Class: Divination

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

((OOC notes: There are two assignments to this lesson, the first above the cut, the second hidden behind it.

Anyone can join, even if you didn't sign up, so if after reading this post, you want to reply, go for it. As with most classes, if you want Kusuriyuri's attention, please include that in the subject line of the reply. Since Kusuriyuri is Japanese [and very much so], he talks in a rather passive, convoluted and understated way. If you need me to "translate" it in replies, please include an OOC asking for such and I'll be glad to do it for you. I do know that sometimes it can be off-putting, not being sure how to respond.

Also, there will be some Japanese words in the lesson. This is mostly due to the "they don't translate well if at all" problem. I will provide a translation for them, though, but the Japanese will be there because it is more accurate.

There will be links at the bottom if you're interested in following up on any of the ideas presented here. I find research utterly fascinating but I understand if you don't. I provide them as citation and as "if you’re interested, you can follow up here."

The mysticism Kusuriyuri practices is based on 密教 Mikkyou Buddhism [Mikkyou translates to "secret religious transmission"], an esoteric branch of Buddhism that was passed down linearly [teacher to student]. Being Japanese, it is also heavily influenced by 陰陽 [onmyou, the kanji translate to dark and light], which relates to the Daoist philosophy of yin and yang. It is why Japanese religion is a thing of complex interactions between seemingly antagonistic faiths.

Kusuriyuri's practice as a medicine peddler would have required him to master the arts of exorcism, philosophy, divination, and reiki. He will, however, downplay his abilities for modesty's sake, that is, he is "just a simple medicine peddler."

Feel free to say the topic is difficult...the mun agrees That is enough from me.))

Kusuriyuri examined his class. He was more familiar with one on one teaching. This group effort seemed to him a bit less focused than necessary for the students to gain the information they needed. But, this was the method that the books, when he'd finally found the library, suggested.

Students may notice odd pieces of paper adorning the walls. The paintings and the ghosts still make him uneasy so he feels better with 札 fuda, wards, on the walls. If they do not react, there are no mononoke around. It is wiser to be prepared and warned than taken unawares.

Greetings, I am Kusuriyuri. I look forward to working with you. It was requested that you consider the meanings of form and substance for this lesson. Please, write the meaning you have derived on the paper before you. When you are finished, please turn the paper over.



Mikkyou teaches of 三秘密 （san himitsu, three secrets）. These are, in the basic form, imitsu (meditation), kumitsu (mantra), and shinmitsu (murda or hand gestures). These relate to the mind, speech and the body, or reason, truth and form. The three are interrelated, relying on one another for their being.

The three secrets are mirrored by the three marks of existence. Striving or suffering relates to kumitsu, the non-Self or perceived self, relates to mantra. Impermanence, or change, relates to shinmitsu.

This being said, all things that have existence are subject to change and non-existence. The form is impermanent, changing with the flow of time.

If form, if existence, is not constant, then what can we gain from studying it? Through study, through practice, it is possible to directly experience that which is fulfillment, the Self and permanent. Through seeking understanding of these secrets, understanding the reason, truth and form of the world and ourselves, one may focus their energies to discover and develop skills and gifts: Coordination, pain control, healing, psychic sensitivity, divination.

What, then, is form? What is substance? Substance is that which underlies form. Without substance, form is empty, meaningless. Without form, substance cannot become impermanent, though. In order to exist, substance needs form.

In Mikkyou, substance is 真言 (shingon, ‘true word’ or ‘mantra’). Mikkyou is the movement, the form, and Shingon is the mantra, the truth. Together, they lend reason to existence.

It is within the heart to create form, truth, and reason. One may create a form, an idea, a concept. If to this is added energy, emotional or thought, it gains substance. By releasing this energy into the world, the thing gains reason. Thus, it is possible for people to manifest that which they want and do not want.

With humans, the strongest emotions are usually those that are negative: Fear, anger, hatred. When their form is not acknowledged, these emotions gain power and become a controlling factor over a person. Negative emotions give substance to that which is there, regardless if it can be seen or not.

