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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Of lamas and llamas
» Portlock
As the founder of Ola Essences, the fabulously successful phyto-cosmetic company, and as her father's successor as president of the parent Honolulu Soap Co., Lily Ah Sun was one of the most successful young businesswomen in Honolulu. But she was also a local girl at heart, and there was no way she was showing up to visit the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa without bringing something.
"So what exactly did he say, Quinn?" she said across the kitchen table.
"When I asked how he got to Kaneohe from Waikiki, he said he'd tell me, when I got to Kaneohe. 'Come as soon as you can and stay for lunch,' he said, 'and please bring your wife. And the bike.' "
"That's it!" Lily said, jumped up from the table. "Lunch!"
"Lunch?"
"Yes, we'll bring the lama lunch!"
"Like what, plate lunches? Chinese take-out?"
"No, silly! Call and ask if it's OK if I prepare a meal for him, over there, we'll bring all the ingredients. Tell him I'd be honored. I'm sure he's a vegetarian, but double check. Oh, and ask if I can bring Rosalita to help."
Lily was right, the young lama was a vegetarian -- a major tenet of Buddhism, particularly the Tibetan variety, is not harming any sentient being. And no problem with bringing Rosalita and her daughter Elizabeth. The lama was anxious for human interaction. How else could he share the Dharma?
Elizabeth, 8 and cute, walked in then after her allotted 30 minutes of the Nature Channel in the morning.
"Who's going to see a llama?" she said hopefully.
"We all are!" Lily said, clearly excited.
"Oh goodie! But Auntie Lily, you're saying it wrong. It's 'yama,' like Uncle Yama. Two Ls in Spanish is a Y sound," the petite girl said proudly. "I learned it on TV."
Lily had to smile. "You are so precious, Elizabeth. But this is a different kind of lama. This is a young man, a very kind young man."
That was OK with Elizabeth, but not nearly as exciting as the thought of getting to ride on a llama.
"Can you help me with the shopping, Rosalita?" Lily said.
Quinn didn't have time for that. He was anxious to get to Kaneohe and find out why and how the young lama got there without Quinn offering protection on his bike. "Here's the address, Lil, call when you're on the way."
Note to readers: Say happy birthday tomorrow to the Buddha, Shakyamuni, born Prince Siddhartha in India in 560 B.C. "Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating," he once said, "but by not hating. This is an eternal truth." Om mani padme hum.
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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