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Kanan didn't look much more on the level today when he had the class congregate on the school's lawn than he had sounded on the radio. He still had a Bad Feeling chewing away at his head, but aside from the slightly shifted skyline across the causeway, all signs pointed to normal out there today.

So he was splitting the difference and just sticking close to the school, no need to make their way all the way to the park when they could just retreat inside if... he didn't know... giant worms came bursting out of the ground to devour them all or something?

"Everyone is special," he said, standing there with the book in his hand. He'd had to read it over a few times in order to really get much of anything out of this chapter, not because it didn't say anything, but more because it had said rather a lot, and his attention kept wanting to drift outward, looking for something wrong. "That is, everybody has something that they do, something they're good at, maybe, that means that they have a place in the F-" A beat. "The universe. A... role to play or a destiny to find, maybe." Another beat. He sounded every inch a faintly distracted Jedi in that moment, and that wasn't what this class was supposed to be about. And so he sighed, shook his head, and tried again. "There's a term in Taoism, Tz'u, which can be translated to caring, or compassion. There's a saying to go with it, 'from caring comes courage.'"

Okay, deep breath. He could get through this lecture, and then maybe try to find time today to meditate somewhere. Sort all this out.

"Basically, one can boil this lesson down today to, 'follow your heart.' Don't simply trust conventional knowledge, trust your own wisdom. Cleverness can solve a good many things, but only if you understand properly when and where and how to apply it. Your instincts, your feelings and emotions, have more to offer you than you might give them credit for."

Yeah, he said it. Even the would-be Jedi threw 'emotions' into the mix. So there.

There was a pause, and then, mildly belatedly, Kanan added, "So, this is our last class. Things have been a little rocky, but we've managed to somehow get from there to here, talking about going with the flow and trusting yourself and understanding where it is you belong in the universe as it stands. Some of you," poor Sabine, "probably wondered why you were even taking this class. That's fine, too. Not everybody is made for sitting around, waiting for the answers to come to them." A pause. "That said, we're going to meditate, today. Take a seat on the grass, close your eyes, and if you're inclined to meditation already, do your thing. If you aren't, if clearing your mind and reaching out for answers isn't something you really do, then just sit and contemplate. Contemplate where the island's been so far, and what that's meant to you. Contemplate where you've been so far, and what that's meant for the island. If you'd find it easier still, feel free to pair off or have quiet discussions about both. Not all reflection needs to be done in the silence, alone."

[OOC: Open!]

uncertain_dume

Today, Kanan had sent a message to the students, stay in the dorms. He'd come to them. Hopefully nobody had any complaints about a workshop coopting the dorms rec room, because when it came to making his students navigate the fresh hell that was out there just so that he could chat about philosophy?

Ha. Kanan had put messy blaster holes in three splicers just getting from the radio station to here today. There was a long tear in his shirt and blood he was just casually ignoring. It wasn't worth it to expect the students to be out in that. Nope.

"This week's lesson was supposed to be about busybodies who don't take the time to stop and relax," he said, leaning against a wall, arms crossed over his chest, lightsaber actually assembled on his belt. "And if I figured that was at all relevant to what's going on out there, I'd even feel okay with teaching it. But this week we're going to just... have a discussion, I guess. Talk about when to run versus when to fight. Talk to your classmates - pick a buddy to travel with when you go outside. Even if you don't personally think you need someone to watch your back, think of it as having someone else whose back needs watching. How many of you are fighters? How many of you aren't? The wasteland was bad - the animals there were twisted and lethal. But here, the enemy is people. And people can be anywhere."

Kanan shrugged.

"If there are any essentials you need this week and you don't feel safe going outside, message me. I don't mind doing runs for food, weapons, or first aid supplies. I know we've just been coasting through the summer so far, wasteland being an exception for some, but it might be well past time to start treating these bouts of weekly weirdness as actual emergency situations, not just novel new experiences. So, what do you do to prep for an emergency that's already on you?"

Sorry, silly old bear. Maybe class would get back to discussing you next week. Adjusting his lesson to go with the flow that the universe had thrown at the island was in line with Taoism, too.

uncertain_dume

It really was a good thing today's class was second period, because the moment Kanan had told Stance, "We're going to be gathering some sticks for class," Stance had been a dog on a mission. They just barely finished trotting to meet the class at the front doors to the school today when the bell rang for the lesson to start.

