"Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha was a man, a great teacher, and--of course--an enlightened being. They follow his teachings, they try to emulate him. They do not consider him a god and they do not worship him. Idolatry is not part of Buddhism"
"Buddhism doesn't fit neatly into either category of religion or philosophy. When people asked Buddha what he was teaching, he said he teaches "the way things are." He said nobody should believe his teachings out of faith, but instead they should examine for themselves to see if they are true or not."
Buddhism is more like a philosophy but instead of using just words and idea to form that philosophy, they meditate on it. When we have arguments about philosophy, in the end of the day nothing changes, our ideas and convictions might be a little more formed but in the end we are the same. In Buddhism they realize that philosophy and try to change through meditation.
Enlightenment and Nirvana are concepts and states of being. If you mean that they can meddle with the spirit of the person meditating to mislead them from the right path then you have a point. But that just makes the way longer, it doesn't change the end of the finish line which remains the same. They can't "change" the concept since it has a definitive definition.
Let's see an example.
"You are trying to get an eagle egg on top of a mountain. You climb and climb but before reaching the top you see a nest with an egg inside it. It is fake, a decoy but you don't know and you think you have reached Nirvana. But the real egg still remains on top of the mountain."
"You catch a glimpse, a vision, a sudden realization of how things truly are but that is just a false sense given by the angels and it still doesn't feel right. Upon more mediation you break through that false sense and catch a glimpse of the true way things are, real enlightenment."
If the definitive definition is derived from thoughts or philosophies of purity, I think you'll find they
can change them, or rather, they can make Enlightenment and Nirvana suit their needs.
It sounds to me that enlightenment comes from purity, purity of the mind more than anything. The thing is, your captors are Masters of Purity. Purity of the heart, mind, soul, and purity of the world itself is their domain.
Contrary to my constant comparison to slavery and chains, what happened to the world was a result of nothing more than the taint of desire being completely wiped off of our hearts, achieving whole and complete perfection as a result. That's generally the antagonist's moral ideology on the matter, that the state of the world now is how it should have been upon creation: an untainted world from which all life knows peace, happiness, and prosperity. A way to think of it is to imagine positive energy, Purity made manifest, or "goodwill" if you will, as a radiation, much like Desire was for that cavern. The entire world, nay the universe, is completely enveloped in such radiation.
Essentially speaking, This world has become the Garden of Eden. Again, contrary to how I made it appear to be, this isn't like the Matrix where you take the Red Pill and wake up to see a desolate wasteland in place of the city. By logic of any philosophy that seeks peace, need it be actual or peace of mind, This world IS the end goal they all had in mind, a literal heaven on earth; an absolute peace for the world and the mind. The only problem technically speaking is that this form of Peace is essentially shoved down the world's throat and forcing it to swallow, as oppose to the world and its people "earning" it.
If the focus of meditation is to clear the mind, make it "pure". You'll find the Angels and their leader both have many ways to shape it to their way of thinking, and because of that, they would let it be.
If you feel Nirvana and Enlightenment somehow ascends beyond Purity however, if meditation somehow reaches beyond the concept of purity and desire, and steps into the other foundations of reality itself...somehow, then yes, it goes beyond the jurisdiction of the Angels and is therefore beyond their control. But in that case, the angels and their leader would see such teachings as a threat to their paradise, and completely erase Buddhism from the world the second they learn of it by making the world and possibly the universe never be taught Buddha's philosophy, never practice his teachings, or even simply never teach them about Buddha's existence altogether, pretty much erasing him from memory. Again, whatever free will they have before the awakening is an illusion only serving to amuse them; the Angels can remove that illusion with the snap of their fingers if they felt like it. If they say there is no Buddha, that Buddhism does not exist, the world will believe it and obey.
That being said, however...If you still intend, despite this, to make a buddhist monk, and make him "meditate" to learn the truth through enlightenment...Ok, I DO have an idea of how to make it work, but the downside is that he'll be at a disadvantage compared to everyone else.
@Mercury, I'll have a word with you about your CS a little later. For the most part though, it's good. ^_^
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