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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Got the lama’s back
» Kaneohe
After Bodhicita Guzman caught TheBus back to her apartment on Ninth Avenue, and a dinner-sleepover date with Fon Du, things came to a head with Kamasami Khan and the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa -- as so often happened during the centuries the Khans have served the lamas of Tibet.
Strain was inevitable, a built-in aspect of the relationship that benefited both sides so well for so long. The Buddhists brought peace to the violent, volatile Tibetan plateau, subdued warlords and converted their efforts to supporting monasteries and universities. That peace was protected by the fearful Khans of Mongolia, who had been tamed by the third Dalai Lama. The lamas covered the Khans' souls, the Khans covered the lamas' backs. Fronts too, as far as that goes.
It was precisely because the terrible Khans had been tamed by the third Dalai Lama, who was the disciple of the first Dalai Lama, who was himself a student of the original Lama Jey Tsong Khapa, that the Chinese Communists feared the coming of the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa. Already their secret police had made two just-miss attempts to kill the lama's stunt double, a member of the Tibetan Warrior Society.
"To put it in one of the Americanisms you enjoy, your holiness, if Te-Wu finds you, your ass is grass."
"Good one, friend Khan. I know my safety depends on you, I'm grateful. And I'm sure that I would not be walking this realm if not for you and your comrades -- though I hesitate to use that term, if you know what I mean."
Even when Khan was getting steamed at this kid, somehow he made him smile.
"Yup, Communists ruined a perfectly good word when they started calling each other comrade. Point I was trying to make is that going for runs like you did today through Kaneohe, it's an unnecessary exposure."
"And the point I must make is that I refuse to be held captive. By remaining here, holed up, already I am the prisoner of the Chinese. I may as well be with the scores of monks and nuns being beaten by Chinese soldiers in Tibetan prisons even as we speak."
"Food's better here."
It was the young lama's turn to smile. "This is a wonderful place, the tea is excellent, the view of the bay is endlessly beautiful, and I'm grateful for the generosity of your spirit. But I did not reincarnate -- to this realm or to the islands of my birth -- to be held captive by the Chinese or by fear."
"How about a hermitage for a while?"
"Ah, clever, friend Khan. No, this is not the time for seclusion, fasting, meditation. This is the time for Tsong Khapa to be in the world."
Hopefully it would continue tomorrow with a motorcycle ride.
"Now may I use your phone?"
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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