#Zen RP — Between no-mind and Truth
Contents
A hand that grasps nothing sometimes cuts most precisely.
#Introductory Fragment — The One Who Draws Late
The ronin Gen always drew his sword a breath late. The comrades who first fought beside him thought it was composure. Even when an enemy charged, he would draw in his breath, shift the tips of his toes, and only at the last moment push the scabbard.
One night, a young samurai asked, "Are you not afraid, Master? Is that why you draw late?"
Gen did not answer for a long while. The rain struck the eaves. "At first I was late out of fear," he said. "Draw the sword, and someone dies. Either I die, or my opponent dies. I wanted to delay that, even a little."
"And now?"
"Even now I draw late. But the reason is different. It is not that the fear has gone. It is that I keep the fear from moving before the sword."
He tapped the scabbard lightly. "No-mind is not a matter of growing fast. It is a matter of holding the heart so that it does not run out ahead first."
#The Basic Questions of a Zen Figure
A Zen figure does not explain much. So it is better for the player to settle a few things in advance.
| Question | Example Answer |
|---|---|
| What did I cling to? | Victory, vengeance, lord, master, name, death, the perfect sword |
| What do I seek to lay down? | Fear, anger, self-pity, the craving for honor |
| What is my silence? | Practice, evasion, the suppression of anger, awakening, emptiness |
| Before whom do I waver? | A disciple, an old foe, the child of a dead lord, a master who became a yoma |
No-mind is not easy to play. One does not become no-mind merely by speaking little. The core of no-mind is that attachment does not cloud action.
#The No Heart of co and Zen no-mind
| Distinction | co's No Heart | Zen no-mind |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | A state inclined toward no Way | A practiced state where attachment and calculation are severed |
| Cause | Losing the way, not yet having chosen, loss of conviction | Practice, embodiment, acceptance of death |
| Danger | Directionlessness, evasion | Coldness, numbness to suffering |
| Scene | Wanderer, merchant, ronin, the lost | Zen monk, swordsman, tea master, silent teacher |
The two states can overlap. A ronin who lost his lord may at first wander in a co No Heart, then through zazen and the duel attain Zen no-mind. Conversely, a practiced no-mind that loses compassion may fall into an empty no-mind.
#How to Use Silence
Silence is not the doing of nothing. It is an action that raises the pressure of a scene.
Good silence:
- Makes the other speak of their own accord.
- Lengthens the time before drawing the sword.
- Waits for a comrade's anger to pass.
- Does not react to the whispers of a yoma.
- Answers a question not with an answer, but with another action.
Bad silence:
- Abandons participation in the scene.
- Foists every decision onto comrades.
- Dresses a character's irresponsibility in aesthetics.
Zen RP fails if it stops play. The words may be few, but the choices must be clear.
#Zen Scene Tools
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| Dry garden | A battlefield that does not move. A single small stone changes the meaning. |
| Tea bowl | One meeting, restraint, the trembling of the hand. |
| Wooden sword | A blade that does not kill, yet a more painful teaching. |
| Eaves in the rain | A scene of waiting in which no one speaks. |
| The master's koan | A single line before a duel, or before a Heart Shift. |
#Manner of Speech
A Zen figure speaks shortly and concretely.
- "Watch the breath."
- "Watch the feet, not the edge of the blade."
- "Fear grasps at what has not yet come."
- "Lay down that name."
- "Sit. The night is long."
Sometimes the most ordinary words are the most Zen.
- "The tea is going cold."
- "The rain has stopped."
- "Sweep the yard."
#Where no-mind and Truth Meet
Zen no-mind is a practice within the Way of Emptiness, yet the moment it accepts natural movement and the flow of the world, it touches Truth (眞).
For instance, the moment a swordsman lays down the attachment of "I cut," and wind and feet and sword and the opponent's breath become one flow. This scene can be read as Zen no-mind and at the same time as a depiction of the Truth of the Way of Mystery.
But do not fix the two as the same thing. Zen is a practice of Buddhism; the Way of Mystery is the path of Shinto, Daoism, and the spirituality of nature. They can touch, but their starting points differ.
#Distorted no-mind
No-mind is not a license to kill.
The words "I cut without any feeling" can be practice, but they can also be a confession of having lost one's humanity. A villain who speaks of no-mind is frightening in this way.
- He does not remember the name of the one he killed.
- He calls a funeral "the habit of those left behind."
- He teaches a disciple that to remove suffering, one must remove the heart.
- He hears the death of a yoma and of a human as the same sound.
Such a figure is well linked to Void (虛) or Demon (魔).
Silence is not an empty line, but the sword drawn the latest of all.