Intergalactic Summit

The following is an excerpt from the published journals of Roland Cassidy focusing primarily on Wayist practice as a Capsuleer. It should be noted that the author considers himself a student, not a master of the philosophy known as The Way of The Winds. As such the author encourages the discourse of dialogue between fellow Wayists and philosophical views of non-Wayists as a means of seeking.

"I have been spending a fair amount of time as of late considering my natural tendencies. As a student of Wayist Tao, it often serves me well to reestablish my direction so that I can more openly appreciate the path. I wonder now, however, if many others find their journeys following similar cycles.

I initially considered my retreat from society a self inflicted penance, to willingly cast aside the warm comfort of companionship and the hum of conversation. In my years I dicovered that I became a hermit... multiple times over. Sometimes it was by choice as I exiled myself from my people, occasionally a disconnect would happen due to ill fortune. Adrift in an unpopulated wormhole with damage to my self destruct protocols... I waited for months with nothing but my own complex internal study to keep me sane.

Years of this recurring period of solitude have left an indelible mark, and I ask if this is not Tao? Is the internally focused nature of a capsule best resolved naturally via asceticism? Are we the progression of balance between selfishness and selflessness? The Cold winds blow to test, to determine the strong and worthy, but in an age of the capsuleer I find myself in the lost moment trying to sort out cause and explain rationale for the irrational. This is not The Way. Surely there must be another like myself who has found strange peace of mind in silence and the gentle trill of solar winds being shunted off shield harmonics.

Do not despair however, for this nature is cyclical, and I have always found myself returned, refreshed and emboldened as Tao returns me when I seem to be needed. This wheel of dharma spins with an amazing clarity and this is the reason my missive began, for if it is my Tao to seek peace and respite in solitude, it is a great force of necessity that I am brought out of torpor. Those calls of distress, the cries of the meek and the well being of the truly innocent; these are the most important of reasons I do not simply fade away into obscurity.

Perhaps we are most in tune with Tao when we realize when we are needed, and when we are not. "

I have rarely been able to turn away an invitation of pilgrimage. I look forward to lighting my candle for Grandfather Mountain Wind and continuing my seeking in the presence of that shrine. That said, cycles do not concern me so much as the nature of what keeps you and I and all we come across in balance and order.

To use a koan: a steward wandering the prefecture came across two unfortunates. One was marked as a criminal and the other a devout warrior who had grown old and wished not to be a burden on his family. A small boy witnessed the monk offer the criminal what food he had to spare and continue walking. Ignoring the elderly man. The boy, confused sought to question the Steward about his choice. The monk responded quietly that in the end thereis no choice.

Peace within seems all too often to be an unattainable goal, but The Way sees further than the goal instead, it teaches me to better seek contentment in the journey.

For one possible answer, glance down to your signature.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

To my people, a story is for both demonstration and reflection. Thus we might have told it in a way that invited the child to think on what he had seen and decide his own choice.

And I would disagree that the old man was complete. We are only complete once we die and the story of our life is told over the camp-fires of the clan. From a Vherokior point of view, the decision of the elderly warrior who felt he needed to go into exile rather than be a 'burden on his family' would be a terrible indictment of that family. After giving his blood in battle, it would be a privilege and honour to care for him in his final years and hear the tales of his deeds.