Though a thing may have form, without substance, it cannot exist. If form is joined by truth and reason, a thing will have the three marks of existence. If a thing exists, it can be caused to not exist.

By naming, by giving form to that which is most feared, one begin giving it existence. When a thing has existence, it can be rendered non-existent.

To face one's own fears, then, facing the formless, the unknown, the endless. It is to face the non-existent and make it exist.

In turn, please write down and share with us what your greatest fear is. On the paper, describe it. It is best if you do not back away from naming it. To give fear a name is to give it form, is to being giving it an existance that can be taken away. It may be that among those in this class, there are others who will see the truth and reason to your fear's form, thus giving you more tools with which to confront it.

Kusuriyuri looks around at the class, pausing a moment. He is not used to speaking for such a long period of time. He closes his eyes briefly before looking at the class again, seeking to make eye contact with each student.

My greatest fear is that at the end of existence, there will be no form, no truth, no reason, that everything I am and have done will be in vain. By seeking these three, I confront my fear.

Kusuriyuri bows slightly to the class and kneels on the floor next to the desk. He is not comfortable yet in western style chairs. He will wait until he is needed. He trusts that the students are bold enough to attract his attention should they need it.

((OOC: References/related links:
http://www.occultforums.com/showthread.php?t=5448
http://www.aetw.org/reiki_ko_ju.html
http://www.aetw.org/jsp_mikkyo.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikkyo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_marks_of_existence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onmyodo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mononoke_%28anime%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dkai

Episodes of Mononoke can be made availible if desired. This lesson directly references episodes 3-5))

Comments

Request for Kusuriyuri

[relentlesssoul.livejournal.com]

Roxas had been contemplating the meaning of the two words he was given upon signing up for Divination all week long. He hadn't told Axel that he was attending class, or even that he was doing it to get some answers about them. He figured that after receiving said answers he could talk to Axel about what was going on with his feelings, and whether or not they were real, or even if he was real. The blonde was under the impression that Nobodies were nothing, that they didn't exist. So how then could Axel have an emotional drive? The small boy fetched a pen from the depths of his pocket and began to scrawl on the piece of paper before him.

Form is like a shell that one inhabits. It may know no fear or emotion and it does not exist. Form is simply a catalyst for life. Nobodies are forms. They cannot feel and they are nothing. As scraps of the world's true population, Nobodies are considered hollow forms. They are the shells of those who carry everything they cannot, such as feeling and purpose. Substance is that which a Nobody strives for but can never reach. It is the life that is given to form in order to exist. Others have the substance that Nobodies lack. Without substance, the ability to have emotional experiences and live a full life is impossible for a simple form. As far as I know, there is no way for a form to miraculously gain substance. Instead, the substance must be presented to the form. In the case of the Nobodies, this is an unreachable conclusion. As forms, Nobodies never have substance as it is placed in the forms of their Others.

Roxas turned the white piece of paper over, preparing to write on it again. The parchment was slightly raised where he had pushed the pen to it before, and he read the instructions given closely before returning the ink to the page.

Being alone. I used to believe that my biggest fear was being incomplete, and then I realized that I am doomed to a life of unfulfillment. It is impossible for Nobodies to gain meaning or a highly desired heart, yet even though I miraculously came about one I still feel incomplete. So upon making this realization, I have realized that my greatest fear surfaced when I left behind the only person who truly cared for me, whether he could show it or not. And through my journey I was alone and terrified of never being able to see the boy I left for dead again. Now that we have been reunited, I fear that something could tear us away from each other. I never want to leave his side again, and being forced into solitude is a concept that makes me want to crawl into a hovel and die.

