Wynn | Created on Wednesday, 13 September 2006 18:51 |
Wynn |
Full Name: "Wynn" Mu Shui My brothers worshipped my father, and therefore adopted his dogma of female inferiority. There were so many of us in our family, and yet there was not nearly enough wealth to support nine mouths. I was always the last to eat. "Father first, for he is the master. Sons next, for they are the future. Mother then, for she is the cook. Daughter last, for she is despicable." Unfortunately this lack of proper food led me to growing into a less-than-desireable woman. I have not the vuluptuous hips or bust of a wealthy woman. I do not have long gracious legs that turn heads. Rather, my body is both cursed with shortness and lankiness, I suppose I took like an overgrown child, with knobby knees, pudgy cheeks and limbs too long for my torso. Perhaps this is not all negative though, I vowed myself to celebacy at an age when that is the only thing boys do not want to see in girls. I hope these details do not seem insignificant. I believe I have a strange appearance, certainly that is what I have been told many times before. It is my wish to explain myself, so that I am not judged on first impression of appearance. "Mu Shui, the squinting one. Like a troll, she hates the sun! Closed her eyes for many a day, Now they'll forever stay that way!" Indeed, it would seem my eyes were glued shut by the Gods themselves. Perhaps it is my lesson for not following the middle path, that I am stuck with forever squinted eyes. In my late childhood, I had become so sick of the hypocracy of my village that I decided it was my job to understand Buddha's ways myself. I sat and meditated under the closest thing to a fig tree that grew in that region, for more days than I could keep track of. The shade paled my skin, and my closed eyes lost their courage. When I finally arose, I found the sun's light far too painful to view, and since then, I have always squinted. When I was still a fairly young girl, at the age of fifteen, I left home. I felt at this point in my life that I was well equipped enough, mentally and spiritually, to look after myself. And, certainly, I have been able to do so better than my family managed. Looking back, perhaps I should have stayed and tried to help them find something better than cruelty and greed to cling to. I have doubts, though, that my presence would have ever evolved into something more than an irritance to them. On the autumn of the second-to-last year of Yuri's reign over Koguryo, I arrived in the country centre of Kugnae. It seemed relvant to me that I should start my new life during the same season as I was born, seventeen years later. Upon my arrival in the Kingdom, I figured the first thing to do would be to find a group of people to associate with. Walking around the city streets, I saw a number of posters on fenceposts and buildings for the Koguryo Royal Army. I took one, and decided to contact the recruiters. I was guided into the army by a young man named Todaka, who since has become an established close friend of mine. Although settling into the army was enjoyable, the majority of the soldiers were young men, who preferred to spend their nights drinking and dreaming of extra- vagence than studying or discussing scholarly pursuits. There was a man in the army, by the name of Omat, who I noticed to be of particular calm composition, and after observing him for a while, I discovered that he was a Buddhist Monk. I spoke with him about the guild, and he told me a few Teachers who were willing to take newcomers under their wing. Sadly, it seemed none of the Teachers I contacted were able to contact me in return. I decided that the best way to receive guidance was to seek it out actively. Later that week, I noticed announcement papers across the city for a Monk Gathering, hosted by the teacher Clyde Saradit. I immediately decided to go, and certainly it turned out to be a good choice. After participating in the conversations at the Gathering, when all else had gone home, Saradit approached me and asked if I had someone guiding me along the path of the Buddha. Shortly after our first meeting, Clyde Saradit took me as his student. We trained for many months, and I learned things about the Middle Path that I had never been exposed to in my earlier book-driven teachings. After a series of trials and lessons, my teacher deemed me worthy as a Monk, and took me into the guild's circle, where I have stayed ever since. Written by `, "Wynn" Mu Shui |