Golconda

Golconda is a state that a vampire can achieve in Vampire: The Masquerade. You might recall it as that one thing Saulot achieved, and which made him into basically a messiah for the Kindred.

So, what is Golconda?

In two words: Vampire Enlightenment. (No, not that kind of Enlightenment.)

Essentially, it's a mystical state of being where a vampire either learns to perfectly balance their Humanity with the Beast, or simply isn't affected by the Beast at all. The basic benefits involve the vampire lacking Frenzy at all, their blood consumption dropping to a point per week, and the ability to learn Disciplines without Generation limits; ones dependent on the Storyteller include losing your clan's weakness or even becoming human again.

Supposedly, Archangel Gabriel originally showed Caine the concept of Golconda while he was still moping around in the Land of Nod; while Caine never succeeded in reaching this goal, Saulot allegedly did after taking a trip to the far East to study certain teachings and other mystical shit; this seems to be where he got his third eye and a lot of his signature tricks. (Though the Kuei-Jin would certainly disagree, as their tales about "Zao-Lat" show.) He eventually came back and taught his clan about it, basically turning them into a whole clan of enlightened super-zen vampires (until Tremere decided to ruin it all.)

Sounds great, right? Well, there's a few catches.

Achieving Golconda

First off, you'll need to actually learn about it. The Camarilla really don't like talking about the subject (as with most things even vaguely related to potentially changing the status quo) and look very suspiciously at anyone trying to, while the entire concept of "Enlightened and fairly human vampire" runs completely contrary to the Sabbat's Paths of Edgelightenment philosophy. The entire concept is obscure to begin with, even without being associated with those guys who supposedly worshipped demons and ate souls so often the Assamites raised an eyebrow. (Thanks, Tremere!)

Either way, let's assume you somehow found about Golconda and avoided being kidnapped to have your genitals painfully inverted by the Camarilla's inquisition, eaten by the local Sabbat meatheads, or otherwise fatally inconvenienced. Now you need to find a guru - someone who already knows about Golconda, and preferably one who's achieved or is on the way to achieving it. The Inconnu may be able to help, but they're really bloody secretive and their fluff is an utter clusterfuck of contradictory nonsense.

After you find someone to guide you, you need to regain your Humanity. Depending on how far you've gone down the track, this can be easy or bumcrunchingly difficult, as you need to keep your Humanity above 7 and avoid frenzy at all times while making amends for the crimes you've committed so far. The exact process of atonement is fairly vague and up in the air; one possibility is to make the punishment fit the crime (as it were), like having a vampire who drunk someone dry fast by not drinking blood for a while to atone. If you decided to go down the Path of Enlightenment route, though, tough shit -- this is where your Golconda journey ends outside of Storyteller fiat, because basically re-wiring your sense of morality to something most people consider utterly alien kinda conflicts with regaining your Humanity.

After you've atoned for your crimes and keep your Humanity above 7 for however long your Storyteller thinks is appropriate, it's time for the last step. Your character has to go through a suspire - a vision quest of some kind that involves going into your own mind to deal with your inner demons and your current state as a vampire. Like most of Golconda-related fluff, what it actually involves is really vague, so there's a lot of room for making whatever spooky crap your vampire will run into in dreamland.

This is really fucking dangerous: aside from being very damaging to your PC's body and mind, it can be failed, and if you do fail, it is the end - your PC will never achieve Golconda and likely be driven batshit insane, go into wassail, and devolve into a mindless Wight.

If you do succeed, on the other hand, it's all roses. You come to terms with the Beast, get the benefits of Golconda, and can go on your merry way as an enlightened, mostly-human Kindred. Just remember to keep your Humanity above 7, or you'll drop out of Golconda and be unable to regain it. (Note that this doesn't necessarily mean being a nice Kindred, either. Even the Golconda-seeking Inconnu aren't forbidden from killing in self-defence or the like, and Saulot can get real nasty when provoked enough.)