Mu: A Scientific Approach to Enlightenment

Origin: scenario "The Space Between" by Scott Dorward

Description

Mu: A Scientific Approach to Enlightenment, fantasy writer Ralph L. Chandler's first mystical work, uniting his interests in pop psychology, self-improvement, biofeedback, and Zen Buddhism into what would soon after become the foundational philosophy of his own cult.

General Published Editions

Language: English (and translations to other languages)

Physical Description: A pop mysticism book in general consumer hardback and trade paperback format, with a colourful illustration depicting the void of space over the front cover (with the title and author's name in dull silver or grey lettering), wrapping around the spine (also with the title and author's name in dull silver or grey lettering), to the back cover, which includes a blurb selling the text's self-improvement benefits for mankind, set below a grainy photograph of the author; earlier editions mention Chandler's work as a fantasist, but this information would be omitted in the years after his involvement with the Church of Sunyata became far more famous than his (largely forgotten) fantasy novels.

General Content: The core of Chandler's work, written in simple and energetic language using pseudo-scientific terms and concepts which made the work wildly popular among hippies and naive but optimistic science fiction fans as well as white-collar workers in high-pressure jobs seeking an edge to further their careers with, is that the human mind is a maelstrom. The secret to enlightenment is to rid oneself of this chaos through a process called "Emptying", with the ultimate goal being to become "Truly Empty", filled with nothing but the peace of the cosmos. His approach incorporated Zen meditation, augmented by one-on-one counseling sessions.

Number and location of known copies: A mass-published self-help book which was wildly popular in the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, spending some time on best-seller lists; numerous copies exist.

Mythos Content

Spells: none

• Sanity Loss: minimal
• Mythos Knowledge: low
• Occult Knowledge: limited, largely relevant only to the Church of Sunyata

Appearances

• Call of Cthulhu Scenario: scenario "The Space Between" by Scott Dorward