"Today," Kanan said, "we're going to walk while I give the lecture, otherwise we'll never get to do our class activity. But first, take a stick. Stance spent a lot of time this morning making sure they're all the best stick ever."

"They are! I made sure!" And that would be Stance, who was sitting like a good boy next to Kanan, letting him talk. "I looked really really hard for all the best sticks ever!"

"So no worrying about which is which," Kanan said, not terribly concerned that they would, no. He nodded toward the preserve and started walking, and Stance immediately bounded up and started trotting along. "Today, we'll be talking about the principle of Wu Wei, which basically means, 'without doing, causing, or making.'" A beat. "Yes, I know. Half of you already hate it before I've even explained it. What it means, practically speaking, is to go about life without combative or egotistical effort. To respect and follow the nature of things, like water flowing over and around the rocks in its path. It still gets to the place it's going. Hell, it still affects change along the way- erosion is a mighty force enacted with patience over time. But when we follow our own inner nature and respect the natural laws that govern the world around us, things are meant to work--"

"Stick! This one's mine!"

"Uh." Kanan glanced at Stance as he trotted a big, happy circle around the entire group, making sure all their sticks were still perfect ones too. "Anyway, the rest of this lecture was supposed to be about square pegs and round holes, but we're coming up on a stream now, so I'm going to have us just play a game that was in the book, instead. We're going to be racing our sticks."

Stance stopped in his tracks, staring up at Kanan with wide eyes and a small branch in his mouth.

Kanan just kind of grinned back. "We drop the sticks into the stream all at once, and the person whose stick passes a certain point is the winner. No cheating - this all has to be done using the natural force of the water's flow. There are two fallen logs over the stream, we'll use those as our markers, drop the sticks on one side of the first log, and then wait for the sticks to pass by under the second. Any questions?"

"Cahn ahh kee mai thick?"

"Yeah, buddy. You don't have to drop yours."

uncertain_dume

So... this morning, Kanan had come up with multiple variations of the word 'Sithspit' as he'd arrived at the school and taken a look around. There was no kriffing way he was holding class inside a vault, it gave him all sorts of bad feelings, so help him, and the park?

There was a giant bomb in the park. The park was off-limits today.

And so he'd attempted seeing if maybe his warehouse was at least not too damaged by the water, which had resulted in him having to use a lightsaber to relieve four giant scorpions of most of their extremities, a few more rude words, and a trip back to the school again.

Okay. Just outside the front doors of the school it was. He didn't much trust the inside of the building either, and at least he could use his blaster to take pot-shots at any over-sized cockroaches or horrifying projectile-shooting flies today. And they could get some... uh... sunshine...?

( Cottleston Pie. )

uncertain_dume

For a guy teaching a class about Tao, Kanan looked maybe more than a little harried this morning. Of course, he was soaked up past his knees and his copy of the book he was teaching from didn't seem to be faring any better.

"So, I went to bed Friday night, woke up to squirrels telling me I'm late for my Monday radio shift, and nearly had to swim to work today," he drawled. "Apologies if this isn't the most put-together of classes. I'd had a plan for this one, it had involved the park, but the park is currently underwater, so we're going to just sit here on the school lawn and... contemplate the water or..."

He looked out at the town, flooded as it was.

"... Or something."

Sigh.

"This week's lesson," he added, "is a simple one, at least. It's about the value of learning, of putting one's faith entirely in study, versus learning from life experience." He shrugged. "Basically, don't put all of your faith in what you've been taught. Having faith in what you've learned for yourself is important, too."

A pause.

"Here is where I'd have some activity about 'Twosday,' spelled with a two, or the letter A, but my book is too soggy to open for reference," sigh, "so let's..." He waved a hand vaguely toward the water. "Talk about this. Talk about how research from books might help a non-aquatic person to adapt to a largely amphibious lifestyle, versus lessons that you might have learned for yourself this morning since waking up to it." He paused, and then added, "And if anybody has any suggestions for taking my dog for a walk while the island's flooded like this, I'm all ears."

Priorities.

[OOC: Open.]

uncertain_dume

Once again, class was outside, in the park. Which apparently meant they were sitting amongst some ferns that were about the same size as Kanan today, while little leather-winged reptiles peered down at them from the treetops. Kanan didn't seem terribly concerned about the pterodactyls, nah. They were more reminiscent of animals from his neck of reality than most creatures he was used to on the island.

