SIERRA'S LEONE

HEDONIST

"Jonas, how nice to see you."

Jonas put his hands together and bowed his head slightly, "namo buddhaya, Karma, I hope you've been well."

"Always," said Karma.

"Wow, it looks better than I expected," Jonas said as his eyes roamed on the building's structure. He approached to like at the details. The meticulous man hated to see even a paint stroke out of place.

"Never underestimate your gift, Jonas. This place you conceived with your mind is a blessing."

The men contemplated the new wing added to the temple's residence.

Jonas designed the building, which sheltered the new mediation rooms, dorms, and canteen.

He also financed the totality of the works when he heard how the winter storms destroyed the initial roof.

"I see you brought someone along with you."

From the beginning, Leone was silent. The boy observed the bald men that walked around and their saffron kasaya attire.

"This is Leone, my son. I wanted to present him to you. His mother died six months ago. She did incredible things to protect him, and now I'm trying my best to do the same."

"Just as a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings, it's a metta [buddist term for pure love which is neither possessive and grasping] in metta sutta. You seem worried Jonas, why?"

Jonas took off his and Leone's shoes. The men entered the building and went into one of the empty mediation rooms, where they sat on a mat.

Jonas didn't know where to start his mind was a knot of reflections the man was unable to put in order, "I'm afraid, and I want to have control. I'm anxious. I feel guilty. I'm an emotional wreck. I'm afraid to lose."

Karma analyzed Jonas's face. He could read the twitches of stress on his face, "what are you afraid of losing Jonas?"

"Sierra and Leone."

"Who is Sierra?"

"She's Leone's mother."

Karma frowned, "I thoughtㅡ."

"No, it's his mother's best friend. I live with her, and I'm in love with her and-."

Seeing Karma's puzzled stare, Jonas began to explain things from the very beginning. Karma listened without interrupting. Only at the end of Jonas' recap did his mentor speak.

"Jonas, you can only lose what you cling to Buddha teaches us. Be patient without expecting but be open to whatever comes your way. Let the future arrive, be available to all possibilities. Want, desire, anger, greed; you must extinguish those burning fires. Hedonism is not the path that leads to Nirvana.

Jonas wanted enlightenment the man got served.

Karma laughed warm-heartedly when Jonas spoke of Mrs. Gauthier's words.

"Words are karma's boomerang. They always go back to the sender, Jonas."

The man mediated and revised Buddhist principles. He did not call Sierra, for he needed detachment from all things.

Jonas emptied his mind and made abstraction his inner conflict. Of course, he explained this to Sierra beforehand. He did not want her to worry to not hear from him.

Back in Paris, Sierra tried to remain occupied; she cleaned and programmed a washing machine cycle. As she watched the clothes spine, she recognized what aberration it was not to know how to wash one's clothes. Jonas taught her so much, and it procured the woman a form of independence.