#yixin’s little life

[another-miracle]

1 Kings 19:4-8

[4] ...And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” [5] And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” [6] And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. [7] And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” [8] And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food…

#depression #christianity #yixin’s little life

[ibijau]

Jin Rusong Lives / On AO3

An unpleasant but much needed conversation is had

Jin Yixin arrived to the Unclean Realm a few days after Lan Xichen did. Although Jin Rulan had written that she was an old woman in her seventies, she looked hardly a day over nineteen and behaved with timeless politeness. If Nie Huaisang had not been warned in advance, he might have mistaken her for a junior disciple of Lanling Jin, or at best for someone of his own age, and chatted with her as such. 

In fact a few Nie juniors made that very mistake in the early days, apparently thinking that Lanling Jin had sent a nurse rather than a teacher. They tried to befriend Jin Yixin with a complete lack of care for her seniority, thinking she was of their generation. She did not scold them for their familiarity, instead explaining the true situation before sending them on their way. A few of the juniors still expressed interest in her company, impressed by her high cultivation and interested in anything that had to do with their sect leader’s ward, but Jin Yixin turned down any offers for tours of Qinghe or Night Hunts. She was here to teach Jin Rusong only, and had little interest in mingling, preferring to dedicate her free time to her own improvement.

At some other time, Nie Huaisang might have attempted to make her join at least some part of his sect’s life. If she was to stay for a long while, it seemed to him she should become part of the family, so to speak. But although her refusal to so much as eat with Nie disciples made him feel like a bad host, it was also a relief of sorts when so much of his energy was already spent worrying about Lan Xichen.

Not that Lan Xichen was purposefully causing problems, of course. In fact, for the first week or two of his presence in the Unclean Realm, he remained mostly confined to his room, to his bed even. Nie Zhilan, in her daily reports, said that he slept a lot. He only became active at night when Jin Rusong came to have dinner with him, and often begged to be allowed to sleep with his uncle Lan. That request was granted to him each time, which in turn meant that someone had to go to Lan Xichen’s quarters in the morning to help Jin Rusong get ready for his day. 

Nie Huaisang missed sharing those moments with the little boy, whom he saw little of now. It upset him more than he would have cared to admit that their routine had been disrupted this way, but if it was to make Jin Rusong happy, he could deal with it. And of course Nie Huaisang could have been the one to go help Jin Rusong in the morning, if he’d wanted, but he thought he would spare Lan Xichen the displeasure of his company.

It was better if they weren’t around each other too much, Nie Huaisang had decided. Lan Xichen was there only because of Jin Rusong. Upon arriving in the Unclean Realm he had been too unwell to resent Nie Huaisang for everything that had happened, but that was sure to change as his health improved, and Nie Huaisang had no wish to bear witness to the other man’s hatred. That night at the temple had been enough.

It became harder to avoid Lan Xichen when Nie Zhilan decided that he had rested enough and was now in need of exercise and company. Jin Rusong was of course happy to provide both, having obtained permission to make his Uncle Lan visit the Unclean Realm to show him his favourite places. The two became an accepted sight in late afternoons, holding hands and walking together, usually discreetly trailed by a Nie disciple ready to intervene should Lan Xichen start feeling unwell.

It made Nie Huaisang happy that these two could enjoy their time together.

It would have made him happier if Jin Ruson’s favourite places had not also been the ones where he was mostly likely to spend time when he had a little freedom.

At first, Nie Huaisang managed to spot them coming his way and to escape unseen. Or else he would notice them when he was the one going somewhere they already were, and changed his plans quickly. It was unpleasant, and a little taxing, but he refused to impose his presence to Lan Xichen who would surely find it distasteful.

Of course Nie Huaisang’s luck had to run out sooner or later. After over a week of playing hide and seek, one afternoon Nie Huaisang found himself cornered in his aviary when Jin Rusong and Lan Xichen came to have a look at the birds. The two men stared at each other with uneasy expressions, Lan Xichen clearly unsure how to behave around Nie Huaisang now that he wasn’t exhausted to the point of sickness. Even Jin Rusong seemed to notice the tension between the adults and silently waited for one of them to speak.

It did something to Nie Huaisang’s heart to see Jin Rusong holding Lan Xichen’s hand, how that impossibly tall man effortlessly leaned toward the child to make it easier on him. Lan Xichen could have made a wonderful father. He would someday. Maybe without any previous hopes left to distract him, Lan Xichen would finally get married and have a family.

He deserved that happiness, even if it would break whatever was left of Nie Huaisang’s heart.

The silence between them lasted a while, until Lan Xichen, always polite to a fault, remembered his manners and decided to be the one to break it.

“I hope we’re not disturbing Nie zongzhu,” he said. “We were just…”

“Pretty! Pretty!” A shrill voice exclaimed behind Nie Huaisang, making all three of them jump.

As soon as he realised where the voice came from, Jin Rusong shrieked in delight. He let go of Lan Xichen's hand and ran to the mynah’s cage, startling the bird which turned silent again.

“It really can talk! Can it learn my name?”

The mynah hopped away from him, still wary of that little stranger, but came back closer when Lan Xichen too approached the cage.

“Hello little friend,” he said with a gentle smile and a gentler voice. “It had been a while. Have you been well?”

“Pretty! Pretty! What a pretty bird! Pretty!”

Lan Xichen laughed softly, and passed one finger through the bars of the cage to scratch the bird, which allowed it easily.

“Yes, you’re still the prettiest bird around,” Lan Xichen said. “The vainest too. I wonder if your master would let me feed you a treat?”

“Pretty bird, treat for the pretty bird!”

Nie Huaisang made a face, unsure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. When Lan Xichen turned to look at him, silently asking if he could be allowed a treat for the mynah, Nie Huaisang hurriedly looked away to hide his emotion and went to pick some pieces of dried fruit he kept around. He gave a slice of apple to Lan Xichen, and another to Jin Rusong who was now frowning at the bird.

“Something wrong, SongSong?”

“It’s still not talking to me,” Jin Rusong sighed. “It was speaking to uncle Lan, not me. It hates me.”

“Of course it doesn’t hate you,” Nie Huaisang protested. “I’ve told you before, that bird just finds it a little hard to trust anyone. It will come, though. Before today, it wouldn’t even speak in front of you, right? So be patient.”

“But it talks to uncle Lan!” Jin Rusong complained, tears of frustration forming at the corner of his eyes.

Lan Xichen removed his finger from the cage and knelt down next to the child, apparently not caring that his robes would get dirty.

“A-Song, that bird has known me for a very long time,” he patiently explained. “That’s why it knows me and talks to me. With a little time…”

“But uncle Nie said it only talks to him and his friend who’s never coming back!” Jin Rusong exclaimed, before wiping a tear. “And now it also talks to you and it’s not fair!”

Nie Huaisang froze when Lan Xichen shot him a surprise look. 

They both knew that his mynah had always refused to speak to anyone but the two of them. It wouldn’t even say a word in front of other people most of the time. They used to laugh about that with Jin Guangyao, who had been as frustrated as his son by the bird’s silence, and sometimes jokingly accused them of pulling his leg when they mentioned how well it spoke. It had felt like a secret between the two of them, something only they shared.

This was one more thing to add to the list of everything Nie Huaisang didn’t want to talk about, least of all near Jin Rusong.

“I think somebody is getting quite tired,” Nie Huaisang announced, forcing himself to smile and to sound as jovial as he could. “And I think this time, it’s not uncle Lan. SongSong, let’s get you some dinner and then you’re off to bed. You’ve had a long day, I think.”

Without surprise, the little boy loudly protested that he wasn’t tired at all. He tried to resist when Nie Huaisang picked him up, but by the time they’d reached Lan Xichen's door in the guest quarters, Jin Rusong was asleep in Nie Huaisang’s arms.

“Do you want me to take him to his bedroom for tonight?” Nie Huaisang asked Lan Xichen, selfishly hoping to have a morning with the child again after this long.

“No, it’s fine. Do you want me to hold him? He must be quite heavy.”

“Lan zongzhu, I’m not that weak,” Nie Huaisang protested, tightening his grasp on the child. “And Nie Zhilan is going to murder me if I let you do anything tiring without her permission. I’ll just drop him inside and have dinner sent your way. It’ll be…”

“You could dine with me,” Lan Xichen offered, having the gall to sound hopeful. “I’ve been here nearly a month, and I don’t think we’ve shared a single meal except for that first breakfast.”

Nie Huaisang looked away, pretending to adjust the way he held Jin Rusong.

“I assumed you would rather not see me more than strictly necessary, Lan zongzhu.”

“I wish you’d have asked then,” Lan Xichen gently scolded, “so I could have told you earlier that your assumption was wrong. I would be grateful for a chance to spend time together again. Unless you do not wish for my company?” he added with clear worry. “I realise that you might feel you’ve had little choice in this matter. Considering everything that has happened, if being in my presence has become unbearable to you, I will not insist of course. But, Huaisang…”

At hearing his name again instead of his title, Nie Huaisang’s heart started beating so hard that he half feared it might wake Jin Rusong.

“I’ve missed you,” Lan Xichen admitted. “I know things cannot go back to what they were, but I’m hoping it doesn’t have to be over for us.”

“After all this?” Nie Huaisang gasped, fighting against tears. “Er-ge, that’s…”

“Don’t call me that,” Lan Xichen immediately cut him, something changing in his expression. “If I never hear that again, it’ll be too soon.”

The demand, made in such a serious tone, shocked Nie Huaisang out of his tears. It made his chest clench painfully, so much that it was difficult to still hold Jin Rusong.

��Of course, you’re right. Lan zongzhu, then?”

“If you must,” Lan Xichen conceded. “But you used to call me by my name once, and I’ve never minded that. In fact, I’ve missed that too.”

Nie Huaisang couldn’t help a small grimace, his cheeks heating up at the memory of the last time he’d taken that liberty.

“Things were different then,” he whispered. “I think it would be unwise to start using your name again, lest I forget where we stand now.”

“I won’t force you, Huaisang,” Lan Xichen sighed. “I can’t say I know where we stand anyway. But I know what I used to want, and I miss that as well. Call me a fool for it if you like. But I’m convinced things would have been different if we had both allowed ourselves to be a little more foolish back then. Maybe then you would have known you could trust me.”

