The House That Rabban Unbuilt [Morning 1]

[Efren Lanville]

“Is it one’s capacities that doom them?” Efren asked with genuine interest.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose was put on the defensive with Trygve's sudden shift in the conversation.

Being a soldier meant being trained to do harm and coming to terms with having to do what others weren't willing to. Ambrose was fortunate enough to be a part of House Atreides where honor was paramount and the enemy was so clearly deserving of that harm.

Then he recalled the debriefing and Kova's own words about these people. However, knowing wasn't the same as accepting and he still felt naturally defensive. It didn't help that Ambrose was intimately familiar with willingly going down a doomed path and wanted to leave that all behind him. To compare that with the honorable duty he was undertaking for house Atreides was practically blasphemy.

Before responding, Ambrose sealed his mouth and took a few deep breaths through his nose, "There is much in this universe with the capacity to doom us, both in pleasure and in pain. Salvation comes through duty and duty also comes in many forms."

[Kova]

Kova simply listened. He felt much the same as Ambrose in a lot of ways, fulfilling a duty to his people. And he didn't feel particularly guilty about doing it. What he felt was more akin to regret that he felt it was necessary. He understood the harm it did to him as a person. But he also felt the same thing when putting a slug in an animal so that he could eat and feed others. He didn't enjoy the killing, but he wouldn't deny the Sadhu's assertion that he was indeed a killer, because he's capable of making that choice and has made it.

[Kannon]

“Is it one’s capacities that doom them?” Efren asked with genuine interest.

Trygve nodded.

"A man with a huge belly ate his winter food in one day and then starved. A woman who dived the best of her village plunged so deep her lungs burst on the way up."

"There is much in this universe with the capacity to doom us, both in pleasure and in pain. Salvation comes through duty and duty also comes in many forms."

"Duty comes in many forms." The Sadhu agreed, responding to the thought with quiet, respectful consideration. "Salvation may come through some of them, but not all. Duty without empathy is heartlessness. Duty without restraint is mindlessness. Without a heart and without a mind, there is not much left to save."

[Efren Lanville]

“Excuse me if I sound stupid… but aren’t those examples of the misuse of one’s capacities and not the capacities itself?” He asked.

[Kova]

Kova thinks at Efren's response. The decision to use capacity incorrectly can come from being naive, ignorant, conceited, or foolish. We must be patient and not push the limits of capacity if we are not prepared for the consequences. I think the idea is that we must not 'bite off more than we can chew'. The biting and chewing are the capacity. He has a tickling of a desire to say something, but he's also curious at how Sadhu Trygve will respond, mostly out of curiosity about how well his perspective aligns with the wise man... so he keeps his opinion to himself for the moment.

[Kannon]

“Excuse me if I sound stupid… but aren’t those examples of the misuse of one’s capacities and not the capacities itself?” He asked.

"If you truly know what is a misuse before you use then you are wiser than I am." Trygve said without a trace of irony. He genuinely accepted the possibility. "Even knowing after is often difficult."

[Efren Lanville]

“I see… There is a proper use for those capacities though? Even if it is hard to know?” He asked.

[Kannon]

"I walk the path of Ahimsa, Aparigraha and Anakentavada. Without violence, without attachments and without absolutes." Trygve explained without emphases, as if making a confession. "For me, that is a proper way of my karma. The more I walk the path, the more I see how it winds. But my eyes are mine and yours are yours, and you see what I cannot see. The more you kill the more you see prey. The more you destroy the more you see targets. The more you save the more you see life. The more you spare the more you see future."

[Efren Lanville]

“That sounds a difficult path to tread… I respect you for your faith in following such a path. My mother and her community try to follow a similar path back where I am from. It is not a path for the faint of heart.” He replied.

“Ours is a different path… but one we hope will save more than it harms. Let life thrive rather than stamp it out prematurely. Allow you and your people to walk your paths in peace…”

He finishes, “Despite our lack of wisdom… we will try to do our best to walk our path and hopefully make the path for others easier to tread after.”

[Kannon]

"It's not the ease of the path that makes it worth walking." The Sadhu sighed. "I see you and Kova may be alike."

[Efren Lanville]

“You sound disappointed by that…” He left the question hanging in the air.

[Kannon]

Trygve shooki his head to indicate it was a different disposition. Concern?

"When you become a hero you kill something in yourself and you destroy something in the world. Even if you cannot see the loss immediately your karma is marked for regret. Little hurts the soul more than forsaken humanity."

[Efren Lanville]

“Forsaken humanity?” He asks.

[Kannon]

"One can be humane for all. A hero, only to a few. And then for the rest - a villain." Trygve said quietly, lowering his head as if stretching explanation this far was already too much.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

Ambrose had listened with mixed emotions. Some of what Trygve said spoke him, somehow evoking both strong agreement and strong opposition. Deep down, the idealist in Ambrose could see what Trygve advocated for was the true and noble path, "the meek shall inherit the universe," but the realist in him could not accept an unobtainable standard.

"Unmarked karma is not meant for all. If I have to take on more marks on my soul then so be it. It's just another scratch on an already gaping wound. The best I can hope for is to choose for whom I will be the villain."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded slightly at the monks reply… showing a willingness to listen but difficulty in understanding what was being expressed.

“And so one loses their humanity by… acting to protect others because someone else might disagree?” Efren asked in genuine confusion.

[Kannon]

"Unmarked karma is not meant for all. If I have to take on more marks on my soul then so be it. It's just another scratch on an already gaping wound. The best I can hope for is to choose for whom I will be the villain."

"Then your path is set." Trygve nodded in acceptance. "The escape from the wheel of suffering is not an easy one." He looked at Efren, apologetically. "I don't know how to protect some without making others suffer. The best I can do is to prepare myself for hardship so that it can sustain being kind to the world for long enough to matter."

[Efren Lanville]

“Surely there are types of helping that don’t entail losing one’s humanity… if someone was freezing to death and you could help them you would not? Or if an innocent child was being attacked by bandits, you wouldn’t scare them off?” He asked.

[Kannon]

"If one can find a peaceful, kind way to do any of those things. Suffering abounds in this universe beyond anyone's power to prevent it. The best I can do is not to add to it through harmful deeds ensconced in good intentions." The Sadhu became increasingly apologetic in his tone, as if drawing out moral standpoints from him past certain point was against his calling. He was an uneasy moraliser, believing in one's own custodianship of karma that required knowledge, but not indoctrination. "But you come from a place I have not been to and have walked a path I do not understand. I cannot be and wish against being an arbiter on your choices."