Roxas sighed. He hadn't expected to have to talk about so much but getting it all out was definitely helping a little bit. He still needed answers however, and he was hoping that the professor would go over his response or at least help him to understand if and how forms can gain substance. The lecture had made it seem like all a form had to do was be recognized, so did that mean that Axel could feel because Roxas acknowledged him as more than nothing? He pondered on this for a moment before raising his hand in an attempt to get Kusuriyuri's attention.

Re: Request for Kusuriyuri

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

Kusuriyuri noticed the hand in the air, at first wondering it's cause. He did not think people here could be so non-forward with their requests for attention. After a brief moment, he asked, "Yes?"

Re: Request for Kusuriyuri

[relentlesssoul.livejournal.com]

"Erm... sorry to bother you but I was wondering about how forms gain substance exactly. I mean, My friend and I, we are supposedly just remnants of actual people who live and breathe the emotions we can't express. But I recently came about a heart, which is what my friend and I have been trying to acquire for quite some time. However, I was wondering if having a heart is what gives people like ourselves substance, or rather if it is possible for my friend to have and express emotion and substance without a heart... just by being a form. And also, does me recognizing him give him substance?"

Roxas had probably said too much and overwhelmed the professor but he really needed some answers. His main goal now that he and Axel were back together was to figure out why he had a heart all of a sudden and whether or not Axel could behave as if he had one, and truly exist, without its physical prescence.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A listens carefully. The lesson is full of concepts he's never been exposed to before, and it's frustrating not to be able to understand right away.

Maybe if he reads a book about it, it will help.

But for now, there's a task he's been given.

It would be glib to say B was his greatest fear. Certainly he fears B, and B's the biggest threat he currently faces, but no. He writes carefully, in his Helvetica-style handwriting,

Not being good enough. Being a disappointment.

[wright-phoenix.livejournal.com]

His assignment done, Phoenix looked around for someone to talk to, and this person right here looked like he was alone, so up to A's desk he went.

"Hey. I'm Phoenix. How're you doing in class today?"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I'm A," he responded softly. "I'm trying to do well. Most of it is so new."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

It surprised Near a little, how challenging it was to organize his thoughta on form and substance. Philosophy had never been a matter of much relevance; even the soft sciences like sociology and psychology had captured more of his attention.

Still, he manages something coherent and, he hopes, insightful.

As for his greatest fear...

he had to think about that one. And introspection was another thing he had never really had much use for.

But that was what he'd been spending so much time on lately, wasn't it? Things he'd never really had much use for?

And there was his answer.

My greatest fear is being no more than the vessel for the skills I was trained in, with no identity of my own.

[mello-n-choco.livejournal.com]

I lean over his shoulder. "You have your own identity," I whisper in his ear. "You're Near." I've done the assignment, but it's turned so he can only see that I wrote form is the elemental structure, that which can be seen and that substance makes something real.

[papayagami.livejournal.com]

Soichiro stared at the blank paper for a minute. Greatest fear, huh? If you had asked him before he came here, he would say his fear was that Light was Kira. Now that he knew, however, he only had one answer.

My greatest fear is having to confront my son with the knowledge I know now.

[charlesofdensen.livejournal.com]

After scribbling down some things on form and what it means (the gist was something tangible), Ofdensen turned his paper over and wrote down this.

Death. Mine, my close ones, my employers, anyone.

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Pity that she can't reassure him there is something. Mel's always admired the ideas of yin and yang, the lasting battle between good and evil--she has to, being an angel. He reminds her of the Dojo master back home, in Heaven. Mel's no Reuben, the pure angel prodigy, but she's made plenty of progress in her own martial arts lessons recently. It's what comes from being told you have to save the world.

She's had this class before, with Mr. Allbright, but the 'write down your biggest fear and share it' thing is new. That's easy. Failure in her biggest mission yet--that has to be avoided at all costs. Think of how many it will hurt if she can't manage to save the planet. More are being hurt, each and every day, even as she grows stronger and more aware of her destiny.

Mel looks at her paper, on which she's written in violet ink:

Form: A basin.
Substance: What it is filled with.