Hearing that hurt more than the request not to call him ‘Er-ge’. It was a fair accusation to make, a logical conclusion to have come to. Nie Huaisang didn’t feel like defending himself at the moment. He never might feel like it. He’d made the choice he had made, there was little point in talking about that. The past couldn’t be changed, the harm he’d done to Lan Xichen couldn’t be undone.

Besides, Nie Huaisang knew himself. There were few things he’d do differently if given another chance. He’d care a little more about keeping Qin Su alive, so Jin Rusong wouldn’t lose his entire family at once, but nothing else.

The rest he couldn’t quite regret, even when he knew he probably should. Everything had worked out too well.

“Zewu-Jun, I don’t think this is a matter worth discussing,” Nie Huaisang announced. It came out sounding more like a warning than he intended. “All I will say is that I’ve never stopped seeing you as my friend, even if my actions have not always been friendly. That’s where I stand on this matter.”

Lan Xichen sighed, but nodded.

“I can work with that for now. But I hope you understand there are many things we’ll have to talk about sooner or later.”

“We really don’t have to.”

“We do,” Lan Xichen insisted. “I’ve learned from my mistakes, Huaisang, and I won’t content myself with assumptions about people’s intentions and actions, not anymore. Not after what happened.”

“Zewu-Jun, please…”

“Not tonight,” Lan Xichen agreed, opening his door and motioning for Nie Huaisang to come inside. “But I’ve been lied to by a lot of people, on many subjects, and I’m tired of that. I think I’m owed the truth about why you chose to keep me in the dark, at least.”

Nie Huaisang tensed, annoyed to be cornered that way. He went inside with a huff.

“Even if I told you, would you believe me anyway?” he snapped, looking around for a place to put down Jin Rusong.

It would have been too forward to go into Lan Xichen’s room, but he wasn’t sure it would be wise to just drop the child on the sofa, in case this conversation blew into an argument.

“So far I’ve always trusted you too much rather than too little,” Lan Xichen coldly noted, confirming Nie Huaisang’s fear about the direction they were headed. "I'm not the one who brought distrust into our friendship." 

Propriety be damned, Nie Huaisang strode toward the bedroom and put Jin Rusong down on the bed. The child sleepily complained, and struggled a little when his shoes were removed, but thankfully did not actually wake up. Nie Huaisang quickly wrapped him in a blanket before returning to the main room, carefully closing the door.

Lan Xichen gave him a long look. So much for respecting his refusal to speak about this, Nie Huaisang bitterly thought. At the same time, perhaps it was best to get this over with. Then Lan Xichen would know exactly where they stood, and realise that he didn’t want to maintain their friendship after all. Nie Huaisang would finally be able to stomp out the last embers of hope he hadn’t yet managed to kill, and Lan Xichen wouldn't seek his company again, making this easier for both of them. 

“Fine, you want to know why I never told you what Jin Guangyao did to Da-ge?” Nie Huaisang snapped, to which Lan Xichen nodded. “Fine. Fine, right. The truth is… I wanted to protect you.”

Lan Xichen’s eyes opened wide.

“What?”

Clenching his fists, Nie Huaisang looked away.

“He’d killed Da-ge!” he exclaimed, the pain of it still fresh after all these years. “My Da-ge, who had survived everything else! And I couldn’t prove it at that time, but the fact that Jin Guangshan had died so suddenly, and… and Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun too, who were the two next in line to inherit? Zewu-Jun, I was terrified ! It felt like there was nothing he couldn’t do, nothing he wouldn’t dare attempt, to get what he wanted! I knew he’d kill me,” Nie Huaisang noted with a grim huff of laughter, “and I was terrified that if you confronted him he might have killed you too. And you would have confronted him, of course. You’re so good. How could you not have?”

His voice rose a little too high, an old panic seizing him at the idea of what might have happened if he had made different choices. Even after so long, even after it was all over, that old fear still made Nie Huaisang sick to his core.

“It’s not just that he would have murdered you,” he added, closing his eyes to fight tears. “He made the world believe that Da-ge was blood-thirsty and unstable. He made sure everyone would remember Jin Guangshan as the man who loved sex so much he died in the middle of an orgy. If Jin Guangyao had turned against you, then for sure he’d have stained your legacy in some way to justify it, and I couldn’t bear it! It… it was better to keep you ignorant, to keep you safe. And I did, right?” Nie Huaisang insisted, a nearly manic smile on his face as he finally dared to look again at Lan Xichen. “He never turned against you, never hurt your reputation or your person! I kept you safe from him, until almost the end! Until…”

“Until that,” Lan Xichen mumbled, stunned by that revelation.

Nie Huaisang quickly nodded.

“I really thought he had moved. Once he was wounded and dying, I knew he would have hurt you if he could, just so you wouldn’t get out of this either. I thought… but I was very scared and so much kept happening. I really can’t be sure what I saw but… but I’m sure I don’t regret that he died.”

Pale as a sheet, Lan Xichen stumbled onto the sofa, pressing a hand against his mouth.

“I thought you didn’t trust me,” he whispered.

“Of course I trusted you,” Nie Huaisang protested, taking a step toward the other man before he could stop himself. He dared not come closer than that though. Not when Lan Xichen seemed to be having such a hard time with that revelation. “I knew you would take action if you were presented with reasonable accusations. That’s exactly what you did when Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian told you what they had found out. And even then, it nearly failed!" Nie Huaisang cried out. "Even then, he nearly managed to get Wei Wuxian killed again! I cannot imagine what would have happened if you had gone there alone, if you’d tried to do this the honourable way… He was a dishonourable man, Xichen, and so it had to be someone as despicable as him taking him down.”

“You should still have told me,” Lan Xichen retorted, glaring at him. “If you trusted me to believe you, you should have trusted me to hear your worries as well.”

"Maybe. Maybe not. I was terrified, and I couldn't risk losing you as well. I had to keep you safe." 

Lan Xichen scoffed, hiding his face in his hands. 

“I wonder how fragile I must appear that everyone wants to keep hard truths from me," he muttered.  "First you about Da-ge, then Wangji and uncle about Jin Rusong… Am I really so pathetic?" 

"You're looking at it the wrong way," Nie Huaisang replied, taking a step closer. 

He clenched his hands into fists again and his them behind his back. His fingers were aching with a need to touch Lan Xichen, to comfort him somehow, but then more than ever, he doubted such a thing would be welcome. 

"Zewu-Jun, you have done so much for me, and for your brother," Nie Huaisang argued quietly. "And if anyone is pathetic here, it must be me and Hanguang-Jun. We jumped at a chance to protect you, and only ended up harming you more. How foolish of us. How selfish too. We've both relied on your protection, more than once. We should have realised you never needed ours."

Lan Xichen stared at him, stunned once more. And once more, Nie Huaisang felt compelled to look away. He had promised himself he wouldn't regret not involving Lan Xichen in his scheme. It was the one thing he'd been sure he had done right, he couldn't bear having that certainty taken from him. 

He couldn't have risked Lan Xichen. It was better to be in his current situation, hated and lonely, than to have given Jin Guangyao a chance to take from him the last person he cared about. 

Nie Huaisang didn't need Lan Xichen to like him. He just needed him to be alive. 

As an awkward silence fell between them, Nie Huaisang decided it would be better for him to go. Clearly, after this, Lan Xichen's invitation to have dinner together no longer stood. Before he could say anything about that, a small voice rang from the other room, calling out for him. 

Without thinking, Nie Huaisang rushed back into the bedroom where he found Jin Rusong sitting on the bed, looking a little disoriented. Upon seeing him, the child smiled, and opened his arms to silently demand a hug. Nie Huaisang immediately complied, going to sit on the bed with him and pulling him on his lap. 

"Hey SongSong. Hungry maybe?" 

Nie Huaisang felt a nod against his chest, and sighed. 

"Well, it's dinner time. I'll go call for someone to bring food to you and uncle Lan." 

Another nod, and Jin Rusong clung tight to Nie Huaisang’s shoulders. 

"Uncle Nie, are you going to eat with us?" 

"Well, I'm not sure…" 

"He will," said Lan Xichen, having dragged himself to the door of the bedroom, leaning hard against the frame. He seemed exhausted once more, but his smile carried unexpected warmth as he looked at them. "Your uncle Nie has already agreed to dine here. It would be very rude of him to change his mind now." 

Nie Huaisang shot him a surprised look, which Lan Xichen pretended not to notice. 

"A-Song, come sit with me on the sofa while uncle Nie gets food sent here,” Lan Xichen asked. “Then when he's back you can tell him about your lessons with Jin Yixin. I'm sure he'd love to hear about that." 

"Yes!" Jin Rusong exclaimed, looking up at Nie Huaisang with an excited grin. "I have learned so, so many things ! Today I've done…" 

As the little boy impatiently started chatting about the things he'd done with his teacher, Nie Huaisang just gathered him in his arms and stood up while carrying him. When he dared a glance at Lan Xichen, the other man's smile was still as warm, as if the conversation they'd just had was forgotten already. 

In the end, they spent a pleasant evening together, the three of them. Nie Huaisang had missed having Jin Rusong with him like this, and it seemed the child must have missed him as well, staying on his lap the whole dinner, eventually falling asleep there when exhaustion overcame him again. When that happened, Lan Xichen and Nie Huaisang started chatting together about the little boy's growth, and how well he seemed to be doing since coming to the Unclean Realm. 

It was nice to be talking like that again, after so long. 

If Nie Huaisang hadn't been so self aware, he might have been tempted to pretend they were happy together, almost like a family.

#xisang #nie huaisang #lan xichen #jin rusong #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #jin rusong lives #I haven't updated this in two weeks oops?

[goldsmithsgroup13-blog]

The trading game

Nov.13

To explore how will the audience use currency and bank product. I decided to have a little trading game in our class to observe player’s reactions, using strategy and the logic of game. The player’s final goal is to buy as much candy as they can. Candy here represents positive emotions that you can purchase or trade. Acting positive according to the standard will be rewarded and paid.

