The Transmigrant by Kristi Saare Duarte

Author:Kristi Saare Duarte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristi Saare Duarte

When Omkar’s language lessons were no longer sufficient to advance Yeshua’s fluency in Pali, Yeshua visited the other temples to improve his reading skills. If only he could spend more time practicing reading, he could speed up the learning process and impress Master with his knowledge of Pali in no time. In Kapilavatthu’s biggest, most famous temple, located at the edge of town on the road to Lumbini, Yeshua found what he was looking for: hall after hall of walls covered in flowery script. Yeshua’s heart fluttered with impatience as he sat behind the other monks and pretended to meditate. Between half-closed eyelids, he scanned the walls and deciphered the verses word for word until they formed meaningful sentences.

He returned to the temple day after day, month after month, until he had read and understood them all. Then he started over again in the first hall, reading the phrases one by one until one day he could read an entire wall without stumbling. On that day, Yeshua ran back to the temple and waited for Master to emerge from his nap.

When Master finally pushed the curtain aside, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Yeshua sprang toward him.

“I am ready!” he almost shouted, unable to control his voice. “I can read, Master. I can read Pali!”

“Can you now?” His teacher squinted at him with an amused smile. He opened the basket and pointed to the scrolls. “Come, let’s see if you are truly ready.”

With trembling fingers, Yeshua chose a yellowed fabric scroll from the top of the heap. He removed the string, unfurled a partition, and read out loud:

“‘I listened to...Brahman’s request… And out of...compassion for...all beings, I examined…the world with...the eye of a Buddha.’” Yeshua drew a deep breath and tried to still his beating heart. He could do better than this. Perhaps if he ignored Master’s presence, he could read faster. He tried again.

“‘I saw beings with little...dirt...in their eyes and others with a lot of dirt in their eyes...with great...skills and poor skills.’”

Yeshua paused again. He didn’t dare look up; he wasn’t sure if he was reading well enough to please Master. He had to read at a better pace. He closed his eyes, gathered the strength in his core, and read the rest of the scripture without hesitation.

“‘With good qualities and bad qualities, intelligent and not intelligent, and some who saw only fear and blame in the world. Just as in a pond filled with blue and red lotuses, some lotuses thrive submerged under the water, whereas others rest sleepily on the water’s surface, yet some rise straight up and stand tall above all others.’”

At the end of the scroll, Yeshua stopped, his gaze nailed to the text. Goose bumps covered his arms, and sweat trickled down his spine. These were the Buddha’s words. The Buddha had spoken in parables, just as he did. And he, Yeshua, saw everything the same way. He saw the good and bad in people, and he didn’t judge. They were all equal in the eyes of God, just different.

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