Yes, it sounds stupid. It's meant to. She can't exactly tell the truth, what with Maia and friends wandering about. Having faced her fear in her mind, she looks at the paper for a moment before writing down a fake fear.

My greatest fear is that I'll

And it can't sound too fake, either, or Maia will smell a rat.

Is that I'll get kicked out of the Academy.

It's not likely, but Maia doesn't know that. Mel sits back, watching the other faces of the class.

[fiercefluffy.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Maia and friends, here comes one of Maia's friends now.

Maybe he's curious for his own sake. Maybe he'd like to know what Mel wrote just in case Maia might find the information interesting.

Maybe he just wants an excuse to talk to the angel girl again. (Golden invisible blanket of comfort, something soothing him unseen and unguessed-at.)

"I take it Hogwarts is not the Academy you mean," he says to her. "I doubt anyone is ever expelled from this place, given its unique standards."

[wright-phoenix.livejournal.com]

Form, huh? Well, Phoenix knew somewhat about form, but to define it? He probably had it wrong, but it came down to: a form is the shape of an object.

As for his greatest fear, it was a no brainer

I don't want everyone to turn on me. It wouldn't matter if I was on trial for murder-and I have been twice-as long as someone is on my side, it wouldn't matter. I fear a time when everyone is against me.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

Form is the shape a thing takes, substance is what it is. If you like, where it stems from.

He chews on his quill for a moment, before answering the next question.

Appearing vulnerable; loss of control, by way of loss of understanding.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A bit shaken by his conversation with Phoenix, A moves to sit beside L. It's not that he wants to pester him, but A finds his proximity comforting.

[gourmetchairman.livejournal.com]

Biggest fear? He had never really thought of that before, although...yes, he did have a fear, coupled with his dream, if he thought about it.

Fading into obscurity

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt arrives late, so he misses the first assignment. Greatest fear, though...

Insane Japanese men with guns.

Well, that's what's giving him nightmares lately, right?

In smaller writing underneath, he adds,

Being something I'm not, I guess?

[papayagami.livejournal.com]

Soichiro had done the second part first, and was tapping a quill against his face, trying to think of how to define form.

Scribbled out answers were on the paper, until finally he put something down: form is a concept brought to life.

It's a start, at least.

"Matt, what did you put down for what form is?"

[fiercefluffy.livejournal.com]

(( I must credit Mel-mun for some thoughts on chaos, and for helping me noodle about what Octavian might most fear. ))

Octavian had given thought to the meanings of form and substance. As suited the diligent philosopher-king he wished to become, he wrote a pithy and effective summary of Aristotle's views on substance, matter, and form. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#Substance.2C_potentiality_and_actuality): ousia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ousia) (he used the Greek word here, then glossed it in Latin, substantia) as a compound of matter and form (http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/zeta17.htm).

He did not take notes on Kusuriyuri's lecture, but paid quiet, careful attention, his eyes fixed on the lecturer. He would wait until later to ask about the papers stuck to the walls.

The assignment given at the end took him by surprise. To face one's own fears, then, facing the formless, the unknown, the endless, said the professor (Octavian thought of him as magister (http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookit.pl?latin=magister)) . After a long serious moment of contemplation, Octavian realized that what he feared most was exactly that: the formless. Formlessness, substance without form, without order. Chaos.

No, not even that, exactly. Not chaos qua chaos. Indeed, a situation of external chaos, circumstances of political disorder, could represent the height of opportunity for a young patrician like Octavian. It would give him an excuse to step in and impose his own form of order. No, what he feared was an internal chaos. Confusion. The inability to impose order upon his own innermost being.

He wrote the words down with grim precision: Loss of self-control.

He refused to flinch from the words, though now that he had written them, he found them highly distasteful.

Question for Teacher

[wh0-kill3d-m3.livejournal.com]

"Professor?" Laura raised a hand. "When we talk about form and substance? Are we talking strictly about living things, or -" she looked around, picked up an inkwell by way of illustration. "- or simple objects, too?"