Candy is a responsibility of the life-goal, a certificate means success. More importantly, the winner is the only one who can eat all candy, anybody else can’t.

Description: A turn-based strategy game. There’s 7 turns for every players. Each turn the player can have 1 action. (1 action=buy one product/finish task/gamble)

At round 1, every player will randomly issued 2 currency. At the round 8, we will calculate the value of candies that each players purchase in the game. The player who has the highest score can enjoy all the candy that he/she buy. Other players watch the winner eating. Players can exchange with each other currency or candies they have freely. It doesn’t take any round.

Buy candy:

Bank product:

Product A: The player can have 2 actions in the next round; 15H

Product B: The player can have a 50% discount purchasing any kind of candy in the next round;  10H

Product C: The player can have double currency if they finish the task in the next round. 10H

Earning money：

Smiling sweetly for 5 seconds (5H)

Talking about something that will make you feel happy (5H)

Compliment a player in this game. (both of you can get 15H)

Doing a meditation/exercise/stretches poses for 10 seconds (10H)

Looking at yourself in the mirror, saying loudly: ‘I love myself and I am the best’ 3 times (20H)

Reporting a player here that you think is negative (You get 10H, he/she will reduce 5H)

Gamble:

Double/Tripe/Halve player’s money, Give half of money to other players equally.

Feedback:

The biggest problem is that the rules are too complicated for players to understand. Some players tried to use the mortgage option from the beginning to earn 100 point, which would under the limitation of using bank products, but usually the result was not ideal. Some players kept saving money and used bank product to earn more money until the last round to buy a large amount of candies. If the players were reported in the game, they would revenge immediately without counting profit. Most players would choose earning money by themselves instead of sharing or contributing. Some player thought acting those tasks in front of everyone was odd but funny.

The rules need to be simplified, and the goal needs to be clearer. (Focus on a specific direction) The draft of the experience can be developed. Tasks could be harder and more strict.

How does the credit rating work?: emotion judgement - a really happy smile. Is there any possibility to judge those reactions?

How can we use the output such as awkward context? How do we record it?

Certificate of ‘real’ positive: Kissing stamp/Bank scripts

Research on more monetizing service like smile practice? (Easyjet/ Japanese idol)

Written by Yixin

[algeroth]

People who live in China’s crowded cities are used to having their personal space invaded — in schools, malls, restaurants, bus stations, dormitories and even bathrooms. But that doesn’t mean they like it.

Now a growing number of them identify with a Finnish cartoon character who channels their urban anxieties, albeit in a different cultural context.

The “Finnish Nightmares” comic series documents the social challenges faced by Matti, a mild-mannered stick figure who abhors small talk. The series has been trending on Chinese social media, and it even spawned a new word for social awkwardness in Mandarin: jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish.”

“China has a huge population, and Chinese people usually congregate in large groups, but there are still a lot of introverts, like me,” Ms. Li, 22, said in an interview conducted via Weibo messages. “In a society like China’s, we are considered hard to deal with and thought of as weirdos. But the truth is we just don’t enjoy unnecessary socializing that much. It’s too tiring.”

In some ways, Matti’s gently caricatured Finnish environment is the antithesis of China’s acquisitive, in-your-face public life — and that may explain why “Finnish Nightmares” has touched a nerve among some Chinese readers.

Yang Yixin, a professor of Finnish language and culture at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the series resonates in China “because essentially Chinese people do have a shy, introverted and bashful side, like the Finnish.”

“Moreover, modern technology has changed our way of communication,” Professor Yang added. “It estranges us from each other, especially young people. They might become a little anthropophobic, just like Matti.”

Song Zhengyao, a student in the university’s Finnish program, said that Chinese fans like the series because it presents an “authenticity” that is lacking in their day-to-day lives.

“People have to meet their clients and their superiors for work, they have to be hypocritical even though they don’t want to be,” he said of life in China. “When they read ‘Finnish Nightmares’ they see the frank and sincere life they want to live.”

#china #finland #comics #finnish nightmares #introverts #jingfen

[sleepysera]

Jul 22 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

Japan: Olympic opening ceremony director fired for Holocaust joke (AP)

"The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase 'Let’s play Holocaust.'"

Argentina: Creates an ID for nonbinary people (CNN)

"Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez announced a new National Identity Document (DNI) for nonbinary people on Wednesday. The DNI's goal is to guarantee the right to gender identity fo people who don't recognize themselves as either female or male, he said. 'There are other identities besides man and woman that must be respected,' Fernandez said during a news conference from the Casa Rosada Museum in Buenos Aires."

China: Rejects WHO plan for second phase of virus origin probe (BBC)

"The WHO wants to audit laboratories in the area the virus was first identified. But Zeng Yixin, deputy health minister, said this showed 'disrespect for common sense and arrogance toward science'. WHO experts said it was very unlikely the virus escaped from a Chinese lab, but the theory has endured."

US NEWS

Natural Disaster: Colorado Flooding, at least 1 dead, 3 others missing (CNN)

"Flooding in northern Colorado claimed the life of at least one person, while three other people are missing, authorities said Wednesday. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said in a news release it recovered the body of one female and was working to locate another female and two males following flooding in Poudre Canyon area."

Environment: A cold front is pushing away smoke from wildfires blanketing the US East Coast (CNN)

"After a day of poor air quality stretching as far as the East Coast, some people may soon get to breathe a little easier with the help of a new cold front pushing out the smoke created by wildfires in Canada and on the West Coast -- but not for long. By Thursday night, smoke from wildfires could possibly return, and another front will push through the region on Saturday into Sunday to help clean it out again, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy."

Activision Blizzard: Sued by CA over alleged harassment (BBC)

"One of the world's largest game companies is being taken to court over an alleged 'frat boy' culture that discriminates against women. Activision Blizzard is accused of unequal pay, promoting men over women, and widespread sexual harassment. California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is taking legal action against the company, following a two-year investigation."

#happy leo season! #current events #news #olympics #asia #tokyo #japan #argentina #latin america #nonbinary #lgbtq #china #world health organization #covid #coronavirus #natural disaster #colorado #floods #environment #wildfire #smoke #activision #blizzard #video games #california #holocaust #tw #antisemitism

[we-are-monk]

Two Things

Hempen rope wrapped the wooden post to soften it. By now, bone had built up on her slender shins to harden them. A dull thud echoed through the room every time she swung a round kick into the wooden dummy. She chanted a mantra. A word to each kick, and an elbow to the dummy’s wooden limbs for every three kicks. There was no need to go fast. Over and over again, like the spinning wheel of life and death. She whirled on her planted foot to drive her heel into the dummy’s center - and lost her place in the chant.

Hanako growled under her breath, smoothed herself, and began anew. A thread of frustration had worked itself into her routine, and she resolved herself to chanting and striking until that, too, had passed. Serenity was within her grasp... Maybe. She paced for a moment around the small training hall. It was out of the way, dust collecting on the kettle bells, the ropes, and the weighted training weapons that hung on the rack. There was a single window, casting diffuse light through the room, and carved masks leered down from the walls, all covered in dust. It was lonely, abandoned, perfect for Hanako’s purpose.

The chant resumed. She sank into a lower stance and struck, pivoting her waist and hips to swing her arms in powerful blows. Right, left, punch downward, bringing the feet together. A bell rung out for... something. Was she supposed to be in the garden? At prayer? All Okuribi Temple moved to the rhythm of the bells, but not all in unison. Not with the Nagats'ii Library to be tended, the Immortal Fox to be venerated, and training and meditation to do. Hanako knew that her teacher, Master Yixin, was in the Grand Training Hall teaching the Hakkyokuken martial arts form. She could go join the other acolytes in their practice, but she wanted to be alone. "Onee-san, onee-san," called a small, squeaky voice.

Her elbow broke the dummy's wooden arm with a crack, and the smell of cedar filled the air. A child squealed. "Quiet!" Hanako thundered, whirling to face them. They flinched back from her sudden anger. They were three little initiates, their heads shaved bald and their faces earnest. One was kitsune like her, his eyes golden and his furred ears folded back against his smooth head. Like her, he wore his human-like face, but his vulpine nature was not completely hidden. The other two were human, little girls who looked as if they wanted to hide. Hanako composed herself, again. "Forgive me. Are you looking for someone?" "Are you today's teacher?" the first little girl blurted. Her eyebrows were incredibly thick, and Hanako, who didn't know the latest litter of young initiates, made a note of this. "No, I..." Hanako began. "Is Master Yixin sick?" she interrupted. "You broke the wooden man," the fox boy said helpfully. He was clinging to his own fuzzy tail like it was a stuffed toy. Hanako snatched up the broken rod and tried to fit it into its slot, but she'd snapped it off. It fit back in crookedly and would surely fall. "That's fine..." Hanako began edging towards the door. The little girl without the massive eyebrows grabbed her tail. "Onee-san, why do you have two tails? Why do you have hair?" "Are you going to teach us the flying side kick?" asked Eyebrows. "Will the masters be mad you broke it?" asked the fox boy. Hanako ran her hands through that hair. It was tied, tightly, in a little ponytail. She felt crowded, even though she could easily push past the children. "Older acolytes are allowed to grow hair-" She did it because she was vain. "We train to master ourselves, not to defeat others-" She knew she craved a good fight.

“And…” She squirmed, irritated, and glanced again at the broken dummy.

“You’re gon-na get in trou-ble!” His voice was singsong. Hanako had had enough.

“Leave me alone!” She hissed at them, teeth bared, and once again the initiates cowered.

“I had thought this room was empty,” came a voice. Hanako was bristling with energy. Her belly was aflame, anger twisting her ki into angry knots that worked though her fists and made her skin crawl. Her weight sunk onto her back foot and she…

Turned her back. She could feel the energy of the initiates, ki flowing in and out with every breath, haphazardly through their untrained flesh. She tried to shut them out, to focus inward and above all, to not allow herself to think of them as victims.

“Acolyte Matsubi?” The voice was elderly and sounded faintly amused. Hanako soothed the feelings inside herself and at last was able to turn to the elder with some measure of herself in check.

“I was trying to steady myself, and these acolytes mistook me for a teacher.”

