The Wisdom of Kahless

[J'Maq]

Through out the annals of time, many great leaders of various cultures have had their exploits and maxims recorded for future generations to study/learn from. Perhaps the wisdom, sayings, and proverbs of Kahless the Unforgettable could be gathered together in an accessible volume/book. Would it not enrich us all to have at our finger tips The Wisdom of Kahless? HIja'!

[qoSagh]

A very interesting project for one to undertake. I would see two problems. In the fictional realm, I would say that Kahless was a great warrior but not the only Klingon leader worthy of such an honor. Klingons would do well to study all of our history not just a small section. In the non-fictional world, I would say that since all we really have of Kahless are a few random quotes written by a variety of script writers, there is not enough to fill a book. Okrand's The Klingon Way comes closest to this goal, but includes many anonymous Klingon quotes and proverbs as well.

[Klythe]

That and you would find much confusion with the other Kahless the Unforgettable, the one that tied his arm to his command chair so that no one could say he was not at his post when his ship was finally destroyed.   Further research may reveal the need for 3 or four, perhaps half a dozen "Kahless the Unforgettable"s.   With that many, it may be hard to remember which Kahless you are talking about.      Seriously, even if you limit yourself to the two very different Kahlesses we see on screen ironing out the inconsistencies is a fools task.  And as Kahless said, the wind does not respect a fool.

[J'Maq]

There is but one Kahless the Unforgettable that most Klingons are familiar with--the one who founded the Imperial Klingon Empire around 900 AD on the homeworld of Qo'noS.  Beyond the one armed Kahless who distinguished himself, what other Kahless is featured so prominently in Klingon history? And If one was diligent and tenacious enough, one could produce such a glorious work as The Wisdom of Kahless. After all,
is this not all fiction? Could not liberties be taken in order to flesh out the work? Perhaps the project would indeed be too daunting of a task for some to undertake. . . .

[Klythe]

    Then perhaps you should seek to undertake part of it yourself.   The Short story section awaits.   


    Show us how it is done, and then you can issue your challenge.

[J'Maq]

As a matter of fact, I pitched the idea to Marc Okrand, but he felt the concept had already been explored in his book--The Klingon Way. Perhaps I should have suggested a full length biography of Kahless--with an added compendium of aphorisms? 

[qoSagh]

Actually such a biography was done, in a way...Kahless by Michael Jan Freidman told the story of Kahless as uncovered in the sacred scrolls. Sadly it also had a Worf/Picard story intermingled.

[Abbot Nej vIt]

I Would Argue that Regardless of Rather "Other" Leaders in Klingon History are as Deserving of a Collected Works of/Biography as QeylIS may be, that this does not Diminish the Need for Such... And this Is Exactly the Sort of Project that the Library will Eventually Tackle... (There are Ironically Other More RL Priorities to Address First...<Chuckle>...)...

Anyway, if zan J'Mak were to Persue this Project the One would Consider "Donating" a Copy this Work to the Library for Archival?

[QorvaS]

Greetings

On the subject of Kahless and his wisdom:

I once worked with a fellow on a job with whom I had an interesting conversation (I'm an AV Technician in mundane life ;-).

Anyway, this fellow was having problems with a piece of equipment and i heard him say "By Kahless, I'm going to smash this thing if it keeps acting up."

Aside of the technical difficulty I asked him if he was a Trek fan. He replied that he was a Trek fan but a much bigger fan of the Klingon Way - especially the philosophy of Kahless. He spoke as though he actually *believed*, rather than was simply an admirer of Klingon philosophy.

He explained that he had once been a follower of the Catholic Way, but had left that many years earlier and spent years exploring other faiths and spiritual ways. At last he discovered the philosophies of Kahless as embodied in the teachings of the sacred writings of the Klingon people. Ficticious in origin or not, he felt deep truths in the philosophies and even compared some of them to the teachings of Lao Tzu or Buddha or Miyamoto Musashi, not to mention even Jesus, if one looked at the teachings deeply enough.

"Some teachings are truly universal." He said to me. "Who is to say that the Gods might not embody any form we are comfortable with, as long as the wisdom is passed on? To me that form is Kahless."

A most interesting fellow. I only worked with him the one time and have never seen him since. However, the idea he conveyed remains. I still think about that from time to time: Perhaps its true: The fires of Kahless can burn in the heart of any who truly accept him as a facet of the universe.

Just thought I'd share that.

QaplA!

QorvaS

[qoSagh]

That is certainly an interesting theory. My problem with it is that there has not been enough written of/by Kahless to live an entire life by. Most of what is out there is likely fan created, but if we give equal weight to fan and paraborg, we are left with an idea something like channeling. If I write a piece and attribute it to Kahless, with the intention of being fictional, and this person reads it and finds a universal truth to live by, does that make Kahless into God or does it make me into God? Since what we have of Paracanon is likely not written by one person but by several script writers, then there can be no true single Kahless, but many Kahlessmey (?). This does not even go that far into the war between sects if some believe certain writings to be from Kahless and others do not. This all seems very confusing.

[QorvaS]

Greetings.

Well said and most interesting indeed.

QorvaS