Fictional
The Student
The primary edict. It means only one thing, and everything: cut. Once committed to fight, cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut into his strength. Flow through the gaps in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don't allow him a breath. Crush him. Cut him without mercy to the depths of his spirit. It is the balance to life: death. It is the dance with death.
A pair of bright and vibrant eyes read over this paper once again. Awake and alert eyes wrapped in wrinkles of skin. Stepping slowly and surely, the old man folded the paper twice and put it into his pocket. It was these words that caught his attention, these words which were without focused, these words from a man who would become his greatest student. But this man was not ready... yet. The old man new that. But this would be enough to begin with.
The old man then sat, underneath the designated tree, and folded his legs together, his arms putting them in place. He then took a deep breath, let his body settle into place, and began to empty his mind. Time froze for a moment, or passed all to quickly. The sounds of birds rose, then fell again. Sunlight on the skin became noticed, then passed out of awareness. Events rose and fell as if they had never taken place, one after another. Swish... swish... swish... through the long spring grasses walked two feet. Then the presence of a seated young man became clear. The old man did not open his eyes.
"Although we have talked for some time now through the passing of letters," the raspy voice explained, "there are several things which I have to discuss with you in person before we can begin." The young man sitting next to him listened carefully while the old man continued, "now close your eyes and clear your mind of all thoughts." More time passed. An ant crawled across skin, then continued up the tree. A cicada chirped faroff in the distance. "What is it that you desire above all else?" the old man asked at last.
The young man paused briefly, breathed in slowly, and answered with, "power." No expression of surprise crossed the old man's face, he simply asked the young man to clear his mind again.
He asked then, "what do you want power for?" The young man thought for a moment, but did not have much trouble in giving an answer.
"To destroy evil," the young man explained.
"So then it is not power you desire above all else, but the destruction of evil," said the old man, smiling and opening his eyes. Their eyes met briefly and the young man looked down, contemplating this. The old man continued, "power is only a step in reaching this goal."
"It is as you have said it," admitted the young man. Once again the old man asked him to clear his mind and they both were silent. A cool breeze blew past them. A few drops of rain fell, but stopped after a while. The sun began to head West, covered slightly by clouds.
"Tell me," began the old man after some time, "do you sense evil when you are sitting with your mind empty like this?"
"I do not," the young man replied.
"Then where is it that evil comes from?"
"From the hearts of evil men."
"Oh? Then since you do not sense evil in your heart during times of silence, do you never act in evil ways?"
The young man was ashamed and said nothing because both of them knew he had performed evil acts in his past.
"If your evil does not come from your heart, then an evil man or a righteous man is not created from where his heart is." The old man continued his question, "where then, does evil come from?"
"I do not know."
The old man was silent again, perhaps longer than before, while the young man humbled himself and continued to try and clear his mind of all thoughts. The old man explained, "there is no evil or righteousness in the hearts of men. During times of silence, when any man clears his mind of all thoughts, his heart is pure. Therefore, evil and righteousness do not come from the heart." The old man was silent for a moment, then spoke clearly and with authority, "righteousness... comes from a man's wisdom... and loving compassion for others. Evil... comes from a man's ignorance... and selfish desires."
Great fear entered the young man. From the power of the old man's words and his ever growing presence, from the fact that the young man knew that these words were in truth, and from the young man's admittance of his own ignorance and selfish desires, he was almost brought to tears.
"And now this is your one goal," the old man said in almost a whisper, but still with power in his voice, "your only purpose, what you must desire above all else... to abolish ignorance with wisdom and to destroy all selfish desires with loving compassion for others."
The young man composed himself once again, with great focus, and carved those words into his mind, never to be forgotten.
"When you achieve this," continued the old man, "you will have removed the source of evil from arising within your actions... Then... and only then, will you be ready to fight against 'evil men'."
The young man bowed at the foot of the old man, his voice still choking slightly, "thank you for seeing my error and teaching me the right direction."
"Your heart has always known the right direction, I only removed your ignorance so that your mind could clearly see where your actions should be.
The intentions of a man's heart are always in the right direction. Never does a man purposefully do what is wrong. Even a psychotic murderer's heart desires to do what is right. Even if he kills because he thinks it's 'fun'. Even if a man purposefully does what is 'wrong' and purposefully goes against the laws created by man, he acts against it because he believes he should. It is because his mind is so full of ignorance and selfish desires that his actions do not reflect the intentions of his heart.
All men posses what is necessary to be righteous instead of evil. All men have the knowledge of Ultimate Truth within their grasp, only they cannot see it because of their ignorance or because of their faith in various lies. All men posses love within their hearts, only they do not act lovingly when they are ignorant and believe in 'self' apart from or above 'others'. This is how you must abolish the evil within your own heart, by giving up your false beliefs and searching for Truth. When your ignorance is gone, so will be gone the source of all your evil actions."
The old man stood, gazing at the sunset across empty fields of grass. "Tomorrow," he said, "you will begin your training." The young man bowed.