This was Master Kazumi, a withered old crone with the wicked eyes of a fierce debater. Hanako groaned, internally. Master Kazumi had little need for the Eight Extremes Fist when she could pierce hearts with a single stroke of the tongue. She used her staff as a walking stick and as a lecture pointer, jabbing it at her targets to punctuate her words, which were the real threat.

“How old are you, Acolyte Matsu… Hanako, is it?”

“Hai. I am nineteen years old.” Hanako felt wary, but the old woman was blocking the entrance.

She could probably leap over her stooped head to pass the door, but she’d regret that sooner or later. She’d have to resign herself to suffering.

“Why then, with your experience, are you unable to teach these youths?’

“I was unprepared. I do not wish to teach them incorrectly.” From the look on the master’s face, it seemed like Hanako had stepped into a trap of some sort.

“Are you an initiate, Acolyte Hanako?”

She betrayed some impatience, to her misfortune. “You addressed me as Acolyte. You must know already.”

“Then you have learned something these younglings have not, am I right?”

Hanako was suddenly on the same side as the three little initiates, who had not the physical presence nor the rhetorical backing to face off against this metaphorical titan. Hanako attempted a counterattack.

“When I was an initiate, I was given teachers who were great. Even now, I am not equal to who they were then. Should I not do these kits the same courtesy and let them learn from masters?”

Was the master pacing? She was stalking, like a predator. Hanako considered her exit again. She even glanced at the narrow window, wondering if she could squeeze her body through it, but that was a mistake. Master Kazumi’s eyes were locked on hers, and she had seen the fear.

“You had your elders as example. If they completely neglected you, their failure is not yours to pass on.”

A tense silence reigned. One of the children made a whimpering noise, and finally, Hanako felt compelled to speak up.

“In Master Hirohiko’s Unusual Journeys, it is said that all students will meet the right teacher when the time is right, not before,” Hanako quoted.

“Remind me, are you a warrior, or a librarian?”

Hanako was suspicious. “Both. Master Yixin is my martial teacher, and Master Jin is my teacher of the scholar’s arts.

“Are you aware that your presence on this mountain is a gift? How you have the Goddess’ own luck to be allowed training with that power of yours.”

“Master Yixin says…”

She bulled right over Hanako. “And you were training here, instead of with him, why?”

“Martial meditation.” Hanako knew her tail was bristling up with irritation with every question. And she knew it wasn’t helping her case. But there was nothing that could be done. “To help control my problem.”

“Meditation? You don’t seem calm.” The master jabbed at her with her words and eyes, entire body leaning into the rhetorical attack.

Her energy threatened to move through the wrong channels. What should have been cool mental focus became an uncontrollable urge to scream. And what should have been a passive flow of ki through her hands became… foxfire. Her hands burst into flames.

“It looks like you’ve failed the test.”

“I know.”

The children fled to the room’s corner. Master Kazumi’s walking stick flicked out at Hanako’s head.

She slipped it, of course. Without thinking - she supposed she could have taken the blow if she’d wanted to, but it was too late. She’d already begun to dodge. Her muscles moved like water through a channel, a path traced so many times that it was the easiest way to flow. She countered, reaching for the arm. Not the face. With a twist, she put pressure on the master’s forearm and predictably, the staff clattered to the ground before Master Kazumi would let her twist her arm. She remained in contact, and Hanako could feel Master Kazumi’s energy flowing alongside her own.

Hanako let go. Hanako had been able to extinguish her hands before she’d grabbed the master’s arm.  And she hadn’t manipulated - stolen - Master Kazumi’s ki. Perhaps the elders would not treat it as an attempt on the master’s life.

Master Kazumi picked her staff up, rubbed her wrists and stared at Hanako for a long moment. The scales of deliberation tilted to and fro in her eyes. “I appreciate not being set ablaze, or... whatever else you were considering. Control your animal powers, Hanako. The fox is not sacred when she acts like a beast.”

Hanako was suddenly, unexpectedly, out of breath. She fell to her knees. “Forgive me, master.”

“It appears we have both learned something. You require more training to master that problem of yours, and I must keep my guard up. I will speak with Master Jin about your lapse.”

Hanako gasped. She had been making progress. Master Yixin was speaking on her behalf. And if Master Kazumi trashed her reputation in front of Master Jin… She’d work in dusty room somewhere until she died.

The little ones came to her, after Master Kazumi had left. They poked and prodded at her, when her face wouldn’t leave the little cocoon she’d made of herself.

“Onee-san, are you okay?

“Are you crying?”

When Hanako didn’t respond at first, the initiates, blessedly, fell silent. There were little bald children snuggled up to her for what felt like an hour, and then, Hanako was able to make herself stand and wipe her face.

“Arigatou, young ones.”

“So when are you gonna teach us? asked the eyebrow girl, audaciously. Hanako turned to the broken wooden dummy and, checking to make sure Master Kazumi was truly gone, relented.

“I suppose… do you know your stances?”

They nodded, raggedly bobbing, and Hanako decided to err on the side of gentle mistrust. “Well, let’s review. Turn your knees out, and horse stance?”

“Hai, Master Hanako,” called the fox boy.

“Chigaimasu, no, don’t call me that. Sister is fine,” Hanako protested. The last thing she needed was for Master Kazumi or Jin to arrive and declare her arrogant as well as emotional.

It turns out the children were honest, albeit not as perfect as any of the masters would like. So she moved on, first through some basic warm-ups, and then through a shaky, halting version of the Five Stances Punch form.

Repetition, like the turning of the wheel. Stances flowed into each other, first with pauses, and then smoothly. She added the blocks and strikes that went with each step, slowly, because she could feel the energy of each child waver and eddy as they lost focus. When the children tired and began to complain, Hanako herself was entirely centered. “Oh… you are all correct. It is time for a snack.”

Hanako walked the children around the winding mountain path to the dining hall, feeling for all the world like a mother hen. The cool air was unexpectedly soothing after the heat of training in the small, musty hall Hanako had found for herself. Her little charges began stomping about in the snow, enjoying the fresh air. Even in the spring, it was chilly up here. The paths over the mountain of Okuribi-san were narrow and winding, with a lantern or a statue every dozen paces to keep monks from losing the way in rough weather. The temple complex spread over Okuribi-san’s peak, the different buildings ringing the peak  like mushrooms. With the skies as clear as they were, Hanako could see all the way down into Kayou village, at the mountain’s foot. She marveled at the infinite energy of young people, as one of the little girls, Yaahl, climbed up onto a sacred statue, a fox wearing a colorful carved mask.

A man stepped out from behind the statue, grabbing the girl by the collar. He was large, wearing ragged robes and a scarf knotted around his entire head and face. To protect from the mountain winds, Hanako hoped. Okuribi-ji sometimes had supplicants, travellers and scholars seeking the Nagats'ii library, or pious folk looking to pray to the Fox Immortal.

It was possible this man was one of them. Hanako inched closer as the little girl dangled from his grip.

“Put Yaahl down!” the eyebrow girl, Yuuki shouted. He ignored her.

“Excuse me, are you a master?” asked the disheveled man, turning to Hanako. He sounded ill. She worried about him - Okuribi-ji had healers, but it was not a hospital.

“No. I absolutely cannot claim that title,” Hanako declared, her tone unyielding. “If you follow me, I can show you to one.”

“This will be easy, then,” he said, and his weapon arced across at the side of her head. He’d concealed a wide-bladed northern dirk in his robe’s long sleeves, and strapped to his back was a animal-headed club. Hanako couldn’t imagine how he intended to fight dangling a child from his free hand, but his confidence was evident in his stance.

She’d slipped the dagger just as she had Master Kazumi’s walking stick. However, she hesitated, rather than trap the arm - after all, the sword was sharp. It flicked out at her eyes, and she leaned, way, way back to save her face. The ruffian swung Yaahl around as easily as a purse, albeit one that shrieked whenever he moved. Hanako snapped a kick straight up at his wrist, but he turned his oversized pommel down into her foot to block.

She yelped, pain seizing her foot. She switched her stance, putting the afflicted foot behind her. “Please release the child.” Part of hiding the pain was keeping her voice level and calm.

Wordlessly, he dropped Yaahl into a hardened, powdery snowdrift. Soundlessly, he sank into a stance, his back leg holding his weight with his front foot pointed out.

Hanako lunged, raising a knee. He kicked with that front leg as she anticipated, and she guarded. He snapped the foot out higher, and she turned, using her elbow to stop it just before the man could kick her ribs in.

Next, Hanako exploded in, driving forward with an elbow. He caught her arm and tried to wrench it, but she planted her foot in his stomach and drove him back into the blessed statue.

Yaahl pulled herself out of the pile of snow and Hanako stepped over her, stance solid and grounded despite the slippery, narrow path.

“If you touch these initiates, I shall kill you.” Her ki flared, unevenly, threatening to break loose from her control.

Eijiro made a weird fox face and added a raspberry noise and Hanako struggled to look as deadly serious as the situation required.

The interloper turned and dropped his weight, turning his elbows out to guard his head. Hanako turned and did likewise.

“You won’t surrender?” Hanako made her tone harsh, though she was losing confidence by the second.

The man grinned. His rags were filthy and his beard ragged, but his teeth were incredibly white. He charged suddenly forward, arms and blade swinging with terrible power. She deflected his arms up with her elbows again, but it hurt. Even when the dirk didn’t cut her, the arm holding it battered her fiercely. She seized his waist, shuffling her feet through the snow to try and trip him. But his grounding was too strong - he wouldn’t budge. She drilled her arm into his belly instead.

“Mistake.” His voice was gruff, hoarse, even.

Hanako yipped in pain as he seized her arm and shoved her shoulder straight down. Desperate, she rammed herself into his side. Her arm drew free. She seized the hilt and his shoulder and shoved his arm down, twisting it in the same way he had done to her. Touching him made his ki a temptation, but no. She focused on the technique, locking the bones of his arm.

“Now, you will-” she began.

He struck her with his shoulder too, and with his weight, it staggered her. They had been standing side to side, and when he pivoted, it was a half turn that brought his hand into her groin like a swinging iron bar; it felt like he’d broken her pubic bone. His leg rose, and he stomped down at her knee - she hooked a hand and raked it aside before he could cripple her. His blow to her crotch had put her on the defensive. His elbow rose again, just as hers had, but not to deflect. He struck her chin with enough force to make her head snap. Suddenly, not only could she not feel his ki, but her own seemed to have fled, replaced by a dull buzzing feeling.

