Sunyata

Sunyata, more properly the Śūnyatā of the Lotus, is a philosophical system based in the Outer Expanse. The Lotus is the name given to the Posthuman [habitat/habitat cluster] which the Sunyata call home. Despite common perception, Sunyata is not a State in the traditional astropolitical sense: rather, it is an anarchist sangha based on a shared system of belief and Buddhist-derived transhumanism. Though by necessity it has adopted some mannerisms of States in order to engage with other entities in interstellar law, it has philosophically rejected all forms of 'government', with decision making being sourced from subconscious automatic democracy.

The Sunyata represent a degree of extreme transhuman modification that resulted form the unique circumstances surrounding the Lotus and believe that transhumanism is key to reaching the state of Nirvana. However, they marry that belief with the notion that in most circumstances transhumanism has been abused for selfish reasons, and that most examples in the expanse are perversions of the path to enlightenment. An underlying purpose of their existence is to invite or lead others to take-up their philosophy; comparisons to bodhisattvas will be left to the reader. Sunyata is a notably pacifistic system of belief that has rejected warfare entirely, and considers violence to be an option of absolute last resort. Though something of an accidental developer of high-end Theotechnology with access to enormous reserves of Theta dust, it is predominantly a cultural exporter: flinging embassies of teachers, artists, poets and idol singers across space to spread the Sunyata's message of peace. The subgroup referred to as the Arya-Sangha, and regularly misinterpreted as the leaders of the Sunyata, represents a highly refined body of teaching and learning that offers a very broad array of tutelage.

Unfortunately for the Sunyata, their grace, humility and genki personalities are combined with a highly fluid morphology based on nanotechnological symbiosis with barely understood Posthuman drone-flora; it is not a vision of enlightenment to which everyone wants to conform.