosity of humility and courage. These two are, I feel, especially misunderstood virtues in our times.
One day of Brahma has 14 Indras; his life has 54 000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Brahma. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva.
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