She grew dizzy. Her hands rose. He still had the blade...

She fell to a knee, the snow scraping her skin.

“Are you prepared to die, fox?”

Hanako whimpered. “Your style… it’s ours, is it not? Who taught you? What are you after?” Her ears were ringing.

“Who asks questions with steel at their throat?” The vagabond placed his dirk at her neck, ominously.

“A librarian,” Hanako replied. Her tail’s fur was standing on end, though her face and voice were still.

“An excellent answer. Why do you not fear me?”

“I am exerting all my strength not to scream,” Hanako replied. If she was to die, she may as well not die with lies on her lips.There was, she noticed, an animal’s face on the pommel of that dirk. It was a dog, or something. Dogs scared her. The man flicked his blade out and tossed it into the snow.

“Huh?” Hanako’s heart was beating loud enough to drown out sound.

He threw back his filthy head-rag- it was Master Jin. Somehow, he’d stuffed half his beard into the wrappings and stuffed the borrowed robes with enough padding to hide his figure.

“I had wished to see this temper of yours in action. Why did you not try to slay me?”

Hanako shook her head. “I did. You had Yaahl, and Eijiro was getting scared. I wish you hadn’t done this.”

“Master Kazumi told me-” he started.

“Please. You shouldn’t have done this to the children.” Hanako felt like she needed to lie down, but that wasn’t what Master Jin wanted to see, she thought. She wasn’t going to blow up in front of another master. Twice in one day and they’d toss her down the mountain to roll back into her parents’ barley fields.

“They will be fine. Little enough blood was shed, and you were training them as warriors, were you not? This was… almost… what warriors look like.”

“I didn’t know you were a warrior,” Hanako said. Eijiro and Yaahl watched him. Yuuki and her eyebrows had gotten bored and wandered off.

“I am...well, I was. I find the library far more beneficial to my spirit and mind. I advise you to decide likewise. One such as you is not meant for battle.”

Hanako was confused. Her head was still spinning, so she sat down in the path, ignoring the damp that seeped into the seat of her kimono.

“I want… I need to get out. I can’t stay in the monastery. If I don’t change something, I’ll surely stray from the path.”

“Walk with me.” He scattered the children like seeds in the wind and drew Hanako in his wake like a cloud.

“I don’t believe you are fit to be a warrior. You-”

“I can control myself just as well as any human,” Hanako said, tasting sour. She could believe that, maybe.

“You are meant to be a scholar. Your potential is much greater with me than with Master Yixin. Reconsider leaving the mountain.”

Hanako shook her head, still foggy. “I can be a scholar on the road. I’ll find manuscripts, and help the Library.”

“Such a paradox for a monk to travel, I have always thought. We leave the world to perfect ourselves. Does that not mean the world causes imperfection? And you are so far from balance…”

Hanako shut her eyes and tried to sort through his words. She didn’t want to hear any of them, but… Masters were supposed to be wise, right?

“I can be two things, a fox and a woman, a monk and a warrior. Am I not a shapeshifter?” Hanako was hesitant. Master Jin had walked her up to the High Shrine to the Fox Immortal, but led her, not into the hall, but into a smaller meditation chamber.

“You cite Meditations on Huxian, by Li Cheung. He was very willing to link the nature of your fox-people to the fox goddess’s divine nature. A very Wuxingi theological argument.”

He took a moment to scoff at the foibles of southerners and pushed open the heavy door to a back chamber he was leading her to. “I disagree. I think it is dangerous to let your tail, or tails in your case, make you think you are divine. Worse, I feel the lack of focus will destroy you. But perhaps the Supreme Master will say otherwise.”

The day got worse. Grandmaster Higashi was seated there, in a meditative posture. Acolytes and above could wear their hair if they wished, but the abbot chose to shave himself bald and dress in the simplest of robes. He was even said to skip meals, the better to commune with the Nine-Tailed Immortal. His bald head and exposed arms bore tattoos, lotus patterns and flames that swirled and seemed to glow in the dim room, lit by lanterns that spiraled out - the whole room was patterned like a great lotus, with the brazier at the center. Thick smoke, incense, hung in a dense cloud, cloying to Hanako's inhuman nose.

Master Jin stroked his beard, his personal concession to vanity, and sat across the brazier from the Grandmaster.  "Sit, Acolyte Hanako. The meeting will commence shortly."

Hanako folded her legs, but apprehension and fatigue felt like a weighted net over her. "I wasn't prepared for the Grandmaster, Master Jin," she whispered, directly into the curséd old man's ear.

"You are in luck then. You're not here to speak to him." A musclebound human brother came into the room from the other door, walking backwards. Hanako was confused, but then she realized he was carrying a moving shrine, with the largest tengu brother she’d ever seen holding up the other end, his feathers sticking up like a fan from the effort. On the shrine, under an elaborate gabled roof, was a desiccated corpse.

It dawned upon Hanako “Oh, you… you said the Supreme Master. The late one.”

The corpse sat, folded legs, hands curled around a large orb of some sort. Prayer beads roped around its arms, faded tattoos traced sutras on the withered skin, and white, nearly translucent hair ran down the mummy’s chest.

“Ahh…” Hanako was offput, to say the least. If it weren’t for the droning chant of the Grandmaster lulling her into a sense of calm, she’d probably be shaking in her sandals. She remained seated, instead, and joined the chant, to at least pretend she was a monk.

“Breath deep. You may experience some pain.” The grandmaster spoke in a near-whisper. Master Jin handed her a tiny vial of some crimson oil.

The smoke swirled in a sudden gust. In a room with two closed doors and one window. Hanako’s senses were keen. She could hear better than a human with her long pointed ears, smell the incense and oil and sweat and strange mummy odors with her nose, and her spiritual senses let her feel the living ki in the other monks.

“Don’t spill,” the Grandmaster whispered. He guided Hanako’s hands to the oil, and then to her eyes. Under his guidance, she rubbed the oil around her eyelids, like makeup, and then, into the eyes, like medicine. She felt her eyes dilate from slits in the light to wide, dark spheres.

She took a deep breath. And experienced some pain.

“Do not touch your eyes.”

Hanako’s eyes were burning, her nose was burning, her lungs were burning; insanely, even her tongue was aflame. She bit her lip, fangs drawing blood, and tried not to scream. When she could open her eyes, a woman was sitting serenely over the brazier, a foot or so above the smoking coals.

“Higashi-kun, open thine acolytes’ eyes before thou summonest me. I care not for watching them squirm.” Though she looked little older than Hanako herself, her voice was that of an old crone. Framing her entire body, waving like trees in a gentle breeze, were her tails, nine of them. It was then that Hanako noticed the tails coiled beneath the mummified body

Hanako’s senses were keen, but she’d never seen a spirit before.

“Su...supreme…?”

She gave a wicked laugh. “Thou hast brought me a little vixen. Warmed, my heart is, to see thee.”

“Hello..?” Hanako was incredibly uncertain, but she bowed respectfully and tried to treat the Supreme Master like yet another elder, albeit a transparent one.

“Welcome…” The Supreme Master turned to Grandmaster Higashi. “Hanako,” he filled in.

“Welcome, Hanako. Thou hast sought my counsel?”

“Well…”

“Nay, twas… I mean, no. It was I,” Master Jin interrupted. “This student has become unsure of her path. Should she become a librarian, or a…” He scoffed, “mendicant? We disagree on which.”

“I am good enough to leave the mountain. I’m sure.” Hanako was not sure. “Master Kazumi likes to win more than she likes to be correct,” she said, slightly more sure of that.

“Are we gossiping? I shan't gossip in front of acolytes. It makes me seem less august,” the Supreme Master said, a hint of a cackle still in her voice.

“Gomen nasai. I just feel I was treated unfairly,” Hanako replied through gritted teeth.

“Thou hast sought counsel from beyond the veil. Sooth, I know thee not, Acolyte Hanako. If thy wish is to cloister thyself in the library, thou shalt please the Immortal. If thou cravest the road, be stalwart, and thou please the Immortal. I know not what is best for thee.”

Master Jin looked annoyed. The Grandmaster remained dispassionate. Hanako stood, suddenly.

“Chigao, no! I must be allowed to travel! I won’t be able to… If I stay here, I won’t… I am good enough.”

Master Jin grabbed her robe and pulled her to the ground. “Show respect! I can’t take you anywhere... You lack sufficient discipline! You lack control over your little problem!”

“But she has passion. Boldness. Mayhap that can work. Others of her kind have succeeded, after all,” The Supreme Master rubbed her ethereal tails, pointedly.

“That doesn’t matter… ahem.” Master Jin’s own composure shook. “A mind like hers is wasted down there in the world. She is brilliant but unfocused. The distractions there will make her lose her way.”

“A mendicant was I, many decades and several tails ago,” the Supreme Master said. There was a rush of air that Hanako heard, but didn’t feel. And suddenly the spirit was behind her. She had a kindly smile, empty eyes, and her tattoos seemed to shift the longer Hanako looked. Hanako’s fur stood on end as the Supreme Master’s ghostly fingers trailed just over her tails without making contact - or perhaps they couldn’t. “Perhaps you might develop a greatness of spirit, in time.”

“And Master Yixin believes the road, laymen, drink and battle, will temper her rather than break her,” the Grandmaster murmured.

“I did say that I know not Acolyte Hanako’s strengths. Mayhaps she will return to me, nine-tailed. Or die on the road, a bandit’s doxy. I will remain here, a witness.” She began to fade, her spectral form aging, withering, and vanishing back into the shrunken corpse.

Hanako blinked at her. The strain of seeing the unseen was on top of a long list of stresses for the day, and she wanted more than anything to sleep through every bell for the next two days.

“Well.” Master Jin stood as soon as the otherworldly feeling left the meditation chamber. “I suppose I lose a good student.”

Hanako nodded. She had something to say about collecting tomes and scrolls on the road, and a librarian’s… ...duties… She really needed to sleep.

