Active Meditation

[Kuni Yotsuo]

He had heard of folks meditating through archery, so interested in the mixture of the two and inspired by the recent lesson, Yotsuo gave it a try. He got a training bow and began performing the basic actions of the draw and release while focusing more on the breathing and clearing the mind. He almost understood it, but the tension on his fingers during the draw was too distracting. After a while he just gave up and started practicing with the bow as he had the day before.

----

D7 Serpent, Meditation / Void: 5d10o10k2 17

[Kaito Haruki]

Haruki mutters under his breath while pacing around the perimeter of arrows, putting them away one quiver at a time. C'mon, you're a Kaito, why did you of all people not empty your mind while using a bow? It's because you're too much of a Shiba now, isn't it? Looking towards the archery targets next, he notices Yotsuo-san. Might as well follow his lead, he knows a lot about the void, maybe it comes from his knowledge of the other realms. Oh, so NOW he could do it, when no one is looking. Maybe that's what he's missing?

D7 Serpent: Meditation Void, TN 20: 3d10o10k1 28

[Kuni Yotsuo]

The Kuni greeted the Kaito once he seemed to have found his center and gained that post meditation acceptance. "Good afternoon Isawa-san. I hope the day is treating you well. Hopefully it isn't too hot."

[Kaito Haruki]

"I have a feeling the day will treat me better later; I was a little too tense in the archery training. I see you did well though. You're certainly a shining example of a crab samurai here."

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"Thank you for your kind words. I hadn't expected to do as well as I have been, but I think many are showing a great deal of growth. I suspect even if the lessons take a little longer to take root for some, this additional training will reveal the amazing potential many samurai have."

[Kaito Haruki]

"Indeed, but it's incredible how close some insights are in hand. They're like grains of sand at times, and we need to pick them up one by one."

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"Fortunately, we have very patient and skilled sensei here, sharing those grains with us. I don't doubt that the many dojos of the empire can offer advanced and non-standard training for their students outside of normal curriculum, but this experience with teachers from across the empire is unique. It grants perspective as much as it grants insight."

[Kaito Haruki]

"Hai, I can feel the secrets to my school's technique in the back of my mind already. All it will take is a few more weeks, but I will still follow this curriculum carefully. I want to not only pass my gempaku, but to start my career in a solid position."

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"My career will likely be too unique to really feel like I'm on stable footing. My ability to walk the realms is going to take a bit of practice to learn how it can be used most effectively in service to my family. But having the chance to expand my perspective with such different training will allow an open mind when dealing with the different spirits I'll encounter."

[Kaito Haruki]

"How did you learn you could do that anyway? Must be an interesting story behind that."

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"I was unintentionally traveling into the dreams of my family when we would sleep. They suspected something odd was happening when I was able to describe their dreams accurately. They looked into it and I was assigned to a master among the Kuni that was most studied on the subject of traveling between the spirit realms. We've been practicing and studying it since then."

[Kaito Haruki]

"Do you think it is possible to acquire this ability later in life if one works hard enough?"

[Miya Wyn]

Having had a weird moment of clarity earlier during the Kyujitsu challenge, Wyn joins the others in attempting Archery based Meditation



D7 Serpent - Mediation/Void TN 20: 2d10o10k1 8

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"I honestly have no clue but I suspect not. There are many written accounts of people that could do so through history but it always seems like something that is a natural part of the person that can do so. Though at the same time, there has to be a reason that the gift exists and it doesn't seem to be related to family lines or inheriting it from parents or ancestors. Maybe it is something that can be granted by the heavens or by spiritual beings from other realms."

He nods in the direction of the other newcomer but doesn't interrupt their meditation. The Miya could join their conversation when finished with meditation.

[Miya Wyn]

Wyn continues shooting a few more time, before shaking his head and lowering his bow, "I will have to try later...I don't seem to be able to recapture what I felt in the Archery class....What were you two talking about?"

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"We were discussing my ability to walk the spirit realms and the likelihood of it being a gift that could be acquired later rather than being born with it," he explains to the Miya.

[Miya Wyn]

"Ahh. I do not know much, but I understand it is something that mostly runs in Shugenja families if I remember correctly? And I think occasionally it can be developed in childhood, or rarely around Gempukku...but not usually after that? " He shrugs, "But most of what I know is theory, and legend, not true fact, I have never met someone who could actually do it"

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"It's much the same for me. I don't really know what leads to the ability, all I know is that I have it and I am learning to control it. But I do know it's not something that I could teach others. It would be like trying to teach a person with no legs to walk. You simply have to have legs to walk. Not to get around necessarily, since you might be able to move with the use of your hands, but that would be akin to visiting the spirit realms using portals or some form of incantation of the kami if it even exists to do so."

[Miya Wyn]

"I've always wondered what other realms would be like, are they...interesting...terrifying....wondrous?"

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"All of them are all of those. Each realm has it's own dangers and unique sights. If any of them felt most comfortable it was probably Yomi, but I did not spend much time there the one time I did visit. It was the most similar, but it felt like... perfection was everywhere. Perhaps not quite perfection, as much as, greatly superior quality in everything that existed there. I imagine that Tengoku would truly be like experiencing perfection, but I will not go there unless invited. It is not my place to intrude upon that realm."