The Balance - A Philosophy by Rennek Cor

The Balance is a philosophy which explores the universe and its forces. It is not a religion, one should not think of The Balance as a path to follow, but rather a means to question the map. This book is a collection of quotes or suggestions that those guided by The Balance have considered. One should look upon these not as an answer to a question, but perhaps instead, the question themselves. The balance does not have clerics, it has scholars, it preaches no deity, nor does it belittle ones beliefs, it simply asks one to consider their chosen path.

The Balance is a philosophy that was developed by Rennek Cor and Zansatsu Sontebran, a surgeon and former cleric respectively. They ask that you read the considerations made and draw your own conclusions, for the adventure lies in trying to find the one true answer, if indeed one exists, and not believing that which is taught by those who have made their own conclusions.

The philosophy covers a number of area’s but is built on the 5 balanced forces. Creation & Destruction, Order & Chaos , Love & Hate, War & Peace and Choice & Fate. One shouldn’t look at each of these forces as two separate powers, but indeed, two extremes of one power. For instance, one does not just love or hate, one can like, dislike or be indifferent to something. These all fall on the line between Love & Hate.

Use this book as a stepping stone to finding the answers you seek, do not follow the beliefs herein blindly, question each and reach your own conclusions. Discuss these conclusions with others, so that they may be questioned too. When there are no more new questions, there are only answers.


1.1 Medicine does not upset the balance. One creates medicines to counteract the destructive force of ailments. When diseases are stopped, one no longer needs to create medicines; therefore both forces are at balance. Medicine’s effect on the strengths of man however, is another debate entirely. – Rennek Cor

1.2 Without destruction, life would saturate and creation would cease. - Zansatsu Sontebran

1.3 Art is true evidence of what man can do through both creation and the control of the natural instinct to destroy. - Rennek Cor

1.4 Destruction is required for creation. Does not every seed destroy the vessel that encapsulates it? - Zansatsu Sontebran

1.5 One’s stubborn insistence to, at all costs, preserve life, is in fact that which ultimately causes it’s destruction. - Rennek Cor

1.6 A faction or force that has been utterly destroyed can never again come to power. That is like bringing what is truly dead back to life. - Rennek Cor


2.1 If there were no Chaos and Order, there would be no requirement for skill. – Rennek Cor

2.2 And how could one have Order without Chaos? Does a boat not need wind to ensure it sails true? - Zansatsu Sontebran

2.3 One sometimes incorrectly considers Chaos to be the negative to Order’s positive. While in some cases this is true, in others it is not. Emotions are subjects of chaos, logic being it’s Order counterpart. One should base scientific decisions on Logic, but affairs of the heart and morality? Those are of emotion. – Rennek Cor

2.4 The best students embrace both Discipline and Enthusiasm, a balance of Chaos & Order. – Rennek Cor

2.5 There is certainly irony in the fact that should you forget all you have learned, the chaos of your mind would ultimately bring order to your life. - Rennek Cor



3.1 Your sexuality is not part of the balance. Love & Hate are forces and as such, asexual. Love, or indeed hate, whomever you like – Rennek Cor

3.2 Love and Hate are both needed, in no small part, in all relationships. One cannot love everything about someone, for without the things they hate, those feelings of Love would soon become the norm, and thus dwindle. Relationships, to last, require both peaks and troughs in emotion. – Rennek Cor

3.3 I think, that most acts of hatred, are born of love. - Zansatsu Sontebran

3.4 Is the opposite of love hate? I think perhaps not, for hate is born of love. Indifference however, can have a sharper blade than hate. - Zansatsu Sontebran


4.1 I cannot help but believe that as long as choice is free and opinions are subjective, one will never truly negate war or peace. - Zansatsu Sontebran

4.2 War can just as easily be of the mind, as if can of the fist. – Rennek Cor

4.3 Societies fondness of soldiers should be equally shared with fathers. Soldiers are tools of destruction whereas fathers are tools of creation. A father who fights for his convictions is perhaps the most balanced of men. - Rennek Cor

4.4 Never should one chose to be at war for something he doesnt wish to rebuild later. - Zansatsu Sontebran


5.1 When one thinks of Choice and Fate, one should think of a road with many junctions. The junctions are choice, a choice to be made which ultimate lead you on a path, long or short, pre destined by your actions and decisions until the next junction arrives. Those roads are fate. Without the road, one could not reach the junctions of life, and without the junctions, life becomes a mere path from life to death. – Zansatsu Sontebran

5.2 It is choice that determines your fate, not the other way around - Rennek Cor

5.3 Many beings confuse bad choices with bad luck - Rennek Cor


5.4 It doesn’t matter if fate deals you a bad hand, remember that the next junction of choice is never far away. - Zansatsu Sontebran