It was a little after midday, from the looks of it. Hanako stuffed herself with as much smoked salmon and steaming buns as would fit inside her. She packed food for the journey, as well, but she could find something to eat in Kayou village, and she wanted to be down the mountain before the weather could change. So she packed light. A meditation crystal, the miniature of the Supreme Master’s mystic orb. Some camping gear, the essentials, of course. A climbing kit she hoped she wouldn’t need on the trip down the Okuribi path. A gourd of plum wine that she crept away with - it helped with keeping calm, she reasoned. Two pairs of good sandals, one for her dainty fox paws and another for wider human feet, when she could hold a human form stable enough for such. And a sensible robe suited for travel, bearing the flame-lotus symbol of Okuribi-ji and a flower pattern that she thought was quite cute.

“I pray you’re not leaving without this,” Master Jin said. He held a cedarwood box, carved with another lotus design and smelling of rich wood, incense, vellum, and thick inks. It was a handsome scribe’s kit, ink sticks, spare parchment and rice paper, and brushes tipped with Hanako’s own spare fur all neatly set into watertight compartments.

“And this…” He handed her a small stack of well-thumbed-over codices, bound books with bestiaries of common monsters, some of the less-valuable maps, and guides to animals and herbs. “Oh, and of course,” He added to the overloaded pile in her hands a large scroll case, bound with ropes to strap to the body and as well protected with charms and oils as the scribe’s box. “Keep a journal, or I will drag you back up the mountain, Lady Immortal bite and curse us both.”

Hanako bowed deeply.

“I am grateful for your tutelage, Master Jin. And I will return with new knowledge for the Nagats'ii.”

“You leave today, Hanako?” Master Yixin asked. His face was usually gentle, but today he wore the heavy brows of concern. “Don’t forget what you learned. Don’t forget to relax your shoulders. Make sure to wrap your hands. Each foe is practice. Don’t forget to practice.” Hanako nodded in between each piece of advice. Unexpectedly, he drew her in for a hug. “Do well.”

And finally, the abbot. Grandmaster Higashi was quiet, as usual, forcing Hanako to swivel both ears in to hear him whisper.

“Bring us knowledge. Serve the goddess. Wiser, stronger, sharper, faster. Return here, greater of spirit- or fail, and do not come back.”

He gave her a silk embroidered pouch. “Some coin. The pouch is also charmed.” She bowed, deeper still. She’d make much greater time with a magic pouch to carry all her books. And so Acolyte Hanako became Sister Hanako, warrior-monk and scholar. She shouldered a much smaller burden and set off down the path at an easy trot.

Her parents were down there, somewhere, lazily growing barley and plums, drinking during the day, and telling anyone who would listen about their two children. Simple folk. She supposed she’d have to speak to them on the way into the world. She smiled. At least she couldn’t disappoint them. To them, she was a monk, but also their beloved daughter. It didn’t bother them that she was both, like it did her. One thing she could learn today.

#monks in the world #tales of monks #iconic monk #hanako #kitsune #fox monk #monk #i made some edits #enough to justify a repost

[focusontheeasternlightning-blog]

2 Resolving The Arrogant Nature Brooks No Delay

Yao Yixin    Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province

In the man’s fellowship attached to Christ’s Talks with Church Leaders and Workers, it says: “In pursuing the transformation of his disposition, one should pay attention to the problem of his arrogant nature, which is a hinge most easily neglected by him.

 If one has not gained the transformation of his arrogant nature, no matter how many doctrines he understands, it is useless, for this involves the matter of his life substance and the matter of whether he can be saved. If this problem is not resolved, he is not only loathed and hated by God but also loathed and rejected by people, for such a corrupt nature, like a rat running across the street, is hated by everyone. When we see someone displaying arrogance and self-rightness, we feel nauseated and sickened as if we had eaten a dead fly. The arrogant, self-conceited, self-right, and self-important disposition is precisely the nature of the great red dragon, is that which the great red dragon has deeply planted in people, and is the diehard follower of people and the enemy of God.” From this passage, we can see that if we want to gain the transformation of our life disposition, we must resolve our arrogant nature. But in our practical living, we always neglect this matter, paying no attention to knowing and resolving our arrogant nature. So, we always unconsciously display our arrogant disposition and are loathed by God. This is really a hindrance to our entering-in and a problem that has to be resolved urgently.

First of all, let us check with God’s words and the words in the man’s fellowship and see what expressions are actually the displays of the arrogant nature. God says: “Your arrogance and self-conceit will make you despise God and make you have no regard for God, it will make you liable to exalt yourself and make you show off yourself in everything….” In the man’s fellowship, it says: “If you are very arrogant, then you will not accept the true facts and the truth.An arrogant person always has notions and draws conclusions about God, as if only he could see through God and God should work according to his ideas. An arrogant person is unkind to others, cannot treat others equally, and can never live in harmony with others, because he is self-important, self-conceited, and haughty.” We can see from these two passages that as we have the arrogant nature, we can easily form notions about God but can hardly drop them; as we have the arrogant nature, we do not fear God and even scorn what God does; as we have the arrogant nature, we often exalt and testify ourselves; as we have the arrogant nature, we are self-right and often exhibit ourselves and parade our being smart; as we have the arrogant nature, we belittle others and cannot live in harmony with them; and as we have the arrogant nature, we do not easily accept the truth, being obstinate and self-right and sticking to our own opinions and viewpoints. In our living, directed by our arrogant nature, we display too many states of arrogance. For example, when we read these words of God: “…I am not to destroy the world … leave the remaining one third of people, who have been thoroughly conquered by me and who love me, and make them fruitful and multiply on earth like the Israelites under the law,” we thought, “God is inaccurate in his words. He has said that he will break all the families and that there will be no more birth, death, illness and old age. But he says here that he will let the people be fruitful and become numerous.” When we read this word of God: “Mankind has been developing until today for tens of thousands of years,” we began to study it, “Hasn’t God said that he has managed mankind only for six thousand years? Why does he say here that mankind has been developing for tens of thousands of years?” Besides, in 1999, when we were pursuing and expending ourselves zealously for the sake of the day of God, we heard that there would be another seven years of trials. At that time, we condemned, saying, “God deceived us.” In carrying out the work arrangement, if the work arrangement is to our liking, we put it into practice, and if it is not to our liking, we do not. When we go around watering the churches, we talk about in every church how we promoted the works in the places where there were many difficulties and where the churches were hard to administrate, and how our leaders appreciate and think highly of us. When we contact with the brothers and sisters, we always love to talk about how many years we have followed, how many miles we have run, how many places we have been to, what big works we have done, and how many big leaders we have met. When we are together with the brothers and sisters, we always love to talk about the shortcomings and deficiencies of others to set off our being wise and give them the impression that we have the truth and are better than others. Once having opportunities, we love to be teachers to others and give guidance to them concerning how to do and practice in order to achieve the purpose of making them appreciate us and think that we know everything. When we coordinate with others, we are extremely conceited in everything we do; we do not want to listen to their opinions, and even if their opinions are right, we reject them and try every way to refute them. When we are with others, we always want them to listen to us; if we see that they take no notice of us or do not listen to us, we feel uncomfortable and sometimes even speak to them with a sting of sarcasm in our words. When we see that others do not do things and speak according to our ideas, we criticize and lecture them arbitrarily. When we see that the brothers and sisters do not understand God’s word or the fellowship, we conclude that they are spirit-blocked, with poor qualities, and too erroneous, and that they are not the objects of God’s salvation; so we do not want to fellowship with them any more and we even get irritated and lecture them. When others report problems to us, we start to fellowship with them before they finish reporting, with the implication that we have already understood their meaning and that their further talking is a waste of time. Every time we are transferred to a new place, we always want to know the opinions that the people there have of us and know whether we are better than their former leader; if we learn that we are inferior to their former leader, we get jealous of him and compete with him in everything; and when we cannot do better than him, we become passive. When our leaders reproach us with the fact that we have achieved no results in the gospel work, we say nothing but feel unconvinced in our heart, thinking, “If you did it, you would not necessarily do a better job than me.” And so on. These states and expressions are all the displays of our arrogant nature.

Although these arrogant dispositions seriously exist in us, many of us pay no attention to resolving them, and we even think, “Arrogance is a common quality of all people. Everyone has it; I am not the only one. Besides, for us who have the arrogant nature, it is very normal to display a little arrogance.” Sometimes we think, “It is not a serious matter to be somewhat arrogant. As long as I can do the work properly, everything will be all right, and there is no need to be so fussy as to put special effort into resolving it.” Our such a mentality shows that we have not realized the dangerous consequences of our living by our arrogant nature. In the man’s fellowship, it says: “Arrogance is the root cause of man’s trouble. If you cannot get rid of your arrogant disposition, you cannot know yourself, know God, or perform your duty faithfully. If your arrogant disposition is not resolved, even though you appear to be very obedient to God at present, you do not have obedience to God in essence. This is because there are still poison roots in your bones and blood, that is, your nature of disobeying God is not resolved. You are only saying obedience with your mouth and having willingness to obey in your heart, but such an obedience may not last long. Any day you may lose control of your old nature and it will suddenly break out. Then, all these words within you will gush out, such as the notional and complaining words, the emotional words of confounding black and white, the words of vindicating yourself and venting your personal spite, and the preposterous words of complaining against heaven and earth and against others, which will cause you to perish with your body bursting open.” “If one’s satanic nature is arrogant to such an extent that he has no regard for God, considers everybody beneath his notice, obeys no one, and cannot obey the truth in the slightest, he has already offended God. This kind of person will surely be punished.” From these words we can see that if our arrogant nature is not resolved, it is more than enough to bring disasters upon us, and no matter how hard we pursue in other respects, our pursuit will be in vain. This is because our arrogant nature is like a cancer in us, and it can metastasize at any time. Likewise, our arrogant nature can also break out at any time and cause us to involuntarily scorn God, condemn God, and judge God, resist the man used by the Holy Spirit, and disobey the arrangement from above and do otherwise. Consequently, we will be punished by God for having offended God’s disposition. In this respect, we can draw lessons from the transgressions of many arrogant people. For example, there was one who was arrogant and conceited and had no regard for God, and he dared to alter God’s words according to his own ideas. His doing so provoked God’s disposition, and he was eliminated by God. Another one despised the work arrangement, and he always considered the work arrangement in part improper. So, in performing his duty, he did otherwise self-centeredly and thus brought losses to the work. He offended the administrative decrees and was loathed by God. Still another one exalted and testified himself in everything when doing the work, and his many years of working led the people all to himself so that they worshipped him as God and had gained no knowledge of God. He played the role of an antichrist and thus incurred God’s wrath and was expelled from the church. Again still another one obeyed nobody, and when he had prejudices against his church leader, he deliberately made difficulties for the leader in the church; when the brothers and sisters disagreed with him, he kicked up a fuss in the meeting, interrupting and disturbing the church life. Despite of repeated admonition, he refused to mend his transgressions, so he was expelled by God’s family. Paul, familiar to all of us, is also an example. In doing the work, he was arrogant and conceited, exalting and testifying himself in everything to let others submit and listen to him. Because his arrogant disposition was not transformed ultimately, he is still bound and punished by God today. And so on. From these examples we can see that if our arrogant nature is not resolved, we will unconsciously disobey and resist God, and will commit things that cause interruption and disturbance, thus offending God’s administrative decrees. If our arrogant nature is not resolved, we will not respect anyone, even less revere and fear God; instead, we will raise the devil at any time and thus be detested and rejected by God. If our arrogant nature is not resolved, we will unconsciously exalt and testify ourselves, and thus become antichrists and be eliminated by God. If our arrogant nature is not resolved, we will not obey God or accept the truth and practice it, much less be transformed in our disposition and be saved by God. With the arrogant nature, we look like the archangel and are altogether the bitter enemies of God. If we do not resolve this nature promptly, we can never be in harmony with God or receive God’s salvation. Therefore, resolving our own arrogant nature is a matter of great urgency which brooks no delay.

