Day 30: Patient Library (Fourth Shift)

[jei.livejournal.com]

While he waited for his bulletin board correspondant, Farfarello perused the library's offerings once more. There was no sign of any of the books he'd requested in the suggestion box but he wasn't very suprised that this was the case--even if, by some chance, the Head Doctor actually intended to grant any of the reasonable requests it still would probably take more than a day for anything to happen. The wheels turned slowly, in institutions, and there was no reason for a fake institution to be any speedier than a real one.

For lack of anything better, Farfarello pulled down the Histories volume of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. A little Richard III would keep him diverted for a short while, anyway.

Comments

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon didn't deny that the idea alone of influencing others wasn't exactly ethically sound - one could always argue that some circumstances did call for it, but to invade another being's privacy, no matter the reasons, was always treading in dangerous territory.

"We rarely do it," Qui-Gon said, conceding Sanzo's point. "Sometimes we must. But a proper Jedi won't abuse this ability; if he or she uses it, it will be because there was no other choice. It is not about any kind of personal gain or for power."

Obi-Wan would argue that Qui-Gon himself was walking that line about Force persuasion, although Qui-Gon didn't quite agree. That time in the bongo-bongo with Jar-Jar? Had been similar to what he'd done with Sanzo. Only where Jar-Jar probably would've broken something in his panicked flailing, Sanzo might have angered the radio-man enough to get that feline on them. Or, at the very least, they would have gone weaponless.

Qui-Gon glanced out across the library as he recited the Jedi Code: "There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no death; there is the Force. That is the Code of the Order."

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

So basically it was like a loaded gun. You didn't go threatening innocents (Gojyo and the chimp didn't necessarily count as that; they deserved it the majority of the time) just because you had the power to do it. Guns were protection, and like these abilities, not brandished about for shits and giggles.

It made sense. Qui-Gon didn't dance around the issue either, just acknowledged that there was a potential for good and harm from the ability. That in itself spoke of maturity, and a sense that there might be something beyond black and white.

Sanzo straightened at the apparent code. There was something very familiar about it, even if it was the first time he'd ever heard those exact words.

The core, if he interpreted it correctly, was non-attachment.

"Muchimotsu". Sanzo said. "Maybe we do actually have something in common."

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

"What is 'michimotsu'?" Qui-Gon asked. To Sanzo, it appeared to be something similar to the Jedi Code.

We. So he probably was a priest, if that "we" was anything to go by. It would explain his abnormally strong Force signature, like and yet unlike a Jedi at the same time. It wasn't that uncommon in the galaxy for there to be civilizations to have their own groups similar to the Jedi - Force Sensitives that carried out a certain purpose, fitting in a special niche reserved for them in society. Some were neutral, like the Jedi. Others were decidedly more specialized, some even occupying positions of power.

Simply being attuned to the Force didn't mean you were automatically barred from abusing that power. He had to wonder just how this Earthian priest group fitted into things.

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

"Muchimotsu." Sanzo corrected. The part about Buddha might not have too much relevance for someone who didn't know who he was in relation to Buddhism, but the rest of it would make up for that.

"Embrace nothing. If you meet the Buddha, kill the him. If you meet your father, kill him. Only live your life as it is, not bound to anything."

It sounded pretty fucked up (on the surface), at least compared to the Jedi code, but Buddhism didn't advocate violence either, but right living.

That sounded fine in theory, but Sanzo was willing to bet that the majority of the monks living in their secluded temples didn't have to fight for their life on a daily basis.

"Non-attachment, basically." the monk finished.

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon blinked. That was an odd description for denying attachment. It was almost entirely against everything the Jedi stood for, even though the end result was the same.

The Jedi Master was quiet for a moment. He didn't sense the same level of darkness around Sanzo that he had around that mysterious Sith, both on Tatooine and on Naboo. It'd been the strongest right before that lightsaber came at him and he'd felt it burn right through him. But it appeared that these Earthian priests and the Jedi had completely different views on what was attachment.

"It seems that our goals are the same," Qui-Gon said. He frowned a little. "But our methods are different. Our focus on detachment is so that we may be compassionate to all; we are in service to others, never to our own personal, selfish whims."

In theory, any way. A good Jedi would be a servant to the public and to the Force. In reality, however, Qui-Gon was starting to realize that he wasn't exactly the best example of a good Jedi these days. Not when he was beginning to believe he most certainly did have some selfish attachments.

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

Maybe Sanzo did do most things on selfish whim or reason, but then again, most of his behavior didn't really fit in with the traditional view of Buddhism. Sanzo just viewed it as a different take on it: he was practicing non-attachment by not even being burdened by all of the expectations of the religion.

He could think of a high ranking monk or several that hadn't liked that train of though.

Sanzo shrugged.

"Well, Buddhism doesn't exactly advocate going on selfish whim," he replied. "The reason for non-attachment, even one that may seem so drastic, is because one is trying to gain enlightenment, to break the cycle of reincarnation and suffering."

Living the right way should prevent mindless chaos, but that was going into too much at once. Besides, Sanzo didn't necessarily want to be giving a goddamn sermon, not when there was something he could learn from Qui-Gon.

That was interesting, that the reason for the Jedi detachment was to allow for compassion. Even more interesting was that Qui-Gon didn't see that his service to others was actually still an attachment, even if he wasn't fettered by personal needs, as he claimed.

"Why do the Jedi seem to forbid attachments? Is it for the same reason, that it creates complications, suffering?"

[qui-gonjinn.livejournal.com]

Qui-Gon chose his words carefully. "Attachments can lead to fear, anger, and aggression - all of these can serve to corrupt a Jedi, who can stray from serving the Force and serving others. We seek to gain our own understanding of the universe around us by meditation, not abusing the gift of the Force for selfish reasons."

The Jedi were to be guardians of peace and justice. But he sensed that answer wasn't what Sanzo was looking for. What he was looking for was considerably more spiritual, less concerned with the day-to-day activities of a Jedi or their larger purpose in the Republic. What he wanted, Qui-Gon believed, was to know if the Jedi were like these Earthian priests.

Qui-Gon laced his fingers in his lap as he went on: "A Jedi's life is one of sacrifice. We sacrifice such things as attachment in order to honor life itself: you could say our lives are not our own to live - they are of service to others and to the Force itself."

He'd said something similar to that once. And it still stood as the briefest, most accurate description of what a Jedi stood for that he could think of. A true Jedi, as he understood the Order, was the very opposite of a Sith in that a Jedi would sacrifice all where a Sith would sacrifice none: Sith wanted power over themselves and others, giving into their emotions and viewing the Force as a tool, an asset, and not as the living, breathing thing that it was. The Force to a Sith was only something to be used. A Jedi, on the other hand, would pledge their lives to the Force as a higher power that ran throughout the universe, in every being, every form of life.