"So, we live in a jungle now, I guess," Kanan said, like it wasn't really a big deal. Given he didn't have any particularly terrible feelings about this, it probably wasn't. And the novelty of waking up to a tiny rainbow-spotted deinonychus hopping around on his legs demanding walkies mostly just made him go, 'sure, Fandom.' "Which isn't going to stop us from talking Tao, no. This week, we'll be discussing P'u, or the Uncarved Block."

It was about that moment that the tiny rainbow-spotted deinonychus trotted over to Kanan from where he'd been digging around in some ferns, made a sound that attempted to be reminiscent of a bark, waggled his butt around a little, and then took a seat on one of Kanan's feet. Kanan shrugged, crouched down, and gave him a scratch under the chin while he continued speaking.

"The principle of the Uncarved Block is described, in the book," that book about that bear, "as, 'things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed.' It applies to things and people both. One of the examples the book cites is that the bear and the little pig were considering going around to visit their friends. The little pig kept growing more distressed, because he couldn't come up with a good enough reason to visit each and every one of them. The bear decided that all the reason they needed was to wish them all a happy Thursday, and that was good enough."

He stood again, and Stance looked around at the students, tongue lolling out of the side of his big dumb rainbow-spotted lizard face, and then decided to give a trot around to say hello, just for the sake of saying hello. Yes, he was absolutely still trying to wag his tail.

"Basically," Kanan continued, "the lesson of the Uncarved Block is that when you discard arrogance and complexity, life gets a little bit more enjoyable. It's not quite the same as 'ignorance is bliss,' it's more that there's a sort of beauty in the quiet, the natural, and the plain. I don't think I'd personally advocate for never thinking, but it can't hurt to keep in mind that sometimes, there really isn't any harm in acting spontaneously, just because. So that's what we're going to do today. Enjoy the park, throw a stick for the dog - trust me, he's a dog, he actually looks more like the dogs back home this way than he usually does - watch birds for a bit. Play hide-and-seek, sit and chat, go introduce yourselves to the lizards that replaced the playground equipment overnight, do whatever spontaneous thing comes to mind. The park is safe, just a little weird today. I don't think the island is exactly embracing the concept of P'u at the moment, but we can work with this."

Because it's Monday.

uncertain_dume

Today's class was told to meet outside, to take advantage of the decent weather, and were given directions to meet at the park. Kanan was standing in the shade under one of the larger trees, not far from the pond, and was smiling a little to himself. This was introduction week. However else he might have felt about having a philosophy class shunted off on him, he was generally pretty confident in his ability to do introductions without having to worry about too much disaster.

"Hey, folks," he greeted, nodding at his class. "Welcome to... this class about Taoism." A pause. "And occasional stuffed bears. Most of you have already had a class with me before," he nodded to the students in question, "but for those of you who haven't, I'm Kanan Jarrus. Please, just call me Kanan. I'm not a professor, I'm a guy who flipped through a book and spent a few minutes contemplating what's in it, and now I'm passing it to you."

Yes, he was absolutely holding up his copy of the book in question, a well-read paperback with a cream-colored cover with a red border, the picture of a little yellow bear flying a kite on the front.

"For this workshop, we're going to discuss the Earth philosophy of Taoism. I'm not certain if any of you recognize the bear on the cover of the book, but... yeah, we're gonna talk a little bit about him, too, if only because the adventures of this children's storybook character pose very convenient parallels to the topic in question. So if you're in this class just to hear me say phrases like, 'Silly willy nilly old bear,' and 'Oh, bother,' you might not even be disappointed." He shrugged. "This week, though, we're not going to touch much on the bear in question. This week is a week for explaining Taoism in broad strokes, so that you have some idea of what you've just gotten yourself into. Taoism is, at its core, a philosophy that emphasizes doing what comes natural, following the guidance and flow of a cosmic force that flows through all things. Binds them and releases them."

... Yeah, it had caught his attention for possibly obvious reasons, if you knew anything about his upbringing at all.

"So, this term, we're going to do a lot of that. Going with the flow. Not trying to force things to be what they aren't, but rather, trying to accept and work with them as they are. And, since this is the first week of classes, going with the flow means introductions." Kanan grinned faintly. "Names, why you took this class, and, if you feel so inclined, share with us some aspect of your own personal philosophy or your first impressions of Taoism, based on today's lecture."

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Entries tagged with tao

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

Tao of a Silly Old Bear, Monday, Period Two

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