Then, how should we resolve our arrogant nature?

Firstly, we must accept the chastisement and judgment of God as well as the trials and refining of all kinds which God arranges, and we also need to accept the dealings and prunings of God’s family and God’s many times of exposing us with facts. After we have been corrupted by satan, we have a deep-rooted arrogant nature, and what we say and do and think are all under its direction, so without God’s severe judgment and exposure and without experiencing more refining and more times of being exposed by facts, it is not easy for us to gain the transformation of our arrogant nature. Just as it is said in the man’s fellowship: “People’s arrogance, self-rightness, self-importance, and self-conceit is exactly that which resists God, and by nature, people are precisely the hostile force against God. So, making them absolutely obey God is no easy matter, and without the conquering work, this can never be attained. Such a work must be done in the beginning, then all kinds of trials and tribulations are used to perfect them step by step, so that they may get rid of their arrogant, conceited, self-right, and self-important corrupt disposition. Yet within several years, they can at most gain different degrees of transformation, and it is impossible for them to gain a complete transformation.” From these words we see that resolving our arrogant nature is not an easy matter. It requires us to undergo God’s judgment and chastisement plus being exposed by facts and suffer much refining, so that we can achieve the result step by step. Otherwise, it is difficult for us to know ourselves, and we will forever be the arrogant people who consider themselves superior and who admire themselves, and will never be able to obey God and worship God. Only through God’s judgment, refining, and exposing us with facts can we see the true condition of our being corrupted by satan, see our substance of disobeying and resisting God, see our ugliness, baseness, and senselessness of being arrogant and conceited, and see that we are frail and small and have nothing. Only then can we humble ourselves and be obedient before God. From our experience, we all realize that usually, when we feel good about ourselves and do not know ourselves in the slightest, the displays of our arrogant nature are especially obvious. Either we exalt ourselves and show off, or do the work according to our own ideas and by experience without seeking and looking up to God, or regard ourselves as better than anyone else so that we obey no one and listen to no one and act truculently, arrogantly, and presumptuously, or make more excessive demands of God and have stronger extravagant desires, feeling that we deserve to receive and enjoy any good things, etc. Through being put to shame in God’s judgment, being dealt with and pruned, or being exposed by God with facts, we will have some knowledge of ourselves. Then, our supercilious and swaggering air will not be so obvious, our head will droop, and we will feel that we are too corrupt and too disobedient and that we are nothing and deserve nothing but judgment and curse. Our state will completely change. Thus it can be seen that one cannot gain the transformation of his arrogant disposition by strenuously restraining himself in his outward practices; rather, he can only gradually gain it after he has truly known himself through experiencing God’s judgment and chastisement, experiencing all kinds of painful refining and being exposed by facts, and experiencing more dealings and prunings. The more judgments and refining from God we experience and the more exposures and dealings we experience, the more we will know ourselves. Thus, as our knowledge of ourselves goes deeper and deeper, we will gradually gain the transformation of our arrogant disposition.

Secondly, we need to pursue to know our substance, identity, and status from God’s words of exposing man, and need to firmly keep these words as our motto in mind. God says: “You should know that you are the impurities in the sludge of stagnant water, rather than the fish and shrimps in silt that are a feast for the eyes….” “Do you not know what the ‘respectful title’ for you is? …father wolf, mother wolf, son wolf, or grandson wolf. You are the offspring of wolf and a people of wolf. You are a group of nonhumans who are most diabolic among mankind. …a pack of starving wolves, a pile of junk, and a heap of rubbish. …” What God exposes through these words is exactly our true status and identity and substance. When we have known that our inherent nature is a pile of junk, a heap of rubbish, we will no longer be carried away all day long, and will not give ourselves airs and swagger about before others as a result of not knowing who we are. Today we can perform duties in God’s family; this is all ascribable to God’s exceptional uplifting and grace, and we have nothing at all to boast of, to appreciate, and to be proud of. For example, a street beggar was debased, dirty, and left without anybody to care for him. One day, he met a rich and kind-hearted man. The man took him in at his home and assigned him some work that he was capable of doing. From then on, his food, clothing, and shelter were all assured, and he no longer lived a begging life. But, the change of his living condition did not indicate that his original identity and status changed, that he was nobler than other beggars who were still begging, and that he could be on the same footing as his master. Actually, the debased substance of his inherent identity and status did not change. Therefore, we should keep firmly in mind what God has taught us: “Do not forget that you are a created being who was cursed by me and then taught and saved by me, and that you have nothing pleasing to me. … I would advise you to bear in mind all the time that you are only a created being! Although you live with me, you should know your identity and do not regard yourself too high. …” If we can always bear in mind our substance and our inherent identity and status, we will not consider ourselves superior and be supercilious as our environment changes. And at that point, even if we want to be arrogant, we will not try.

Thirdly, we should stand in the right position of a created being and be the ones who have sense and who seek and accept the truth, and should stand in the position of a created being to worship God and obey God absolutely. God says: “I am a consuming fire and do not tolerate man’s offense. As all men were created by me, they must obey whatever I say and do and must not revolt against them. Men have no right to interfere in my work, much less are they entitled to judge the right and wrong of my work and word. I am the Creator, so created beings should meet all my requirements with a heart fearing me and should not reason with me, much less resist me. …every created being created by me should submit to my authority.” “As to the word of God, the work of God, all the environments that God arranges, the man to whom God testifies, and the practical God, you must have a correct knowledge of them and a right attitude toward them … be able to seek the truth in everything, and stand in the position of a created being to obey all the work of God.” From these words of God, we can see that God’s disposition does not tolerate man’s offense. As created beings, what we should live up to is worshipping and obeying God, the Creator, in the original position of a created being, and that no matter what God does or how he does it, even if it is completely beyond our understanding and comprehension, we should obey it first and then get to know God’s wonderful deeds through seeking and fellowshipping. This is the sense that we should have. God’s wonder and wisdom are forever unfathomable to man; if we always want to go beyond the position of a created being and use our notions and imaginations to measure and condemn God, and cannot obey everything from God, we will eventually provoke God’s anger and be punished because of being arrogant and conceited. Today no matter what duties we perform in God’s family, there is not the difference of lower and higher positions between us. Whether we are leaders or the ones who coordinate with others in doing a certain work, we have the same position, the position of a created being; only we perform different duties. If for a period of time we feel that our positions are higher than that of the brothers and sisters, it proves that our arrogant nature is again flowing out and we are standing in a wrong position. God has exposed us: “Even if you are in a highest position, aren’t you still a tiny bug in the dunghill? Could you grow wings and change into a white dove in the sky?” From God’s words we can see that God loathes our considering ourselves to be the ones of high position and loathes our always desiring to be out of the ordinary. In doing the work, if we can stand in the position of a servant and do all we can to help and sustain the brothers and sisters and to perform our duties properly according to God’s requirements, we are the ones who have sense, who stand in the right position of a created being, and who serve God according to his heart’s desire. Therefore, no matter what we do or encounter, as long as we can stand in the right position of a created being, seek God’s intention more often, and obey everything from God, our arrogant airs and manner of speaking will naturally become less.

Fourthly, we must put effort into exalting God and testifying God. Because we are arrogant and conceited by nature, we cannot help exalting and testifying ourselves when we are together with others; and in our daily living, we most frequently display being overweening, being self-centered, putting “I” above everything else, and not doing things by God’s word. For example, when we come into contact with the brothers and sisters, we often say such words as, “Let me tell you.” “Just go and do what I have told you; it won’t be wrong.” “Just say it’s my word.” “I preached the gospel like this formerly.” “I came out of the refining like this.” “I promoted the work like this.”, etc. Our saying these words sufficiently proves that we are exalting and testifying ourselves rather than revering God as supreme and magnifying God. In this respect, if we have no proper ways to enter in, we will only lead people to us and cause them to look up to us, adore us, and draw near to us and become more and more distant from God; and we will only become more and more hostile to God, lose the meaning of being created, and lose the responsibilities of a man, and eventually we will be detested and punished by God for testifying ourselves in everything. Therefore, we must enter into exalting God and testifying God. In the man’s fellowship, it says: “…we can give God preeminence and let God’s word reign in us in whatever we do, and can also endeavor to proclaim and praise God’s deeds…. Whether in our own personal life or in our life with other people, in our speaking and fellowshipping or in our handling things and performing duties, we should let God be the head and rule over everything. The primary principle is to put God in the first place and let God direct our everything. We should let God’s word have the absolute sovereignty over everything, and should obey God’s arrangement, sanctify God, and revere God as supreme in everything.” This passage points out for us the ways to practice exalting God and testifying God. Thus, we see that God’s requiring us to exalt him and testify him means that we should worship him in spirit and truth, put him in the first place at all times, and speak more about “God” and less about “I” in everything; and that no matter what problem we encounter, we should first drop ourselves, and come before him more often to pray and seek and see how his word says about it, how the fellowship from above says about it, and how the work arrangement says about it. If we constantly exercise and practice to exalt God, testify God, and lead others to God, and if in our personal practices we exercise to let God’s word, the truth, direct our every word and deed and every act and move, and let God control our everything, then we are entering in from the positive side. As our entering in from the positive side increases, the displays of our arrogant nature will become less and less.

