THE BUDDHA IN ME ( PART ONE )

THE BUDDHA IN ME
The tick-tock of the wall clock, in the study, as if not ready to fall behind, kept a harmonious rhythm with John’s heart-beat, during his walk to and fro. John Christopher did seem to be in a dilemma, as reflected on the contracted skin of his forehead. The ultimate step, emanating from the lingering duality, whether he could leave his wife and son, was being delayed, perhaps, due to the realization that he loved them more than anything else in the world.
John had read many times that Lord Buddha had renounced all the worldly pleasures. This belief had made him strong enough to come out of the situation in which the family ties endeavored to confine him.”The Enlightenment! The Enlightenment!” The Buddha in him was about to burst forth. Moreover, what else remained there to be seen in life? Hadn’t he had his share of life, with all that money, the girls, rich materialistic achievements?
It was about eight years before he had been to Nepal, the land of peace and beauty, teeming with splendors of Mother Nature. How delightful experience it had been to be away , for the first time , from all those familiar surroundings in New York and the American place of life, which in a country like Nepal had made him feel as if he had entered an entirely new world. For somebody else it would have been a trip to unthinkable backward place, but John felt that materialistic prosperity brings spiritual bankruptcy along. The attraction towards that scenic kingdom was irresistible.
The year was 1972, when he reached Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha. It was a long exhausting bus journey from Kathmandu. John had no idea what he was going to do in Lumbini. It was like drifting into a remote past. The first night in a small but cozy lodge in Lumbini was a nightmare, full of hallucinations.Nevertheless, he seemed to be quite at peace with himself the next morning when the first rays of light brought the chanting of the Buddhist mantras along,
Born in a very wealthy family, John Christopher had spent his childhood with all the advantages of a luxurious life, under the care of his loving father, a tycoon in the American automobile industry. Motherless at the age of ten, John had the recollection of those painful agonizing days when his mother was on her deathbed, but, in spite of the best medical attention, she could not be saved, and was not able to see her son grow beyond the age of ten years.
After his mother’s death, his father decided to send him to a boarding school in Washington. During the holidays, his father would visit him and they would go for outings. Though his father never let John feel that he was a neglected child, John, gradually, drifted away from his father on emotional level. When he was fifteen, his father gifted him a geared bike, and after his graduation, he was presented his first sports car. It was altogether a new world for young John. He turned out to be a typical American boy, who loved fast cars, giggly girls and drinks.
…………….to be continued……………. Raja Sir.
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