Morris found the next elder, Niǎn, meditating on a large, flat rock by a waterfall. Morris called for his attention, and they moved downstream where the falls created less noise and mist. Niǎn smiled, and asked, “How do you find our valley?”
Since his arrival, Morris had not been in the right headspace to register any sensation as pleasant. Still, he answered politely. “It’s a place of great beauty.”
Niǎn laughed. “The beauty can be distracting, though I suppose that’s hardly a complaint which arouses pity.”
Morris could hardly believe this man’s wife and children had been murdered. Out of morbid fascination Morris thought to use the simulated reality to dig into Niǎn’s strangely cheerful emotional state. “I’m so sorry about your family.”
“I appreciate that,” said Niǎn . “Their passing was sorely felt.”
“Was?”
“Grief is natural; to me, it felt necessary. However, continued longing accomplishes nothing and poisons the mind.”
“What about justice?” asked Morris. “Surely you believe Jiaolong must be held accountable for their deaths?”
“It is not my place to say,” said Niǎn. “A Buddha neither complains about nor retaliates against the actions of others.”
“I thought Buddha preached the end of suffering. Can you be content if such a cause of suffering as Jiaolong still exists in the world?”
“I’m not certain whether you’re asking me to continue suffering on my family’s behalf or whether you’re asking me to wish suffering upon Jiaolong, but either request runs counter to your stated purpose,” said Niǎn.
Morris felt too uncomfortable to press further. “So, what are the next two steps on the path?”
“The third step is Right Speech, which involves ceasing uncharitable and untruthful speech. But enacting personal change takes time, so the Buddha did not expect his followers to achieve Right Speech immediately. Instead, he encouraged newcomers to reflect daily upon their motives and speech. Personal experience and reasoning allow us to confirm The Buddha’s teachings for ourselves and to better understand their meanings. A Buddhist education is not just taught; it is lived.”
Niǎn continued. “Uncharitable speech cannot improve the world, and untruths may be practical but for bad reasons. Though untruths can improve others’ opinions of us, they do so by masking our true selves and strengthening our egos. If one’s goal is enlightenment, one must destroy the ego; to destroy the ego, one must not lie.”
“Ah yes, Honesty,” said Morris, chuckling. “My favorite virtue; certainly a categorical imperative. One should always be honest to liars, tolerant of bigots, and, I dunno, build mansions for mass-murderers or something.”
Niǎn was unamused. “You know the content of my words is true, whether or not you pick holes in the words themselves.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that mindset. I do accept that concepts of virtue are abstract. But it is precisely because they are abstract that we must seek to define them as rigorously as possible.”
Niǎn’s mouth slanted. “Life is like water. Define a wave in one moment and it will change the next. But to float atop the water is easy, moment-by-moment.”
Morris scrunched up his face. “That makes all sorts of no sense.”
“Does life ever make sense, though?" said Niǎn.
“It certainly makes more sense as time goes on.”
“Well --” here Niǎn finally laughed, though Morris didn’t like him any more for it -- “As you spend your days toiling to go from confused to still confused, I will let go of the need for confusion entirely. You will cling to your precious Knowledge and struggle in the waves; I will recognize impermanence and float. You will live in a putrid mind hovel and I a resplendent Dōng Gōng.”
Either Niǎn was a poor recipient of banter or he was bantering one level deeper than Morris. Morris suspected the former.
Niǎn continued his lesson. “The Buddha only preached on two subjects: suffering and the eradication thereof. The principles of Right Conduct are designed to prevent the greatest possible amount of suffering for Buddhists and the lives they touch. The principles are insufficient for ending all the world’s suffering; they are but puzzle pieces in Buddhism’s holy whole.
“The most basic component of correct Buddhist conduct is a set of things Buddhists should not do: do not kill, steal, lie, be unchaste, or consume intoxicants. To apply these tools, one should analyze one’s conduct retroactively, learn from experiences, and work to improve as a person.”
“It seems odd to place chastity and sobriety adjacent to not murdering. But overall that’s not a bad set of principles; most of them are difficult to argue with.”
“I’m so glad you’re pleased.”
Morris considered prodding Niǎn with a series of questions designed to illuminate whether he was the spy, but Morris was already confident he was not. He seemed to have bought into Theravid ideology to a fault.
Morris returned to the monastery, his stomach growling. He begrudgingly ate some boiled seaweed, alone on the mountainside, gnawing and slurping. It tasted alien in the same sense Morris imagined normal seaweed would taste alien. He surprised himself by enjoying it -- it was well-seasoned, and the flavors were balanced. He returned for seconds, and as the food settled in his stomach he found himself yawning. His remaining lessons in Buddhism would have to wait until morning.
A monk led Morris to a hut and gestured inside. Morris eagerly welcomed the chance for rest, and he eased himself down onto straw-like bedding. Unfortunately, the primitive nature of the bedding made satisfying rest impossible to attain.