[Day 2, EM, Open] A Crisis of Forethought

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"Indeed. Would that all were so clear-sighted about the roles they ought to play." He chuckled. "But if you can find me a scholar of the future, I would be pleased to meet them as well."

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled.

"As the Little Teacher says, "If you regret, you live in the past. If you worry or fear, you live in the future. If you are at peace, you live in the present. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here. Every good endeavor is here and now."

"But if you seek divination, I believe Mirumoto Jinkan is skilled in the art, and I know it is a time-honed skill in the Seppun family."

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"The next time you see Mirumoto-san, perhaps you would be so kind as to send him my way."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Of course, Togashi-ue. I could fetch him for you now, if you'd like. I am sure he would be glad to join us, or I could give you two a chance to speak alone."

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"Let him sleep. We all have much to do, and why should the whole Dragon delegation be exhausted by portents, riddles, and misgivings? Rest is key to keeping a level head."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Togashi-ue, are there portents you have encountered that you have not mentioned, and would find helpful to discuss? “Two men can brave what one man cannot."

"I have no skill with divination but I am happy to share a burden with you if it will be of any help to you."

"Of course, I can also leave you to your reflections and return to my own prayer and meditation."

She smiled. A sincere offer to do either.

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"I have done exactly that. Of course, I also know that they were leaked to the delegation by my karo, so you already know their contents. I wonder, what do you make of them."

[Agasha Yuna]

Her eyes lit in recognition. The existing portents. Not a new one this morning. And of course she knew every word by heart. That was how her mind worked.

"Ah. I did read those words and meditate long on them."

"First, the sense that you can see less clearly than before. One possibility is that your sight is failing. But another is that your perception is deepening. The student is more confident that a problem has one solution, or a single answer, than the sensei. To begin to perceive how much you cannot yet see clearly is often from growth in sight and awareness. Just as perceiving how much there is still to learn about a subject is a sign of greater learning, of increasing nuance and understanding, rather than less comprehension."

"There is an inherent tension between shunning ignorance and recommending that nothing be written or sung. Knowledge recorded and shared - by writing, tale, or song - is the antidote to ignorance. But there is always a choice what to record. And for what reason. But a tale wrapped around the heart seems one particularly important to tell."

"To focus on healing suffering and restoring harmony aligns deeply with all I have read of the Tao."

"Associating those good goals with abdication, with letting go, with releasing is true on both a spiritual, interpersonal, and political level. For this moment? For these winds? I might guess that the path of greatest harmony is for all contenders to release any desire to *be* Emperor, and ask themselves what they could achieve by supporting the one who is so. Together, the four could do far more than apart. They might gain more by losing gracefully and willingly than they might gain by striving to win."

She paused. Thinking back.

"Seppun Hill is where the Kami fell to the earth. A golden stair up Seppun Hill ... a path to the stars? A path to Heaven? Heaven' s will? Heaven's favor? But also possibly a call for humility. The Little Teacher said “You cannot command the elements any more than you can command the stars in heaven. You must learn to hear the music of the celestial chorus. Once that is done, you must learn to dance.” The stars are not ours to rise to, nor command. We are made to look and listen. And dance."

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"So would you suggest that we spread the tale, whatever it may be, or do as the vision suggests and let no word of it be written?"

[Agasha Yuna]

"There is no path in which nothing about this winter court is said or written."

"At best there is some one thing, some one incident, some singular truth that could and perhaps should be left out of official records."

"The Tao says: “There are no secrets" and "The soul has no secret that behavior does not reveal" and "The truth is always simple. Liars make things complicated.”

"Perhaps our clan knows better than most how to be still and silent. But we also know that what you actively try to suppress you often give power to express itself with louder voice and recoil than it might ever have otherwise. That is true of emotion, of craving, of desire, of dissension, of secrets, and of the silenced."

"And our Way is a personal path. Control of the self. I question how any other person outside yourself and your Heaven-granted scope of authority can be silenced without ... harm-causing. Harm-multiplying."

"But I assure you that I serve and obey. I will not repeat anything you do not wish repeated."

[Togashi Mizohachi]

He nodded. "Perhaps you are right, but did you ever hear the story of Doji Umanahari, Prince of White Plain Mountain?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She thought for a moment. If she ever had, she'd remember. But the libraries of her study were Dragon and Phoenix. And focused heavily on shugenja work and mystical topic.

She shook her head.

"No, I don't think I have."

But did that mean it was a story that had been silenced? Or just something she hadn't read?

[Togashi Mizohachi]

A small smile played on his lips.

"Neither has anyone else."

He rose. "Come, Agasha-san. Lady Sun has stirred and all lies in readiness. We must go and get rice so that we may ponder these matters some more."

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled, both at the answer about the Doji, and at the suggestion of rice.

"Thank you again for your time, Togashi-ue. It is an honor to speak to you and has helped me focus. I truly appreciate it."

She gave a very very deep bow.

[Togashi Mizohachi]

"And you have been most helpful in your own right, Agasha-san." He replied in kind, then set off into the lifting fog.

/exit.