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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
The lama fights back
>> Honolulu
For UH drama student Michael Tenzin-Campbell, playing the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa was the biggest role of his life. Especially because he was mostly working without a script, and improv was not his forte. Then there was knowing that he was playing to an audience that included some who had orders to kill him.
Knowing the anger that Tibetan-born Michael held toward the Chinese, Kamasami Khan had instructed him not to react as he normally would to any question or situation, but as a living Buddha would -- showing compassion for all creatures, abhorring harshness and violence of any kind. And he'd been pretty good so far, even handling a variety of media questions with alacrity. At least he was doing pretty well until a guy -- dressed in the orange mendicant robes of a monk but who probably was with Te-Wu -- tried to assassinate him.
So what'd he do? Try to make peace? No, he leaped and kicked him in the head as the guy threw a punch at another monk who'd apparently interfered. Caught him flush in the temple, too, knocked him cold.
Oops.
Well, that would give the Communists something to think about. Still, he wasn't looking forward to talking with Khan. The guy could be downright scary. Maybe because he was the only person Michael knew who walked around with more anger than he did simmering just beneath the surface.
At that moment, as the lama's limo with HPD motorcycle escort cruised down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki approaching his hotel, Fon Du was gathering his Te-Wu colleagues at the Bank of Lhasa's Bishop Street office.
"So what'd you think of the young lama's kick?" Fon Du queried them.
"Impressive," replied Doo Wop.
"Not the first time he ever tried that move," said Zip Lok. "Mastering that one takes years of practice."
"And a split-second decision," Fon Du said. "So it appears he's been studying more than the teachings of Buddha up in the Himalayas."
"It's troubling," Doo Wop said. "Perhaps they learned from Shao Lin."
"It could signal" said Zip Lok, "that the Tibetans have learned from their mistakes in the past and are abandoning non-violence as a religion."
"It does add to our challenge," Fon Du agreed. "But remember what happened in 1959 when Tibetans tried to rise up against China?"
The answer, they knew, was the well-documented slaughter of thousands of nuns and monks, the desecration of ancient religious sites and the destruction of 6,000 monasteries and universities, ultimately driving the Dalai Lama into exile in India and turning previously independent Tibet into an occupied Chinese outpost.
"I welcome this new challenge," Fon Du said. "If this young lama wishes to fight back, we will fight even harder. In any case, his days are numbered."
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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