Sadako's Ring (D9 ME)

[Jihen]

Jihen smiled softly and bowed his head, “Now it is the Lady Seppun who strays towards flattery.”

[Seppun Sadako]

"I recall a monk saying something like 'I praise, not flatter.'"

Sadako smiles.

"I don't recall reading that in the Tao, however."

[Jihen]

“I do occasionally say things not found in the Tao.” He said with a warm smile.

“Once you memorize the thing frontwards and backwards you get a little tired of universal truth.”

He smiled again at his jest, “I’ve been known to read even scandalous material like Leadership or the court’s anthologies on poems.”

[Seppun Sadako]

Sadako rests a hand on her chest. "I would never have guessed!" she says, her tone playful.

Letting her hand go back to the table, she adds "I've read some of those anthologies. There are occasionally good pieces in them. Some, though..."

She presses the back of a hand to her forehead and gasps dramatically.

"Truly scandalous."

[Jihen]

He smiled at her animated response, “Truly scandalous. All the talk of wet sleeves of private dalliances in the rain! Do they ever think of who will do their laundry?”

[Seppun Sadako]

Sadako chuckles.

"Clearly not," she says. "Or they'd be much more careful with how it's aired!"

She draws a contented breath.

"Not many people do," she adds. "Which is sometimes a concern."

[Jihen]

“It reminds me of a poem from the monk Jien… No relation…” He smiles because obviously there would not be.

“I believe it goes:

おほけなく
うきよのたみに
おほふかな
わがたつそまに
すみぞめの袖

Although I am weak,
I will love the people
living in this world of strife
as one who enters the temple.
Shown by my black-dyed sleeves.”

He interprets, “I like it because it takes a different view on sleeves and the love of one for others.”

He smiles wanly, “As a one with those same black-dyed sleeves it helps remind me that while we don’t end up getting to love in the same way as a courtier in love poetry, our affections can be just as earnest and sincere.”

[Seppun Sadako]

"I think more, sometimes," Sadako says.

A wry grin graces her lips.

"They seem sometimes to compete with one another for high drama. One wonders that more Clans do not maintain dedicated stage traditions."

[Jihen]

He smiles softly and nods his head, “To be human is to be false to some degree. What we call ‘I’ is just a door that moves when we inhale and exhale.”

He pauses and takes a deep breath in and out while watching Sadako’s torso do the same.

“Who we truly are lies behind that door. Not a monk or a princess… heimin or hero… samurai or sower. We all ‘act’ in one way or another. Love is one of the few ways we see through the distinctions between us… See each other as one… as we all truly are.”

He looks down to his cup, “That is probably why it speaks to so many. It allows us to see what we otherwise are blinded to by our self-interests.”

[Seppun Sadako]

"The world trying to understand itself, Jihen-san?" Sadako asks, her face open.

She takes another sip of tea.

"I wouldn't have guessed you were a romantic at heart."

[Jihen]

“I’m human. Odd as that may seem.” He replies with a soft smile.

“And I did dedicate a shrine to Benten here at court you know. Despite not being a Fortunist. I believe there’s something behind Fortunes like Benten that help us understand deeper truths.”

[Seppun Sadako]

"Not odd at all, Jihen-san," Sadako says. "But not all humans are quite so romantic as that.

"As to the Fortunes, though," she continues, "you touch upon an interesting theological point. We shape the world, but the world also shapes us, so which does which to the greater extent?"

[Jihen]

He smiled, “Engaging a monk in a theological question? You are brave as you are lovely it would seem.”

He then pauses, “The Little Teacher asks us to reflect upon life as a river…”

He asks, “Is a drop of water in a river affected by the river or does it do the affecting?”

[Seppun Sadako]

"Yes," Sadako replies, "although which does which more depends on where in the river the drop falls."

Sadako smiles at the monk.

[Jihen]

“Enough drops in one place can change the course of the river… and too few can cause it to wither and die.”

He smiles softly, “A drop in a small stream make think itself influential, while one in a mighty river may feel as if it is carried by greater forces. But in the end… the river is a drop and a drop is the river. There is not one without the other.”

He pauses, “There are forces that draw all us drops together and directs our bonds. We sometimes call these forces by different names… Benten, Bishamon, and others… But they are of the same elemental makeup of all of us. All these are followers of the Way.”

“Perhaps this is what the Little Teacher meant when he said: The Elements are not the means to an end... they are the beginning, and the end.”

He smiles and asks, “Does the Lady Seppun practice meditation?”

[Seppun Sadako]

"She does, as duties allow," Sadako replies. "Which has not been as often as ought, these past days.

"Is the brother monk offering to guide such?"

[Jihen]

“There is no better way to learn of the oneness of all things than attuning oneself with the Void through meditation.”

He bowed, “I would be happy to assist the Lady Seppun if she had time or want to do such a thing.”

[Seppun Sadako]

Sadako sets her tea aside.

"There would seem to be time here and now," she says, "and while the tea has helped, there is more to do."

Sitting already in seiza, she rests the backs of her hands on her lap.

[Jihen]

Jihen bowed in response to her willingness to meditate.

He similarly finds the proper sitting posture and begins controlling his breath.

“As we begin… I want you to think of yourself as unique and separate from the world. Build up a wall between yourself and the world around you.”

[Seppun Sadako]

Sadako gives the barest of nods and settles into the specifically Seppun stillness.