<div class="floatleft">(http://www.girlswithmuscle.com/images/full/746549258.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Brandt<br/><strong>Alias:</strong>Mantis<br/><strong>Dorm Assignment:</strong>2nd Floor, Room Three<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Auditorium<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>September 2nd, Early evening<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>Olive Drab Sweater, Light Gray Sweatpants<br/><strong>Tagging: </strong>Stephen, Erik, Open<br/><hr/><br/>The shadowplay was definitely entertaining to Mantis, who had never seen anything like it before but a bit of a sullenness overcame her upon realizing it was some manner of 'genetic' predisposition as opposed to something genuinely separate from explanation. Try as she might, she knew that in her pursuit of<em>the Way</em>and in exploring the tenets of the martial arts to achieve her own individual form of artless art mastery, that little could be performed with explanation. Even when one moved beyond the known bounds of intellect, even that which was found beyond knowledge, was still far from being truly unknown. That which was not explicit was not truly inexplicable. Still, the interplay of independent shadows was a gift upon this man Erik and she could only hope that his gift was one he would earn after the fact.<br/><br/>Of more direct interest to her was Stephen's explanation of what was apparently some manner of astral projections, something she knew only true masters of<em>the artless art</em>could achieve. Granted, there were many ways in which one could achieve such mastery as to approach the astral realm, but she felt she was ignorant of the so called mystic arts and knew that in her path, the martial way, one could only achieve such mastery through embracing the nature of the forces that resided within all human beings, the so-called chi or prana, depending on ones origin and translation. And such an embrace of that energy could only be attained through embracing concepts that were beyond the bounds of mere knowledge or intellect. Heavy stuff. Things that often required sacrifices she found innately disagreeable, such as the very abandonment of force in favor of pacifism.<br/><br/>Yet somehow he was able to tap into it, despite, knowing at a glance, he was not a practitioner of any art, or at least of any that would give him mastery over his innate life energy.<br/><br/>Which meant, like many Westerners she had heard of, he was not a Master of<em> the Way</em>, but pursued that beyond the known through another means, through the mastery of the so-called mystic arts, which were both an art and science, which is why many Westerners who had opened their minds enough to such concepts, found them appealing. The nature of his visions however immediately caused her some consternation, as she realized he was likely telling the truth, at least in how he saw and perceived it, which meant, if true, he was selected. Chosen even. While she was leery of the prospect of a sorcerer in the mystic arts even coming close to attaining the knowledge of the mysteries beyond the known, his explanation still stuck out to her.<br/><br/>"During my tutelage in the way, a former Dob-Dob brother of the Nga'gyur school once resided with us for a season," Mantis then said calmly in response to Stephen's story. "He told us... that there is a void that exists in all things. All things... all existence, lacks its own nature and substance... but only in respect to the absence of mental constructs. These constructs are what create divides across time and space, which should be indivisible. He then proclaimed the ancient ones of his sect could actually discover the absolute truth in this which is... if all divisions are mental constructs, then one who masters this truth, has complete awareness because all of time and space to him is as clear as emptiness itself." She paused, rolling her eyes a bit as she tried to find an explanation for his ability to see such visions. "It's a bunch of mystic cow dung as far as I know, for I do not understand how one can master time and space without mastering ones own mind and body first, but the path of the mystic arts is mysterious to me," she added a bit smugly, showing she found pursuing the martial arts superior to the pursuit of the mystic arts. "Though the ancient ones of the Nga'gyur and their teachings are as foreign to me as those of SHIELD for neither follows<em>the Way,</em>" she then said with more then a bit of regret at apparently not receiving a 'vision' such as his but let that subside.<br/><br/>"If you speak accurately of your experience," she then stated, pointing out she did believe him. "Perhaps it is due to the fact you appear to be a man of science that such mysteries have been revealed to you. Clearly that is not the only purpose, but some sects of the Tibetan Buddhist schools do believe in rebirth of certain bodhisattvas, the Dalai Lama being the most obvious example. Maybe that is why you see these visions," she then mused idly, working off of his revelation of a possible Chinese character in his vision. "Perhaps it is in Tibet that your visions originate from," she then deduced.<br/><br/>"Though," she then added most unhelpful in its contrarian nature. "It is known that such visions might be erroneous because... ones mind may shape such a figure into being Asian due to pre-existing bias of associating old Asiatics with being mystical," she added with a laugh. "I once had a striking dream of Michael Jordan guiding me to master one of my forms of kata several months ago. The dreaming metaphor was a blessing, but truly not a reflection of reality or literal truth."