[Day Ten - Early Afternoon] Chaos Without, Peace Within

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"I guess...I haven't," she said softly, perhaps bemused that she hadn't considered such an easy and obvious topic that might have been a part of many koans she had studied.

She took a small breath in before releasing it. "I suppose life at the dojo had been routine for many years now when it came to my duty and my responsibilities at my sensei's side. Students come and go, but I think we might have seen the least amount of change compared to the rest of the Empire. Of course, that's the sort of stagnation my sensei didn't want me to fall into, again my reason for being here. It would be unfortunate if I couldn't cope with change and the Lion admittedly, despite their stoic tenants, are actually all about change in more ways than they realize. At least, I see more of this now."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"The lion are about being the stalwart stone in the midst of the raging seas. They do not ride the waves. They endure the crashing of the water around them. They and the Crab share that in common. Their tradition guides them, while the Crab's endurance guides it." She'd had some experience with both people. "I don't know that their way is the way for you, but you do notice that within their behavior we see a sign of what it is to exist and to be what you are even as the world changes around you. Some adapt. Some react. Some hold steady. Some simply are."

She breathed in and out a little. "If you wish, we can try to meditate on this together, to see if we can make some progress." It was why she was here, after all.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"Aren't the Lion also the wave in a way?" She spoke more about the element than what the wave represented. "Their way of life sees war which demands them crashing into others when they wage conflict. Even when they are the receiving end of it, they take in impact and merely splashback at the attacker. Just like you can't tell a stone to move, you cannot tell water to not be water. That would make them stalwart, in a different sense, maybe? It can sit quietly or roar with unstoppable force off a cliffside."

She nodded quietly, at the proposal. There was enough to meditate on and more to talk about it later. "But, hai, let's collect ourselves and gaze within."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"I think that might depend on whether you are the boat, the rock, or the water in the given situation," she said, chuckling a little and shifting into a proper lotus position. "But yes... I want you to hear the meditation from my mouth, and I want you to think on this until you hear the water clock strike three times."

"Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed — that is human.
When you are born, where do you come from?
When you die, where do you go?
Life is like a floating cloud which appears.
Death is like a floating cloud which disappears.
The floating cloud itself originally does not exist.
Life and death, coming and going, are also like that.
But there is one thing which always remains clear.
It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death.
Then what is the one pure and clear thing?"

Closing her eyes, she began to focus, to home her thoughts in on the cloud. "You are the cloud. Imagine it, and see it. Be the cloud."

(OOC: Shamelessly ripping off buddhist koans online...)

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako nodded and shifted in her seat to resume the lotus position she took once more. She closed her eyes and breathed softly as the words were replayed into her mind. However, it was perhaps a mistake to focus on the words alone as it was all too easy to get trapped within the literal words than the meaning that they could bring.

She thought of clouds at first and sitting on one, floating up high.
Why did she need to sit on one when she could be the cloud?
She was a cloud that floated over the world.
Why did she need to float over the world if she was a cloud? The world should not be her anchor.
She was merely a cloud now.
Why did she need to be a cloud if there was no world to float over?
She merely just existed.
No form, no time, no context.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

Mari lost herself almost immediately in the koan.
She was the cloud.
The cloud was ephemeral.
It existed only at the whim of the water and the air.
Its identity was impermanent and it would be gone.
And with its passing, it was little but a memory.
She was the cloud.
Her say on all that was around her was none.
And she was at peace.
She was what she was.

The water clock struck in the distance and she frowned, distant sounds beginning to intrude. they were not here yet, but these shrines... they were not within the city. She opened an eye and looked at the Mirumoto.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako hadn't opened her eyes quite yet but she did hear the vague sounds of marching in the distance. When she would return to the present internally, she didn't quite think it would be actual chaos waiting for her. Had she been concentrating that hard for her senses to become that sensitive or was something actually looming in the distance?

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

Another 'tonk' sound and she coughed into her hand to get the Mirumoto's attention. "Mirumoto-sama. I fear that this lesson... is one that we will need to complete another day. Do you have one fortune you wish to pray to quickly, one last word for them before we return to the city? This place... will almost certainly be overwhelmed soon."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako quickly snapped over her eyes as she jolted awake from the cough. Her eyes went wide and she looked around, although her ears did hear what she was supposed to pick up. Okay, it wasn't her imagination then. "Oh, hai!" She nodded at the urgency of the matter.

"...I suppose a prayer to Bishamon might be best, given the need for action right now?" she offered as she stood to feet.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"I will pray at Jurojin's before departing and you can pray to Bishamon. Both seem fitting in this situation, but we should make this quick and be on our way." She'd get her proper meditations in later in the day. This situation was quickly going to become intolerable, she knew it.

Moving to the shrine of Jurojin, she clapped her hands and lit incense to begin a short prayer. It was pretty obvious she had no intention of tarrying longer than strictly necessary, certain the fortune would understand.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

There had been enough warning throughout the day, especially with how the street were vacated and the heimen made themselves as scarce as possible. Wasako was perhaps still surprised that they were actually here. The last few days was perhaps enough for her to grow too complacent and she perhaps regret getting comfortable.

She did make her way over to the shrine dedicated to the Fortune of Strength and offered her prayers for strength in what was to come. That prayer extended beyond to those she knew, knowing that they could be just as preoccupied, if not more.

After she was finished, she would stand by the entrance to the shrines and keep an eye out for Mari. She wouldn't want her to not make her escape as well or go unaided if a shrine collapsed on her.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

Another clap behind the Mirumoto, and Mari was at the door, her things collected. She looked off in the distance, where the first signs of march were visible. Perhaps an hour in this slog. "Be sure to thank the Water Dragon one day. It's made this a morass for them. Let's be off, though. Thankfully, I doubt spirits of Toshigoku have any interest in defiling shrines for the sake of it. We should not be needed to defend this place," she said, motioning, and starting to head back towards the city.

/exit

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako was minded of her temple visit at Toshi no Omoidoso where she was suggested the same thing by the Phoenix shugenja she met. The rain was supposedly a blessing, perhaps very much so in the season of Spring where things needed to grow. However, at this time, she didn't know if any of the local farmers were even tending to their fields where the ground had turned into muddy waters. However, it was perhaps why they were able to enjoy an extra day of peace here. Hopefully it didn't dull the senses of the other defenders as a price.

"Hai, let's go and carry the Fortunes, Mari-san," she said in return and headed out.

/exit
/scene

[Day Ten - Early Afternoon] Chaos Without, Peace Within

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