Lisa, Round Two

The monks had told her to meditate, and for the most part, she was cooperative. Her bruises from her ordeal had healed, and she could almost block the image of the man flying out of the window out of her head. The monks she was with did not have a religion, or even a real understanding of what she was. All they had been told was that she was there to learn, and that they were there to teach her.

Which was cool with her. The greek gods, or any concept at all of gods, may have been a little difficult for these old, bald headed men to understand. She wasn’t arrogant, or even thinking that they were set in their ways – she was learning things every day, some about herself, and some about them, and some about how to control herself. Ari was complementing her lessons about once a week, and it wasn’t that bad. She missed her family, but it was all working out in the end.

It was still hard to believe at her age, finding herself in some remote temple in the middle of nowhere in Tibet. Some of these monks had not left the temple for two or even three decades. And who wouldn’t mind being surrounded by men? Even if they were celibate ones. She definitely did not need sex right now, or ever again. She could barely remember her first time, but she didn’t really want to. It was not a highlight of her life.

“Teacher?” Lisa asked the man before her, and he opened his eyes gracefully, rising to meet her. She had been standing in the doorway. She bowed in respect.

“Would you like a drink of water?”

“No, thank you, Lisa.” The man said to her, looking at her with concern. “Are you alright today? How is your meditation going?”

“Well, but I find it boring at times, I can’t lie to you. It just... it feels like I’m wasting my time. At home... I was different.”

“We know you were troubled at home. I was, too.” Surprisingly, the monks in this temple were from all different backgrounds, especially the younger ones. This man couldn’t be over thirty.

“But I don’t think you did what I did.”

“You’d be surprised what I did.” He admitted to her. “I’ve accepted that part of my life, but that doesn’t mean I am proud of it.”

“Where did you come from, teacher?”

“I lived in California for the first eighteen years of my life. I have been here six, now, and I am proud of the time I have spent here. I broke all contact with my family and my friends back home.”

“Don’t you miss them?” Lisa sat next to him. He was only ten years older than her. The closest thing to a peer she had in this temple.

“I did the first year. And then I found that I appreciated the experiences that they gave me, but as people they had not been the brightest. Here, however, I am learning daily, even now, and I love the time I spend here.”

“Do you ever go back?”

“Yes. Once a year, I take a trip back, during Christmas time to celebrate with my family.”

“Are you Christian?” She asked him.

“No. Merely a cultural holiday.”

“What was your name?”

“I can not tell you that.” Her teacher smiled at her. “Giving you my former name would only catch me in my meditations, forcing me back into what I was, and force you to believe too, that I am what I was once, a being immersed in the physical world.”

“Some day, then? Will you tell me?”

“You will find that if it is necessary for you to know my name, you will learn it. And if not, then you will forget. You may call me by my given name, here, if you would like.”

“What is that?”

“Teacher.”

“That’s not a name.”

“Then call me Student.”

“Will you refer to me by my name?”

“If that is what you wish.”

“Don’t you want to get married?” Lisa asked him, and he shook his head.

“That is not part of my life, right now.” Her teacher admitted. It was so hard to get to know them when they refused to give any identifying characteristics about themselves. There were maybe twenty monks altogether in the temple, but they all refused to give her their names. They were to be known only by “Teacher” or “Student”.

Lisa really wasn’t into the whole socialist thing. In fact, she was clinging on to her name, Lisa Manfield, as tight as she could. She didn’t feel threatened – she was called by it when she asked to be.

“I want to be married someday.” Lisa admitted, looking at the man and wondering what his name had been. John? Mark? Jason? Benjamin? Ben fit him well. He was actually quite attractive, even with a bald head. He was well built, perfectly formed. A long scar running down the right side of his face. That made him look dangerous. Maybe he had been in a gang. But they always covered themselves, and she couldn’t tell if she couldn’t see his body. Mobsters, gangsters, they all had identifying tattoos, didn’t they? She knew the gangs in her town had.

“Noble conquest. Marriage is the ideal connection – two individuals communicating and acting as one.” Her teacher said. She would call him Ben.

“I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life.”

“You will find that loneliness is more a state of mind than the physical presence of other beings. They are not related.”

“If you say so.” Lisa wrinkled her nose at Teacher Ben. She knew them all by characteristics, but she would start to name them. Calling them all 'teacher' was getting on her nerves.

“I do. Now, it is time for you to go back and meditate on what you have learned from this conversation.” Ben put his hand on her shoulder, her first human contact in days. She tried not flinch away from his touch.

“I just learned plenty from that.” Ben smiled and lifted his hand from her shoulder. “I apologize for touching you when you were not comfortable enough to be touched.”

“I’m fine.” Lisa protested.

“You stiffened and looked like a scared, cornered wild animal when I placed my hand upon your shoulder.” Ben pointed out. “This will be one of the obstacles you must overcome. Go, now, and meditate.”

“Yes, sir.” Lisa said disappointed. That was the other problem with these teachers of hers. None of their conversations with her lasted more than ten or fifteen minutes. In this case, only five.

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