6.1 There are no absolutes. – Rennek Cor

6.2 How can a force exist without its reactive force? Absolute order for instance would negate chaos’s existence and without its immediate opposite, one cannot define a force, for it just is. Therefore when praying for Order, one should also, in effect, pray for chaos too. – Zansatsu Sontebran

6.3 Absolutes in their very nature are not possible. If one saw absolute darkness, one would have no frame of reference for light. One could call it dark, but the very definition of darkness would change from one of scale, to one of statement. It is no longer darkness, it just is as the world is. Therefore it is oneness, centre of the scales. – Rennek Cor

6.4 The balance is not two competing forces, but opposite poles of the same force. – Rennek Cor


7.1 Good & Evil are not of the Balance. Perceptions of Good & Evil differ from morality standpoints and therefore are fluid in nature, rather than linear. One cannot be absolutely evil, when one believes it is for the greater good. - Rennek Cor

7.2 Only by being absolute would no morality exist. Think of a glass jar with half red stones (the “right” choice) in, the other half blue stones (the “wrong” choice). They are in equilibrium, as both stones are present. However, if you fill the glass completely with red stones, no blues would fit. This would fundamentally take away the choice between the two, rendering the difference obsolete, as you only have 1 choice, red stones. – Rennek Cor

7.3 Morality is man-made. A man left on his own to grow will not develop morals. He will hunt to eat. He will mate to reproduce. There is no question or need for morality, only necessity. - Zansatsu Sontebran

7.4 Who has the better morals? The assassin who kills to feed his family, or the judge who repels charity? One cannot pass moral opinion over a situation one does not fully understand or have the details of. - Zansatsu Sontebran


8.1 No, not all beings are equal. Some are stronger, others taller and others smarter. One should ensure, however, that each being is given to opportunity to show they hold attributes, as the rules of equality also apply within individual races and genders. - Zansatsu Sontebran


9.1 Have faith in your own conclusions, not someone else’s – Rennek Cor

9.2 Faith in something you haven’t questioned is as close minded as ignorant atheism. – Rennek Cor

9.3 Faith is not proof. A conversation with an insane man will show you this. - Zansatsu Sontebran

9.4 Believe what you like, just not what others tell you to. - Rennek Cor

9.5 Do not use faith as a reason to blind you to the truth.That is not faith, it is ignorance. - Rennek Cor


10.1 Yes “God” exists. Ultimately though, it depends on your definition of “God”. I can believe “God” is the overarching name for the cumulative forces, but, I think perhaps, it is an error to believe “God” is a sentient being. - Zansatsu Sontebran

10.2 Another name for God is perhaps Nature? – Rennek Cor

10.3 A god can only bring you happiness through ignorance of your situation - Zansatsu Sontebran

10.4 In my experience, men dying in the name of their god are fools who do not truly understand what their god wants. - Zansatsu Sontebran


11.1 Crime & Punishment is man-made and a question of Law. One should not involve nature with Law. - Zansatsu Sontebran

11.2 If peoples decisions are purely based on fear of punishment, and punishment rests on laws built under morality, one should not recognise the punishment befallen them for something they believed was the right thing to do - Rennek Cor

11.3 Punishment is not a cure for crime. At least, no more so than hate is a cure for love, or charity is a cure for poverty. - Zansatsu Zontebran

11.4 Man’s greatest punishment is morality. - Rennek Cor


12.1 The Force is very much of the balance. It’s very name encapsulates the fundamental essence of The Balance’s teachings. To refer to it as “The” Force, however, is perhaps a little arrogant? - Zansatsu Sontebran

12.2 The Force shows in it’s teachings that it embraces The Balance. That there is a Light and Dark side shows the two degrees at work, at balance. - Rennek Cor

12.3 It amuses me that one considers the Dark side as evil, or bad. I do not think it is a fair description at all. Without dark, there would be no light. Some may even say it easier to see how bright the light is when standing in the darkness. - Zansatsu Sontebran

12.4 A Jedi or a Sith? Why should the choice be so black or white? Can a man not just be a man? - Rennek Cor

12.5 One could very easily describe a man who makes a decision based on emotion as a hero. Except, of course, in matters of Jedi and Sith! - Rennek Cor

12.6 No, I wouldn’t describe The Force as magic or divine. It is no different than comparing a blind man to one with sight, or a sprinter to a long distance runner. - Zansatsu Sontebran


13.1 I believe that true contentment comes not from getting everything you ever wanted, but being happy in spite of their absence. - Rennek Cor