The Tales of the Ninja Coder

The Zen priests tell a story of the Fifth Patriarch, and his disciple. When the patriarch became old, he held a contest among all the monks of the monastery, to see who could write a poem that best expressed their understanding of Zen. The chief monk at the time was Shen-xiu, who was a diligent meditator; all the other monks assumed Shen-xiu would be selected, and made no attempt to enter the contest.

Shen-xiu himself, however, was not so sure of his own accomplishments. In the night, anonymously, he posted a poem that read:

The body is the Bodhi Tree,
The mind like a bright mirror standing.
Take care to clean it all the time,
And allow no dust to cling.

Publicly, the Patriarch praised the poem and ordered incense to be burned before it. But when Shen-xiu went to the Patriarch in private to admit that he had written the poem, the Patriarch told him that he still had a long way to go in his understanding of the mysteries.

The story ends with a monk of much lesser reputation writing a poem that repudiates the basic assumptions of Shen-xiu's poem and shows a much more advanced grasp of the principles of Zen, and the Patriarch transmitting the office to the other monk in secret. But that's not what I'm concerned with right now.

I am much more interested in Shen-xiu himself, at the moment. Despite all the acclaim of his peers, he was worried. He was not confident in his ability or his understanding. He was concerned that maybe his reputation was much greater than his actual accomplishments, greater than he deserved.

And, obviously, he was quite right. I mean, honestly... "The body is the Bodhi Tree"? I'm no monk, and even I can see that's kind of weak.

This man was the head monk at the monastery, acclaimed by all the others there. And yet, he fundamentally did not understand what Zen was about. I wonder about my own skills, too. I hope that I am not like Shen-xiu... but I fear that I am.

 
I have been busy studying enemy encampments, learning and practicing the intricate Living Stone kata Bunmei and Jimon have created, and occasionally using them against enemies. I have come more and more to realize that Jimon does not consider me a complete fool, and I can argue with him despite his gruff and impassive demeanor.

Last week, we added a new ninja at Clan Nettobuku, a man named Benjirō. He has been hard at work, learning our clan's kata and weapon styles. It sometimes seems as if Jimon and Bunmei simply want to start their own ryū — they could become the founders of Nettobuku-ryū.

Today, however, we had a very upsetting thing happen. I was concentrating hard, and barely saw Binya, the Sōtō Zen monk, walk out with his bowl in hand and his bag on his back. Then Commander Kobushi interrupted our activities, and gathered us together to let everyone know that Binya has left the clan.

Clan Nettobuku is firmly committed to the principles of the Flowing Motion school. Binya has philosophical disagreements with this school; Commander Kobushi says that he will most likely seek a different clan, whose Way is in closer accord with his beliefs. His protegé, Airi, will now be our only Sōtō Zen monk, and she is quite adept in the Flowing Motion teachings.

Still, this is very upsetting to me, and I feel that I should redouble my efforts to improve my own skills, so that I can also depart when the time is opportune. For now, however, I have important kata to practice — and when those are done, some powerful enemies to slay. I must put aside my worry.