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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
My kid the buddha
>> Liliha
So there she was, a pile of sewing to finish for designer Mai-Scherelle in time for a fashion show in two days, when her son Frankie, barely 2, looked up from where he play at her feet and announced that he'd just realized he was the first reincarnation of Lama Jey Tsong Khapa. Who was only one of the most beloved holy men in 1,400 years of Tibetan Buddhist history.
"Um, so what do we do now?" Mayadharma Kharma said.
"I must return home and continue my work."
"I think we better wait till your father gets home."
"He'll be here early. You should start dinner."
And the kid was right. Even before Mayadharma could begin cooking, her husband returned early, smelling as always of Chinese food. It was a cruel irony for the Tibetan-born prince that his children knew him by the smell of the Chinese, the very people who destroyed his country, causing the death of more than 1.3 million Tibetans, persecuting Buddhists, destroying over 6,000 universities and monasteries, driving his royal family into India, causing them to lose a fortune, and his older sister on the trek over the Himalayas. So now he eked out a living in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants, and went by the American name Steve, not Vajra.
On that fateful day 16 years ago, he was cooking at King Tsin, and after jamming through a big banquet during lunch and setting up for dinner, Chef Joe told him to take the rest of the day off, and to take some food home to the family. Steve hated to say it, but there were good Chinese in the world. Just that none of them lived in China.
And now this man who had rejected Buddhism because it was incapable of defending his country and his family's former way of life walked through the door and was pleased to see his 2-year-old son Frankie watching "Sesame Street," growing up as a normal American kid just the way Steve wanted his boys to do. On TV, Kermit the Frog was telling about the "famous hog of London" when Steve saw that something was very wrong. A light radiated from Frankie's head. And he knew, his wife saw in an instant. They both knew Buddhas from the old days.
"We have to talk," Mayadharma said. "It's not just any lama."
"Who?"
"Lama Jey Tsong Khapa."
Little Frankie ran over, gave his dad a hug. "Yup, it's true."
"I thought he said he would never reincarnate in the official way."
"I changed my mind. My people need me."
"How can this be? You never visited any temple! I never allowed anything Buddhist in this house! No Tibetan language!"
"I know who I am, Daddy."
"I think," Mayadharma said, "we better call the center."
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com