Fifthly, we must realize that our natural talents and our being able to achieve results in the work are both derived from God’s blessing and not the fruits of our own efforts, and that we ourselves have no usable part. When we can truly realize this, we will see that we are essentially without a single virtue, and at that time, even if we want to be arrogant, we will not try. For example, some people have accepted this stage of the work for a longer time than others, so they feel they have some seniority, and they always pose as seniors when speaking. If we can realize that everything originates with God’s ordination, and that it is all the more God’s predestination that we have accepted this stage of the work for a longer time, and we actually did not step onto this path on our own initiative, then we will never again pose as seniors but will feel ashamed of ourselves for having gained no transformation. Some think that they have experienced many things and are knowledgeable, so they love to parade their unusual experiences wherever they go. If we can see that without God’s care and keeping, we never could have followed until today by our nature of betrayal, then we will no longer talk boastfully and show off everywhere. Some become swollen-headed and forget who they are once they have achieved some results in their work. If we can understand this word of God: “Man may only be usable when the Holy Spirit works on him,” and can realize that without the working of the Holy Spirit, we can achieve nothing, then when we achieve results again, we will give the glory to God instead of stealing it and crowning ourselves with it. Some are quick to understand the truth and have equipped themselves with much of God’s word. When they see that others are slow of understanding God’s word when eating and drinking it, they look down upon them, and even draw conclusions about them and do not want to fellowship with them. If we can do some self-reflection: “Without the truth expressed by God incarnate today, where could I find the truth to equip with? Without God’s grace and mercy, how could I have the ability to understand the truth?”, then we will no longer look down on others, but on the contrary, we will help them with love. Some people have some experience of God’s word and can fellowship a little more practical knowledge of it than others, so they consider themselves no ordinary beings, and when speaking, they stand in a high position lecturing the brothers and sisters. If we can realize that all our experience and knowledge are the results achieved by God’s step-by-step working and guidance, by God’s doing the work of chastisement and judgment on us and practically leading us, then we will give the glory to God and no longer consider ourselves higher than others. Some people consider themselves more resolute than others because they can leave their families and give up their careers and expend themselves for God. If we know that by nature, none of us can give up anything for God’s sake, and that even our very little resolution and cooperation are given by the Holy Spirit, then we will have nothing to be arrogant about. Actually, every strong point of us, if counted carefully, is bestowed by God. For example, some of us are good at managing and arranging things, some are good at singing and dancing, and still some are more eloquent than others. Aren’t all these bestowed by God? If not, how come some people also love to sing but are born with a poor ear and voice and simply sing out of tune? From this we see that our everything is derived from God’s blessing and grace, and that we ourselves indeed have nothing and are without a single virtue. So we should give all the glory to God. When we truly see that we are essentially without a single virtue but we are boasting about and showing off ourselves everywhere, we will have a hatred of our arrogance and have the strength to forsake our flesh. When we truly know that even the little virtue we have is bestowed by God, we will not become dizzy with our little “capital.” At that point, we will have rather sound sense and judgment of propriety in our speaking and doing things, and know in what position we should stand, what we should say, and what we should not say.

In summary, if we want to resolve our arrogant nature, we must experience the judgment and chastisement of God and the sufferings and refining. At the same time, we must bear in mind our identity and status, stand in the right position of a created being, and exercise to exalt God and testify God consciously in everything, letting God have the preeminence among us, and never again having “I” as the center. And we also need to clearly know that our everything comes from the bestowal of God, we ourselves have nothing, and we should give all the glory to God in everything. Besides, at usual times we should spend more time on eating and drinking God’s words of exposing man’s arrogant nature, put effort into equipping the truths in all respects, and take great pains to practice forsaking the flesh. By doing so, our arrogant nature will be gradually conquered by the truth, our life disposition will be transformed step by step, and we will be saved by God.

#gospel #God’s word #truth

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Opinion: China's introverts find a kindred spirit: A stick figure from Finland

Now a growing number of them identify with a Finnish cartoon character who channels their urban anxieties, albeit in a different cultural context.

HONG KONG — People who live in China’s crowded cities are used to having their personal space invaded — in schools, malls, restaurants, bus stations, dormitories and even bathrooms. But that doesn’t mean they like it.

Now a growing number of them identify with a Finnish cartoon character who channels their urban anxieties, albeit in a different cultural context.

The “Finnish Nightmares” comic series documents the social challenges faced by Matti, a mild-mannered stick figure who abhors small talk. The series has been trending on Chinese social media, and it even spawned a new word for social awkwardness in Mandarin: jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish.”

“As an anthropophobic, I love this series so much,” Li Xin, a college student in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, wrote recently on Sina Weibo, one of China’s most popular social media sites, where a “Finnish Nightmares” hashtag has gotten about 240,000 clicks.

“China has a huge population, and Chinese people usually congregate in large groups, but there are still a lot of introverts, like me,” Li, 22, said in an interview conducted via Weibo messages. “In a society like China’s, we are considered hard to deal with and thought of as weirdos. But the truth is we just don’t enjoy unnecessary socializing that much. It’s too tiring.”

Matti, the cartoon’s exceedingly humble protagonist, constantly faces decisions that test his social awkwardness — whether to sing his own praises in a job interview, say, or take a free food sample if it means having to talk with a salesperson. He blushes easily.

Matti fears drawing attention to himself, but also the mere possibility that he might offend someone, even a stranger. He feels obliged to board a bus that he flagged by accident, for example, and is reluctant to ask a person standing in his way to move.

Matti is a “stereotypical Finn” who “tries his best to do unto others as he wishes to be done unto him: to give space, be polite and not bother with unnecessary chitchat,” according to a description on the official website of “Finnish Nightmares.”

“As you might’ve guessed,” the description adds, “it can’t always go that way.”

Karoliina Korhonen, the graphic designer who created the series in 2015, said that she drew the first scenes as a joke for her non-Finnish friends. Two books later, “Finnish Nightmares” has nearly 181,000 Facebook followers and 34,000 more on Instagram. Korhonen said the series had fan bases in the United States, Germany, Britain and beyond.

Korhonen, 28, who lives in the central Finnish city of Oulu, said in an email that she was surprised by the cartoon’s popularity in general, and in China in particular. “This makes me think I should take Chinese classes or something so I could understand better what’s happening, haha!” she wrote.

News of the cartoon’s Chinese fan base was first reported in English by the news site Sixth Tone.

In some ways, Matti’s gently caricatured Finnish environment is the antithesis of China’s acquisitive, in-your-face public life — and that may explain why “Finnish Nightmares” has touched a nerve among some Chinese readers.

Yang Yixin, a professor of Finnish language and culture at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the series resonates in China “because essentially Chinese people do have a shy, introverted and bashful side, like the Finnish.”

“Moreover, modern technology has changed our way of communication,” Yang added. “It estranges us from each other, especially young people. They might become a little anthropophobic, just like Matti.”

Song Zhengyao, a student in the university’s Finnish program, said that Chinese fans like the series because it presents an “authenticity” that is lacking in their day-to-day lives.

“People have to meet their clients and their superiors for work, they have to be hypocritical even though they don’t want to be,” he said of life in China. “When they read ‘Finnish Nightmares’ they see the frank and sincere life they want to live.”

David Wu, director of the China office for Visit Finland, a tourism-promotion outfit that is funded by the Finnish government, said that he was working on a marketing campaign based on “Finnish Nightmares,” the details of which were still a secret.

China ranks fifth among countries sending tourists for overnight stays in Finland, and the 362,100 Chinese travelers who stayed there last year represented a 33 percent increase over 2016, official data show.

Wu said Finland’s top attractions for Chinese travelers include reindeer safaris and an area near the Arctic Circle that is promoted as the home of Santa Claus (and which Xi Jinping visited a few years before he became president of China).

Li, the college student in Shenzhen, a subtropical megacity near Hong Kong, said that she would consider moving to Finland, with one caveat.

“I am not sure whether I can deal with the cold weather,” she said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Mike Ives and Zoe Mou © 2018 The New York Times

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/opinion-chinas-introverts-find-kindred.html

#News

[another-miracle]

I went to Gardens By The Bay (Singapore) today and decided to draw out some thoughts when looking at the plants 🌱

#plants #gardens by the bay #flowers #succulents #yixin’s little life #i got a student pass so it’s unlimited entry for a whole year! woohoo!

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THE BOOPS ARE GONE!!!!!

#boop #yixin's little life #I BOOPED TILL THE END!!!!

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OK I need to set time limits on this

#HELP I HAVE A DISSERTATION TO WRITE #THE WORDS CANNOT ALL BE 'BOOP #boop #yixin's little life

[another-miracle]

cool kids pumped up kicks yada yada song references

#I GOT MARRIED #yixin's little life #because fk them high heels

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So Ouran High School Host Club is on Netflix now, and I thought the rift for KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE was awfully familiar…

#ouran high school host club #sk8ter boi #avril lavigne #yixin's little life #pardon my horrid singing HAHAHA

[another-miracle]

Some excerpts from the book, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb

(it’s about a therapist going for therapy, which is an absolute delight to see)

#therapy #psychology #yixin's little life #it was such a pleasant and easy read #i cried at least 5 times at the end #also extremely relatable as a therapist who has been for therapy :')

[another-miracle]

Masking.

#yixin's little life #yixin’s fic