|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:20 pm
 "Namu Amida Butsu," said Raurava, eyes half-closed in focus. As a foal she had often stumbled over the words of the many mantras that her father had demanded that she learn. Now, they came to her almost as easily as an indrawn breath. "Namo Amitābhāya." She said the same words but in another language this time, Sanskrit. "Namu Amita Bul," came next, in Korean. These were languages that she knew only how to speak the Buddhist prayers in. She couldn't speak a word of Korean otherwise and wasn't even sure she knew where the land was located. Somewhere to the east. All of the ancestral lands of the Padmapani were somewhere far far away to the east. She repeated the phrase in those three languages, always alternating but not stopping. The words soothed and calmed her. Even the flickering shadows in her tail seemed to still with her chanting.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:28 pm
The sunlight glittered off of Vajrayana's golden headdress and shimmered across his silken mane. A fresh bracelet of flowers garnished his left front ankle and the scent of them wafted up in the hazy summer air. He was a picture of beauty and he knew it. He had always known it on some level, even as a foal.
He hadn't intended to come across Raurava mediating, or so he told himself. He was simply out for a mid-morning stroll and there she was, in her usual meditation grove. It was technically the whole herd's meditation grove, though she seemed to be the only one who used that particular spot anymore. She stood in between three tall stones standing on end, works of Zen art by the quiet Maitreya.
Though her eyes were unfocused, she still was a source of movement. Her mane moved slightly as if pulled by a breeze, though the air was still. The tip of her tail moved slightly ever so often, though not so much as it usually did. It was her crown that he found the most strange. The red flickering eye was never still, always looking like a bit of hellfire burning above one of her chakras. Momentarily disturbed into stillness himself, Vajrayana stared.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:32 pm
"Namu Amida Butsu," said Raurava one last time before falling silent. She saw him. She didn't see him with the eyes on her head, but the eyes on her flank. Sometimes she wondered if Vajrayana understood how good her range of vision was. Did he really not know that she could spot him there? Or did he just not care if she could see him or not? Unable to continue with her practice, she turned to look at him more directly.
"Is there something you needed, brother?" she asked cooly, but without hostility. The hostility would come later if it was needed. It often was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:34 pm
"Nothing in particular, half-sister." He was never one to let the distinction stand unremarked upon. They might share the same father, but he definitely didn't have the mother that gave her paws and a frightful appearance. His father had never said a word about who her mother might be, but Vajrayana had come to suspect a few things throughout his young life.
"Practicing your mantras again?" he asked, even though the answer to that was clearly evident.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:37 pm
"Yes, I was." Even though she knew he just asked that to pester her, she responded anyways. It was time to see how long her patience lasted out, as usual. As usual, she expected it not to last the entire encounter.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to focus on this." She wondered if he would leave with a snide comment, or find some excuse to stay and keep bothering her. As she eyed him, she saw the sun glinting off his golden crown. It was beautiful, she had to give him that. It wasn't anything like her crown. Hers was gold still, but ethereal flames danced above it. They disappeared when she removed it, though she did not know why. Yet another thing that set her apart from the rest of the herd.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:40 pm
"Why is it that you're stuck on that one?" he asked. He flicked his tail, as if disapproving. "That sounded to me like prayers to Amida Buddha." He was not so adept in the mantras as his sister, but he did know the basics. It was impossible not to after growing up with his father around.
"Don't you think it's a little strange for you to be saying those prayers over and over again to our father?" Their father's name, of course, was Amitabha. Amitabha was another name for Amida, and was the name of the Buddha which the mantras referred to. Their father was simply named for the Buddha and not a representative of the Buddha himself, of course, but Vajrayana thought it made an adept little jab anyways.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:45 pm
Raurava blew out a little snort of air through her nostrils. Despite herself, the jab hit home. She took a breath to try to calm herself, but somehow it didn't quite work. "I'm not praying to father, I'm praying to the Amitabha Buddha who sits in his Pure Land," she replied with a deliberately even tone.
"It is said that if you repeat his name, the Pure Land will appear to you in your next life." It was strange to think of, but brought her a sort of peace. There were many things about her current life that she found troubling or tiresome, but if an act as simple as repeating a mantra could grant her rebirth into a better place, she could think of no greater way to spend her time. Of course... that was if what her father taught her was the truth. She did not doubt that a Pure Land existed, but could it really be so easy to enter it?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:50 pm
"I know that." Now it was Vajrayana's turn to snort. That was one thing that irked him about Raurava. She always was so aloof, especially when attending to her studies. She acted like she knew something that normal people didn't, at least that's how he interpreted her behavior. Saying things like that didn't help her case, and he decided she was just trying to impress him with how much she knew.
"Maybe if you keep saying it, you won't have to wait at all," he suggested with a feigned air of friendly suggestion. "Do you think it might appear to you in this life if you repeat that enough times in enough languages?" There was something he could dream for, Raurava disappearing into another world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:28 pm
"No, I don't think that." For some reason, that pricked at Raurava more than Vajrayana's other barbs. She had always heard it said that the Pure Land would appear to the soul after death, but could it be possible to bring a sort of paradise about earlier? That was the concept of nirvana, of course. Complete enlightenment. She had heard some say that Hayagriva had achieved nirvana, as he was gifted an elder form by the bodhisattvas. She didn't know that was entirely correct. Nirvana was supposed to be a state free from suffering, and she could tell that there were matters that weighed heavily upon Hayagriva from time to time.
Her own Pure Land, her own nirvana... such things seemed out of her grasp. She could achieve stillness, but joy more often eluded her. "Is this really the best place for you to be right now?" She couldn't help but snap a little back at him. He had a way of getting under her skin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:33 pm
"There are other places I could be, but you know I always enjoy our little theologic debates." Vajrayana turned his head to look at her, knowing that it was picking up the sunlight and reflecting it beautifully. "Now why don't you continue? I'm very curious to see if the Pure Land is going to appear and whisk you away." Even without encyclopedic knowledge, he knew that was a ridiculous interpretation of the philosophy.
Just then, a breeze picked up. Vajrayana glanced over his shoulder and noticed dark clouds gathering on the horizon. So, it looked like a storm was coming. He frowned a little at that. "It looks like all that your prayers brought is rain," he remarked. "The humans with their corn might appreciate that, but I don't know that I do."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:40 pm
"If it's about to rain, I'm going to find shelter." Raurava said it flatly, not allowing any more room for needling or harassment. "Thank you for your company, brother. I hope you can find somewhere to keep you dry." She left then, turning before Vajrayana had a chance to bother her more. From the eyes on her rump she could see him even as she walked away. He stared at her with more frank disdain when her back was turned. That didn't surprise her.
Bitterly, she headed in the direction of some caves she knew. Those would be good shelter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:43 pm
Unimpressed, Vajrayana watched her leave. It was an obvious retreat. She was getting less subtle when she wanted to avoid his company. With a flip of his mane, he turned to walk in exactly the opposite direction as she had gone in. She was probably going off somewhere to be alone and isolated. He, on the other hand, would find the rest of the herd and see what sort of preparations they were making.
It certainly didn't help Raurava's freakish reputation that she spent so little time with the rest of the herd. It was small wonder that some thought she was dangerous. It was something he had heard whispered among other herd members when they thought no one else was listening. They wondered who her mother was, and whether her skinwalker-like appearance was merely coincidence. Vajrayana knew better. He didn't think she was dangerous, but he disliked her all the same.
All of a sudden, he heard a far off rumbling. It looked like the storm was coming faster than he had thought.
~ Fin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
