How can we fight when we all have laid our weapons down?
3/9223 LEVEL 3/9223
CLASSIFIED
Item #: SCP-9223
Thaumiel
Two Sui dynasty pottery warrior figurines of the same design as the unfired clay warriors to be used in SCP-9223.
Special Containment Procedures: Current containment efforts focus on diplomatic liaison with the seven monasteries essential to the performance of SCP-9223. The Foundation is to work with the National Religious Affairs Administration (China), the Korea Heritage Service (South Korea), the Korean Buddhist Federation (North Korea), the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan), and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs (Vietnam) to ensure the physical preservation of the ritual sites and continuity of their monastic lineages. Mobile Task Force Sigma-109 ("Iron Sandals") is currently deployed in Myanmar to ensure the safety of the Sri Ksetra lineage, though direct intervention in the civil war is prohibited.
Description: SCP-9223 is a ritual that was carried out on the date of the Wesak festival at seven locations in 595 CE, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui (隋文帝). The instructions for the ritual were diligently recorded by at least 18 monastic communities with continuity to the current day, and can thus be reconstructed confidently. The following is a description of the ritual from the Daxingshan archives, which is typical of these records:
- First, using powder of lead and the ash created by burning a written declaration of war, draw the World-Protection Mandala.
- Next, place a ritual blade upside-down in a vessel of mercury at the center of the mandala.
- The assembled monks should visualize the Four Heavenly Kings weaving a mighty net and releasing it upon the land; this net is so heavy it cannot be lifted, and it crushes all demon armies, wrathful asuras, and malicious spirits beneath it.
- Take one hundred and eight unfired clay figurines of soldiers and cast them into a cauldron of water, causing them to dissolve into mud.
- Throughout the ceremony, the monks must chant the Sara-Nirodha dharani, with a rhythm matching the heartbeat of a monk in meditative concentration.
Following the performance of the ritual in 595 CE, no acts of violence occurred between humans within 2,000 Sui li (~1,000 km) of the locations where the ritual was performed for one year; Emperor Wen used this opportunity to disarm the peasants and destroy their weapons. The ritual was renewed in 596 and 597. However, in 598, the emperor ordered the monks of Daxingshan Temple not to perform the ritual, preventing it from achieving its effects in any location. He then proceeded to lead an invasion of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo. Since this date, there has been no successful performance of SCP-9223.
Due to the disruption caused by various inter-state wars and civil wars in this region in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Foundation and other groups have encouraged the performance of SCP-9223 in order to establish a ceasefire and facilitate the containment of anomalous phenomena on multiple occasions.
The monastic centres required to participate in SCP-9223 are as follows.
Centre
Founding Date (CE)
Location
Status
Notes
Daxingshan Temple
582
Xi'an, China
Ready
The Abbot is willing to perform the ritual, but only with Foundation guarantees for assistance in the preservation of current borders.
Guangxiao Temple
233
Guangzhou, China
Ready
As above. The 595 CE performance of SCP-9223 pacified what were then the recently conquered peoples of this region.
Bunhwangsa
634 (553)
Gyeongju, South Korea
Ready
Willing to perform the ritual for humanitarian reasons.
Kwangbopsa
392
Mt. Taesong, North Korea
Uncertain
Monks at Kwangbopsa are state-appointed. Demanded modification of the ritual to exclude prohibition of defensive weapons testing.
Shitennō-ji
593
Osaka, Japan
Ready
Willing to perform the ritual for humanitarian reasons.
Chùa Dâu
c. 200
Thuận Thành, Vietnam
Ready
Willing to perform the ritual for humanitarian reasons.
Payama Stupa Monastery
c. 400
Pyay, Myanmar
Refusal
See Interview Log 9223-SKR.
The Payama Stupa in Pyay, Myanmar (Site-9223-G).
Interview Log 9223-SKR
Date: 2025/01/09
Time: 8:05 a.m.
Interviewer: Dr. Beatrice Marijanović
Interviewed: Sayadaw U Pandita, Sri Ksetra Lineage
Location: Safehouse Sierra-4, Bago Region, Myanmar
U Pandita: I assume you have come to discuss the ritual again.
Dr. Marijanović: Yes, Sayadaw. The monks at Xi'an have agreed, and the Koreans, and the Japanese—everyone is willing. We could perform it tomorrow. Their guns will be useless. The airstrikes will end. No more villages will burn.
U Pandita: And the tanks of the Tatmadaw? Will they roll to a halt?
Dr. Marijanović: Yes. All the violence will stop. The country will have a year to breathe, and a year to talk. After that, we can decide whether to continue.
U Pandita: I think there is something you still do not understand, doctor. If the violence stops here, with the country divided in this way, then the junta still controls Yangon and the capital. They will remain in the palaces. They will continue to build up their ill-gotten money and import their murderous weapons. The hand that holds the gun might freeze, but so will their grip on the throat of the country. Right now, we may be losing. But we are fighting, and as long as we do so, we are free.
Dr. Marijanović: The dead are piling high, Sayadaw.
U Pandita: Their deaths bring great merit. Beyond this, there is a rival monastery to ours up the river. They claim to possess the true lineage of Sri Ksetra, and they certainly would not want peace while they think the Tatmadaw can win. Now, consider this. If we perform the ritual with you, they will declare me a traitor to Buddhism and the nation. Would the ritual protect me from arrest? Would it protect our monastery from confiscation? The emperor of China used his three years of peace to fletch arrows and sharpen swords. Our generals will do the same.
Dr. Marijanović: Without their weapons, the generals will find it much harder to oppress you.
U Pandita: Oh, there are many other ways, and they know them all. We will not turn the key that locks us into tyranny.
Dr. Marijanović: Sayadaw-
U Pandita: No, doctor. I will not perform the ritual with you.
Dr. Marijanović: Alright. Thank you for your time.
Despite further negotiations, no members of the lineage have been found to be cooperative at this time. Alternative methods of securing or enforcing the cooperation of the Sri Ksetra monks have been proposed for O5 consideration.