The Godfather of Kathmandu - By John Burdett Page 0,20
this day I don’t know if he passed on those advanced initiations because he thought I would be a lama, or because he knew the Chinese were coming and there was no time left for niceties, or because he was the kind of master who didn’t give a shit, which is supposed to be the best kind. Obviously, for whatever reason he felt he had no choice but to risk my sanity.” He gave me a quick glance. “Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Come, let us make merit.”
I followed his uneven gait around the stupa, spinning the prayer wheels as we went. He had a specific technique, a professional’s handiness with the brass. I was less adept.
After the first nine wheels, Tietsin said, “Whoever is angry, harbors ill will, is evil-minded and envious, whose views are delusive, who is deceitful, he is to be known as an outcast.”
I tried to remember where I had heard that before. Surely it was nothing less than the Vasala Sutra? I said, “Whoever destroys life, whether bird or animal, insect or fish, has no compassion for life …”
“Whoever is destructive or aggressive in town and country and is a known vandal or thug …”
“Whoever steals what is considered to belong to others, whether it be situated in villages or the forest …”
“Whoever, having contracted debts, defaults and when asked to pay, retorts, ‘I am not indebted to you’ …”
“Whoever is desirous of stealing even a trifle and takes such a thing, having killed a man going along the road …”
“Whoever commits perjury either for his own benefit, for that of others, or for the sake of profit …”
“Whoever has illicit affairs with the wives of his relatives or friends, either by force or through mutual consent …”
“Whoever does not support his father or mother, who are old and infirm, being himself in a prosperous position …”
“Whoever strikes or abuses by words either father, mother, brother, sister, or mother-in-law …”
“Whoever being asked for good advice teaches what is misleading or speaks in obscure terms …”
“Whoever having committed an offense wishes to conceal it from others and is a hypocrite …”
“Whoever having gone to another’s house and taken advantage of the hospitality there does not reciprocate in like manner …”
“Whoever deceives a priest, monk, or any other spiritual preceptor …”
“Whoever abuses by words and does not serve a priest or monk coming for a meal …”
“Whoever, being enmeshed in ignorance, makes untrue predictions for paltry gain …”
“Whoever exalts himself and despises others, smug in his self-conceit …”
“Whoever is a provoker of quarrels or is avaricious, has malicious desires, is envious, shameless, and has no qualms in committing evil …”
“Whoever insults the Buddha or his disciples, whether renounced ones or laymen …”
“Whoever not being an arhat pretends to be one, he is indeed the greatest rogue in the whole world, the lowest outcast of all …”
“Thus have I exposed those who are outcasts …”
“One does not become an outcast by birth, one does not become a Brahmin by birth. It is by deed that one becomes an outcast, it is by deed that one becomes a Brahmin.”
The celebrated sutra had taken us one half turn of the stupa. We had started in the west, I suppose because Tietsin wanted to finish in the east. He was silent for the whole of the second turn of the stupa, then he said, as he spun the wheels with particular vigor, “I guess we have a deal.”
“I guess. How much can you ship?”
“Our movement needs forty million dollars. Whatever will get us that sum, we’ll ship.”
“Your movement? Is it political?”
“Sure. We’re going to invade China.”
“What with?”
He stopped short, as if the question surprised him. “With the inexorable power of Tantra, of course.”
I assumed this was some kind of macabre Tibetan joke; we were talking, after all, about a Communist republic which suppressed religion wherever it could, so I focused on the practical issue. “How can you do what no one else can do and export so much at one time?”
“Contacts and know-how. The stuff is shipped raw from Afghanistan into Waziristan, that is to say tribal Pakistan, where it is processed. From there it is moved to Ladakh, which used to be known as Greater Tibet, all under our supervision. People forget, Buddhists were active in that part of the world for a thousand years before Mohammed. Our contacts predate Islam. From Ladakh we ship it directly into Chinese-occupied Tibet. That’s the key. Tibet is mostly pure