So Many Students

Morning passed as the salty tang of sea air drifted through the windows into the living room. Sunlight spilled across a small table that had been set up temporarily. Aegwynn and Ysera sat together at the table, while Jaina and Onyxia sat side by side on the sofa behind them.

Deren stood before them and began explaining the Heart Sutra.

The scripture opened with: Guanyin Bodhisattva. These words were difficult to express in Azerothian, so he could only translate them rigidly, one character at a time.

"Take a look at the first three words: the Bodhisattva's name, Guanyin. These three words alone contain infinite meaning. On the surface, Guanyin means observing one's own existence. The self is me—but where am I? It seems that my body is me. Yet people with missing limbs do not seem to have lost their selves. Then is my head me? If I am beheaded, I die. Does that mean I am gone?!"

"Not exactly. If I existed only in my head, then why did my arm hurt when it was cut by a blade? Was it the arm that hurt, or the me living inside my head? So when you carefully observe the 'self,' you discover that it is everywhere, yet you cannot point to any one place and say that is me."

After speaking, Deren took a sip of water and looked at the four students below him, as well as Jaina, who was secretly hiding on the stairs. Five students in total. Anveena, meanwhile, was already nearly asleep at the dining table beside them.

After hearing this passage, Aegwynn nodded slightly and closed her eyes to think. Ysera stared curiously at Deren, as though she hoped to find the answer on him. Jaina and Onyxia, seated behind them, were utterly bewildered, not