The scene is a small room, lit by a single window. It appears to be around mid-day outside. A small bonsai tree sits near the window, appearing to have been recently cut. There is a desk on the opposite side of the room. There is an open book on the desk, with ink and quill next to it. Hiraku Susumu is idly pacing about the room, talking to himself.
"What is the nature of sin?"
"Sin is any action taken, or feeling experienced, before achieving enlightenment."
He stops his pacing, and looks at the desk. He smiles, as if the muse has taken him. He sits at the desk, takes up the quill, and dips it in ink, beginning to write as he speaks.
"If a man is unenlightened, he cannot consider the proper way of things. Therefore, even if he takes the same action as an enlightened man, it cannot be said that his action is right, for he cannot have considered what is truly right. And so he has sinned."
He speaks slowly and surely as he carefully forms the kanji in his book, writing his words.
"This leads to the unfortunate conclusion, of course, that every action, feeling, and thought of the unenlightened man is a sin. Indeed, even if his actions and thoughts are bent toward achieving enlightenment, he is a sinner. For to desire enlightenment is anathema to the principles of the enlightenment. No man comes to enlightenment alone; he must be brought to it by another."
He finishes writing these thoughts. He sighs, briefly.
"So it was for me, and so it must be for all to come."
He reads over his words for a moment, and nods. He takes a pinch of sand from a jar near the ink, and sprinkles it over the pages. He stands again from his chair.
"I have been writing this book for ten years. There are many volumes. I add to it every day, when I am struck with new insight. I write my wisdom down, in book after book, putting the volumes away when I reach the end, and starting fresh ones anew. One day it will be the basis for my teaching, when I am gone from this mortal coil. I must leave the wisdom, for new generations."
He walks over to the window, touching the leaves of the bonsai tree briefly and smiling.
"Today I write of sin, and I muse on sin as I consider my first opponent in America."
He takes a folder off a table in the corner of the room. Inside is a short dossier on Alexander Stark, provided with the match contract.
"Stark, Alexander. Height above average. Muscular build. English. Self proclaimed genius. Attended Oxford University. Willful, passionate. Lives off wealth made early in life, pursues wrestling as a childish fancy."
His lip curls and he shuts the folder.
"This man has poor qualities in abundance. He is lazy, childish, arrogant. He is everything I expected to see in America, but to be confronted with it disgusts me."
He taps his fingers idly on the table.
"These qualities must be distinguished from sin, of course. All men are sinners. Some men, still, have greater faults than others. The faults are great in this one."
He continues tapping, tapping.
"I consider his arrogance his greatest fault. At the very least, I might hope a wretched man would recognize his wretchedness. But this one thinks he is mighty, wise, and great. His arrogance offends me."
He stops tapping, rubbing his chin as if struck by a thought.
"Once, I was called arrogant. But they did not understand. What appears to be arrogance on my part is only wisdom. The enlightened must by nature appear to be arrogant by the unenlightened. Once you know everything, how can you pretend to be humble in the face of others foolishness?"
He resumes his tapping.
"This is true arrogance, a great fault in the ways of men. In particular, the greatest fault in Alexander Stark. I learned, long ago, that the first step to enlightenment is to erase faults. When the faults are gone, an outward facade of enlightenment appears. This is a pale ghost of true wisdom, but it is a beginning. First, then, to destroy the fault. Then to destroy the sin. This is the way to enlightenment, and it can only be achieved through suffering."
His smile grows wider.
"When we realize our conceits, we overcome them. The only true way to realize them is to have them torn down violently in front of us. So I will make Stark suffer for his arrogance, and he will perhaps learn that his arrogance is a deadly fault. He will come to me in confidence, no doubt, that he will defeat me. His education and intellect, he thinks, will overcome my simple philosophy. And I will show him otherwise. I will cause him to suffer, I will tear at his limbs, I will stretch his tendons, I will make him weep to suffer such pain. When he suffers the greatest humiliation, he will submit. In submitting the fault of his arrogance will be realized. The only way to take his mind to such a state is to torture him, of course."
He stops tapping, folds his hands. Smiles wider.
"It is only after our complete destruction that we can be resurrected. Be ready, Stark. Your lesson will not be a pleasant one, but it will be the beginning of beauty. You will take the first path on the road to enlightenment."
He looks out the window, at the shining sun.
"This is my gift. Take it and be glad of it. I will drag you out of the darkness, and force you into the sun. Like the writhing creature of the deep, you will suffer. But one day, your eyes will open, and you will behold the light. On this day, you will be as I am."
He sighs contentedly.
"On that day, you will join me in the paradise of an enlightened mind, whole, and full of wisdom. Prepare yourself."