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The opening paragraph was taken from The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. (I haven't actually read this series, but heard someone quote it and while thinking about this quote was inspired to write this story)
The primary edict. It means only one thing, and everything: cut. Once committed to fight, cut. Everything else is secondary. Cut. That is your duty, your purpose, your hunger. There is no rule more important, no commitment that overrides that one. Cut. Cut from the void, not from bewilderment. Cut into his strength. Flow through the gaps in his guard. Cut him. Cut him down utterly. Don't allow him a breath. Crush him. Cut him without mercy to the depths of his spirit. It is the balance to life: death. It is the dance with death.
A pair of bright and vibrant eyes read over this paper once again. Awake and alert eyes wrapped in wrinkles of skin. Stepping slowly and surely, the old man folded the paper twice and put it into his pocket. It was these words that caught his attention, these words which were without focused, these words from a man who would become his greatest student. But this man was not ready... yet. The old man new that. But this would be enough to begin with.
The old man then sat, underneath the designated tree, and folded his legs together, his arms putting them in place. He then took a deep breath, let his body settle into place, and began to empty his mind. Time froze for a moment, or passed all to quickly. The sounds of birds rose, then fell again. Sunlight on the skin became noticed, then passed out of awareness. Events rose and fell as if they had never taken place, one after another. Swish... swish... swish... through the long spring grasses walked two feet. Then the presence of a seated young man became clear. The old man did not open his eyes.
"Although we have talked for some time now through the passing of letters," the raspy voice explained, "there are several things which I have to discuss with you in person before we can begin." The young man sitting next to him listened carefully while the old man continued, "now close your eyes and clear your mind of all thoughts." More time passed. An ant crawled across skin, then continued up the tree. A cicada chirped faroff in the distance. "What is it that you desire above all else?" the old man asked at last.
The young man paused briefly, breathed in slowly, and answered with, "power." No expression of surprise crossed the old man's face, he simply asked the young man to clear his mind again.
He asked then, "what do you want power for?" The young man thought for a moment, but did not have much trouble in giving an answer.
"To destroy evil," the young man explained.
"So then it is not power you desire above all else, but the destruction of evil," said the old man, smiling and opening his eyes. Their eyes met briefly and the young man looked down, contemplating this. The old man continued, "power is only a step in reaching this goal."
"It is as you have said it," admitted the young man. Once again the old man asked him to clear his mind and they both were silent. A cool breeze blew past them. A few drops of rain fell, but stopped after a while. The sun began to head West, covered slightly by clouds.
"Tell me," began the old man after some time, "do you sense evil when you are sitting with your mind empty like this?"
"I do not," the young man replied.
"Then where is it that evil comes from?"
"From the hearts of evil men."
"Oh? Then since you do not sense evil in your heart during times of silence, do you never act in evil ways?"
The young man was ashamed and said nothing because both of them knew he had performed evil acts in his past.
"If your evil does not come from your heart, then an evil man or a righteous man is not created from where his heart is." The old man continued his question, "where then, does evil come from?"
"I do not know."
The old man was silent again, perhaps longer than before, while the young man humbled himself and continued to try and clear his mind of all thoughts. The old man explained, "there is no evil or righteousness in the hearts of men. During times of silence, when any man clears his mind of all thoughts, his heart is pure. Therefore, evil and righteousness do not come from the heart." The old man was silent for a moment, then spoke clearly and with authority, "righteousness... comes from a man's wisdom... and loving compassion for others. Evil... comes from a man's ignorance... and selfish desires."
Great fear entered the young man. From the power of the old man's words and his ever growing presence, from the fact that the young man knew that these words were in truth, and from the young man's admittance of his own ignorance and selfish desires, he was almost brought to tears.
"And now this is your one goal," the old man said in almost a whisper, but still with power in his voice, "your only purpose, what you must desire above all else... to abolish ignorance with wisdom and to destroy all selfish desires with loving compassion for others."
The young man composed himself once again, with great focus, and carved those words into his mind, never to be forgotten.
"When you achieve this," continued the old man, "you will have removed the source of evil from arising within your actions... Then... and only then, will you be ready to fight against 'evil men'."
The young man bowed at the foot of the old man, his voice still choking slightly, "thank you for seeing my error and teaching me the right direction."
"Your heart has always known the right direction, I only removed your ignorance so that your mind could clearly see where your actions should be.
The intentions of a man's heart are always in the right direction. Never does a man purposefully do what is wrong. Even a psychotic murderer's heart desires to do what is right. Even if he kills because he thinks it's 'fun'. Even if a man purposefully does what is 'wrong' and purposefully goes against the laws created by man, he acts against it because he believes he should. It is because his mind is so full of ignorance and selfish desires that his actions do not reflect the intentions of his heart.
All men posses what is necessary to be righteous instead of evil. All men have the knowledge of Ultimate Truth within their grasp, only they cannot see it because of their ignorance or because of their faith in various lies. All men posses love within their hearts, only they do not act lovingly when they are ignorant and believe in 'self' apart from or above 'others'. This is how you must abolish the evil within your own heart, by giving up your false beliefs and searching for Truth. When your ignorance is gone, so will be gone the source of all your evil actions."
The old man stood, gazing at the sunset across empty fields of grass. "Tomorrow," he said, "you will begin your training." The young man bowed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The opening paragraph was taken from The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. (I haven't actually read this series, but heard someone quote it and while thinking about this quote was inspired to write this story)