"'I am a wizard.' one might say. Or...

'I am a warrior.'

Or maybe

'I am magical.'

'I am a duck.'

'I am unlucky.'"

Wizard #239 surveys the classroom for a moment.

"I call the following the White Shadow Meditation."

"There. Can anyone tell me what this object is?"

"A chair."

"Is that all? Does it describe the entirety of this object?"

"A place you put your butt!"

Students giggle.

"Yes, that is a partial description. But if you were Wizard #2724, you would also describe this object's agreed worth - somewhere in the reckoning of a few gold pieces. If you were a Combat Carpenter, you would describe the intricacies of its craftsmanship. If you were a Brown Hat, you might attempt to describe its soul."

"But where in all of these descriptions - is the essence of the chair?"

"Have we yet come even close to a full description of it?"

"And what was it just a hundred years ago? Not a chair - but a tree."

"There."

"Where is the chair now?"

"Is it here? Is it in our memory?"

"We fail to fully describe a chair, and yet we have the audacity to say 'I am...'"

"Understand me now, class. There is no 'I am'. Only One can declare such. Only One Is. Nothing else can Be, can Is, can Am. All else is transitory. All else is nothing. "

"Now, students - try to describe all that you are."

"This concludes the first lesson of this semester's Defense of the Shadow Arts."

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