Re: Question for Teacher

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

"It applies to everything. Everything has form, substance and reason." Another odd question. Shinto taught that all objects had a spirit. Was that not known here, either? Did he have more to cover than he believed?

[computerwizkid.livejournal.com]

Third time's the charm, for coding and completeness...
Form is what defines what something is. Without knowing something's form, it's impossible to describe it. If you can't describe something, you can't even be sure it exists.

There were times when an intellegent computer came in handy. Dairine let Spot handle the note-taking, while she listened. She wasn't entirely sure she understood all of it, but it sounded like stuff she should be able to look up in the computer's manual functions, if she needed to. Dairine was confident the information would be there, if she needed it; the Powers that Be were hardly going to object to her using the manual to help with her homework.

When the lecture ended, she thought for a moment, before pulling Spot over in front of her and opening a word processor.

I'm really scared spitless of being in a situation that I can't handle because I don't have the right information. As long as I'm informed, I'm confident I can handle anything anyone - or any Power - throws at me, as long as I know what I'm dealing with. Or if I can't, it's because I'm outclassed, and I'll have done everything in my power. But if I don't know what's going on, or how to deal with it? Feh. I'd not only be a goner, I'd be a frustrated and embarrassed goner.

[doctor-hook.livejournal.com]

It was the kid's computer that drew Hook's attention. He hadn't known whether that kind of technology existed at Hogwarts, or whether it could work here. His conversation with Snape had left him wondering whether the sciences at Hogwarts would all be of the bubble-bubble-toil-and-trouble variety.

So it was the computer, rather than any real interest in Dairine's answer, that brought Hook over to take a look.

Silently he read what was in the word-processor window. "That's a pretty complex fear. It's got a lot of components. Fear of inadequacy, is that what it boils down to, or am I misunderstanding? Something deeper than that, maybe."

He'd scrawled out his own answers on a sheet of parchment, which he set on the desk beside Dairine's laptop, because fair was fair and she ought to be able to see his answers too. It was all on the same sheet.

First he had written Form = idea. Substance = flesh. Not much for eloquence or rhetoric, our Dr. Krogshøj. Then there was an interval of chicken-scratch that close scrutiny might reveal to be notes on Kusuriyuri's lecture. After that he'd left about an inch of clean space before addressing the final question:

What is my greatest fear?
To become ineffective. I would not be able to help. I would not be able to keep things running.

"Mine's a little like yours," he said to Dairine.

[maskedlord.livejournal.com]

Vhaeraun listened intently to the lecture, wanting to know what this mortal, likely one of his light elf kin, know about the universe. He enjoyed plating with the minds of co-called mystics to corrupt them to his own purposes or have them destroy themselves.

The Masked Lord, however, was highly impressed with the simplicity in this one's philosophies; a refreshing change from the grandiosities he had been sicken with from mortals for thousands of years.

By releasing this energy into the world, the thing gains reason. Thus, it is possible for people to manifest that which they want and do not want.

A snake of shadows formed from Vhaeraun's hand as he leaned back in his chair with a wicked smirk. Shadow was an excellent example; a form itself that is insubstantial though carries much power.

Negative emotions give substance to that which is there, regardless if it can be seen or not.
Vhaeraun gave small, low chuckle at this statement for it was absolutely correct. This was the reality that gave Shar existence and a reality he thrived on for his own ends.

He looked at his parchment thoughtfully, his hair turning green. He was never fond pf admitting any weaknesses, though his fears were known by all his followers; fears they had as well.

My greatest fear is enslavement to a higher power than my own, especially to my cursed parents. I also fear a loss of control; unorganized chaos or docility. I fear not being in control of my destiny and the destinies of my people.

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

Severus enters the back of the room but stands, a straight black shadow-like presence, instead of taking a seat. He writes minimally on a tablet against his arm, waiting to see what this class and professor will bring.
Form: Physical Structure.
Substance: Inherent Properties.